Posted: October 26th, 2018 | Author: Kate Michelle McCarthy | Filed under: Elections, Kate Slate, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Kate Slate – November 2018
Here’s your Kate Slate for the November 2018 election for San Francisco and California. The goal of the Kate Slate is to encourage others to vote by sharing my cheat sheet. You probably won’t agree with me on everything, and that is okay! Just please vote on or before November 6, 2018.
Even if you don’t know your polling place, or where you were last registered to vote, or if you are registered, you can always go to City Hall on Election Day (November 6!) 7am-8pm to register and cast a provisional ballot. Though, if you can, it is always best to cast a live ballot at your polling place.
If you have an absentee ballot, you can surrender your absentee ballot for a live ballot at your polling place. This is what I usually do. The poll workers will destroy your absentee ballot and give you a live ballot. This assures you that your ballot is read and counted as you intended it. (ie. When you vote absentee, if a machine rejects your ballot, the machine depends on a human to interpret your absentee ballot. I am not trying to be all conspiracy-theorist here, but feeding your own ballot into the machine and hearing it beep is the best way to ensure your ballot is interpreted as you intend it to be.)
I write the Kate Slate race-by-race, issue-by-issue, and sometimes end up voting against something that seems right up my alley if it has some fatal (to me) flaw. I let you know if I think it does and why.
My opinions in the Kate Slate are my own, and in no way should be thought to represent any views of anyone other than myself. I have thoughtful engaging conversations with well-informed friends who sometime shed light on aspects I hadn’t considered, I get the tacky expensive mailers you get, and cool people like yourself send me others’ slates. I am not affiliated with any party.
When I voted the very first time, I found myself in the voting booth surprised that I didn’t understand the all issues or know all the candidates on the ballot. The next election, I studied the ballot and shared my notes with friends, bringing about the Kate Slate. These days the slate is preceded by a Slate Party I cohost with my pal Sacha Ielmorini. The Slate Party is a big informer of the Kate Slate, as is the League of Pissed Off Voters (thank you for your impeccably-researched guide), SPUR (often disagree, yet informative), social media and coffee break chatter.
Feel free to forward the Kate Slate to friends (and friends, if someone other than me–Kate–sent this to you feel free to drop me a line if you end up reading it, I like to hear who this made its way to, and I can add you to the email list for the next Kate Slate).
As always, thanks for reading, now please go vote. Take others with you.
Grab and go! (The short version you can take with you to the polls. See below for the details.)
Governor – Gavin Newsom
Lieutenant Governor – Eleni Kounalakis
Secretary of State – Alex Padilla
Controller – Betty Yee
Treasurer – Fiona Ma
Attorney General – Xavier Becerra
Insurance Commissioner – Ricardo Lara
Board of Equalization Member, District 2 – Malia Cohen
United States Senate – Kevin de Leon
United States Representative – Nancy Pelosi
State Assembly Member, District 17 – Alejandro Fernandez
State Assembly Member, District 19 – Phil Ting
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court – Carol Corrigan. NO
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court – Leondra Kruger. Yes
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1 – James Humes. Yes
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1 – Sandra Margulies. no
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2 – James Richman. No
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2 – Marla Miller. No
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 3 – Peter John Siggins. No
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 4 – Jon Streeter. Yes
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 4 – Alison Tucher. Yes
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 5 – Barbara Jones. Yes Superintendent of Public Instruction – Tony K. Thurmond
Member, Community College Board – John Rizzo, Thea Selby
BART Board, District 8 – Janice Li
Member, Board of Education – Alison Collins, Faauuga Moliga, Gabriela Lopez
Proposition 1 – YES
Proposition 2 – Yes
Proposition 3 – Yes
Proposition 4 – No
Proposition 5 – No no no
Proposition 6 – NOO NOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Proposition 7 – Yes
Proposition 8 – Yes
Proposition 9 – Not on ballot
Proposition 10 – YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS
Proposition 11 – no
Proposition 12 – yes
Proposition A – YES
Proposition B – no
Proposition C – YES
Proposition D – no
Proposition E – YES
Assessor Recorder – Paul Bellar
Public Defender – Jeff Adachi
District 2 Supervisor – Nick Josefowitz
District 4 Supervisor – Gordon Mar
District 6 Supervisor – Matt Haney
District 8 Supervisor – Rafael Mandelman
District 10 Supervisor – Theo Ellington
Now, the whole enchilada on why I am voting the way I am:
Governor – Gavin Newsom
I am not a big fan of this politician who is more concerned with coif than substance. He is big on talk and not on action, so his role as lieutenant governor shooting spitballs at the federal government served him well. The agenda of his opponent is largely to repeal the gas tax (but I depend on roads and public transportation, so no thanks), so I gotta vote for Gavin Newsom. Ugh.
Lieutenant Governor – Eleni Kounalakis
I am happy that we have two Democrats to choose between in this race, but I don’t think highly of the lieutenant governor seat—not sure it does much more than break ties in the state legislature. And, both candidates seem pretty good. I broke my tie by reviewing their endorsements; I find I have more affinity with Kounalakis’s endorsers than Hernandez’s. It is a nice bonus that Kounalakis is a woman because I value diverse representation in government.
Secretary of State – Alex Padilla
I was hoping to sweep the June Primary and win them all so I wouldn’t have to rewrite all these endorsements. Alas, we only won a few. Here’s what I said for the June Primary: I endorsed Alex Padilla in 2014 and he did well by us! So I am going to endorse him again so that he can continue taking very seriously his role overseeing our elections. I have been impressed how much he is doing to protect elections from meddling while also expanding voter access. He is doing good work that I’d like to see him continue doing.
Controller – Betty Yee
Another June Primary write-up…and: Another candidate that I have endorsed before who continues to do good work that I’d like to see continue doing that work.
Treasurer – Fiona Ma
Fiona Ma is a career politician who continues to get my vote more for her opponent in the election than her record.
Attorney General – Xavier Becerra
I continue to be impressed with Xavier Becerra, even since the June Primary, when I said: Xavier Becerra was appointed to Kamala Harris’s seat after she got elected to congress. And, he’s made us proud by defending our state’s rights against the evil Trump administration, so proud. I want Becerra to keep fighting the good fight.
Insurance Commissioner – Ricardo Lara
I had fun voting for Nathalie Hrizi in the June Primary for Insurance Commissioner as she wants to abolish insurance companies. But, now we’re at the general election and she’s not on this ballot to tempt us, so I’m picking the smiling Democrat rather than perennial candidate Steve Poizner.
Board of Equalization Member, District 2 – Malia Cohen
I abstained voting in this race during the June Primary: the State Board of Equalization had most of its power stripped from it after an audit revealed much corruption internally, and because none of the candidates are people for whom I would vote, I chose to abstain. But, someone is going to win the seat, and I rather it be Malia Cohen than Mark Burns.
United States Senate – Kevin de Leon
I was so shocked and outraged that Dianne Feinstein wasn’t representing Californians against the Trump administration right from the beginning of his term that I was super fired-up during the June Primary to vote for Kevin de Leon. I said I was super proud of Kevin de Leon for standing up for California and defending our sanctuary state policy, and I am. But since the June Primary, I had the opportunity to review how he handled sexual harassment at his workplace and it seemed weak and palliative. And even as underwhelmed as I have become by de Leon, I am still so pissed at Feinstein for not representing us, California, her constituents, that I am not dignifying her candidacy with my vote, even though I am certain she will win.
United States Representative – Nancy Pelosi
I have abstained from voting for Pelosi in the past because she is the codification of big money in government. But the federal government is a scary government body right now and I am so freaked out I am voting safe this election.
State Assembly Member, District 17 – Alejandro Fernandez
I was going to sit out this race this election because I think David Chiu should do more for San Francisco because lots of city issues are tied up by state policy and he could make real, tangible changes for the good of San Francisco, but so far not really. And now that he has come out against Prop C (see below) and I am just over him. Alejandro Fernandez won’t likely win, but he’s got some nice progressive ideas and he also supports Prop C.
State Assembly Member, District 19 – Phil Ting
Should I be in his district, I had also been planning to recommend abstaining in this race for the same reason as District 17 above: we deserve better. There are so many city issues being tangled by state policy, from the housing crisis to innovative street design, and we need strong leaders representing San Francisco. And guess what?? Phil did better!! He passed us a policy allowing SF to tax ride-hailing companies’ annual revenue! And he provided the public easier access to law enforcement’s body cam footage! So I suggest voting for him! See how excited I get when elected leaders do good stuff?
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court – Carol Corrigan. No
The judges are where I typically have to do the most research and come up with the smallest amount of info. This year I got most my help from http://politics.voxpublica.org/. One thing to remember is that judges are typically appointed by governors/executive branch and then elected by unknowing voters. So, you can look up who appointed the judge and assert any inferences accordingly. Judicial elections don’t get the same attention as the rest of the polls get, and there is decidedly more insidiousness at play with serious consequences. If a judge were to lose a seat in an election (rare), the current governor would appoint a new justice. So, I think about the judge’s record and the chance that a new appointee would be worse, and make my choice.
While it sounds like Corrigan may be the first lesbian to serve in the California Supreme Court, she also has the unfortunate distinction of having written not one, but two dissents to the Court’s finding that the California Constitution protected the right of gay people to marry. I am voting no.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court – Leondra Kruger. yes
Leondra Kruger was the court’s second youngest appointee after serving as an Obama official. Since 2014 her judicial record has been strong. And, she is a woman of color, a welcome presence in our courts.
