Power players support boosting bridge tolls

Big names and big money are banding together to sell voters in June on a $3 toll increase on state-run Bay Area bridges to pay for a laundry list of road, rail and ferry projects throughout the region — some sexy and some not so much.

The Regional Measure 3 campaign — whose backers include Facebook, Salesforce, Google and a number of other businesses — had its informal kickoff the other day, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced her support during a “fireside chat” hosted by the tech-boosting Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

“California leads the nation in many areas — traffic congestion shouldn’t be one of them,” Feinstein said.

The measure was put together by Bay Area lawmakers working with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Bay Area Council, which also represents some of the region’s biggest businesses and institutions, plus the urban think tank SPUR.

If approved by voters, the toll increase would be phased in by a series of $1 bumps over the next six years on all seven of the Bay Area’s state-operated bridges. The $4.5 billion generated by the increase would go to help finance 30 transportation projects throughout the region, including extending BART to Santa Clara, undergrounding Caltrain lines into downtown San Francisco, and financing new freeway connectors, bicycle paths and ferry boats.

“We’ve done polling, and there is support for this,” Bay Area Council President Jim Wunderman said.

Still, while all nine Bay Area counties would benefit from the project, it’s the heavy bridge users in Contra Costa and Alameda County who would pay the biggest portion of the cost.

While there has been no organized opposition, one vocal opponent is Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord.

“The projects they are talking about are all over the place and are based more on political relationships than on transportation engineering,” DeSaulnier said.

State Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, is also opposed, largely because the measure allows for automatic toll increases in the future based on inflation.

“And they can do it without any vote of the people or the Legislature,” Baker said.

The measure requires approval from a majority of voters in the nine counties — so it’s going to need a good sales job to pass.

The San Francisco political consulting firm Terris, Barnes & Walters has been brought on to run the campaign, with Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino taking a leave to help steer the effort —with an emphasis on voter-heavy Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

So far, the campaign has amassed a $2 million war chest, including $350,000 from Facebook, $250,000 from Kaiser Permanente Health Care, $125,000 from Dignity Health Care and $125,000 from Salesforce.

As for why Feinstein is backing the measure?

In addition to all the other projects, the $4.5 billion includes $50 million for the senator’s pet goal of building a second San Francisco Bay “southern crossing” — either for cars, BART or both — from the East Bay to the city.

In the crowd: BART director Lateefah Simon was among the swarm of demonstrators who disrupted the commuter line’s service at Oakland’s 12th Street BART Station Monday while protesting the January shooting death of Sahleem Tindle by a BART officer.

“I am going to be there for every single protest that involves a black life ... and folks who want to lift up and call for justice,” said Simon, a longtime friend of Tindle’s family. Her district includes parts of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties.

BART police Officer Joseph Mateu shot 28-year-old Tindle three times in the back when the officer, hearing gunshots, went to break up a fight outside West Oakland BART Station. A gun was found at the scene — and a second man turned up wounded — but it remains unclear if Tindle was armed.

Simon had joined Tindle’s mother and family members earlier when they met with Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to demand that Mateu be charged with murder.

Simon said she was assured by family members that they had no intention of stopping any trains when they moved onto the BART platform, and she blamed protesters who had tagged along for holding open train doors and prompting BART to run three other trains through the station without stopping.

“It’s my job to bear witness,” Simon said.

Favorite spot: A collection of the late Mayor Ed Lee’s staffers held a luncheon memorial Friday at his “table” at Sam’s Diner on Market Street, feasting on Lee’s favorite dish — the Ma-halo Loco Moco — a beef patty and two eggs over easy, layered on steamed rice and covered with brown gravy.

Lee’s chief of staff, Jason Elliott, who now serves Mayor Mark Farrell, presented a proclamation declaring it Sam’s Diner Day in San Francisco.

The former mayor began frequenting Sam’s in 2012 and was a steady customer in a show of support for owner Jeannie Kim’s pioneering investment in the Mid-Market neighborhood.

Shortly after he began visiting, Kim and her staff designated Table Five for him — choosing the spot because, they decided, it provided him the most privacy.

Now permanently installed over Table Five is a plaque and photo of a smiling Lee, dressed in Golden State Warriors colors, that reads: “This table is dedicated to Mayor Edwin M. Lee, who shared his love for the city, passion for empowering people and always found laughter in his work. 1952-2017.”

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross