Diane Feinstein has been working hard to get additional funding for the levees.  (Incidentally, Arnold has also been working on this too.  It has been one area where I actually think his efforts have been somewhat helpful.)  She issued a press release today saying that she got some money through the Senate appropriations committee.  The text of the press release is on the flip.

I am quite pleased about this. The levees are a disaster waiting to happen.  Something has to be done.  Now.  Not 5 years from now.  Now. Good work Senator.

Washington, DC – The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved an amendment sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would provide $22.305 million to strengthen California levees and flood control.

  Last fall, Congress provided $41.005 million for the highest priority levee restoration and flood control projects in fiscal year 2006.

  “Breaches today in Central Valley levees illustrates that this funding is urgently needed,” Senator Feinstein said.  “This funding would contribute to achieving 100-year flood protection for 95 percent of Sacramento.  And it funds long-term planning efforts.”
  “This is so important because so much is at stake.  Earlier this year, I toured our State’s flood control infrastructure – in Sacramento and throughout the Delta.  I saw beautiful communities, subdivisions, farms, and businesses protected by simple earthen levees.  A major storm or earthquake could lead to major flooding, loss of property, and loss of life.  A major earthquake could bring the State to a halt.  No levees equals no water for two-thirds of the State. No water equals no economy.  And no economy equals no jobs.”

  So it’s absolutely critical that the federal government lives up to its commitment to these communities and the people of California.”

  Senator Boxer said, “The San Joaquin Delta levees are extremely vulnerable to collapse, threatening 2/3 of California’s water supply and the safety of our communities.  Without this extra funding, the Army Corps’ work to assess and improve our levees in the Delta would have stopped next month.  I am pleased the Appropriations Committee included this additional funding, and I thank my colleague Senator Feinstein for her dedicated work on this issue.”

  Specifically, Senator Feinstein’s amendment provides $22.305 million for the following projects:

South Sacramento Streams – $6.25 million

The project in southeastern Sacramento County includes building 12 miles of floodwalls and constructing 13 miles of levee improvements.  The completed project improvements will provide minimum 100-year protection to over 100,000 residents.

Sacramento River Bank Protection – $11.3 million

The project north of the City of Sacramento provides erosion control bank protection for the Sacramento River Flood Control Project levees.  One hundred eighty-three actively eroding sites on levees banks have been identified, 29 of which are considered to have a high potential for failure during the next high water event.

American River Common Features – $3.255 million

This project includes levee improvements along the lower American River and Sacramento River. When complete, these improvements will protect the 50,000 residents of Rancho Cordova in eastern Sacramento County as well as 400,000 City of Sacramento residents downstream.

Delta Islands and Levees Feasibility Study – $1.25 million

This long term feasibility study to conduct the Delta Risk Management Strategy identifies the levees and islands in need of repairs beyond the short term authorized CalFed work.

Short-term Delta levee assessment (CALFED 180-day study) – $250,000

This funding goes to continue coordination and initiate design data collection on projects related to the recommendations found in the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta Report to Congress (180-day report).

or, “Why I didn’t post anything today.“

So, someone stole my car yesterday or the day before.  Not a huge deal in and of itself.  It’s a cheap car, and I’m not that attached to it.  The thieves took it from street parking near my house, and dumped it in someone’s driveway across town, where DPT promptly (and rightfully) towed it yesterday morning.

When I realized the car was gone this afternoon (hey, I don’t drive every day), I made my first mistake.  Instead of calling the police to report the car stolen, I called Auto Return, the San Francisco impound yard.  They had the car.  Then I made my second mistake.  I went out the door without a book, thinking I could file the police report and challenge the tow after I got my car out and stopped the clock on the storage fees.

Not so much.  You have to file the police report before you pay off the impound lot or you can’t challenge the tow.  The impound people send me down the street to SFPD’s South Station (I’m still pretty chipper at this point).  The police at South Station sent me back to the impound lot and had me call the non-emergency dispatch.  The non-emergency dispatch sent me back to South Station, where they had me sit down until a very nice officer came out to tell me that dispatch had been wrong and that I needed to go back down the street to Auto Return and wait for an officer to come look at the car and decide whether the tow fees (around $250 at this point) will be waived.

So, I do.  This was my third (and biggest) mistake.

I wait for about three hours, with no police officer, and no way to know when they’ll get there.  The non-emergency dispatcher, when called said it could be  hours.  (I am far less chipper at this point, and am struggling not to be flat-out rude.)  (Remember, I have nothing to do except wait, and I can’t really leave, in case the police officer shows up.)  And did I mention that there’s no bathroom at Auto Return?  At some point in those 3 hours, as much to relieve the boredom as for any other reason, I ask Auto Return if I can see the car.  It’s got some joyride detritus in it, but it starts fine and it’s drivable. 

So I go back to South Station, where there’s apparently been a shift change in the last 3 hours, and ask them if there’s anything they can do.  There’s apparently nothing that they can do w/r/t the police report from inside the station.  (And they seem puzzled that I was told that I should wait for an officer.)  The new shift offers me a piece of paper with the information on it about how to challenge the adminstrative fee portion (and maybe the illegal parking ticket) of the tow, if I come back the next day during business hours. 

It’s not worth it.  I can’t lose another day to this kafkaesque farce.  I’ve now been told three different things about how to handle this situation, I have no way of knowing which of them is correct, and I need my car.  I tell the officer as nicely as I am able that the paper should go to some one who will use it, and that I’ll just go eat the fees.

So I walk back to Auto Return, pony up the $250, and resign myself to paying the $75 ticket for illegal parking.  I can’t challenge the tow, and I can’t challenge the ticket, since there’s no police report.

I’m not even pissed at the thief any more.  I’m pissed at the city.  The thief was a thief.  People suck.  But the city?  Can’t even get its act together to tell me the same story three times in a row on how to handle the theft of a car which winds up in impound.  That happens how many times a week?

I know that I was trying to report a property crime in which the property had been recovered.  I get that it’s the lowest possible priority. Still, if it’s the official policy of the SFPD that I should just be happy I got my car back, and that the tow fees and ticket is just a thief-triggered tax on having a car in the city*, then just tell me that when I ask, and I’ll add that to the taxes I already pay — maybe it could be made deductable from state and federal taxes.  Don’t make me cool my heels waiting for an officer who may never come.  I’d rather just know that’s the deal.

I know that this is a small thing, but it’s interactions like this that really frame how people feel about their government, right or wrong.  Even if the SFPD had just told me candidly that they didn’t have the resources to get anyone there that day, I would have been happier than I was with “Can’t promise anything, but wait, and someone will be there.”  I should note as well that as the afternoon progressed, I was probably the least polite of any of the players involved in this farce.  And that is of course a character flaw on my part.

*I don’t want to hear piety about not having a car in San Francisco.  If I could swing it, I would.  But for a variety of reasons, I need a car.