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1 – James Humes. Yes
Jim Humes was California’s first openly gay justice when he was appointed by Jerry Brown, who he worked for prior, including on Brown’s Prop 8 briefing stating why the state would not defend the anti-gay measure. I also hear he favors prosecutors, which isn’t great but most judges do.
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1 – Sandra Margulies. no
I am a no on Margulies based on her record: ruled in favor of Uber and ruled in favor of expanding the circumstances that police could do blood draws on motorists without a warrant. Nope.
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2 – James Richman. No
Richman is another I am voting “no” on based on him ruling against protecting public worker pensions.
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2 – Marla Miller. No
I am voting no on Miller after she ruled against tenant protections via Ellis Act reforms for San Franciscans. She also supposedly made problematic efforts to protect the Governor’s office during the CPUC corruption issue.
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 3 – Peter John Siggins. No
While some credit Siggins for being one of the justices who ruled that California’s prisons are overcrowded to the point of human rights violations, I don’t endorse him because way back in 2010 I read a paper he wrote that said we all have to get used to increased government intrusion and invasion of privacy for the sake of national security. Ummm, no thanks, dude.
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 4 – Jon Streeter. Yes
I’m a big yes for Jon Streeter who sued the federal government for holding immigrants without a chance of bail while in private practice.
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 4 – Alison Tucher. Yes
I’m also a big yes for Alison Tucher who got a person exonerated who was wrongfully convicted of murder after doing a ton of pro-bono work.
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 5 – Barbara Jones. Yes
I am a yes on Barbara Jones who has a long celebrated career serving California. She ruled in favor of the Raiders’ Cheerleaders in a wage theft issue.
Superintendent of Public Instruction – Tony K. Thurmond
Thurmond is one of my favorite candidates on the ballot this election, and I said as much before the June Primary: Tony Thurmond has a long history of serving on the school board for Contra Costa County and the Richmond Youth Commission. Meanwhile, his competitor is a CEO who runs a corporate charter school company–no thanks! Vote Tony Thurmond.
Member, Community College Board – John Rizzo, Thea Selby.
For Community College Board, you vote no more than three, there are four running. Two incumbents, John Rizzo and Thea Selby, are true champions of the institution for helping City College weather the accreditation storm that seemed like it was going to nearly sink the school for years. Incumbent Davila has lost my faith due to recent ethics complaints and her general mismanagement of her affairs.
BART Board, District 8 – Janice Li
Sadly, I am not in BART District 8, so I won’t get to vote in this race. But, if you are so lucky to vote for this unicorn candidate, please do. What makes Janice Li so rare is that she both someone you feel great voting for (a queer woman of color who does amazing work in the community), and simply one of the best qualified people for the role (I count eight commissions and policy bodies she has been on since 2014). She is one of the hardest working transportation advocates making our systems more equitable and safe. She quite literally walks the talk and has been doing so for years. Vote Janice Li for BART Board District 8.
Member, Board of Education – Alison Collins, Faauuga Moliga, Gabriela Lopez
For Board of Education you can vote for no more than three. And the race is stacked with compelling candidates. Too many. I researched others who also seem good, Li Miao Lovett, Lex Leifheit, Martin Rawlings-Fein, to name a few. But Alison Colins, Faauuga Moliga and Gabriela Lopez are the standouts for me.
Collins and Moliga have been working within the school system already; Collins as part of the district’s African-American Parent Advisory Council, and Moliga at both the district and school levels, where he works on systemic change for the benefit of Pacific Islander students and providing services for students impacted by violence in their neighborhoods.
Gabriela Lopez is a bilingual elementary teacher in SFUSD (the only candidate who is a teacher) and would be the first Latina on the school board in 20 years. I am psyched to vote for these three candidates, and I am gratified so many talented candidates are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work for San Francisco students.
Proposition 1 – Authorizes bonds to fund specified housing assistance programs. YES
News flash! California is in a housing crisis. This authorizing of bonds for veterans housing and affordable housing will not solve California’s housing problems, but it will help. Vote yes.
Proposition 2 – Authorizes bonds to fund existing housing program for individuals with mental illness. Yes
Another yes to authorize even more bonds for housing, this time for people with mental illness. There has been some grumbling about taking money from a fund that provides direct services for people with mental illness to provide housing for people with mental illness. But, housing is a basic human need, so I think that this is an appropriate use for the funds.
Proposition 3 – Authorizes bonds to fund projects for water supply and quality, watershed, fish, wildlife, water conveyance, and groundwater sustainability and storage. Yes.
I have debated this one back and forth and back again. It is SO HUGE. $8.877 billon! It authorizes bonds for massive water projects that are necessary to maintain our crumbling water infrastructure. It is just the sort of thing a legislature should be working on funding by engaging experts and stakeholders and making tough decisions and passing several pieces of legislation. Or not. Seems like our legislators just passed it off to us voters in one big fat controversial ballot initiative that seems to address vital water infrastructure needs while leaving no one happy.
But the problem is our infrastructure is actually crumbling! Remember when we thought the Oroville Dam was gonna burst?? Yeahhhhhh. So: Time is of the essence. I don’t think we can count on the existing legislature to do their job since they punted this to us voters. Let the opponents on the various sides of the various issues of this prop duke it out in court after this passes. It’s not a good answer, but it’s an answer.
Proposition 4 – Authorizes bonds funding construction at hospitals providing children’s health care. No
I know the optics aren’t great here, but let’s not fund the building of private hospitals with bonds that accrue interest at taxpayers’ expense. Isn’t government funding spread too thin?
Proposition 5 – Changes requirements for certain property owners to transfer their property tax base to replacement property. NO NO NO
This is bad. The Legislative Analyst’s Office found that, if passed, this would initially cost local governments and schools over $100 million/year, growing about $1 billion/year after. It would do so by allowing homeowners to transfer their existing property tax base to a new property. Currently, when homeowners buy a new property of greater value than their existing property, their tax base increases. This change would benefit real estate investors without providing any new housing nor assisting first-time homebuyers at the expense of our schools and local governments. We literally cannot afford for this prop to pass.
Proposition 6 – Eliminates certain road repair and transportation funding. Requires certain fuel taxes and vehicle fees be approved by the electorate. NOO NOOO NOOOOOOOOOO
This is terrible. If you like bridges maintained, roads repaved, public buses and trains, perhaps the occasional sidewalk, then VOTE NO ON PROP 6. This would strip the state of $5 billion/year, San Francisco $60 million/year of transportation funding that voters just approved to dedicate to transportation projects in the June 2018 Primary! Voters just said we want to fund transportation projects! And worse, it requires the a voter supermajority to approve any future gas or vehicle tax, which is very difficult to achieve.
I don’t understand why this would even be put on the ballot, other than a fundamental misunderstanding about how infrastructure is maintained and built: it’s about money. How are we supposed to pay for the infrastructure that gets us where we need to go? The impact this would have on transportation infrastructure, both city and state-owned would simply be devastating. Vote no, tell your friends to vote no, tell your family to vote no.
Proposition 7 – Conforms California daylight saving time to federal law. Allows legislature to change daylight saving time period. Yes
This one is vaguely interesting. If passed, it would allow California to petition the federal government to stay daylight savings time all the time. Full disclosure: I have experimented over the past couple years NOT adjusting my sleep schedule to standard time, giving myself a bonus hour in the mornings to exercise, read, cook, etc. And, I liked not having the couple of weeks of adjustment to the new time. I am voting yes.
Proposition 8 – Regulates amounts outpatient kidney dialysis clinics charge for dialysis treatment. Yes.
This is a no-brainer. It would cap profits on patient care. Healthcare is a human right. Vote yes.
Proposition 9 – Not on ballot.
You don’t get to decide on whether to divide up California into smaller states because the California Supreme Court says so.
Proposition 10 – Expands local governments’ authority to enact rent control on residential property. YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS
This gives cities and counties the ability to expand and/or modernize rent control. Currently the state severely restricts rent control at the expense of its most vulnerable populations. In this scary housing crisis, our ability to maintain housing requires having stable rent. All the arguments against this prop are greed-based, favoring the rich at the expense of the poor. I call bullshit. Housing is a human right. Vote yes, vote loud and proud, and encourage your neighbors to vote yes, too.
Proposition 11 – Requires private sector emergency ambulance employees to remain on-call during work breaks. Eliminates certain employer liability. No.
This was put on the ballot by private ambulance companies after they were sued for violating state law regarding workers’ break rights. There was going to be state legislation to address this, but talks broke down between owners and labor so the ambulance company paid signature collectors to get this put on the ballot to resolve its liability. Boo.
Proposition 12 – Establishes new standards for confinement of specified farm animals; bans sale of noncomplying products. Yes.
This would give slightly better conditions to some farm animals. What will the other animals would think if us humans if we don’t vote yes?
Proposition A – Embarcadero Seawall Earthquake Safety bond. YES.
Huge kudos to the public officials behind the terrifying PSAs. Thank you, I am voting yes. Just in case you didn’t know, San Francisco is quite vulnerable both to earthquakes and sea level rise. And it also turns out our seawall is about 100 years old, and our little buddy is overdue for reconstruction to protect our regional and local transportation system’s tunnels (BART and Muni), utility networks, and the docks. If you aren’t convinced yet to vote yes, watch the video at the link.
Proposition B – City privacy guidelines. no.
I am a pretty soft “no” on this, but still no. It is nonbinding, and is good because it sets guidelines for data collection for SF. But, since data collection is an international business, the benefits of this prop, implemented at just the city level would be minimal at best. And, frankly this could be implemented by the Board of Supervisors on any given Tuesday without a ballot initiative.
