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Guide can be viewed at:http://www.theballot.org/2010/falseprofit-nov-2010

False Profit Nov 2010 Voter Guide

San Francisco, CA

November 2, 2010

False Profit, LLC's recommendations for the November 2, 2010 General Election in San Francisco and the surrounding area.

CA Prop 19, Marijuana Legalization

Endorsed Vote: Yes

This is a step in the right direction. We believe that prohibition has never worked and continues to fail our communities today -- it only empowers those who are willing to operate in the margins of the law.

CA Prop 20, Congressional District Redistricting

Endorsed Vote: No

This is a tricky one. Prop 20 would put districting decisions in the hands of an independent commission rather than elected officials, which would probably end up being more fair. Democrats are the incumbents, however, so Republicans will gain ground in a fairer system. We say No, for those reasons, even if it’s not the most principled stand.

CA Prop 21, Vehicle License Fee to Fund State Parks

Endorsed Vote: Yes

As with SF Prop AA, this is a small fee ($18) that will raise much-needed funds for infrastructure that’s gotten short shrift in the economic downturn.

CA Prop 22, Prohibits the State from Taking Local Funds

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Many of us believe that there are limited situations where the state should have access to local funds. That tricky negotiation should be conducted through existing processes. Most other organizations agree with this opinion. However, some of us believe that a hard line is needed, here, preserving local funds where policymakers know best how to use them.

CA Prop 23, Suspension of Air Pollution Control Laws

Endorsed Vote: No

If you vote yes on this proposition, Momma Earth will come to your house and beat you with a stick.

CA Prop 24, Repeal of Corporate Tax Loopholes

Endorsed Vote: Yes

There was some pretty gross sausage-making in the last budget deal, and part of it was that big corporations got a bunch of tax breaks. This measure simply rolls those back. False Profit is a California company and all, but we’ll go against our own interests here and recommend that you vote Yes.

CA Prop 25, Simple Majority State Budget Passage

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Our budget approval process has been dysfunctional for a long time due to the 2/3 vote required. It’s allowed the Republican minority to exercise disproportionate control over our political system. This measure corrects a long-standing systematic problem that Legislature may never have been able to fix themselves. Vote YES.

CA Prop 26, Approve State and Local Fees with 2/3 Vote

Endorsed Vote: No

For the same reasons we recommend a YES vote on Prop 25, we say NO on Prop 26. Any 2/3 vote is a recipe for political gaming by the political minority.

CA Prop 27, Eliminate State Redistricting Commission

Endorsed Vote: Yes

We recommend a vote of YES on Prop 27 for the same reasons we recommend a vote of NO on Prop 20.

SF Prop AA, Vehicle Registration Fee

Endorsed Vote: Yes

This raises registration fees by a modest $10, bringing in much-needed funds to fix roads and make roads more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

SF Prop A, Earthquake Retrofit Bond

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The proceeds from this general obligation bond would retrofit permanently affordable housing and single room occupancy buildings that have seismically vulnerable soft-story conditions. Soft-story buildings represent our most vulnerable class of buildings, and we need to retrofit them so their residents will be safe and can shelter in place after an earthquake.

SF Prop B, City Retirement and Health Plans

Endorsed Vote: No

We have a health care cost problem, that’s for sure, but we should be figuring out how to reduce costs and insurance company profit margins rather than penalizing our city’s workers. The benefit reductions proposed here are also severe and unfair. A single mom making $40k a year would have to add an additional $5,600 on top of the $8,100 she already pays for health care. And cuts to her benefits are no different from someone making twice her salary, or more. Vote No.

SF Prop C, Mayor Appearances at Board Meetings

Endorsed Vote: No

No. Our ballot should not be a high school slap fight.

SF Prop D, Non-Citizen Voting in School Board Elections

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Since the 1982 Supreme Court decision Plyer v. Doe, all children of illegal immigrants are legally granted access to public education and in SF, an estimated 30% of students are children of undocumented parents. The SF School Board consists of 7 members, elected by SF citizens, and sets policy for all public schools. Voting in school board elections allows parents to vote for board members whom they believe will best represent the interests of their children as students. All students, whether their parents are undocumented or documented, should have the opportunity to be represented in school policy decisions. Additionally, parental participation in US public schools is strongly correlated with improvements in local schools and student performance, so a YES vote is a vote to create the possibility for 100% parental participation.

The entire SF School Board supports this proposition.

SF Prop E, Election Day Voter Registration

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Any citizens who is eligible to vote on election day should be allowed to register and vote; in 8 states, same day registration increases voter turnout 3-7% and youth turnout by as much as 14%. In the 2008 elections, the 5 states with the highest turnout were those with election day registration.

SF Prop F, Health Service Board Elections

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The Health Service Board, which oversees the Health Service System and medical and dental benefits to city employees consists of 7 members, 3 of which are appointed and 4 of which are elected. The terms of elected members are staggered so that 1 new member is elected four out of every five years. Prof F consolidates elections for the Health Service Board so that 2 new members are elected 2 out of every five years. This consolidation will yield an estimated savings of $30,000 annually providing cost savings without reducing services provided by the Health Service System.

