There will be no regular PHDC meeting in December. Instead, come celebrate the season, and prepare to stand up to Trumplandia, at our annual neaighborhood party co-sponsored with Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association: local beer, local snacks, local friends. Please bring something for the local Food Bank, too! Age 21 and older only please.
WHEN: Saturday, December 10th, 3pm to 5pm
WHERE: Triple Voodoo Brewery, 2245 3rd St @ 19th
ADMISSION: a non-perishable item for the SF-Marin Food Bank
The nail-biting, the nightmares, the nonstop toxic “news” – will stop soon (at least, we hope so). You don’t want to be alone when you find out how it all turns out, do you? You don’t want to drink alone, do you? So, here are some ways to surround yourself with like-minded progressive types after the polls close November 8th. Maybe, just maybe, one glass ceiling will already have splintered by 8pm California time…
☆ Jane Kim for Senate, Bevan Dufty for BART Board, Rafael Mandelman for Community College Board, Mark Sanchez for School Board, Yes on W (Let’s make City College FREE!),Yes on X (Protect Arts + Manufacturing). Slim’s, 333 – 11th St, 8:15 – 11:00pm.
☆ The San Francisco Democratic Party, Aaron Peskin for D3 Supervisor, Housing Forward, Yes on D, H, L, M, & T, and No on Q & R. Oasis, 298 – 11th St, 8pm – midnight.
☆ Hillary Ronen for D9 Supervisor, Tom Temprano for Community College Board, Yes on H (Public Advocate), SF League of Pissed Off Voters, Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Bernal Heights Democratic Club and more. El Rio, 3158 Mission St, 8pm – 2am.
☆ SF Berniecrats. Slate Bar, 2925 – 16th St, 7pm – ?
PHDC-endorsed campaigns are in bold type. Check back – we will update this list if we hear of more events.
It’s time to raise a glass to your chosen candidate and cheer her on again! And maybe voice your opinion (loudly) about what the other one says. Please join PHDC members & friends at the Yankee for a fun gathering of neighbors & friends – and possibly some deadly serious comedy.
We hope to see you there!
WHEN: Sunday, October 9, 5:30pm (Debate is 6 to 7:30)
WHERE: Connecticut Yankee, 100 Connecticut St @ 17th St
First-term Assemblymember (and PHDC-endorsed candidate for re-election) David Chiu won the 17th District Assembly seat in a close and hard-fought race in 2014. Since then, he and his family have moved to Bayview, where he has seen first-hand some of the issues of our corner of the City. Assemblymember Chiu makes his first visit to the Club since that election (our fault, not his; we’ve been busy!) to tell us of some of his work and experiences in the statehouse, and of course take some Q&A from our members. Join us!
We will also hear a little more from some of ourother endorsed candidates and campaigns about where they stand and how we can work together between now and Election Day. Remember, for about 2/3 of the Hill Election Day arrives in less than two weeks, with vote-by-mail ballots!
For the full list of our Club endorsements for the November election, click here, or check out our ad in the October edition of the Potrero View.
There will be signups to deliver the famous PHDC election door hanger, and to staff our booth at the Potrero Hill Festival Saturday Oct 15th. 1st VP Bob Boileau chairs the meeting, while President Tony Kelly works on a theater project in Ireland.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 4th, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro St
US President and Vice President
HILLARY CLINTON and TIM KAINE
United States Senator
KAMALA HARRIS
US Representative, District 12
NANCY PELOSI
California State Senator, District 11
JANE KIM
Member, State Assembly District 17
DAVID CHIU
SFUSD Board of Education
RACHEL NORTON
STEVON COOK
MATT HANEY
MARK SANCHEZ
Trustee, Community College Board
RAFAEL MANDELMAN
ALEX RANDOLPH
TOM TEMPRANO
SHANELL WILLIAMS
AMY BACHARACH
(5 candidates endorsed, for 4 seats – please only vote for 4 in November)
BART Board, District 7
LATEEFAH SIMON
BART Board, District 9
BEVAN DUFTY
Superior Court Judge, Office No. 7
VICTOR HWANG
California Propositions
51 – YES School Bonds. Funding for K-12 School and Community College Facilities. Reduces chronic under-funding of our schools by the state.
52 – YES State Fees on Hospitals. Federal Medi-Cal Matching Funds. Permanently guarantees over $3 billion dedicated Medi-Cal funding per year.
53 – NO Revenue Bonds. Statewide Voter Approval. Erodes local control, no exemptions for emergencies/natural disasters.
54 – YES Legislature. Legislation and Proceedings. (Transparency) Bills must be publicized for 72 hours prior to a vote.
