Alioto vows to remove top leaders if elected
If Angela Alioto wins San Francisco’s mayor’s race on June 5, the directors of the city’s Public Works Department, Municipal Transportation Agency and Recreation and Park Department might want to have their resumes handy.
Not one to mince words, Alioto told The Chronicle’s editorial board on Monday that if she wins the city’s top job, she intends to clean house — ousting department leaders whom she accused of being more concerned with consolidating power in their personal “fiefdoms” than tackling the city’s problems.
“I believe they’ve been there too long. I believe they’re not excited about doing anything, just kind of going to work every day and doing their job — kind of like doing time,” said Alioto, a civil rights attorney and former president of the Board of Supervisors.
Though she called Phil Ginsburg, general manager of Rec and Park, a “nice guy,” she lambasted him for playing favorites when it comes to doling out permits for special events.
“It’s almost impossible (to get a permit) if
you’re not Phil’s best friend,” Alioto said. “He’s in charge of everything.”
Alioto has sparred for years with SFMTA’s transportation director, Ed Reiskin, whom she’s accused of stifling her efforts to construct an open-air piazza in North Beach. The project would require shutting down a block of Vallejo Street between Columbus and Grant avenues. Her proposal was put on hold indefinitely last year.
After dispensing of Reiskin, Alioto also pledged to audit the agency to find out how much money she insisted the department was wasting.
“It’s incredible,” she said.
Alioto also blamed Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru for allowing conditions on the city’s streets to deteriorate, a problem she links closely with homelessness, particularly the abundance of tent encampments.
“You can’t keep the streets clean and allow tents,” she said.
Alioto vowed to clean the city’s streets and house those currently living in tents within her first 100 days in office.
“Do I think we can house the people who are in tents right now in San Francisco in the first 100 days? Yes. I absolutely do,” she said.
If that sounds familiar, it should. Shortly before taking office, former mayor and current Chronicle columnist Willie Brown famously vowed in 1995 to “fix the Muni in 100 days.” It was one promise he couldn’t keep.