Getting There

A new public toilet in San Francisco made news with its first flush. The story wasn’t about plumbing. It was about adventures in bureaucracy.

Thanks to a bird’s nest of bids, permits, reviews and inspections, the toilet required two years and a budget of $1.7 million.

Authorities later said the price was closer to $200,000. But the point was made. Cities fumble simple, basic projects.
Sacramento has a simple, basic project that makes San Francisco look speedy—a bike path 108 years in the making.

They’re making it worse for themselves. I’m talking about a handful of residents near the Sacramento River who want to delay the levee parkway and bike trail.

For their latest misfire in community relations, the no-trail group has quietly begun to promote the city’s new Del Rio Trail as a suitable alternative to the levee bike path.

A handful of residents near the Sacramento River levee portray themselves as victims, their safety imperiled by pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists. They want levee access closed.

Facts tell another story.

For decades, property owners along the river harassed, bullied and threatened anyone who walked on the levee in Pocket and Little Pocket. They even frightened flood prevention authorities.

Officials allowed illegal encroachments such as fences, stairs, retaining walls, plumbing and electrical gear to spread along the levee.

Residents near the Sacramento River who want to block public access have a big advantage over the 500,000 or so people who will benefit from a new levee bike trail.

The residents have a good lawyer.

One attorney working for property owners shouldn’t matter. After all, the rest of us are represented by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, a state agency whose mission is to serve public interests.

But that’s not how it works.

Documents obtained under the California Public Records Act tell a more complex story. For the past three years, a lawyer hired by property owners near the levee built a relationship with flood board officials.