SF Prop G, Transit Operator Wages

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Prop G allows for collective bargaining for wages, benefits, and working conditions and will make it easier for the city to balance its budget by negotiating MUNI wages towards an end of fiscal responsibility.

SF Prop H, Local Officials on Political Party Committees

Endorsed Vote: No

Serving on a political party committee represents no clear conflict of interest while holding local office. Not a single ethics complaint regarding dual office holding or division of loyalties has ever been filed.

SF Prop I, Saturday Voting

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Saturday voting increases voter turnout and makes it possible for people who have little flexibility with their weekday work schedule to go to the polls.

SF Prop J, Hotel Tax Clarification and Temp. Increase

Endorsed Vote: No

The proposed temporary increase in hotel room tax rates from 14% to 16% may reduce tourism and convention business. With this increase, SF would have the highest hotel tax rate in the US. The same hotel tax increase in NYC led to a drop in convention business and a forced repeal.

SF Prop K, Hotel Tax Clarification and Definitions

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The hotel tax rate should remain at 14% despite the fact that we’re not entirely comfortable with the “poison pill” included to invalidate Prop J. This is a misuse of ballot process.

SF Prop L, Sitting or Lying on Sidewalks

Endorsed Vote: No

(if you vote yes on this, John will trip you the next time he sees you on the sidewalk)
Prop L prohibits all people from sitting or lying on the public sidewalks between the hours of 7am and 11pm. To enforce this, police are allowed to first issue a warning to offenders and if ignored, may issue a fine of $50 or $100, and maximally, to charge the offender with a misdemeanor and jail time.

This proposition criminalizes the acts of sitting and lying on the public sidewalks of San Francisco. Proponents claim that this law could help increase safety on public sidewalks, but this proposition fails to include language to require that this law is enforced when those sitting or lying are also threatening public safety. Additionally, it is so inclusive, criminalizing everything from sitting on the sidewalk while overseeing a garage sale to sleeping on the sidewalk, that it cannot possibly be enforced uniformly. It will therefore likely be enforced selectively on already marginalized groups.

SF Prop M, Community Policing & Foot Patrols

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

The only agreed upon good thing about Prop M is the poison pill it contains to revoke Prop L (sit/lie) if it passes. Otherwise it contains some new requirements for police to increase foot patrols and create a community plan (something which the No folks argue that they already do). We’re pretty ambivalent. The Yes argument is largely because of the poison pill. The No argument is largely because we don’t think that propositions should tell departments what to do.

SF Prop N, Real Property Transfer Tax

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Yes - Vote yes if you believe the general fund needs more money and that these transactions occur amongst high net worth individuals and corporations, thereby taxing the wealthy for the benefit of all.

No - Although real estate transfer taxes are an appropriate mechanism for generating tax revenue, the fact that these funds would go into the general fund raises a red flag for us. We would like to see some discipline introduced into the general fund management process. As it stands, this transfer tax isn’t clearly linked to fixing our structural deficit. And it isn’t clearly linked to the provision of greater social services (like, say, the creation of a permanent source to fund affordable housing), which is a missed opportunity.

SF City Supervisor, District 8

1) Rafael Mandelman, 2) Rebecca Prozan

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Rafael Mandelman is the progressive candidate. Rebecca Prozan is status quo and is progressive on some issues and moderate on others (much like the current supervisor Bevan Dufty -- indeed, Bevan has endorsed Rebecca). The others are downtown business candidates. With ranked choice we recommend voting 1) Rafael Mandelman and 2) Rebecca Prozan.

SF City Supervisor, District 6

Debra Walker

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Debra Walker is a veteran of the San Francisco live/work scene. Since the 80's Debra has lived at Developing Environments, one of the first legal artist live/work spaces in SF. She is a supporter of group living in former industrial spaces and is interested in finding ways the city can encourage it - from financial subsidies to code or rule changes (at one point she served as president of the Building Inspection Commission). She is also an accomplished painter herself who appreciates the importance that creative, artistic people play in the local community, and has reached out to members of the FP community to help with some of our art space projects. If she successfully nets the District 6 Supervisor slot she will be in a great position to use her perspective and influence to improve San Francisco's policies about live/work and artist warehouses.

US Senator

Barbara Boxer

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Boxer is one of the most progressive members of the Senate and is being attacked, among other reasons, for being strong woman and asking a military official to address her as Senator just like her male colleagues (instead of the pejorative "ma’am"). What's more, she's pro environment and pro gay marriage, pro small business, pro job stimulus, anti-war, supported the public option to the very end, (I could list a million amazing progressive stances if you'd like). Carly Fiorina represents everything that got us into this economic mess (corporate greed, outsourcing middle class jobs, corporate tax breaks, etc). Fiorina is also pro drilling off the CA coast and proudly supported prop 8. Fiorina is also avidly pro-life while Boxer has been a vocal advocate for a woman's right to choose. Boxer is a clear choice for any Democrat, progressive, middle class worker, small business owner, environmentalist, gay rights supporter... the list goes on and on.

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