But also hidden in here somewhere is that this would allow the Board of Supervisors to make changes to the Sunshine Ordinance, now required by ballot. It seems shady (ha) that the Proposition as it appears on the ballot only mentions privacy guidelines and doesn’t mention that it would allow changes to the Sunshine Ordinance. And, the needed changes to the Sunshine Ordinance I’ve seen by this Prop’s proponents are uncontroversial and would likely be easily passed by voters should the changes be put on a ballot. For now, I vote no.
Proposition C – Additional business taxes to fund homeless services. YES.
This would raise $300 million annually for homeless services by taxing San Francisco’s businesses with more than $50 million receipts annually. San Francisco has been struggling with homelessness for years.
Here is a robust plan to build and acquire housing, treat addiction and mental health and prevent homelessness. Don’t let anyone tell you that there is not a good plan: it is all spelled out. There are 10 points to the plan, there are charts, there are graphs. And, don’t let anyone tell you the mayor has to do it herself and she doesn’t like it: the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development is one of three city agencies to which funding will be allocated (Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and the Department of Public Health being the other two), and it will be the office’s staff doing the work, not the mayor herself. Since the Mayor has said she is committed to addressing homelessness, it seems solid. And do not tell me that this is too hard for San Francisco businesses or would repel businesses: Corporations earning more than $50 million in gross receipts can definitely afford a half penny per dollar to help address homelessness. If they are too greedy to address the problem on their doorstep they don’t deserve to be here.
Housing is a human right. C’mon San Francisco. Let’s address really start addressing this problem: VOTE YES.
Proposition D – Additional tax on cannabis businesses; Expanding the businesses subject to business taxes. no.
This is a ridiculous and unfair sales tax because: weed, dude. I am supportive of taxing weed, but this allows an additional tax of 1-5% and could be changed to 7% by the Board of Supervisors. That is nuts. Sure, tax it, but tax it relative to other taxes. This tax seems really outsized, so I am voting no.
The last few years in the United States have seen a chorus-line of watershed moments for the cannabis industry, but revisions to 2018’s Farm Bill were perhaps the most silent and significant. Despite some persisting legal murkiness around how and where hemp and CBD products can be purchased and shipped, this federal action has led to widespread distribution of CBD products like tinctures, lotions, sodas, gummy bells—even hemp flower you can smoke. CBD has made the news. Everyone is talking about what it can do for people suffering from scores of chronic medical issues. Some ask how well cbd gummies bears benefits work and what are the effects.
Addiction is a brain disease and needs to be managed like any other chtonic disease. On this site recoverydelivered.com use medications that can stop cravings, block wihdrawal symptoms so you do not feel dope-sick and block the high from heroin and opioids.
Proposition E – Partial allocation of Hotel Tax for Arts and Cultural purposes. YES.
Do you remember Prop S in 2016? It was a better version of this. But the backers of S have brought us C and E in this election and I am here for both. Currently hotel taxes go to San Francisco’s general fund. When the hotel tax was initially established in 1961, it was to woo tourists with cultural facilities. But, it was amended over time to eventually fund the general fund and the Moscone Center. If approved, this would allocate 1.5% of the 8% hotel tax back to arts and culture. The rest stays in the general fund. VOTE YES.
Assessor Recorder – Paul Bellar
Carmen Chu’s political career is a story of political appointments and incumbent elections. And, here is another incumbent election for her, except it is in a race against a property tax nerd who wants to address a major flaw in the existing system: accountability. She’s been fine, but he’d be great and that’s how my vote goes.
Public Defender – Jeff Adachi
Jeff Adachi is a great public defender running unopposed. He is addressing racial disparities in arrests and sentencing and he is a vocal proponent for overdue bail reform. Yay.
District 2 Supervisor – Nick Josefowitz
While I align politically most with Josefowitz of the D2 candidates, I take issue with how we throws around his money to get what he wants. It is just icky. Even if we agree that bikeshare should be citywide. But I don’t have another candidate I like better. Sorry, District 2.
District 4 Supervisor – Gordon Mar
A grassroots community organizer and brother of former supervisor Eric Mar. He has a stellar resume and supports immigrant rights, workers rights, and the environment.
District 6 Supervisor – Matt Haney
For this race I paid attention to which campaign the developers funded, and it wasn’t Matt Haney’s! Meanwhile his endorsements shine like the stars. He has an impressive resume and he is very polished.
District 8 Supervisor – Rafael Mandelman
Didn’t we just elect this guy? Oh yes, we did. But we elected Mandelman to finish Scott Weiner’s term when we sent Scott to the state senate. Now we must re-elect Mandelman for a full term of his own.
District 10 Supervisor – Theo Ellington
Theo Ellington is deeply engaged in the District 10 doing grassroots community development work; he fought the coverup of the toxic waste disaster and its mismanagement at the Hunters Point Shipyard, and he isn’t accepting campaign contributions from corporations. A candidate you can feel good voting for.
Oh hey! You made it to the end. Nice work. Now go out there and vote!
Posted: November 3rd, 2015 | Author: Kate Michelle McCarthy | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on The Kate Slate – November 3, 2015
This year’s slate is San Francisco races only, and this year’s ballot reflects the challenges our City has been facing with new tech companies, regulation, and affordable housing.
I write my “Kate Slate” for every local election, and have been for almost as long as I have been able to vote. When I first voted, I found myself in the voting booth surprised that I didn’t understand the issues or candidates on the ballot before me, even though I was a citizen engaged in politics and I followed the news.
I did the best I could with my ballot leaving several blanks. The next year I would be more prepared. So, I studied the ballot before the election writing my notes about the slate, and shared the Kate Slate with friends.
Also, for the past nine or so years, co-host Sacha Ielmorini and I have held a Slate Party in advance of my writing of the “Kate Slate”. (Our every-election tradition is a mellow, civilized discussion among friends, who agree to disagree, for the sake of feeling confident about our own voting. If you are interested in being invited to the slate parties, let me know.) The Slate Party has been a big informer of the Kate Slate.
For the Kate Slate, I go race-by-race, issue-by-issue, and sometimes end up voting against something that seems right up my alley if it has some fatal (to me) flaw. And, I will let you know if I think it does and why.
My opinions in the Kate Slate are my own, and in no way should be thought to represent any views of anyone other than myself. I have thoughtful engaging conversations with well-informed friends who sometime shed light on aspects I hadn’t considered, I get the tacky expensive mailers you get (the most ever this year!), and cool people like yourself send me other peoples’ slates who apparently aren’t waiting until the last minute to write it up like I am. And, I am not affiliated with any party.
Feel free to forward the Kate Slate to friends (and friends, if someone other than me–Kate–sent this to you feel free to drop me a line if you end up reading it, I like to hear who this made its way to, and I can add you to the email list for the next Kate Slate).
You probably won’t agree with me on everything, and that is okay!
Even if you don’t know your polling place, or where you were last registered to vote, you can always go to City Hall tomorrow 7am-8pm to cast a provisional ballot. Though, if you can, it is always best to cast your own ballot at your own polling place.
If you have an absentee ballot, you can surrender your absentee ballot for a live ballot at your polling place. The poll workers will destroy your absentee ballot and give you a live ballot. This assures you that your ballot is read and counted as you intended it. (ie. When you vote absentee, if a machine rejects your ballot, the machine depends on a human to interpret your absentee ballot. I am not trying to be all conspiracy-theorist here, but feeding your own ballot into the machine and hearing it beep is the best way to ensure your ballot is interpreted as you intend it to be.)
As always, thanks for reading, bonus points for voting.
Grab and Go (details below):
Mayor – Abstain
Sheriff – Mirkarimi
City Attorney – Dennis Herrera
District Attorney – Abstain
Treasurer – Cisneros
Community College Board – Tom Temprano
A – San Francisco Affordable Housing Bonds – Yes
B – Charter Amendment for City and County Staff Parental Leave – Yes
C – Lobbyist regulations – yes
D – Mission Rock Development approval – No
E – Changes to City meeting rules – NO
F – Short-term rental regulations – Yes
G – Renewable energy definition and CleanPowerSF regulations – NO
H – Renewable energy definition and CleanPowerSF regulations – YES
I – Development moratorium in the Mission District – Yes
J – Establish a Legacy Business Historic Preservation Fund – Yes
K – Expand allowable use of surplus City property – YES
Mayor – Abstain
With the huge boom and its new technologies, we need a leader that is going to defend the City in the face of these changes on behalf of its citizens. Instead, our Mayor is assisting businesses skirting regulations and taxes, while wavering on affordable housing and transportation issues that we need to manage all these changes in San Francisco. After his first term, I lack confidence in Mayor Ed Lee.
And, since Ed Lee will win with no strong candidate against him, some people are suggesting voters should make a statement by a “Vote 1-2-3” endorsement of alternate candidates Amy, Francisco, and Stuart. But I also lack confidence in these candidates and I take the Mayor’s office seriously. So, in the absence of a qualified candidate I am going to abstain from voting for Mayor this election.
Sheriff – Mirkarimi
Mirkarimi the Sheriff has done some good stuff: He got the Sheriff’s Department certified to assist with foot patrols to help supplement the SFPD’s work, and he made it so that inmates would be housed according to their self-identified gender. This year he has also been criticized because a person who was released from custody according to Sanctuary City policy later murdered Kate Steinle. This is misleading for several reasons; there is not a direct correlation from the sanctuary city policy to the murder, just a shared plot line. And, I proudly support the Sanctuary City policy and it has been a law since 1989–this was nothing new, but the headlines because it related to Mirkarimi.