55 – YES Tax Extension to Fund Education and Healthcare. Tax increases on incomes over $263K will continue until 2030.
56 – YES Cigarette Tax to Fund Healthcare, Tobacco Use Prevention, Research, and Law Enforcement. Discourages young people from starting to smoke.
57 – YES Criminal Sentences. Juvenile Criminal Proceedings and Sentencing. Incentives for non-violent felons to attain parole; judges not prosecutors decide whether to try juveniles as adults.
58 – YES Bilingual Education. No longer requires English-only education for English learners.
59- YESÂ Overturn Citizens United. Tells Congress the Supreme Court was wrong to allow unlimited money to influence elections.
60 – NO Adult Films. Condoms. Health Requirements. Sets the proponent up as paid state porn czar, undermines Cal-OSHA’s efforts to improve regulations, invites lawsuits.
61 – YES State Prescription Drug Purchases. Pricing Standards. State cannot pay more for a drug than the lowest price paid by the VA.
62 – YES Death Penalty. (Repeal) Abolishes a barbaric practice.
63- YESÂ Firearms. Ammunition Sales. Common-sense strengthening of gun-safety laws.
64 – YES Marijuana Legalization. Regulates growing and selling of recreational marijuana.
65 – NO Carry-Out Bags. Charges. Out-of-state plastics companies’ sleazy attempt to kill the plastic bag ban. No on 65, Yes on 67.
66 – NO Death Penalty. Procedures. Enables the barbarism to proceed even faster, increasing the risk of executing an innocent person.
67 – YES Referendum to [Uphold] Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags. YES allows the plastic bag ban to become law. Yes on 67, but No on 65.
Local Propositions
A – YES SFUSD Bonds. Improves, repairs school district sites, and constructs new schools.
B – YES City College Parcel Tax. Adds $20 to the tax until 2032, for teachers and programs, not administration.
C – YES Loans to Finance Acquisition/Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing. Uses unspent 1992 bond money to rehabilitate multi-unit building for permanent affordable housing.
D – YES Filling Vacancies in Local Elective Office. Mandates actually electing (not just letting the Mayor appoint) our elected officials.
E – YES!! City Responsibility for Maintaining Street Trees. Takes the burden of protecting our urban forest off sometimes-reluctant property owners.
F – YES Youth Voting in Local Elections. Involves high-schoolers actively in democracy before they leave home.
G – YES Police Oversight. Renames Office of Citizens Complaints, makes its budget independent of the SFPD’s.
H – YES Public Advocate. Creates an office with no interest other than the public good.
I – YES Funding for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities. Set-aside for in-home, wellness & legal supportive services, and activity centers.
J – YES Funding for Homelessness and Transportation. Funds prevention, transitioning, housing for homeless; funds MTA, CTA & DPW to improve the city’s transportation network.
K – YES General Sales Tax. Funds the Prop J set-aside, though not specifically.
L – YES MTA Appointments and Budget. Board of Supervisors makes 3 of 7 appointments to the now Mayor-appointed SF Municipal Transportation Agency, and can reject the budget with 6 votes instead of 7.
M – YES Housing and Development Commission. Decentralizes Mayoral power, giving the Board of Supervisors more input into development.
N – YES Non-Citizen Voting in School Board Elections. Gives all parents a say in their child’s education.
O – No Position Office Development in Candlestick Point and Hunters Point.
P – NO!! Competitive Bidding for Affordable Housing Projects on City-Owned Land. Unnecessarily delays affordable housing projects.
Q – NO!! Prohibiting Tents on Public Sidewalks. Symbolic measure (tent removal prohibited unless shelter – of which there is not enough – is offered) merely moves people around.
R – NO Neighborhood Crime Unit. Misleading, pandering “safety†measure disempowers chief and captains, takes police away from investigating serious crimes.
S – YES!! Allocation of Hotel Tax Funds. Brings back funding for the arts and helps families fight homelessness.
T – YES Restricting Gifts and Campaign Contributions from Lobbyists. Anti-corruption measure by the newly-invigorated Ethics Commission.
U – NO!! Affordable Housing Requirements for Market-Rate Development. Allows more middle-income housing, leaving less available for low-income.
V – YES Tax on Distribution of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages. A “regressive†tax? Diabetes is still a regressive disease.
W – YES Real Estate Transfer Tax on Properties Over $5 Million. Absolutely.
X – YES Preserving Space for Neighborhood Arts, Small Business, and Community Services in Certain Neighborhoods. Requires developers to rebuild such spaces as they’ve removed.
