Dear friends,
I got several comments on the slate I sent out and wanted to let folks know about them:
1) I was extremely remiss to not recommend that Berkeley residents vote for my good friend Kriss Worthington as Mayor of Berkeley. He has served the community for many years on the Berkeley City Council bringing folks of varied interests together to improve life in a way reminiscent of San Francisco’s Harvey Milk and he’ll definitely encourage public participation in a way Berkeley’s current mayor has failed to do.
2) On the SF Community College Board, Bob of Occupy recommends a vote for Hannah Leung, lawyer and social worker, who he says doesn’t come with any obvious party baggage and has some creative ideas for revenues should Prop A and 30 fail, instead of a vote for Steve Ngo, who he says is one of the more “slash and burn” candidates along with Natalie Berg. I will follow his recommendation on this one.
3) Long-time friend Ben recommends a Yes vote on Prop F in San Francisco. I’m not sure he’s convinced me, but he provided a link to further info: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/san-francisco-against-the-world/Content?oid=3365417
4) Jennifer points out that a protest vote against Obama should be safe in California because it’s almost certain that Obama will take the state. She also doesn’t like the way San Francisco’s Park and Rec department has been mismanaging funds to privatize our parks and provides this link: http://www.sfbg.com/2012/09/05/park-bond-battle
5) Mitch suggested Sam Rodriguez as an alternative to Jill Wynn (for her vote supporting JROTC) on the San Francisco School Board.
In solidarity,
Stardust
Each year I prepare a slate card for my friends so we can debate how to vote here in San Francisco (and beyond). Here’s what I have so far… I’d love your input–
President and VP: Obama and Biden
US Senator: Feinstein (or protest by not voting)
US Rep, District 13 (was 9): Lee
US Rep, District 12 (was 8): Pelosi (or protest by not voting)
US Rep, District 14 (was 12): Speier
State Senator, District 11 (was 3): Leno
State Assembly, District 17 (was 13): Ammiano
State Assembly, District 19: Ting
School Board (I went with SF Bay Guardian on this one – union recommendations may or may not be appropriate based on school board’s decision to retain teachers in hard-hit schools instead of strictly by seniority):
* Sandra Fewer
* Jill Wynns (although horrible on JROTC and support of Ackerman)
* Shamann Walton
* Matt Haney
Community College Board:
* Chris Jackson (the best candidate trying to stand up against ACCJC/WASC imposed austerity measures)
* Rafael Mandelman
* Steve Ngo
* William Walker
BART Board, District 7: Zachary Mallett
BART Board, District 9: Radulovich
Prop 30: YES (prevent collapse of education system and social services by temporarily taxing income over $250,000 a year and small sales tax increase)
Prop 31: No
Prop 32: NO (will cut unions out of the political process while corporations still have unlimited reign)
Prop 33: No (penalizes those who try to save money and the environment by minimizing use of cars)
Prop 34: YES (stop the immoral and expensive death penalty and prevent innocent executions)
Prop 35: No (Leno working on alternative that decriminalizes prostitution and goes after those really trafficking in humans, rather than expanding the sex offender registry to non-sexual crimes)
Prop 36: YES (provides that third strike must be violent or serious to require felony incarceration, reduces high cost of overburdening already overcrowded state prisons)
Prop 37: YES (label GMOs)
Prop 38: Yes (admittedly regressive taxation to fund education)
Prop 39: Yes (tax companies based on sales in state, no exemption for those with lots of out-of-state employees)
Prop 40: Yes (accept the districts drawn up by the Citizen Redistricting Commission established by the voters)
Prop A: YES (regressive parcel tax that is necessary at this point to keep City College of San Francisco running)
Prop B: Yes (funding for parks)
Prop C: YES (affordable housing and other stuff to get businesses to support it)
Prop D: Yes (City Attorney and Treasurer elected on same election years as other city officials, rather than off years)
Prop E: Yes (not enough reform of corporate tax system, but some is better than none and Prop C apparently can be stopped by the mayor if Prop E doesn’t pass)
Prop F: No (leave Hetch Hetchy as is to provide the great water the city needs, not another expensive study on how to remove the dam at a later cost of $3 to $10 billion)
Prop G: Yes (policy statement that corporations are not people and money is not speech)
Board of Supervisors, District 1: Eric Mar (important progressive choice in a tough race)
Board of Supervisors, District 3: David Chiu
Board of Supervisors, District 5: Christina Olague (she’s facing a tough race, but in my personal experience has really come through on most housing and other important issues — do not vote for Julian Davis who allegedly groped Kay Vasilyeva, a member of the San Francisco Women’s Political Caucus)
Board of Supervisors, District 7: Norman Yee, (not Garcia)
Board of Supervisors, District 9: David Campos (just mark him on first choice, NOT on all three choices per snail mail advisory from SF Election Dept.)
Board of Supervisors, District 11: John Avalos
In solidarity,
Stardust