And of course there is the issue with his legal troubles and domestic violence problems. He isn’t always a great guy all around. I don’t want to dismiss violence and abuse. I also think that people have profound personal failures can still deliver successful work. I think he is the best candidate on the ballot for this office right now.
City Attorney – Dennis Herrera
Dennis Herrera is running unopposed so I won’t spend much time on here, but he’s done great work for the City (he is one of the champions who helped legalize marriage).
District Attorney – Abstain
Gascon is running unopposed and I have never been impressed with his leadership. Right after he was appointed Chief of Police by Gavin Newsom he was a big supporter of the Sit-Lie law allowing police to heckle people who are sitting in public (note that police can heckle people who were breaking the law already, no need to expand their power to heckle law abiding folks who are simply sitting). Some people also think that him moving from Chief of Police to DA is a conflict of interest, and with the current state of the SFPD, and that’s why legal help is important, so if you’re looking for an alternative setence, you can get help from lawyers as jerry nicholson who is an expert in these kind of cases.
Treasurer – Cisneros
Again, running unopposed, so not too much to say. Progressives like him for making AirBnB pay hotel taxes. He also launched the Bank on San Francisco program that helped thousands of low income families with free bank accounts and financial education.
Community College Board – Tom Temprano
The Community College Board has some serious work to do with City College’s accreditation issues and massively dropped enrollment. Tom Temprano is a local leader with lots of great experience and strong ideas for addressing the enrollment issues including stronger outreach and rebuilding the relationship the school has with SFUSD.
A – San Francisco Affordable Housing Bonds – Yes
$310 Million in SF’s housing market is a joke. This is a drop in the bucket for what we actually need to support affordable housing in SF, but I guess it is something.
B – Charter Amendment for City and County Staff Parental Leave – Yes
Full disclosure: I am a City employee, but not a present or future parent. The City needs to be able to be competitive to attract top talent and parental leave time is pretty low hanging fruit. This is a sensible HR policy that will allow city/county employees who are parents both take up to 3 months of parental leave when establishing their family. We have to vote on this silly HR decision due to the City Charter. Currently two city/county employees starting a family would have to split that leave time. It also allows parents to keep a week of sick time if they go on leave.
C – Lobbyist regulations – yes
More disclosure: I serve on two nonprofit boards of directors that do lobbyist work.
Though I realize that this may mean that these important tiny organizations would have to register as lobbyists and submit monthly reports (read: cost precious resources of time and money that could be going to their crucial advocacy work). The issue for me is that the same goes for the big guys. And if the small orgs that I trust don’t have to file the reports, this also means that the big guys also don’t have to be transparent. And, I want to know what the big guys are up to.
And, our smart and savvy small orgs will figure out quick and efficient ways to file their reports and pretty soon we will forget it is a thing.
So, forgive me, my fellow board members who disagree with me on this one, but I am voting yes.
D – Mission Rock Development approval – No
OK This is on the ballot because voters previously said they wanted to vote on any new building on Port property that would exceed existing height limits. And here we are with a proposal from the Giants that would be built on Parking Lot A.
The development has some cool features. And yes, the affordable housing percentage of 40% is good. But what is not good is a 10-story garage on the waterfront. And worse even is that parking taxes that should go to the City (parking taxes) are split 80-20 to fund transportation work and senior services, the SF Giants will get to use the money as they please on transportation projects. What transportation projects? Parking?! I don’t know about you, but I rather the money go to the City transportation agency so that it can go to where it’s needed on our City’s transportation network, not to the Giants. Stick to baseball, guys.
E – Changes to City meeting rules – NO
This proposition would make a mess out of the public process by allowing pre-recorded and remote public comment to be required for every commission and board. I am imagining a company with a campaign that submits a bazillion comments that don’t reflect actual public opinion. Then combine that with the mystifyingly contradicting part of this proposition that would require that agenda items be time-set. So, for example, the Board will address item C on the agenda at 5:05pm. I have no idea how these two parts of the legislation are supposed to work in concert since allowing prerecorded and remote public comment would make time-set agendas practically impossible, but the moral of the story is that I am voting No on this giant mess.
F – Short-term rental regulations – Yes
Here’s the thing about F: It isn’t great legislation. Here’s the thing about voting No on F: Our city leaders have failed to do their job regulating AirBnB, so here we are voting on regulations for AirBnB and other short term rental companies.
We have a housing crisis and we are allowing a corporation to skirt accountability for its impact on our city, and it is not okay. So I am voting yes even though I don’t like everything about it. For example, I think the restriction on short term rentals of in-law units is silly–especially since there would be a 75-day cap on short term rentals. And, I think the notification requirement to notify all neighbors within a 100’ is a little heavy handed. But, these complaints are not enough.
G – Renewable energy definition and CleanPowerSF regulations – NO
H – Renewable energy definition and CleanPowerSF regulations – YES
G and H go together. A PG&E union wrote G defining categories of “renewable energy” for CleanPowerSF. But then the G proponents negotiated H that was then put on the ballot by Supervisors Avalos and Breed and defines that renewable energy will be counted according to state law. The proposition with more yes votes will win, but everyone agrees that your yes vote should be on H.
I – Development moratorium in the Mission District – Yes
This is another drop in the bucket initiative, wherein I think its actual impact will be minimal but it is a nice thought. It rehashes a Board of Supervisors’ fight over whether or not to have a housing development moratorium for 18 months (unless it is 100% affordable housing) in the Mission District so that a funding plan can be put together for the City to purchase the tiniest amount of available property so that it can be used for affordable housing. Ultimately it won’t save the Mission, but the funding plan and investment in this work is good policy.
J – Establish a Legacy Business Historic Preservation Fund – Yes
We already have a legacy business registry, but this would tighten the restrictions slightly and includes a way for these legacy businesses to apply for grants, with priority given to those at risk of being displaced. I like how this will help us keep our old favorite businesses. I do balk slightly that to be added to the registry requires a politician’s endorsement, and that then those businesses would be given public money that could be used on truly public works, but I think preserving the character of the city we love is important too.
K – Expand allowable use of surplus City property – YES
This is smart city policy that will allow surplus city property be allowed to be sold and used for affordable housing. Vote yes.
Posted: November 4th, 2014 | Author: Kate Michelle McCarthy | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on The Kate Slate – November 4, 2014
Hello Voters!
Tomorrow is the midterm election we have all been waiting for (or at least the one that I have been waiting for), and as you may know, I write a Kate Slate for every local election, and have been for almost as long as I have been able to vote. The idea for the Kate Slate is to share with friends what I have found out in preparing my own ballot for the election.
For the past eight or so years, co-host Sacha Ielmorini and I have held a Slate Party in advance of the writing of the “Kate Slate”. Our every-election tradition is a mellow, civilized discussion among friends, who agree to disagree, for the sake of feeling confident about our own voting. If you are interested in being invited to the slate parties, let me know.
Feel free to forward the Kate Slate to friends (and friends, if someone other than me–Kate–sent this to you feel free to drop me a line if you end up reading it, I like to hear who this made its way to, and I can add you to the email list for the next Kate Slate).
For the Kate Slate, I go race-by-race, issue-by-issue, and sometimes end up voting against something that seems right up my alley if it has some fatal (to me) flaw. And, I will let you know if I think it does and why.
My opinions in the Kate Slate are my own, and in no way should be thought to represent any views of anyone other than myself. I have thoughtful engaging conversations with well-informed friends who sometime shed light on aspects I hadn’t considered, I get the tacky expensive mailers you get, and cool people like yourself send me other peoples’ slates who apparently aren’t waiting until the last minute to write it up like I am. And, I am not affiliated with any party.
Since voters recently changed how primaries work in California elections for most races, all registered voters can now vote for any candidate running in the primary (this year it was in June, in case you missed it), with the top two vote-getters overall moving on to the general election, regardless of parties of the voter and candidates. For that reason, some of my endorsements from June will be the same for this election, unless my original endorsement didn’t make the cut.
You probably won’t agree with me on everything, and that is okay!
Even if you don’t know your polling place, or where you were last registered to vote, you can always go to City Hall tomorrow 7am-8pm to cast a provisional ballot. Though, if you can, it is always best to cast your own ballot at your own polling place.
If you have an absentee ballot, you can surrender your absentee ballot for a live ballot at your polling place. The poll workers will destroy your absentee ballot and give you a live ballot. This assures you that your ballot is read and counted as you intended it. (ie. When you vote absentee, if a machine rejects your ballot, the machine depends on a human to interpret your absentee ballot. I am not trying to be all conspiracy-theorist here, but feeding your own ballot into the machine and hearing it beep is the best way to ensure your ballot is interpreted as you intend it to be.)
As always, thanks for reading, bonus points for voting.
Grab and Go (details below):
Governor: Jerry Brown
Lt. Governor: Abstain
Secretary of State: Alex Padilla
Controller: Betty Yee
Treasurer: John Chiang
Attorney General: Kamala Harris
Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones
State Board of Equalization: Fiona Ma
US Representative: Abstain
State Assembly: David Campos / Phil Ting
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court: Goodwin Liu – YES
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court: Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar – Yes
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court: Kathryn Mickle Wedegar – No
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1: Jim Humes – Yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1: Kathleen M. Banke – yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2: J. Anthony Kline – yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2: Therese M. Stewart – yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 3: Stuart R. Pollak – yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 3: Martin J. Jenkins – yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 4: Ignazio John Ruvolo – no
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 5: Mark B. Simons – yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 5: Terence L. Bruiniers – no
Superior Court Judge: Daniel Flores
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson
Member, Board of Education, vote for 3: Shamann Walton, Stevon Cook, Jamie Rafaela Wolfe
Member, Community College Board – Four-year term, vote for 3: Thea Selby, Wendolyn Aragon, Brigitte Davila or John Rizzo
Member, Community College Board – Two-year term, vote for 1: William Walker
Assessor-Recorder: Carmen Chu
Public Defender: Jeff Adachi
Proposition 1: Water Bond – no
Proposition 2: State Budget. Legislative Constitutional Amendment – no
Proposition 45: Healthcare Insurance – yes
Proposition 46: Drug and Alcohol Testing of Doctors – NOOOO!
