Is this what Garry Tan's video (The Truth and Lies About Driverless Cars in SF [1]) was all about? I find him to be pretty credible in general, and he makes a strong case that there are some folks within the city government who are misrepresenting the safety record of self-driving cars. I don't know much about the situation, and I'm glad this testing isn't happening where I live (we do have tons of testing on the peninsula, but it's with humans in the vehicle). But I think it's important for companies and regulators to be honest about what is happening, whichever way the facts come out.
Tangential: This article made me curious about who owns the Chronicle these days. Looks like it's the Hearst family now [1] which is amusing because I'm pretty sure the Examiner and the Chronicle used to be sworn archenemies back in the 1800s. The Hearsts owned the Examiner back then.
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjgUPUKD-Sc