Next Stop: Lodge

At San Francisco No. 120, a crew of streetcar workers are making theirs the "Muni Lodge"

By Ian A. Stewart

Above: Salvador Tandoc, SFMTA Division Manager/Operations

It’s not unusual, at least historically, for San Francisco’s lodges to be dominated by members of a single professional field. Forest Hill № 534, for instance, was for years known as the “Doctors’ Lodge” because practically its entire membership were faculty or students at the University of California School of Dentistry. Jewel № 374, on the other hand, was a daylight lodge that met during the day because so many of its members worked in the theater. In the early 20th century, Parnassus № 388 was similarly dominated by police officers, the most famous of whom was the “incorruptible” Prohibition-era police captain Charles Goff.

Today, the industry-based lodge is a little less common—but, as the membership of San Francisco № 120 shows, not completely extinct. Today, that lodge includes an entire streetcar’s worth of members who work as operators, engineers, drivers, and supervisors with the San Francisco Metropolitan Transit Authority. Call theirs the “Muni Lodge.”

That’s no accident, of course. Most of the Muni-affiliated members of the lodge came in through their connection to one another, and in particular to Sal Tandoc, the current senior warden and a superintendent with the SFMTA who’s been with the department for 26 years. It was through Tandoc that Garry Fontillas, a streetcar operator and the current junior warden, was first introduced to Masonry. So, too, was Clarito Balquedra Jr., the current senior deacon, who operates the historic F-line trains from Fisherman’s Wharf down the Embarcadero.

In fact, seven officers of the lodge are transit operators with Muni. That includes Jonathan Martinez, the lodge marshal (and a streetcar operator); Jim Meade, the senior steward (an electronic maintenance technician); and Ricky Hermoso, the junior deacon (a maintenance tech).

They, in turn, have brought more coworkers into the lodge, to the point that Tandoc says he’s lost count of how many there actually are. He estimates that perhaps 30 Muni men have joined the lodge since 2019— which also makes the lodge one of the fastest-growing in the state. One of those recently raised members is Carlo Gonzaga, who works as a transit supervisor for Muni, making sure trains are running on time and rerouting disrupted train and bus lines. “Having a few coworkers in the lodge definitely made it easier for me to meet the rest of the group,” he says. “But more than that, the fellowship’s just really good there.”

As for what kind of vibe a lodge full of Muni guys creates, Tandoc says the responsibilities inherent in their job make them a reliable and engaged set. “The people who’ve decided to pursue this vision and mission, they’re all very active in the lodge,” he says. “They’re all very supportive. They participate. They volunteer.”

And, presumably, they make a point of arriving on time.

Below: More than two dozen members of the lodge work for the SFMTA in one fashion or another, including seven lodge officers.