Potrero Hill Democratic Club monthly meeting, Tuesday, May 6th @ 7:00pm on zoom

“Action is the best antidote to despair.” – Joan Baez

There’s so much coming at us, fast, furious. You might think, will anything I do really make a difference? We say yes! Things add up – good as well as bad. And if you do nothing, for sure you won’t make a difference. If you do something, you will at least feel better. And change some little thing for the better, even if you can’t see it.

Update:

In this time of multiple crises – with extreme budget constraints on everyone everywhere – some ideas nevertheless continue to move forward. The activists who spoke with us May 6th are keeping these ideas afloat and despair at a distance. If you were inspired to join them, or want to learn more, just follow the links.

• Misha Steier from San Francisco Public Bank Coalition, spoke about establishing a non-depository lending corporation wholly-owned by the City, not private investors. View his slide presentation here. In 2021, the City created a Reinvestment Working Group to produce Public Bank Business & Governance Plans, which were completed and approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2023. Legislation to create a Gren Bank is expected in August. You can subscribe to updates on San Francisco’s progress creating a Public Bank. The San Francisco Public Bank Coalition’s next General Meeting will be Thursday, May 29 at 6pm. Register here.
• Elena Engel and Sue Green from San Francisco Climate Emergency Coalition described pushing policymakers since the City declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 to act like it’s an emergency. They need to fund the SF Environment Department enough to implement the City’s excellent, comprehensive Climate Action Plan and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero by 2040. To receive newsletter/action alerts – for Supervisor visits, public comment at hearings, letter-writing and phone campaigns, and more, join the Coalition, actually a group of individuals belonging to a variety of other groups, mailing list.
• Dave Schmidt from California Clean Money Campaign is working to put SB 42, the California Fair Elections Act, on the 2026 ballot to let voters decide to repeal the ban on local public financing of campaigns. San Francisco and some other cities allow public financing – but it’s not allowed statewide. SIGN THE PETITION asking your legislators to vote “Yes” on SB 42 and coauthor it if they haven’t yet. The Campaign Kickoff for SB 42 will be Sunday May 19, 3:30 – 5pm in Berkeley.