Proposition 47: Criminal Sentences – YESSSSSS!
Proposition 48: Indian Gaming Compacts – yes
Proposition A: San Francisco Transportation and Road Improvement Bond – YESSSSSS!
Proposition B: Charter Amendment to increase amount provided to SFMTA based on population – YESSSSSS!
Proposition C: Charter Amendment to support services for children, youth, and families – Yes
Proposition D: Charter Amendment to make retiree health benefits available to former SF Redevelopment Agency and Successor Agency employees – yes
Proposition E: Tax on Sugar-sweetened beverages to fund health, nutrition, physical education, and recreation programs – YESSSSSSS!
Proposition F: Approve height limits for Pier 70 development – Yes
Proposition G: Additional tax on sale of multi-unit residential properties within five years of purchase – YES
Proposition H: Shall the city be required to keep natural grass at all athletic fields in Golden Gate Park and prohibit nighttime sports – yes
Proposition I: Allow renovations to children’s playgrounds, walking trails, and athletic fields – NO
Proposition J: Increase the minimum wage to $15/hour – YESSSSSSS!
Proposition K: Policy statement to help construct or rehabilitate 30,000 homes by 2020, including affordable housing – abstain
Proposition L: Policy statement to change parking and transportation priorities – NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I am in an odd district so I don’t vote for District Supervisor this election but I endorse Jane Kim for D6. For the rest you are on your own!
The details…
Governor: Jerry Brown
Though he does have the best official gubernatorial portrait hanging at the state capital, he is otherwise lackluster. But, he is better than the Republican alternative.
Lt. Governor: Abstain
For the primaries I noted that I had strong feelings of disdain for incumbent Gavin Newsom, and things haven’t changed much here. I just can’t bring myself to vote for him, and he’ll win anyway.
Secretary of State: Alex Padilla
I said in June that Alex Padilla was, “Just taking the next step in his political career,” and let’s be real: He is. But, Alex Padilla has been a pretty great state senator representing his district in LA. He has been honored for his work as a champion of our state parks and was behind the bill for the statewide plastic bag ban. He also tried to impose a ban on lobbying during the final 100 days of the legislative session, but it didn’t go anywhere. He is an all around good guy, so he has my vote.
Controller: Betty Yee
I have been referring to the races for Controller, Treasurer and State Board of Equalization the “Chiang-Yee shuffle.” Awesome Controller John Chiang is termed out and running for Treasurer, and termed-out Betty Yee is going for Controller, and Fiona Ma is going for Yee’s vacated Member of State Board of Equalization seat. Here is a race with a talented candidate who is qualified for the job, running against a career politician who is less so. Betty Yee has a strong vision for her new role including top-to-bottom reform. I also have been endorsing her since she ran for State Board of Equalization.
Treasurer: John Chiang
As I mentioned above, and for the primary election, John Chiang is termed out as Controller, where he did well as a watchdog protecting taxpayer interests. Perhaps you recall how the state was closing 70 state parks due to the state’s budget shortfall and then all of a sudden $54 million was uncovered of hidden assets the department had been sitting on? Well, that was John Chiang’s discovery. And it saved the parks from closing. He has my vote for his new role as Treasurer.
Attorney General: Kamala Harris
I stand by my primary election endorsement, even though I have expressed reservations about her in the past: First, Kamala is running against a crazy person (read his statements yourself), so there is that. Second, her leadership impressed me when she asked the courts to allow California to continue to allow same-sex marriages while the courts were hearing the constitutionality of Prop 8, even though they denied her request.
She also walked out of talks with big banks responsible for the mortgage crisis when the deal they were arranging was too lenient. She has stood up to the NRA for gun control when other politicians have waffled. I think she has been good in this position and I hope she is reelected for a second term.
Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones
Again, I will paraphrase my Primary endorsement, which includes a quote from my endorsement of him in 2010: This is a case where there is only one candidate who even makes sense for the office: incumbent Dave Jones. On one hand you have Ted Gaines who is an insurance businessman. (How is HE going to regulate the insurance companies? No conflict of interest there, right?) And then you have Dave Jones who is the incumbent. Here is what I wrote about him in the Kate Slate when he first ran in 2010, “Dave Jones is another champion of environmental causes and introduced the Green Insurance Act of 2010 that establishes environmental standards and protections in the insurance business, and provides incentives and tax credits for offering green insurance and making green investments.” Who are you going to vote for?
State Board of Equalization: Fiona Ma
As previously mentioned, Fiona Ma is doing the Chiang-Yee shuffle, going for the office that termed-out Betty Yee who is running for the Controller’s office vacated by termed-out John Chiang who is running for Treasurer. She served on the SF Board of Supervisors until 2006, and was okay. I picked her because she is running against a Republican, honestly.
US Representative: Abstain
Look. Nancy Pelosi is going to win. But she is one of the big Democrats biggest fund raisers, attending more than 400 fund raisers in a single year in the past, according to this story. And, though I usually lean Democrat when the alternative is Republican, I think the money in politics is gross and wasteful, and me abstaining on this vote is just me keeping a little of the slime off of me.
State Assembly: David Campos / Phil Ting
I feel much stronger about supporting David Campos for State Assembly than I did at the Primaries. The big game changer for me has been the serious conflict of interest of David Chiu presenting legislation to benefit Airbnb (and rip off the city for back taxes owed). Airbnb people are pumping money into the Chiu campaign, and the lobbyist working for Airbnb just happens to be none other than David Chiu’s own campaign spokesperson, Nicole Derse. So gross. That is exactly what I was worried about when I wrote this for the primaries:
Here is the deal: I just don’t trust David Chiu. After he flopped on the mayoral appointment when Gavin Newsom got elected to Lieutenant Governor I felt so deceived, and now we are stuck with Ed Lee as Mayor.
And, Chiu didn’t demonstrate the strong willpower we need at the State Assembly when he let a few loud businesses water down a really great street design for Polk Street that would have made the important corridor safer for everyone using it. I just don’t trust him and I worry that his vote will be bought in the state assembly. So he is a no-go.
I live in Campos’s district and have never been impressed, but I like the race he is running much better and I trust him more. He claims that he will work on important legislation at the state level that could help the dire housing situation in SF. I sure hope so. The lesser of two evils. Big sigh.
As for that OTHER assembly race…Phil Ting helped get physically separated bike lanes legalized in California this year, and has worked on other safety-critical bicycling legislation at the state level. I think his Reset SF thing was a little weird, but I have forgiven him for that thanks to all his great work making California safer for bicycling….
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court: Goodwin Liu – YES
Progressive, left-leaning who has ruled in favor of social issues I care about including affirmative action, same-sex marriage, and access to abortion.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court: Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar – Yes
Cuéllar was a scholar who worked with Obama on immigration reform before being appointed to the Supreme Court by Jerry Brown.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court: Kathryn Mickle Wedegar – No
Wedegar has some weird conflict of interest on her record where she presided in a case against Wells Fargo when she owned $1million in Wells Fargo stocks, and did not meet financial disclosure requirements.The firms she goes top are among the top in the country and the world. The one over here is probably the best considering that she has the best portfolio out of anyone.
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1: Jim Humes – Yes
Jim Humes was California’s first openly gay justice when he was appointed by Jerry Brown. Prior he worked for Jerry Brown’s office and worked on Jerry Brown’s Prop 8 briefing stating why the state would not defend the anti-gay measure.
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 1: Kathleen M. Banke – yes
Kathleen Banke was appointed by Schwarzenegger which means she is Republican or at least leans conservative. She seems to be very focused on law practice, engaging in all sorts of legal education programs including teaching at Hastings College of Law in SF, and moot court competitions (which is awesomely nerdy).
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2: J. Anthony Kline – yes
J. Anthony Kline is involved in all these youth service programs like Youth Service America and the National Association of Youth and Service Corps. He also was the Legal Affairs Secretary for Jerry Brown back in the ‘70’s
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 2: Therese M. Stewart – yes
Therese has a similar resume as Jim Humes–she is also from San Francisco and has also worked on gay marriage issues in California, though Stewart did so representing the City and County of San Francisco.
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 3: Stuart R. Pollak – yes
Back on the day he served on the Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President Kennedy. Can’t dig up anything too juicy about him. Though I did find out that he enjoys California legal history trivia, so you may not want to invite him to your holiday party.
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 3: Martin J. Jenkins – yes
Originally from San Francisco, Martin Jenkins has worked on Civil Rights law for many, many years. He also has a legal doctrine that deals with copyright law named after him, the Jenkins-Laporte Doctrine.
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 4: Ignazio John Ruvolo – no
Another Hastings College of Law professor who has won lots of honors and awards for his work, but liberal judges have dissented from his opinions on issues such as firearms, so I shall dissent as well.
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 5: Mark B. Simons – yes
Yet another Hastings College of Law professor! Though his specialty is evidence. He also enjoys working out at the gym, apparently. Sometimes there really isn’t a lot of info about the judges online, and then when you do find something it is about their recreational activities? So weird.