RR – YES!! BART Safety, Reliability, and Traffic Relief. Replaces, repairs, modernizes after 44 years of increasing use.
!! = unanimous
19 endorsements down, 33 to go! Just last week, Club members and friends completely filled the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House (capacity 239) to see the only post-primary State Senate debate between Supervisors Jane Kim and Scott Wiener. After the debate, PHDC voted to endorse Jane Kim for State Senate. The rest of our November endorsements so far (US Senate and state ballot measures) are linked here.
But we’re not done yet. Over two Tuesdays – September 6 and 13, starting (early!) at 6:30 pm at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, we will cover all 25 local ballot measures and 8 candidate races, including two BART Board seats and 4 City College board seats on September 6, and the SFUSD Board of Education on September 13. Some of the less controversial propositions will have written summaries from PHDC board members (available later this week) so we can have more time for discussion with our Club members and guests.
Voting members’ ballots are due at the end of the meeting, and will be counted immediately.
WHEN: Tuesday, September 6th, 6:30 pm (starting early!)
WHERE: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro St
AND
WHEN: Tuesday, September 13th, 6:30 pm (starting early!)
WHERE: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro St
Food, drink, jazz and great deals! Potrero Hill Democratic Club’s Party & “Shop Local” Silent Auction is always a celebration of and for the community – and a fundraiser for the club’s many educational and democracy-enhancing activities. We never solicit or accept money from candidates or campaigns we endorse – so this event and membership dues are it for us.
The live jazz came from a trio of amazing local musicians: Chuck Bennett on bass, David Austin keyboards, Mark Rosengarden drums. The food was courtesy of club members and local eateries, and the tempting items to bid on are donated by the wonderful merchants and artists of Potrero Hill & Dogpatch. The bidders out-did themselves – this year the Auction broke all records. Check out the list of generous donors here.
5pm – 8pm. Dogpatch Saloon, 2496 Third St at 22nd.
November 8th is about a lot more than Hillary Clinton vs. the toxic clown car of today’s Republican Party. There are 17 state ballot measures (and more than two dozen local measures on the way) and candidate races throughout the state, Bay Area, and the City.
As always, PHDC has you covered. For Tuesday, August 2nd, we were be your living Ballotpedia for the U.S. Senate race (Harris vs. Sanchez) and the state ballot measures, with (brief) pros and cons for every issues. Some of the less controversial state measures had written arguments from PHDC board members so we could have more time for discussion with our Club’s chatty members in the audience. We will have two endorsement meetings in September for San Francisco candidates and measures.
Here are PHDC endorsements so far.
Club business: Special election for 2 vacant slots. Volunteer sign-up for our 8th Annual Party and Shop Local Silent Auction, set for Saturday, August 27 from 5-8 pm at Dogpatch Saloon.
WHEN: Tuesday, August 2nd, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro St
Register voters with PHDC in Dolores Park before the Mime Troupe’s opening, then picnic and enjoy the show.
Spend July 4th, Independence Day, being super-patriotic: Register voters! (Note that we are NOT meeting on our normal first Tuesday of the month, which would be July 5th. July 4th is Monday.)
Then stick around Dolores Park to picnic, while taking in the world-changing, Tony Award-winning SF Mime Troupe‘s opening of its 57th season: the premiere of Schooled. (“With privatization on the line, and a Wall Street heavy hitter lined up to fold the entire district into his conglomerate, suddenly the next School Board election is more about a hidden agenda than the open curriculum. And when did the hall monitors start wearing brown shirts and arm bands?”)
Email contact_us@phdemclub.org or call 415-283-6607 to volunteer, just to join us for a picnic, or both.
WHEN: Monday (NOT Tuesday!), July 4, 2016 at noon (show begins at 2)
WHERE: Dolores Park, meet near 19th St, exact location TBD
“It’s not that art & politics don’t mix – I just wanna do more art,” says longtime PHDC president Joni Eisen. (The mix, in the photo at right by FBFE: Supervisor David Campos; Joni; then-candidate, now Judge Daniel Flores; Harvey Milk as a bas-relief cake sculpture).
There were food, drink, and early election returns at Il Pirata early on Election Night, as president-for-almost-a-decade Joni stepped down – not actually going anywhere except into her studio, garden, and grandkids’ lives. People said good bye to Joni and hello to VP-in-the-wings Tony Kelly, ready to take the reins. Below, clockwise from lower left: City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Tony, Angeles Roy, former Supervisor (now DCCC member-elect) Sophie Maxwell, Joni. Photo by John O’Neill.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 7, 7pm
WHERE: Il Pirata, 2007 16th St @ Utah St
Potrero Hill Democratic Club 