Sen. Leland Yee plans to make an appearance at today’s San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board meeting to speak in opposition of a severance package to be awarded to the agency’s outgoing chief.
After Nathaniel Ford, the current SFMTA executive director, announced last week that he was resigning, Yee criticized the agency’s deal to provide Ford with a $384,000 “golden parachute” severance package.
Ford is stepping down from his post two and a half years before his contract’s end. His departure is expected to be certified at the board’s meeting this afternoon.
Yee, who is actively campaigning to become San Francisco’s next mayor, has criticized other so-called golden parachute packages that were awarded to administrators with the University of California and California State University.
Yee has said that he would reform the practice, and since last week, he has launched an effort to call for the board to rescind its deal with Ford.
According to a statement released by Yee Monday, he plans to present more than 1,000 signatures opposing Ford’s “excessive” severance package.
Yee is asking the board to reject the deal that was arranged behind closed doors.
“This backroom deal is completely unacceptable,” Yee said in the statement. “With $384,000, the entire city of San Francisco could park free of charge for three days.”
Offering other equivalencies, Yee said that transit riders could use the San Francisco Municipal Railway for free for a day or that seven miles of bike lanes could be striped for the cost of Ford’s parting pay.
Patricia Decker, Bay City News
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