March 4th was the date, The Nabe was the place to be when Police Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Senator Carole Migden and former Assemblyman Joe Nation vied for your vote. Philip DeAndrade moderated this leg of California’s hottest legislative race. Around 90 people showed up – our biggest event yet. Click on Blog at left to read an article about the event in the Bay Area Reporter.

Members voted as follows: First round IRV, counting 1st choices only: Leno 21. Migden 14, Nation 3, No Endorsement 2, total 40 votes cast. 2nd round: Eliminating the votes for Nation and No Endorsement, those voters’ second choices added 1 each to Leno and Migden, and 2 to Alioto Veronese (one voter had no 2nd choice). Since Alioto Veronese, like Nation and No Endorsement, got less than 15% of the vote, his votes were eliminated.

Final count: Leno 22, Migden 15. 24 votes were needed to make the 60% endorsement threshold. So the Club’s official position is: No Position. You can still click on the candidates’ photos at upper right, except for the one who dropped out, to go to their web sites.

Continue reading “Senate Primary Debate and Endorsement Vote” →

Our regular February meeting coincided with the Primary Election in California – and 23 other states! After voting, members, neighbors & friends gathered for a potluck at the Nabe to watch the returns. We also elected officers for 2008. Below are scenes from the event, which was held in the downstairs game room; our regular meeting room was being used, of course, as a polling place.

Photos: Linda Post

On January 8th, 2008, the Club held its endorsement meeting for local and state propositions that will be on the February 5th California Presidential Primary ballot. Here are our endorsements. Read about what the speakers had to say in the minutes of the meeting.

With such a strong field of candidates, no one thought our Club would be able to endorse just one. Twenty-seven members (out of 42 eligible) cast their ballots using ranked choice voting at our December 4th Party Endorsement Party. After several rounds Edwards remained the front runner, exceeding the 60% threshold when he and Barack Obama were the only two left standing. (Interested members are encouraged to volunteer by contacting the SF John Edwards campaign). Below are scenes from the event, including the reps from six presidential campaigns.

The California Presidential Primary is February 5, 2008, just two months away. Please join us for an exciting and festive Tuesday night meeting, at 7PM at the Neighborhood House. Speakers have been invited from all eight Democratic Primary campaigns to present and take questions. Written questions are being accepted now. Club members’ votes will be tallied at the end of the evening. For more details, please check our calendar.

If you want to help clean up the disastrous Cosco Busan oil spill on San Francisco Bay, here is where you can find out how to get the necessary training and updates.

Our meeting night falls on Election Day. Our club strongly endorsed a NO vote on Measure H, which the San Francisco Planning Department estimates will put 20,000 new vehicles on our city’s streets. That means more traffic, more air pollution, and the problems associated with both: more danger for pedestrians, childhood asthma, and global warming. Now let’s back our endorsement with action. For details of what you can do on Election Day and the days leading up to it, see our calendar.

District Attorney Kamala Harris was the featured speaker at our October 2nd regular meeting. Photo by Rebecca Wilkowski.

Andrew McGuire, Executive Director of Health Care for All – California, spoke at our September 4th meeting, describing the difference between the plans getting all the press and real, single-payer, universal health care. After his presentation and a lively Q & A, the membership voted to endorse Sheila Kuehl’s bill. Now that the Club has endorsed SB 840, we can actively promote the campaign to get it passed. To learn how you can get involved, click here.

Members listened intently to Assemblyman Leno’s discussion on a range of topics from our state budget deficit to the prison crisis. More details can be found in the August minutes.

Assemblyman Leno represents the 13th District, which includes Potrero Hill. One of the first openly gay men ever elected to the Assembly, he currently chairs the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which oversees all bills with a fiscal impact on the state. While in the Assembly, Leno has fought for better schools and access to higher education, a cleaner and sustainable environment, universal affordable and quality health care, improved transportation, renewable energy, Clean Money, safer streets, and equal rights for all Californians. He is challenging Senator Carole Migden (speaker at our May meeting) for the District 3 State Senate seat.