Petrelis Files

Mission Plaza Sanitation Record of BART Opponent Borden

My second opponent for BART's District 9 seat, Gwyneth Borden, has replied to my queries to her about her record on cleanliness at Radulovich Plaza. I'm pleased she's communicated this information to me and I ask voters to compare my record and advocacy on public health over the past two-plus years and currently, with the records and responses from Gwyneth and our opponent Bevan Dufty.

Here are my questions to her:

1) As a member of the SFMTA board, how have you addressed the agency's duties to keep its real estate clean at 16th Street?

2) Have you requested regular cleanings from your agency and also BART, either in the past two years or this summer?

3) Will you take steps with both agencies before the elections to improve sanitation?

Gwyneth's response: The success of 16th Street is all yours. Until your emails, I did not realize who had jurisdiction of what at that station; thanks for making me aware.

While I have generally engaged SFMTA staff of issues at bus stops including shattered glass and other cleanliness issues and have logged calls into 311 on acute situations at 16th Street as well as other bus stops, I have not focused specifically on 16th Street. My regular BART station is 24th Street, so I've been most attentive to the conditions there.

Yesterday I asked SFMTA Director Reiskin to provide the details on Muni bus stop cleaning schedules, and he mentioned the responsibility varies by location but that he would provide those details. As you know Muni has hundreds of bus stops to maintain.

As you likely know, my focus as a SFMTA Director is on the big picture of our entire network and making sure that agency does meet its obligations in cleanliness as well as providing safe, reliable and accessible transportation overall. Clearly, when I see a specific problem, I reach out to staff to get it remedied and will continue to do so.

My reply to her. I must point out that Muni has no domain over the upkeep of the bus shelters. That is the responsibility of Clear Channel. Yep, there are a lot of layers to all of the real estate at 16th and Mission Streets.