San Francisco residents upset over Great Highway car ban seek recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio
A group of residents in San Francisco's Sunset District are launching a recall campaign against Supervisor Joel Engardio, weeks after voters approved a measure to close the Great Highway to cars.
Supporters submitted a formal Letter of Intent to Recall the District 4 supervisor at the city's Department of Elections on Tuesday morning.
"The recall effort highlights Supervisor Engardio's failure to address critical issues impacting District 4 residents. Chief among these concerns is his support for Proposition K, which permanently closed the Great Highway to drivers/commuters—a measure overwhelmingly opposed by voters in his district," the campaign said in a statement.
Richard Corriea of the recall campaign told reporters Tuesday, "Once elected, Supervisor Engardio betrayed voters in D4 by reneging on his promises, failing to consult them on their perspectives and needs, and neglecting neighborhood safety."
The recall campaign's website said they are "Powered by the team that brought you Open the Great Highway," which was the group that opposed the measure.
According to the latest results, Prop. K was approved by 54.73% of voters citywide in last month's election. The measure will permanently close a two-mile stretch of the Great Highway from Lincoln Way to Sloat Blvd to cars and convert the space into a park.
Currently, the road is closed to motor vehicles on weekends as part of a pilot program.
On Tuesday, Engardio released a statement about the recall campaign against him.
"Voters have a right to recall their elected leaders. I respectfully ask voters to consider the entirety of my work representing them, and not just this one issue," he said. "I was elected on a platform of making neighborhoods safer, supporting small businesses, standing up for better public education, and making it easier to build the housing families need to stay in San Francisco."
The supervisor also defended his support of Prop. K and noted that a recall would not change how the measure would be implemented.
"I supported Prop K because I believe it solves unavoidable concerns about the environment and what to do with a precious coast that belongs to all. I felt the people of San Francisco should be able to directly determine the future of their coastline. A majority of Sunset voters did not agree and I invite every Sunset resident to work with me to address their concerns," he said. "I've also reached out to recall leaders to work together to solve common concerns about traffic flow and street safety."
In an interview with CBS News Bay Area, Engardio reiterated his support of the closure of the Great Highway for a park in the area.
"I understand there are a lot of concerns about Prop K, concerns about traffic and I'm committed to address those concerns. And I'm talking to hundreds of residents this past month, addressing those concerns," he said.
Recall supporters said they have three months to get nearly 10,000 signatures from District 4 voters. If enough signatures are gathered, a special election would be held.
