The San Francisco Chronicle has the story:

Thanks to a maze of bureaucratic indecision and historic restrictions, taxpayers may shell out $100,000 per foot to make the Board of Supervisors president’s perch in the historic chambers accessible to the disabled.

What’s more, the little remodel job that planners first thought would take three months has stretched into more than four years - and will probably mean the supervisors will have to move out of their hallowed hall for five months while the work is done.

“It’s crazy,” admits Susan Mizner, director of the mayor’s Office on Disability. “But this is just the price of doing business in a historic building.”

Supervisor Jake McGoldrick said Tuesday that the issue went to the heart of liberal guilt that often drives the city’s decision making. He also choked on the price tag, and asked that the board take some more time to come up with an alternative, like maybe just getting rid of the president’s elevated seat.

This is a prime example of the waste and inefficiency of government. $1 Million for a ten foot ramp is absurd. Very few people will ever use this ramp. There have to a dozen cheaper ways of making the appropriate changes.

“I deserve equal access to every part of the chamber,” Alioto-Pier told her colleagues, adding that ending discrimination is worth the $1 million.

I don’t know the exact situation of when they updated the building in the 1990s, but I highly doubt the contractors got together and said “Hey, let’s discriminate by making everything except this one platform accessible.” I would hope elected officials would think of what is best for their constituents and prevent such a gross abuse of city resources.

If they want a slightly cheaper solution, they can use a big flat piece of metal that can be laid over the steps. I saw this implemented in a historic building to great effect when I visited the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles several years ago. I guess fiscal conservatism and resourcefulness are in short supply in city hall.

Unfortunately, San Francisco City Hall is not fully wheelchair accessible, but it is 100% idiot accessible.