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.

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- YES  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- YES  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

From the Potrero Hill Democratic Club meeting of September 6:

US President and Vice President
HILLARY CLINTON and TIM KAINE

US Representative, District 12
NANCY PELOSI

Member, State Assembly District 17
DAVID CHIU

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)

Above photo by John O’Neill, l. to r., Amy Bacharach, Rafael Mandelman, Alex Randolph, Tom Temprano, Tim Killikelly for Shanell Williams

Local Propositions

B – YES  City College Parcel Tax.

C – YES  Loans to Finance Acquisition/Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing.

D – YES  Filling Vacancies in Local Elective Office.

E – YES!!  City Responsibility for Maintaining Street Trees.

F – YES  Youth Voting in Local Elections.

G – YES  Police Oversight.

L – YES  MTA Appointments and Budget.

M – YES  Housing and Development Commission.

N – YES  Non-Citizen Voting in School Board Elections.

P – NO!!  Competitive Bidding for Affordable Housing Projects on City-Owned Land.

S – YES!!  Allocation of Hotel Tax Funds.

T – YES  Restricting Gifts and Campaign Contributions from Lobbyists.

U – NO!!  Affordable Housing Requirements for Market-Rate Development.

V – YES  Tax on Distribution of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages.

W – YES  Real Estate Transfer Tax on Properties Over $5 Million.

X – YES  Preserving Space for Neighborhood Arts, Small Business, and Community Services in Certain Neighborhoods.

 

!! = unanimous

Previous endorsements for November 8 are here.

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

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

Candidates who have submitted completed questionnaires will appear in small groups at regular intervals, to present and answer questions. Come and meet them! Ballots are due at the end of the meeting, and will be counted immediately.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 12, at 7pm
WHERE: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, downstairs in the Game Room, 953 De Haro St @ Southern Heights

Tuesday, April 5th: Judicial candidate forum, Presidential primary, ballot measures – RESULTS

The forum of candidates for Superior Court Judge, Office #7 – Paul Henderson, Victor Hwang, Sigrid Irias (counterclockwise from left, photo by John O’Neill)- was moderated by attorney & PHDC board member J.R. Eppler. Presidential Primary candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were represented by Gustav Feldman and Susan Pfeifer, respectively; presentations and audience Q&A were moderated by PHDC V.P. Tony Kelly.

ALL the candidates & surrogates were so strong and compelling that no judicial candidate and no presidential candidate got the 60% of votes necessary for endorsement. So:

SF Superior Court, Office 7 – No position

U.S. President – No position

Both of the above races will be voted on again (top two for judge, Democratic nominee for President), in the General Election in November.

After presentations by Club officers, members voted the following endorsements on six local & regional ballot measures and one statewide measure:

Prop A – Yes – Public Health and Safety Bond
Prop B – No – Park, Recreation and Open Space Fund. Charter Amendment.
Prop C – Yes – Affordable Housing Requirements. Charter Amendment.
Prop D – Yes – Office of Citizen Complaints Investigations. Initiative Ordinance.
Prop E – Yes – Paid Sick Leave. Initiative Ordinance.
Measure AA – Yes  – Clean and Healthy Bay Parcel Tax. Regional Measure.
Prop 50 – Yes – Suspension of Legislators Amendment. CA Constitutional Amendment.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 5, at 7pm
WHERE: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro St @ Southern Heights

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Tuesday, April 12th: Democratic County Central Committee candidates from Assembly District 17

Candidates who have submitted completed questionnaires will appear in small groups at regular intervals, to present and answer questions. Come and meet them! Ballots are due at the end of the meeting, and will be counted immediately.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 12, at 7pm
WHERE: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, downstairs in the Game Room, 953 De Haro St @ Southern Heights