Countdown to Crawford: Voters to decide if sewage plant will carry Bush name

In November President Bush will be on the ballot again in San Francisco. But this time it won't be for a presidential election. A San Francisco group petitioned to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant as the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Supporters have gathered 12,000 signatures from residents backing the measure, which they say commemorates the mess left by the Bush administration, including the war in Iraq and environmental degradation.

Countdown to Crawford received 21 comments on the original story. Some readers disagreed with the measure to soil the president's legacy, while some expressed concern that the Bush name would degrade the treatment plant's reputation.

Ron wrote:

This is so tacky. It gives sewage everywhere a bad name.

DOn wrote:

12,000 signed the petition out of a population of 800,000. Sounds about right, I feel sorry for the many good folks who live there and have to put up with all the lunacy running their city. S.F. wake up, Americas not laughing with you its laughing at you, has been for years.

Owlafaye has other ideas in mind:

Wonderful...George W. Bush memorial urinals come to mind. The more moves like this the better. We must never forget how really terrible a president can be.

John said more presidents should receive this treatment:

To be fair, if you're going to name a sewage plant after Bush, then you should name some triple X theaters after Clinton. After all, he actually left seomthing behind.

Should San Franciscans support the measure to immortalize the president's rotten reputation, or does something about this ballot measure stink? Share your thoughts in the comments.

-- Mark Milian

Photo: Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Comments

[pmcsf]

As one of the organizers of this effort I thought I'd throw some facts out so commentors can work from the correct information:

1) The required number of signatures was 7,168 valid signatures to put the measure on the ballot. We turned in over 12,000 signatures. The normal campaign time is about 4-5 months, we did this in just under 2 months.
So to Mr. Don, the measure is extremely well supported including two polls by local papers showing an 80% approval rating and of the opposition 16% thought we were being mean to the sewage.

2) The plant renaming will cost the taxpayers nothing to extremely little beyond the normal cost fo operations as the loegislation calls for the materials to be renamed in the due course of business as materials run out. As the current signage is aged and decrepit it has to be replaced soon anyway.

3) The core crew behind this is approx. 1/3 Independent, 1/3 Democrat and veteran and 1/3 Republican. NOT a bunch of lefties by any stretch.

4) Whilst we've received death threats about this, we've also received accolades, and we believe it critical to make sure that Bush is remembered in a correct and true manner.

[Miss Deena]

Having traveled abroad, i've been asked with distaste if I was American. I always say, "I'm a San Franciscan!" This always seems to win approval from people in countries who have every right to distrust or abhor us.
My hope is that we get Obama into office, and name our sewage plant after "Dub-Ya", so people all over the world can begin to forgive the U.S.A., and love San Francisco even more.
(oh, and Don, you may be laughing at San Francisco, but we are actually instituting a socialized medical system here. The city also dipped into it's rainy day fund so our public schools wouldn't have to suffer from the budget cuts that the governor inflicted upon the educational system of California. I'm told that we are the only city with no program cuts or layoffs. Laugh all you want.)

[Roy G. Biv]

I understand the concept. And I agree that Bush has been God-awful. No, worse than that;.. But going through with this ideas attracts bad karma; i.e. bad coming back ti us. I.e. people worse than Bush. Haven't the San Franciscan activists learned the "Law of Attraction?" Shame on you fellow New Agers. Read your Deepak Chopra and Rhonda Byrne!