Car Washing Idea Saves San Francisco $75K

SAN FRANCISCO - David Ebarle, a manager at San Francisco's 911 center who also oversees the Department of Emergency Management's vehicle fleet, was recently honored by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for coming up with a more-cost effective way to wash city vehicles, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Earlier this month, Newsom had Ebarle accompany him for his annual budget address and praised Ebarle for coming up with the idea to wash city cars less, resulting in $75,000 in savings, reported the Chronicle.

Ebarle's recommendation was to operate a drive-thru car wash to reduce the amount of full-service car washes.

"You don't need to clean the entire vehicle to make sure the windshields are clean for safety," explained Ebarle. "Faced with the choice of dirty cars or service reductions, I'll take dirty cars. For a while, at least."

Ebarle also suggested reviewing the entire city purchasing process for additional savings, the Chronicle reported.