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, District 1, Division 5: Terence L. Bruiniers – no
Look. I have my doubts about anyone who was a police officer in Berkeley 1967-1973, served as a US Marshall, AND prosecuted capital cases earlier in his career. He has had a long career already and will probably be elected anyway, so I am not going to feel guilty for being judgmental.
Superior Court Judge: Daniel Flores
This is what I wrote for the primary about Daniel Flores: I find this race important, too. People never pay attention to the judges on Election Day, but they get elected and hold office for ages, never challenged, ruling in our courts for years. This one is important, too, because the person who should win is not paying for ads (or at least none that I got) [note: still true as of 11/3] and I worry that Daniel Flores, a civil rights attorney, will be outspent by Kingsley. What turned me off about his competitor is who endorsed her. I got her mailers and thought, “No, thank you!” (Endorsements from David Chiu, London Breed, Gavin Newsom, and Carole Migden to name a few.) And, Daniel Flores has the endorsements of people and groups I trust (Jane Kim, SEIU 1021, John Avalos).
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson
Still endorsing Torlakson after many moons. Previous endorsement: “I have endorsed Torlakson for many elections. This is what I wrote in the 2010 November Kate Slate, “I endorsed him in the June primary, and I still think he has the right idea about the public school system. I like that he is ready for the fight for funding, that he favors neighborhood schools, and supports a healthy school environment including access to healthy foods, physical education and health care. While that might not seem like a primary educational focus, I promise you that after four years of teaching middle school in East Oakland, I discovered they are crucial social justice issues to address in education.” He still has my endorsement. He is doing a good job in a difficult office.”
Member, Board of Education, vote for 3: Shamann Walton, Stevon Cook, Jamie Rafaela Wolfe
Okay. I have triangulated the endorsements from SF Guardian (we’re still counting on you to rise from the dead, guys), League of Pissed Off Voters, local celebrities like ‘Deep and Broke Ass Stuart, and the slates of friends, like Laura Thomas, friend of Jesse Stout (no link; it was on FB and Jesse sent me the slate in the text of an email}, and Pete from Leftwing, a radical soccer club. And, these three people get the most repeat endorsements. Rafaela-Wood will give trans youth a voice at the BOE, Cook is supposedly an all around good person, young, progressive, and driven, and product of SFUSD, and Walton works with youth in the Bayview.
Member, Community College Board – Four-year term, vote for 3: Thea Selby, Wendolyn Aragon, Brigitte Davila or John Rizzo
City College is so beyond crisis mode–and it is crucial that this community educational resource is protected for San Franciscans. I have been saying this for years, while constantly trying to vote for the College Board candidates that would save City College from losing accreditation, or would save City College from itself, and it just hasn’t happened (yet).
Wendolyn Aragon, Thea Selby, and Brigitte all have the political chops to get it done. John Rizzo is incumbent, and was the only reformer Board Member who seemed to be getting results. But he hasn’t always been trustworthy in his politics, according to some. So, I’d say Aragon and Selby for sure, and then you can pull the trigger on Rizzo if you think experience on the Board matters, or Davila if you think a clean slate will save City College.
Member, Community College Board – Two-year term, vote for 1: William Walker
Everyone seems to think William Walker is the top choice here. I have only heard one person not endorse William Walker and they said he was a loud mouth. Walker served as a Student Trustee on the College Board. And sometimes being a loud mouth gets things done.
Assessor-Recorder: Carmen Chu
It is hard to care about an uncontested race. Carmen Chu is a product of the Newsom-Lee machine and I’m not so into her. But people keep pointing out that she is managing the office well. Whatever.
Public Defender: Jeff Adachi
Jeff Adachi has been doing interesting things around re-integrating recently released prisoners, and other good progressive public defender-type things. He is also running unopposed. Did you know that is an indication of an unhealthy democracy? Even though I like him.
Proposition 1: Water Bond – no
This is frustrating because we need a solution to our water issues (beyond just getting some rain), but the fact is that this is terrible legislation. It is such bad legislation that our state legislators didn’t want to touch it with a ten foot pole so they pulled the old, “let’s let the voters decide!” tactic. Hmm. It is a hugely expensive bond, it doesn’t actually resolve the issue, and has major environmental flaws. And for those who say, “but we desperately need this right now!” I say what we desperately need is a wet winter and strong, smart legislation to appropriately handle California’s water management.
Proposition 2: State Budget. Legislative Constitutional Amendment – no
Here is another case of just bad legislation. It would lock finances in a so-called “rainy day fund,” but with strings attached that would make the already cumbersome state budget even more restricted. It is also a constitutional amendment, and I find that problematic because there are other, less drastic and permanent legislation that could be done to address our state budget issues.
Proposition 45: Healthcare Insurance – yes
This just closes a regulatory gap allowed by Obamacare by allowing the Insurance Commissioner to regulate health insurance rates as it already does for auto and home insurance. Of course, insurance companies are fighting this like crazy because they don’t want to be regulated, but don’t let them win!
Proposition 46: Drug and Alcohol Testing of Doctors – NOOOO!
At our slate party this year, Mike said that this just sounded like a pissing contest between doctors and lawyers. And that is exactly what it is. I got permission to use that line. The random drug testing of doctors is unfair and an invasion of privacy. And, is just a malpractice lawsuit ploy by lawyers, anyway. It is also unnecessary.
Proposition 47: Criminal Sentences – YESSSSSS!
I am so excited that there is finally smart criminal justice legislation on the ballot. This would decriminalize nonviolent offenses allowing for people who are serving time for nonviolent crimes (property crimes of $950 or less) to be released from our overly stuffed prisons. And, everyone (who is smart) supports this (including groups that typically are more conservative on criminal justice issues) because it is just smart legislation. Thank you, California for finally putting a decent criminal justice item on the ballot!
Proposition 48: Indian Gaming Compacts – yes
So this is pretty ugly and I don’t feel good voting on it. Here is the thing: There is an Indian tribe that wants to build a casio on land they acquired, but the land they acquired is not on their reservation. Another Indian tribe is fighting it because this acquired land is close to their reservation and casino and if you want to do bets online you can visit qqscore88.com to find the best esports betting sites online.
But here is the thing that seems weird: Both tribes are all displaced peoples and the distinction of sovereign reservation land is pretty arbitrary. After all, the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs assigned the plots of reservation land to the various tribes and it has nothing to do with birthright or homeland or any of that. It is based on this social construct we have about sovereign Indian land. And to this end, if the tribe owns the land and they own their reservation, does it matter per se if the casino is not on the reservation? It all seems so arbitrary and odd.
Annnnnd at the same time I hate casinos. So you could just vote no if you hate casinos, and that is that.
But I say vote yes because our federal government already negotiated this agreement under fair terms with the tribe, and as a country we should stop going back on our word with the indigenous communities.
Proposition A: San Francisco Transportation and Road Improvement Bond – YESSSSSS!
This bond requires a supermajority to win. I hate bonds, it is an expensive way to fund city and county work, but with the current state of the city budget, there simply is not enough funding to cover some of the basic transportation projects that we need to implement to make our streets safer for walking and bicycling. This is the mayor’s transportation measure and if it doesn’t win a bunch of critical projects won’t get funded. For reals. So please, please, please vote yes on A!
Proposition B: Charter Amendment to increase amount provided to SFMTA based on population – YESSSSSS!
So, this basically says that the City will fund the SFMTA (our City transportation agency) based on population as it grows, which makes sense. I often am against ballot box budgeting but I am for this one because the Mayor had originally said he was going to put a Vehicle License Fee on this year’s ballot to help fund transportation. But then the Mayor got cold feet so Supervisor Weiner put this on the ballot to force the mayor to put the VLF on the 2015 ballot–if the Mayor does get the VLF passed in the next election, Prop B will be nullified. At the same time, I don’t think it is a terrible idea for a “transit-first” city to base funding its transportation agency on they city’s population. So yes.
Proposition C: Charter Amendment to support services for children, youth, and families – Yes
Everyone says yes to this which will extend funding for support services for young people up to 24 years old. I don’t like that it restricts funding from the general fund, but I do like the idea of a rainy day fund for these services.
Proposition D: Charter Amendment to make retiree health benefits available to former SF Redevelopment Agency and Successor Agency employees – yes
This is more about fairness than anything. When the state legislature ended the Redevelopment Agency as we know it, retiree health benefits for its employees also went with it. This would restore these 50 or so city employees’ benefits.
Proposition E: Tax on Sugar-sweetened beverages to fund health, nutrition, physical education, and recreation programs – YESSSSSSS!
Tell the Libertarian in yourself that this is not a tax on sodas, a tax on your god-given soda-drinking civil liberties, but instead as a revenue source for critically underfunded youth health, nutrition, P.E. and after-school rec programs. Then you shouldn’t have any issue voting yes on E because all the money generated from the tax goes to fund good stuff.
Proposition F: Approve height limits for Pier 70 development – Yes
This is actually a positive outcome of last year’s prop B. Voters said that waterfront developments that want to increase height limits have to be approved at the ballot. And the Pier 70 development project planning was well underway when that passed. So with the new law, the Pier 70 developers had to get voter approval for the increased heights for their project, so they took their plans and made them even better so they could win voter approval in this election. Prop F will allow the development to proceed that includes affordable housing, space for artists, and a walkable and bikeable community on the southern waterfront that could really use a little love. Say yes.
Proposition G: Additional tax on sale of multi-unit residential properties within five years of purchase – YES
G would allow a penalty tax for landlords flipping multi-unit residential properties within five years of acquiring it. It is one small step in addressing our housing crisis in SF, but it is a step. Vote yes.
