June 3rd: The Forgotten Cali Election

Endorsed Vote: Yes

99 is a poison pill that would invalidate 98. It would also prevent the government from seizing private property using eminent domain to give it to private developers. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the government can take your property and give it to Walmart if that would help the "public good." Basically the only people who think that's a good idea are our increasingly scary Supreme Court justices. Even if you don’t care about eminent domain, vote for 99 just so the Republicans won’t be able to use this issue anymore to disguise bullshit like Prop 98.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Proposition A is a $198 annual tax per parcel. What's a parcel? It's basically a chunk of land. The fact that the tax is the same for every parcel--whether it's in Pacific Heights or Hunter's Point--makes this a somewhat regressive tax. But the value of every parcel in the City has skyrocketed in recent years. So we think it's fair that they pitch in $198 a year for our teachers. Prop A funds will mostly go to teacher recruitment, retention and training. In addition, Proposition A will help schools upgrade and replace old technologies and school computers. Senior citizens are eligible for an exemption. Long term goal is to retain well-trained teachers. Needs 2/3rd yes to pass. Proposition A will:
- Provide additional incentives for teachers who work at schools with high teacher turnover and in hard-to-fill subject areas
- Increase training and professional development opportunities for teachers to stay abreast of the latest teaching methods.
- Increase teacher support and accountability, including mentoring for new teachers and greater assurance that only teachers who meet standards are in the classroom.
- Provide block grants to schools showing the most growth in student achievement.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Prop B sets up a system that allows city employees to qualify for retiree health benefits based on the number of years they worked for the city. The way it works now, City employees who work only 5 years get full health benefits for life. It's great to offer our workers benefits, but with the crazy cost of health care these days, the current system is just too pricey for the City to afford. It's already going to cost the City $4 billion over the next 30 years. That's the sort of thing that bankrupted Vallejo. Prop B would make it so workers get 50% of their health care costs covered by the City after 10 years of service, 75% after 15 years, and 100% after 20 years. Prop B also creates a trust fund to provide some much-needed cash for retiree health benefits. Finally, Prop B makes it so you have to retire within 6 months of leaving their City job to get the benefits. That way, taxpayers aren't funding full benefits for folks who were only around for a few years. Right now, someone could work for the City for 5 years, pocket those benefits, and then move on to a fat corporate job for another 20 years before enjoying the City's benefits. Prop B is solid legislation, and pretty much everyone is supporting it. The only argument against it comes from some Republicans who say these sorts of things shouldn't be written into the City charter, and that the Supervisors or Mayor should be in charge of these types of benefits. That's actually an interesting idea, but until someone figures out how to make that work, say yes to Prop B.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

A good faith initiative for increasing the number of women, minorities and gays in positions staffed by the city of S.F. While there's no guarantee it will work, we *heart* the effort and like that it requires yearly updates on the city's progress. The best thing about it is that it will produce a study of diversity on city boards and commissions so we can see where we're at.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Right now the Public Utilities Commission is basically just appointed by the mayor. Prop E would give the supes more say and mandate that the commission reflect progressive values. It goes like this:

Right now: The Mayor appoints whoever he or she wants. Under this: The Mayor appoints folks who the board then approves. Plus, skillsets are lined out for each of the seats on the PUC. One has to go to someone with an environmental justice background, one has to go to someone with a ratepayer advocacy background, one would have a finance background, one would have a water and power background, and one would be an open seat.

In addition, all current commissioners will be booted out on August 1 unless they can approved under the new criteria. Two of the existing commissioners look like the fit the new frame- one's a solar guy and one's got some crazy public utilities background. The other two have bios that seem to be more about political connections than PUC experience, so it looks like E would kick them out and put 3 board-approved folks in.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Prop F will require new developments in Candlestick and Hunter’s Point to include 50% affordable housing. The insane cost of housing in San Francisco is probably the single most important issue in the City, and this area is one of the last frontiers for large-scale development. If we want to preserve the cultural, economic, and racial diversity of our City we have no choice. We have to find ways to build affordable housing. It's not easy, but we can make this happen--through a combination of state and federal funding, a chunk of the $350 million subsidy for a new 49er stadium, a bite out of Lennar's $300 million profit, and SF's affordable housing fund that will be on the November ballot.

Carole Migden

Endorsed Vote: Yes

This was a tough one. Ultimately we decided on Carole Migden, because we’re a group of San Francisco activists, and she has the best record on the local issues we care most about. Carole Migden has a solid record of fighting for progressive causes. She's one of the few high-profile politicians with the guts to oppose Lennar's Prop G con job. She doesn't blindly vote for Democrats when there's a more qualified third-party candidate--like Green Party members Jane Kim for School Board and John Rizzo for City College Board. She’s not perfect. We don't like her close relationships with Clear Channel and Donald Fisher (Republican founder of the GAP). Her people skills sometimes suck and she can be scattered and disorganized, which led to her getting some massive fines for campaign finance problems. But despite her crazy style, she’s proven she can pass progressive legislation in Sacramento, and she's proven that she's not afraid to stand up for San Francisco progressives.

Gerardo Sandoval

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Gerardo Sandoval has been a decent Supervisor. Before that he was a Public Defender. He's Latino, and grew up poor in LA, which is a better reflection of SF diversity than another old white dude. He wants to work on increasing rehabilitation options for non-violent offenders. He also talks about bringing "sunshine" to the courts: adopting open government rules that will let the people know what's going on with our courts. Some of us are concerned that he's only running for judge because he's termed out. And the fact that he's raised so much money for this campaign is a little sketchy. But unfortunately, it's not cheap to run a citywide campaign against an incumbent. And we're unanimous in endorsing the idea that San Francisco's judges need to better reflect the people of San Francisco.

Robert Haaland

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Rick Hauptman

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Aaron Peskin

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Rafael Mandelman

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Bill Barnes

Endorsed Vote: Yes

David Campos

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Nicole Rivera

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Eric Quezada

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Chris Daly

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Debra Walker

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Michael Goldstein

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Melanie Nutter

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Eric Mar

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Jane Morrison

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Jake McGoldrick

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Michael Bornstein

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Hene Kelly

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Giselle Quezada

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Emily Drennen

Endorsed Vote: Yes