— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
The press release said the protest was to begin at 8am, but much like Muni itself, the protesters were running about an hour late.
Dubbed “Gmuni”, the latest Google Bus-blocking protest rolled up to 24th and Valencia just after 9am this morning, looking to reappropriate the beloved corporate shuttle service as a public enterprise. Amongst a squad of dancing clowns, a speaker wearing fake Google Glass and a suit claimed, “The Muni program is in decline because of underfunding, so we’re starting our ‘Gmuni’ pilot program.”
And, of course, they had Gmuni passes:
Free buses passes handed out by Gmuni “workers” who blocked a Google bus this a.m. in SF's Mission #freeMUNIforall pic.twitter.com/Qk7kzKXPTU
— Cindy Barukh Milstein (they) (@CindyMilstein) April 1, 2014
The protest coincides with today’s SFMTA hearing, in which the agency that controls Muni will vote on a proposed plan to lease Muni stops to Silicon Valley tech firms for $1 per use. Ron Conway’s lobbying group, sf.citi, previously released a “call to action,” asking tech workers to turn out in support of the “common-sense regulation” and oppose the “divisive shuttle opponents.” Naturally, those shuttle opponents are rallying their allies in return.
Below, the literature the protesters were handing out regarding that hearing:
[Photos: Cindy Milstein, Julia Wong, Cindy Milstein]
Comments (23)
Eh, cute but inneffective. Drum up support for a ballot initiative that limits what corporate shuttles can do and where they can pick up passengers, that’s the proper course
Oh it’s gonna be FUN at City Hall today!!
+1 for absurd theater, especially today.
These protestors are not thinking large enough. What the tech companies owe the citizens of San Francisco is nothing less than subsidized rent.
Forget the shuttle buses and concentrate on the bigger issues, ‘lest we all be April fools.
I think they owe ever REAL San Franciscan free rent, a free education, and a job!
/aprilfools
And a free blow job too!
Hombré, you must be smokin’ some good shit!
I liked it better when this blog was about protecting the right to drink in Dolores Park. And eating burritos taped to your hands.
+1.
This is the shit going on in the neighborhood these days *shrug*
(Of course, you could always rile up the Dolores NIMBYs into fighting alcohol consumption in Dolores again and we’ll cover the shit out of it, but I think they grew tired of the losing battle and gave up.)
The Dolores NIMBYs in clown suits would have been awesome.
Replying to your own comment? Minus one.
in oakland
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/04/01/18753387.php
I wonder how many of these protesters were raised in The Mission, let alone The City? How long do you have to live in a neighborhood before you can complain about other people living in the same neighborhood?
In frisco? 5 minutes and you’re entitled.
They all got here from small liberal arts colleges in the northeast within the past 7 years. They read Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern Speak?” in their junior years at Skidmore/Vassar/Bennington, and misinterpreted it as an invitation to speak on behalf of others. Like The Lorax, who spoke for the trees. That one was easy to understand.
Yeah Locals Only! Valley Go Home!
Fuck the googlebuses and the corporate giveaways. Recall Mayor Lee and Supervisor Weiner
You lose. Try Oakland.
Revised headline:
“Dumbest Motherfuckers Alive Dress Like Mime Clowns And Accomplish Fuck-all”
Arent car pools good? Arent buses carpools on steroids? What if all of the Valley tech people that took the buses were driving their own cars to work? Would the traffic and parking in the Mission be much worse?
Usually when you ask questions such as the above the threads on blogs like this die
That’s based on the assumption those riding Google buses and the like would continue to live in SF if the buses were to disappear. It also assumes they would drive instead of taking Caltrain. There is no evidence to support either.