Proposition H: Shall the city be required to keep natural grass at all athletic fields in Golden Gate Park and prohibit nighttime sports – yes
Okay. I hate H and I because H is written in a confusing way and I, if it gets more yes votes will undo H. I hate when SF does this on the ballot! Confusing voters to get what you want is sleazy, and is a mockery of democracy. I’ll get off my soap box now.
This is quite literally a turf war that has been going on about the soccer fields at GG Park for ages. Some people want to install artificial turf and install lighting to allow night games (that would be No on H). But, it is not a good idea because the artificial turf has started to raise health concerns and is not as environmentally-friendly. Also lighting at night is problematic due to the sensitive nature of the ecosystem in that area.
Proposition I: Allow renovations to children’s playgrounds, walking trails, and athletic fields – NO
Even if you disagree with me on H, I hope you’ll consider a No vote on I. Basically this would allow recreational development in the city to trump the public process. Though the public process does have its challenges, the public review process is important and protects the city from special interests. Please vote no.
Proposition J: Increase the minimum wage to $15/hour – YESSSSSSS!
This increases the minimum wage in San Francisco to a whopping $30,000 a year as a full-time job. The fact that people who work and live in this wealthy and expensive city are making under $15/hour is unconscionable when EDD reports the median income of our city to be $90,000/year. As voters we can move towards making it right by voting yes.
Proposition K: Policy statement to help construct or rehabilitate 30,000 homes by 2020, including affordable housing – abstain
One of my favorite SF politicians, Supervisor Jane Kim, worked on this gutsy legislation to take a stab at addressing the affordable housing situation in SF. But, it got watered down to a far less powerful, non-binding policy statement by the mayor. I think if we vote Yes and it passes, Ed Lee will take credit for doing something about our housing crisis when it is really weak, lame policy. But at the same time I do want to encourage our leaders to continue to work on this important issue and a Yes vote would do that. I am on the fence! I’ll probably abstain.
Proposition L: Policy statement to change parking and transportation priorities – NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Lastly is this terrible policy statement that basically says that we should throw out our city’s transit-first policy. This proposition is bad for everyone–it will make traffic more congested, and our streets more dangerous for walking and bicycling. Our city is going to continue to become more congested and the way to ensure we can all get around is to make sure that people have access to safe and efficient transportation options like public transit, walking, and bicycling.
As an aside, the people who are in favor of L have been actually lying and misrepresenting the issue on campaign materials. For example it says 80% of SF households own cars–that is just completely false; in truth only 37% own one car and only 28% of SF households rely on cars for transportation. So, we actually do need our city to have its priorities focused on transit first–because otherwise we will all just be stuck in traffic.
Okay! Thanks for reading! Now go vote!
Best,
Kate
Posted: June 3rd, 2014 | Author: Kate Michelle McCarthy | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Kate Slate – June 3, 2014 California State Primary
Hello Again,
Tomorrow is California’s primary election, and as you may know, I write a Kate Slate for every federal, state and local election. The goal here is to share with friends what I have found out in preparing my own ballot for tomorrow.
For the past eight or so years, a Slate Party, co-hosted by pal Sacha Ielmorini, has preceded the writing of the “Kate Slate”. Our every-election tradition is a mellow, civilized discussion among friends, who agree to disagree, for the sake of feeling confident about our own voting. If you are interested in being invited to the slate parties, let me know. (Next one will be in September or October!)
For the Kate Slate, I go race-by-race, issue-by-issue, and sometimes end up voting against something that seems right up my alley if it has some fatal (to me) flaw (see Prop B). And, I will let you know if I think it does and why.
Feel free to forward it to friends (and friends, if someone other than me sent this to you feel free to drop me a line if you end up reading it, I like to hear who this made its way to, and I can add you to the email list for the next Kate Slate).
My opinions in the Slate are my own and in no way should be thought to represent any views of anyone other than myself. No one lobbies me for a specific endorsement, though I do have thoughtful engaging conversations with well-informed friends who sometime shed light on aspects I hadn’t considered. And, I am not affiliated with any party.
Since voters recently changed how primaries work in California elections, for most races, all registered voters can now vote for any candidate running, with the top two vote-getters overall moving on to the general election in November, regardless of parties of the voter and candidates.
You probably won’t agree with me on everything, and that is okay!
Even if you don’t know your polling place, or where you were last registered to vote, you can always go to City Hall tomorrow 7am-8pm to cast a provisional ballot. Though, if you can, it is always best to cast your own ballot at your own polling place.
If you have an absentee ballot, you can surrender your absentee ballot for a live ballot at your polling place. The poll workers will destroy your absentee ballot and give you a live ballot. That assures you that your ballot is read and counted as you intended it. (ie. When you vote absentee, if a machine rejects your ballot, the machine depends on a human to interpret your absentee ballot. I am not trying to be all conspiracy-theorist here, but feeding your own ballot into the machine and hearing it beep is the best way to ensure your ballot is interpreted as you intend it to be.)
As always, thanks for reading, bonus points for voting.
Grab and Go:
Note: This is not an instant run-off election—you can only vote for one!
Governor: Luis J. Rodriguez
Lt. Governor: Eric Korevaar
Secretary of State: Derek Cressman
Controller: Betty Yee
Treasurer: John Chiang
Attorney General: Kamala Harris
Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones
State Board of Equalization: Fiona Ma
US Representative: Barry Hermanson
State Assembly: David Campos
Superior Court Judge: Daniel Flores
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson
Proposition 41: Yes
Proposition 42: Yes
Proposition A: Yes
Proposition B: No
And now, here is what I was thinking in depth…
Governor: Luis J. Rodriguez
For several races on this ballot, I assume the incumbent is going to make it onto the November ballot regardless how I vote, and I am happy to vote for someone who will very unlikely win the November election, whose values align more with my own. This is the case with the Governor’s race. Jerry Brown will very likely be on the November ballot, and will likely be our next Governor. Luis Roderiguez, on the other hand, is a well-respected community leader from Los Angeles, with a long history of political activism for unions, inner-city youth, peace and justice. And, other than Cindy Sheehan, bless her heart, is the only one whose values come close to mine.
Lt. Governor: Eric Korevaar
I came to Eric Korevaar by eliminating first Gavin Newsom, former SF Mayor, for whom I have strong feelings of disdain. Then, I eliminated all the Republicans on principal. Next, I read the candidate statements from the state’s Official Voter Information Guide. Most the candidates didn’t even submit statements, so I eliminated them on principal, too. (They have to at least TRY to be a viable candidate.) And, that left me with Alan Reynolds, whose statement in the Official Voter Information Guide makes me think he may be crazy, and Eric Korevaar. Since the Lieutenant Governor does almost nothing other than wait for the Governor to die, I think he’ll be just fine.
Secretary of State: Derek Cressman
I am not going to spend my entire ballot playing the elimination game or picking out the lesser of the evils. No, there are actually important races on this ballot and the Secretary of State, for their role managing elections and approving voting machines, is one of them.
Derek Cressman is the right candidate for the job because he has long been working for voting integrity and he is passionate about the issue. He worked at Common Cause that works to keep government open, accountable and ethical. Cressman is running against a termed-out California State Senator, Alex Padilla who is just taking the next step in his political career. Whicd do you want running California elections for the next four to eight years?
Controller: Betty Yee
Here is another race where there is a talented candidate who is qualified for the job, running against a termed-out career politician who is less so, and just doing the political career thing. Betty Yee also has a strong vision for her new role including top-to-bottom reform.
Treasurer: John Chiang
John Chiang is termed out as Controller, where he did well as a watchdog protecting taxpayer interests. Perhaps you recall how the state was closing 70 state parks due to the state’s budget shortfall and then all of a sudden $54 million was uncovered of hidden assets the department had been sitting on? Well, that was John Chiang’s discovery. And it saved the parks from closing. He has my vote for his new role as Treasurer.
Attorney General: Kamala Harris
First, Kamala is running against a few crazy people (read their statements, believe me), so there is that. Second, her leadership impressed me when she asked the courts to allow California to continue to allow same-sex marriages while the courts were hearing the constitutionality of Prop 8, even though they denied her request.
She also walked out of talks with big banks responsible for the mortgage crisis when the deal they were arranging was too lenient. She has stood up to the NRA for gun control when other politicians have waffled. I think she has been good in this position and I hope she is reelected for a second term.
Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones
This is a case where there is only one candidate who even makes sense for the office: incumbent Dave Jones. On one hand you have Ted Gaines who is an insurance businessman (How is HE going to regulate the insurance companies? No conflict of interest there, right?) On the other hand you have Nathalie Hrizi who is running on a platform to abolish insurance companies. And then you have Dave Jones who is the incumbent. Here is what I wrote about him in the Kate Slate when he first ran in 2010, “Dave Jones is another champion of environmental causes and introduced the Green Insurance Act of 2010 that establishes environmental standards and protections in the insurance business, and provides incentives and tax credits for offering green insurance and making green investments.” Who are you going to vote for?
State Board of Equalization: Fiona Ma
Fiona Ma is doing the Chiang-Yee shuffle, going for the office that termed-out Betty Yee who is running for the Controller’s office vacated by termed-out John Chiang who is running for Treasurer. I picked her because she is running against a Republican, honestly.
US Representative: Barry Hermanson
It would be fun to get Barry Hermanson on the ballot with Nancy Pelosi, because even though Pelosi will win her seat back, it would be awesome to see Barry Hermanson in debates against Pelosi (would that happen?), and, it would be fun for the California Ballot to not have a Republican on it for the seat of the US Representative. Can you tell I am not really into the Republican agenda?
