Liz and Lee Heidhues 6.24.2021
“I pledge to prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits,” vowed San Francisco supervisorial candidate Connie Chan in 2020.
“If elected, I will represent every resident in District 1. I understand that my job as a Supervisor is to represent those who are vulnerable and often ignored by the rich and powerful”.
The effect of climate change is all around us. Changes in atmospheric CO2 correlate with human emissions of CO2.
At the SF County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) Board meeting, now Supervisor Connie Chan attempted to destroy The Great Walkway Park. She tried to remove the SFCTA’s recommendations for a full “24/7” promenade pilot.
D1 Supervisor Chan did not speak up as an ardent defender of the Great Walkway Park in this crucial meeting to determine the fate of the open space.
Did Supervisor Chan flip-flop on her 2020 campaign promises in District 1’s Supervisor’s race?
Was Connie Chan just catering to the Progressive vote when she campaigned as a friend of the environment?
Progressives work on curbing the effects of climate change, ensuring that the quality of our air and water take precedence over car commuters. Progressives play a pivotal role in anti-pollution movements and consumption patterns of energy. Progressives initiate changes in reaction to the increased problems associated with industrialization, in which the automobile plays a major role.
Connie Chan, Supervisor of D1 where Liz was born and raised and where we live still, is not embracing her campaign promises.
Connie Chan’s flip-flop is not surprising. Put bluntly she caved to a strident, aggressive minority of entitled motorists.
Studies show that two-thirds of the drivers on The Great Highway were car commuters driving between the Outer Richmond, where Supervisor Chan lives, to the South Bay, before the Pandemic. Rather than look beyond their self interest at the big environmental picture, she continues to enable their behavior.
Connie, what do you remember about your childhood? Do you remember being driven around in a car on a freeway, or do you remember the joys of bicycling, roller-skating, and running around with other kids you knew?
The negative consequences of cars include: the use of non-renewable fuels, a dramatic increase in accidental deaths, the disconnection of community, the decrease of local economy, the rise in obesity and cardiovascular diseases, the emission of air and noise pollution, the emission of greenhouse gases, the generation of traffic, the segregation of pedestrians and other active mobility, and urban decay.
The Great Walkway expresses something that cars will never express.
The Great Walkway expresses human society on the move in healthy, sustainable ways.
The Great Walkway Park is an environmental dream come true for San Francisco.
The Great Walkway Park is D1 Supervisor Chan’s wake-up call to get her priorities straight.
Photos: Liz Heidhues 6.22.2021 Taken while the SF County Transportation Authority Board meeting was in progress.
Lee's Perspective 