SF Ballot 2016
Slate Cards and Club Endorsements
Hoodline Interactive Election Guide is an interactrive tool that nicely summarizes ballot measures and candidates and which organizations endorse them.
Pissed Off Voters Guide has well-researched endorsements
Download The League’’s ballot Cheat Sheet
SF Bay Guardian’s “Clean Slate” (99% the same as Pissed Off Voters Guide)
Sierra Club — SF ballot State ballot
HousingForwardSF.com — Yes on C, M – No on P, U
SF Ballot alphabet soup the easy way: NO on P O U R Q (no pork) — YES on everything else.
From the Pissed-Off Voters Guide for the Nov 8 election:
Prop A: Local School District Bond – Yes
Prop B: Renew the Parcel Tax for City College – Yes
Prop C: Bond to Make Loans to Buy and Fix Affordable Housing – Yes
Prop D: Let’s Elect Our Elected Officials – Hell Yes
Prop E: Make the City Responsible for Street Trees – Yes
Prop F: Vote 16! – Hell Yes
Prop G: Rename the Office of Citizen Complaints – Sure :/
Prop H: Create a Public Advocate – Yes
Prop I: Set Aside Funding for Seniors & People with Disabilities – Yes
Prop J: Set Aside Funding for Homelessness & Transportation – Yes
Prop K: Sales Tax to Cover Prop J’s Set Aside – Yes
Prop L: Shift 3 of 7 MTA Board Appointments from Mayor to the BoS – Yes
Prop M: Create Oversight Commission & Kill Realtor Props P & U – Yes
Prop N: Non-Citizen Voting in School Board Elections – Hell Yes
Prop O: Special Favor for Lennar Corp on Office Development – No
Prop P: Snarl Affordable Housing in Red Tape – Hell No
Prop Q: Demonize the Homeless for Political Gain – F**k No
Prop R: Micromanage the Police Department – No
Prop S: Reallocate Hotel Tax to Arts and Homeless Family Services – Yes
Prop T: Restrict Campaign Contributions from Lobbyists – Yes
Prop U: Eliminate Affordable Housing – Hell No
Prop V: One Cent an Ounce Soda Tax – Yes
Prop W: Luxury Property Transfer Tax – Hell Yes
Prop X: Preserve Industrial and Arts Spaces – Yes
San Francisco Democratic Party’s Official Nov 2016 Ballot Endorsements — same as above except Yes on O
Potrero Hill Dem Club — same as above except No Position on O
SF Tenants Union — same as above except No on V (huh?)
My picks from this year’s ballot of alphabet soup — Yes on C, M No on P, U by Aaron Peskin
Vote Yes on Props D, H, L and M — Better government measures
The well-researched Pissed-Off Voters Guide for the Nov 8 election appropriately renames the ballot measures and recommends:
Prop D: Let’s Elect Our Elected Officials – Yes (ends mayor’s executive branch appointment of legislative branch BoS member)
Prop H: Create a Public Advocate – Yes
Prop L: Shift 3 of 7 MTA Board Appointments from Mayor to the BoS – Yes
Prop M: Create Oversight Commission & Kill Realtor Props P & U – Yes (Prop P: Snarl Affordable Housing in Red Tape; Prop U: Developer $ Grab from Affordable Housing)
The City has been bought by developer, real-estate, and other wealthy interests. To stem the flow of sold-off influence, measures D, H, L and M have been put before the voters on the November ballot. Tempering the City’s give-away to wealthy interests and returning more control to residents’ interests can be accomplished by voting Yes on Props D, H, L and M.
Of course the Chronicle, the voice of wealthy interests and itself owned by the Hearst Corporation, a huge SF real-estate developer, recently posted: The Chronicle recommends: Vote No on S.F. Propositions D, H, L and M
Contrast this with the San Francisco Democratic Party’s Official Nov 2016 Ballot Endorsements which recommend Yes on D, H, L and M.
Elect our Elected Officials – Proposition D
Another factor in maintaining the OurCity majority on the Board of Supervisors is SF Proposition D on the November ballot. This is the “Elect our elected officials” measure. Currently, if there is a vacancy on the BoS the mayor appoints a replacement. If either Jane Kim in D6 or Scott Weiner in D8 moves on to the State Senate their seat on the BoS is open. Proposition D would allow the mayor to appoint a stand-in Supe who cannot run in the special election to fill the position, that must occur within six months of the vacancy. Vote Yes on Proposition D.
Create an office of the Public Advocate – Proposition H
Vote Yes on Proposition H to create an office of the Public Advocate. Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who took office late last year, and others on the BoS have been acting as de facto Public Advocates. They have made several important moves to protect the taxpayers and residents of SF. They saved $7M on the sale of city-owned property, tried to recoup the $5M cost of city services from the NFL’s Super Bowl 50 party in SF early this year, and Peskin is currently conducting hearings on the Millennium Tower structural flaws, beginning with testimony from the SF Dept of Building Inspection.
Though the Supervisors’ efforts are effective their revelations so far are likely just the tip of the iceberg. A full-time Public Advocate with a fully-staffed office can look out for taxpayers in city dealings. At a projected cost $3.2M per year for the Public Advocate office, if it was in place this year $7M to $12M and probably a lot more could have been saved. Vote Yes on Proposition H.
Yes on V, No on Big Soda/Diabetes
Checking the recycling bin, starting about two weeks ago eleven large-format “No on V” mailers have been received, each with different graphics and text, arguing that we don’t need a “grocery tax.” Fortunately, yesterday a handout arrived for “Yes on V,” to tax one cent to protect children and everyone from the negative health effects of sugary beverages. Give these folks a donation and help pass this much-needed measure. SFUnitedToReduceDiabetes.com