State Assembly: David Campos
This one feels like picking the less unpleasant of two unpleasant options. Here is the deal: I just don’t trust David Chiu. After he flopped on the mayoral appointment when Gavin Newsom got elected to Lieutenant Governor I felt so deceived, and now we are stuck with Ed Lee.
And, Chiu didn’t demonstrate the strong willpower we need at the State Assembly when he let a few loud businesses water down a really great street design for Polk Street that would have made the important corridor safer for everyone using it. I just don’t trust him and I worry that his vote will be bought in the state assembly. So he is a no-go.
And then you have Campos. I am simply unimpressed by the work he has done in office. And when I say “work he has done,” I mean, “sponsored legislation,” which has been like, barely any. I mean, if you are going to talk about the Ellis Act legislation, great. That is one! (I know it is an important piece of legislation and I know he’s sponsored more than one piece of legislation, but you get my point.)
Anyway, this is a dry run for November, and my mailbox is already full of mailers from these two guys so it looks like lots of money is going to be wasted on this race no matter how you vote. But, Campos is the better option.
And I wish they would spend their money on something better for San Francisco.
Superior Court Judge: Daniel Flores
I find this race important, too. People never pay attention to the judges on Election Day, but they get elected and hold office for ages, never challenged, ruling in our courts for years. This one is important, too, because the person who should win is not paying for ads (or at least none that I got) and I worry that Daniel Flores, a civil rights attorney, will be outspent by Williams and Kingsley. What turned me off about the two competitors is who endorsed them. I got their mailers and thought, “No, thank you!” (Endorsements from David Chiu, London Breed, Gavin Newsome, and Carole Migden to name a few.) And, Daniel Flores has the endorsements of people and groups I trust (Jane Kim, SEIU 1021, John Avalos).
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson
I have endorsed Torlakson for many elections. This is what I wrote in the 2010 November Kate Slate, “I endorsed him in the June primary, and I still think he has the right idea about the public school system. I like that he is ready for the fight for funding, that he favors neighborhood schools, and supports a healthy school environment including access to healthy foods, physical education and health care. While that might not seem like a primary educational focus, I promise you that after four years of teaching middle school in East Oakland, I discovered they are crucial social justice issues to address in education.” He still has my endorsement. He is doing a good job in a difficult office.
Proposition 41: Veterans housing and homeless prevention act of 2014: Yes
I believe we have a responsibility to care for our veterans, and this bond (read: expensive credit debt, but do you have a better idea for a funding source?) provides affordable housing for our veterans. Vote yes.
Proposition 42: Public records. Open Meetings. State reimbursement to local agencies. Legislative constitutional amendment: Yes
This requires local governments comply with sunshine ordinances and providing meeting access, and eliminates the requirement that the state has to reimburse local governments for doing so. Currently, the state has to pay for the costs associated with local governments complying with sunshine ordinances that are state law, and now it makes it the city’s liability to cover the expense of complying. I think it is reasonable.
Proposition A: San Francisco Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond: Yes
I know bonds are expensive, but I also know that I typically don’t vote against emergency preparedness on this shaky ground.
Proposition B: Shall the City be prevented from allowing any development on Port property to exceed the height limits in effect as of January 1, 2014, unless the City’s voters have approved a height limit increase? No
I thought about this a lot and I haven’t been happy about either side, but I came down on this based on a simple premise: I don’t like to vote for bad policy. Even when I support an issue in concept, I typically won’t vote for bad legislation. And, sadly this is bad legislation.
We have a crappy situation wherein the Mayor appoints commissioners and the commissions get to decide important things. Some of these commissions have been able to reverse the will of the voters (google “Clean Power SF” and “Public Utilities Commission”) with potentially devastating consequences. So, this would prevent any development on port property from exceeding current height limits unless they put the development’s height increase on the ballot.
I agree that the commissioners appointed by our Mayors aren’t doing a great job of representing voter’s interests, but resorting to ballot box planning is not the solution. The solution is to change how our commissioners are appointed.
Our city is changing fast and it seems like wealthy interests are doing whatever they want without the say of every day people like us. And people are trying to find ways to slow the pace of change and preserve the San Francisco we love. I can appreciate that. But I also can appreciate how easily wealthy interests can manipulate an election. So, I am voting no.
Anyway, that is a wrap! Happy voting!
Posted: November 5th, 2013 | Author: Kate Michelle McCarthy | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on The Kate Slate – November 5, 2013
Nothing like procrastinating…Luckily this election has a pint-sized ballot so this should be done before the rice is ready.
The slate is pretty easy: vote no on everything, but skip the policy statement. Skip the candidates, they are unopposed.
An important note about leaving items blank on your ballot at the end of the slate (your vote may not be counted unless…).
A – Creates Retiree Health Care Trust Fund rules – no
B – Allows the city to issue building permits for a project at 8 Washington that violates City Planning Code – NOOOOOOO
C – Allows the City Supervisor’s approval of the 8 Washington project take effect – NO!
D – Policy Statement about reducing the cost of prescription drugs – blank
Here is why I am skipping the “candidates”: Carmen Chu for Assessor-Recorder, Dennis Herrera for City Attorney, and José Cisneros for Treasurer. They are all incumbents running unopposed, so save yourself the trouble. Then you can feel smug later when they do stupid things because you didn’t vote for them. Just kidding, kinda.
This topic actually sends me into a rant about democracy because candidates running unopposed is a symptom of an unhealthy democracy and this is just one more symptom. (Fist shaking!) But I will be saving you my rant for now.
A – Creates Retiree Health Care Trust Fund rules – No
Voters created the Retiree Health Care Trust Fund in 2008. Now, this proposition would create rules about how the money is handled. The how and the why is confusing and boring (you can read all about it here on the SPUR Voter Guide), suffice to say it is ballot box budgeting that would lock down the budget for a specific cause, which limits budget flexibility. Even though it seems good that it would make sure money allocated for retiree health care is used for retiree health care, it is problematic to budget at the ballot box because it creates inflexible budgets when budgets need to be able to adapt over time.
B – Allows the city to issue building permits for a project at 8 Washington that violates City Planning Code – NOOOOOOO
We should start with C because the signatures were gathered first to put C on the ballot–to overturn the Board of Supervisors terrible approval of the 8 Washington project. Why was it terrible? They make an exception to SF Planning Code for one property–8 Washington–luxury housing on the waterfront by the Ferry Building. The main exception you hear about is the height increase. But, they also made an exception for parking, which is problematic because the area is already serviced by ample public transit and some of the best walking and bicycling facilities while at the same time the area is plagued by some of the cities worst traffic jams. We cannot afford to make exception to city planning code for luxury apartments. In this democracy, everyone has to play by the same rules for this to work.
So that was all about C… What about B? Once the developers of 8 Washington caught wind of the signature campaign to overturn the Supervisors’ decision, they put B on the ballot that creates a special district for the project that allows the development all the exceptions to the rules that they want. Since I don’t agree with them making this exception to the rule–especially not for luxury homes–I am voting no on B.
One argument for Yes is that the developers have to give $11 million towards low income housing. That money for affordable housing is required by law for developments of that nature, to attempt to counter the problematic impacts that developments like this have on affordable housing, that ain’t charity. And, it is a problematic bandage solution for affordable housing, at that. Don’t buy it.
C – Allows the City Supervisor’s approval of the 8 Washington project take effect – NO!
If you didn’t read B above, start there, because that is where I started talking about C. A yes vote for C means that you agree with the Board of Supervisors and make the exception to the Planning Code for the 8 Washington Project and you want the city to issue the building permits. A no vote means that you want to overturn the Board of Supervisors’ decision and oppose the development. I am voting No as I said before because I don’t think they should make this exception. Now, if B passes and C doesn’t, the proposition with the most votes wins.
D – Policy Statement about reducing the cost of prescription drugs – blank
This is a non-binding policy statement saying something along the lines of “wouldn’t it be nice if the city could actually do anything about the insane prices of prescription meds? But too bad we can’t so let’s just say that we OFFICIALLY think it would be nice if the city could actually do something about the insane prices of prescription meds.” I don’t waste my time voting on policy statements. Something in SF compels people to put these stupid non-binding policy statements on every ballot wasting money and time.
Now that thing I must tell you about leaving parts of your ballot blank!
Luckily my friend Sacha (and Slate Party Co-Hostess) did a bunch of election research and let me know that the only way to ensure your vote is counted if you leave items blank on the ballot is to vote at your polling place.
When you vote at the poll, you insert your ballot into a machine and if there are blanks, the polling place official asks you if you intended to leave blanks. If you say yes, they press a button and your vote is tabulated.
But if you drop your absentee ballot with blanks on it in the mail, drop it in an official election box, or drop it off at the Elections office at City Hall YOUR BALLOT MAY BE NOT COUNTED. When the vote counter who opens the absentee ballots comes across a blank, they are supposed to determine whether or not the voter intended to leave that item blank. I do not know how they do this–crystal balls? tarot cards? tea leaves? But I know if someone is guessing whether or not I intended to leave blanks on my ballot, they could guess wrong. And if they guess wrong and decide not to count my ballot, then NONE OF MY VOTES on that ballot would be counted!
So what do you do about this if you want to be able to leave ballots blank AND ensure your vote is counted? Bring your absentee ballot to your polling place and tell them you want to surrender your absentee ballot for a live ballot. They destroy your absentee ballot and give you a live ballot. Then you vote and leave blanks, feed it into the machine–it beeps–and you tell them you intended to leave it blank. If this sounds like a lot more work than you wanted because you are a lazy voter, you could always for no for D and vote for the three unopposed candidates.
Tah-dah! You voted. Now put on that shiny red Ya Voté sticker already!