SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — At last count, about 400 people are calling on San Francisco Mayor London Breed to fire Jeffrey Tumlin, the city's transportation director.
“He resigns. That's what I want. He doesn't deserve that seat. He has only caused havoc in the city,” said Yasmin SF owner and spokesperson for the Valencia Merchant Artists Association. said Sahar Mirami, a man. Neighbors and Organizations (VAMANOS).
The Change.org petition was started by a group representing businesses along Valencia Avenue in the Mission District.
“This is kind of a breaking point,” Mirami said.
Earlier this year, Valencia merchants filed a lawsuit against the city to remove a controversial central bike lane. They claim this is hurting business as 70 car parks have been removed, making it difficult for customers to get to the area.
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Yasmin's owner went on a 30-day hunger strike in April this year to protest the bike lanes.
“They put in bike lanes because they want to get rid of cars, but forget about the shops,” Mirami said.
SFMTA responded to the petition, in part:
“The authors of this petition argue that pedestrian and bicycle safety and thriving commercial roads are incompatible. We disagree.”
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The petition argues that this is not the only area harmed by projects approved by Tumlin.
“Merchants in Hayes Valley have been contacting us. They see us on the news and know we're going to remove this bike lane. They want Hayes Valley to be disrupted too. “I let him do it,” Mirami said.
The petition also includes SFMTA's proposal for traffic changes on West Portal after a family at a bus stop was struck and killed by a driver. This proposal infuriated many residents and merchants.
“I think it's clear that if you look at what the SFMTA decided here at the end, it didn't work out well for everyone. He was in charge of that. We take responsibility,” said West Portal resident Brent Sullivan.
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Some business owners and residents said they supported the petition calling for the directors to resign.
“I think he needs to resign. His leadership shows they don't actually care about San Francisco,” said Nina Bearko, manager of Shaw's Candies.
This isn't the first time Mr. Tumlin has been at odds over his vision for transportation.
According to an article in the Santa Monica Daily Press, in 2013, Tumlin commented online that “Santa Monica politics have been dominated by NIMBYs who use traffic fear as their primary tool,” after city officials said. , was reportedly removed from his position as a transportation consultant for the city of Santa Monica. Because development has been discontinued. ”
In 2019, Mayor Breed appointed Tumlin as SFMTA director after asking former director Tumlin to resign.
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Full statement from SFMTA:
“We all need to work together to support San Francisco's economic recovery. The authors of this petition suggest that pedestrian and bicycle safety and thriving commercial streets are mutually exclusive. We disagree. We believe that street safety and business prosperity are complementary and not a zero-sum game. Rather than pitting us against each other, let's come together and collaborate on solutions that move us forward. ”
The mayor's office released the following statement about Tumlin:
“Mayor Breed is committed to continuing to make all transportation options safe, efficient, and accessible to everyone. We have reduced subway delays by 80%, and many bus routes have exceeded pre-pandemic service levels. We have expanded our services throughout the city.”
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