A group in San Francisco managed to get a measure on the city ballot that would rename our Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the “George W. Bush Sewage Plant.”
I thought this a supremely bad idea. Such a move (like protesting the Marine Core in Berkeley) would invite a conservative reaction, possibly stripping the city of federal funds.
And as a local public utilities supervisor pointed out, our waste station is progressive, like much of the city: “The potential irony here is that this is a modern facility that protects the ocean and the environment every day,” [Tony] Winnicker said, “and I’m not sure that’s the right legacy for President Bush.”
Well, Measure R failed by 69-30 percent! There is some good sense in San Francisco, sometimes. We also rejected a measure that would have legalized prostitution. More on that later.