In 2005 San Francisco firefighter unions successfully pushed a proposition making it illegal to close or consolidate existing firehouses. It even prevents any apparatus from being changed. Despite some firehouses receiving < 3 calls a day. (not a typo) Since then working fires have fallen 36% (309 to 197) as medical calls increased by far more. More than a third fewer working fires. But each engine and tiller is a protected species (plus crew & exact role) and cannot ever be replaced with say, 3 ambulances and crews at ~same cost. Meanwhile you still need an ambulance for transport. Which is going to be a while because as noted in an audit they cannot “add additional ambulance shifts by re-assigning existing resources from fire”. But at least 5 guys in turnout gear can babysit with the $2.5M truck their medical kits are in.

Remember the time a transit community engagement consultant wrote an article about visiting Amsterdam to see how they built transit infrastructure and was shocked and offended that they didn’t do “community engagement”?

Having property taxes be paid from the mortgage conveniently obscured them for both homeowners and municipalities but creates this problem/expectation when homes are paid off.

centrist dems are more comfortable sharing power w former & current republicans than their left flank who'll pull the party further left. we don't oppose talarico & cynically lean into rw attacks in the way that liberal consultant do w/ AES. we don't make a big fuss abt pappas low performance in NH. neera tanden is here to undermine the left and doesn't care if left flank dems lose their races in the process. her output and focus on the left proves this.

An embarrassingly large share of factional beefs are downstream of some very specific office drama at CAP that many of the people participating in the current beefs aren't even aware of.