This meeting we had no particular agenda other than tossing around ideas for the coming year. But we had a surprise visit from Saul Bloom of Arc Ecology, asking the membership to sign on to a letter to Mayor Newsom, requesting an extension of the 45-day public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Hunters Point Shipyard/Candlestick Point project to 90 days. We voted to do so. We also ate, drank, schmoozed and bought some of the new 94107 t-shirts, iwhich include youth sizes (worn by Zahra and Samir at left).

Members and guests brought food or drink to share, and 98 lbs of food donated to the Food Bank. Thanks everyone for a gratifying ending to our third year!

As California endures a third consecutive year of drought, PHDC hosted a spirited panel discussion about WATER: what the result of the closed-door water bill negotiations in Sacramento might mean to cities north and south, farms in the middle, fish and other wildlife; what we as individuals can do to conserve and protect this most precious resource;  and much more. Our panel of experts, who explained, advocated, argued, and enlightened, were Jennifer Clary, water policy and legislative analyst for Clean Water Action; Adam Scow, senior organizer at Food and Water Watch; Laura Spanjian, Assistant General Manager of External Affairs for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; Jessie Raeder, Bay Area organizer with the Tuolumne River Trust. Moderator was PHDC member Loretta Lynch, former president of the California Public Utilities Commission. We thank the moderator, panelists, and audience participants for an altogether excellent program!

Continue reading “Panel on the California Water Crisis” →

At our October meeting, close to 80 people came to hear Senator Mark Leno (left) discuss health care in the City,  the state (SB 810), and the nation; his work as Chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee; budget and water issues. He thanked the Club for our letter about his bill SB 792 – even though it was a letter of opposition. He told us he took our concerns seriously and tried to address them (see links below to handouts on SB 792).  Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (right), also Chair of the Public Safety Committee (Assembly), answered questions on equally pressing issues, including AB 390, his bill to legalize marijuana, and the helipad at SF General. We met three more candidates for District 10 Supervisor (our first six were at the August meeting – more to come): Marie Franklin, Kristine Enea, and Dr. James Calloway.

Senator Leno brought three handouts to the meeting:
SB 792 Fact Sheet
State Parks Exchange Map Overall
SB 792 Sierra Club California Letter ( neutral )

Continue reading “Senator Mark Leno, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, District 10 Supervisor Race cont’d” →

Our September meeting was about elections particular and general. There were speakers for and against the five local propositions on the November 3rd ballot, and the two candidates, incumbent City Treasurer José Cisneros and incumbent City Attorney Dennis Herrera, seeking endorsement. Also, Alan Dechert, founder and President of Open Voting Consortium, discussed open-source voting: what it is, the problems it solves, and how it can be implemented.

The ballot issues were more nuanced than one would have thought, with plausible arguments on both sides. In fact, only one ballot measure gained the 60% vote necessary for Club endorsement: Yes on Prop E: (Limiting) Advertising on City Property. Both candidates earned our endorsement, and while we were at it, we unanimously passed a Public Option health care resolution.

Continue reading “Election Endorsements and Open-Source Voting” →

PHDC’s August meeting covered issues at all levels of government. First on the agenda was a national issue: Members passed a resolution, presented by antiwar activist Tom Gallagher, urging Speaker Pelosi to co-sponsor HR 2404 requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress by year’s end outlining the US exit strategy for military forces in Afghanistan.

Next, San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting cited a key reason California continues to fall behind: Proposition 13, which affords vast property tax loopholes for California’s largest corporate property owners while  shifting the tax burden to individual homeowners, and dramatically reducing California’s overall revenue for vital services. Mr. Ting presented ideas for closing the loophole, inviting people to join his campaign.

Then on to San Francisco politics: This month we started our year-long effort to give candidates for District 10 Supervisor a chance to meet with their would-be constituents. We welcomed 6 candidates in District 10 to have the floor for brief introductions; we will be doing many more such meetings in the coming months. The election is in November, 2010.

For an article (San Francisco FYI) about the meeting, and more photos, click HERE.

Continue reading “Afghanistan Exit Strategy;Prop 13 Revisited;District 10 Supervisor Race” →

More than seventy people joined in yet another lively and informative discussion. Our panel invigorated and inspired us: Linda Leu, organizer for Health Access and the Health Care for America Now campaign, and also a volunteer with Organizing for America, formerly Obama for America; longtime progressive activist Don Bechler, chair of Single Payer Now; Justin Davis, M.D., Potrero Hill primary- and urgent-care physician; Catherine Dodd, RN, Mayor Newsom’s Deputy Chief of Staff overseeing Health, Human Services, Aging Services and Children Youth and Family Services.

Take action:
• July 9th rally at noon with MoveOn.org for a strong public option, at Senator Feinstein’s office.
• July 11th health care canvass in the neighborhood with Organizing for America.
• Single Payer Now has classes on single-payer, and many more opportunities for activism.

More about the meeting: an article by Bonnie Baron in the Potrero View, and a story by Linda Post on San Francisco FYI.

Continue reading “National Health Care Reform panel” →

Following a brief business meeting and further discussion of Lennar’s plans for Bayview/Hunters Point/Candlestick open space and development, the club welcomed Jeff Adachi, California’s only publicly elected Public Defender. See our calendar for details.

Continue reading “San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi” →

First, Leah Pimentel (right) of GRID Alternatives described their program, which provides qualifying lower-income homeowners with photovoltaic systems to produce clean electricity – without increasing monthly household expenses.

Next, Saul Bloom, Executive Director of Arc Ecology, and Arthur Feinstein (left) of the Sierra Club explained their alternate concepts to Lennar’s plans for Bayview/Hunters Point/Candlestick open space and development.

Finally, Quintin Mecke, Communications Director for Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, and David Beaupre of the Port of San Francisco sought and won the Club’s support of AB 1176, to enable adequate financing for the cleanup, restoration and development of Pier 70.

Continue reading “Low-cost Solar & Big Plans for the Shoreline” →

The statewide Special Election is Tuesday, May 19th. Speakers for our April 7th meeting were District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell (right) to discuss potential local effects of the budget, plus Rick Wathen of California Teachers Association and Beyond Chron Managing Editor Paul Hogarth (below, left and right), both of whom spoke in detail about the six propositions, for and against respectively.

Club endorsement votes were tallied at the end of the meeting: NO on 1A, 1C, 1D, and 1E, and no position on 1B and 1F.

There was also an update by Chris Jackson of the SF Labor Council, on Bayview/Hunters Point development plans as they pertain to SB 792.

Continue reading “Endorsement meeting on Six State Budget Propositions” →

What do Community Choice Aggregation and rebuilding Potrero Terrace & Annex have in common? They both are in the planning stages, and both are seeking community input to make the ideas become reality.

Laura Hahn of the Sierra Club Bay Area chapter spoke about the former, and Ben Golvin of Equity Community Builders spoke about the latter.

Continue reading “Community Choices” →