SF Voting Recommendations for Today (Tuesday March 3, 2020)
jessie woletz | seaweed sway
Grab and go! (The short version you can take with you to the polls. See below for the details.)
President of the United States - Bernie Sanders
United States Representative, District 12 - Shahid Buttar
United States Representative, District 14 - Jackie Spier
State Senator, District 11 - Jackie Fielder
State Assembly Member, District 17 - Abstain
Judge of the Superior Court, Seat #1 - Maria Evangelista
Judge of the Superior Court, Seat #18 - Michelle Tong
Judge of the Superior Court, Seat #21 - Carolyn Gold
State Proposition 13 - Bonds for Facility Construction at Schools - Yes
School Proposition A - City College Job Training and Earthquake Safety Measure - Yes
City and County Proposition B - San Francisco Earthquake Bond - Yes
City and County Proposition C - Make retiree health care coverage available to former San Francisco Housing Authority employees? - Yes
City and County Proposition D - Tax owners or tenants who keep ground floor retail or other commercial space vacant to assist small businesses? - YES!!!!
City and County Proposition E - Tie annual allotment for Large Office Projects to Affordable Housing Goals and change the approval criteria for office projects? YES!!!!
Democratic Party County Central Committee (DCCC) Assembly District 17
Matt Haney!
Honey Mahogany!
Jane Kim!
John Avalos!
David Campos!
Peter Gallotta!
Frances Hsieh!
Shanell Williams
Hillary Ronen
Nomvula O'Meara
Gloria Berry
Anabell Ibanez
Christopher Christensen
Democratic Party County Central Committee (DCCC) Assembly District 19 Queena Chen, Leah LaCroix, Janice Li, Faauuga Moliga, Mano Raju
Now for the long form version, with descriptions by Kate McCarthy from her Kate Slate:
United States Representative, District 12 - Shahid Buttar
This is a primary, and Nancy Pelosi is likely to clinch one of the two spots that are on the ballot come November, the prize of this primary election. This is a little bit of a rerun of when both Nancy Pelosi and Shahid Buttar ran in the 2018 primary. Then, the second spot on the November 2018 ballot went to Republican Lisa Remmer. In 2020, I am encouraged by the momentum for us to challenge perhaps the most powerful woman in the world with a candidate who better reflects our district’s values: Shahid Buttar.
Say what you want about Congresswoman Pelosi, but it is inarguable that she spends the majority of her time on (currently very messy) federal issues rather than representing our district to address the challenges that matter to our community most, like climate change, health care, and housing. I get that Pelosi is set to easily win both the primary and November’s election, but I am encouraged by Buttar challenging her to better serve her constituents, and having a candidate in November that better reflects our district’s values.
United States Representative, District 14 - Jackie Spier
I don’t vote in District 14, but I always get asked what I think about this race, so here it is: Jackie Spier is a badass representative. Unlike our District 12 Representative, Ms. Spier does a great job representing her constituents. She is a staunch defender of immigrant rights, standing up to the federal governments illegal tactics during this administration in particular. And, I love that she authored legislation to force lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct to pay settlements themselves instead of using public funds, as well as introducing legislation that would remove the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment so that it may finally pass after pushing it for nearly 40 years. Finally, Jackie Spier supports the New Green Deal. She is awesome! Vote Jackie Spier.
State Senator, District 11 - Jackie Fielder
Jackie Fielder is someone who cares about renters and affordable housing at the local level more than incumbent Scott Wiener. Scott Wiener lost my favor when he was on the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. I do like that he supports transit with legislation that fund improvements, and I do agree that that state has to lead with housing policy for cities to be forced to do what is right, but I think Wiener’s tactics leave a lot to be desired in achieving a housing policy that works for cities and renters. I am excited about Fielder’s New Green Deal for California and she brings a unique and needed perspective to the state senate as a formerly unhoused person. Go Jackie!
State Assembly Member, District 17 - Abstain
I stopped voting for Chiu in 2018. There are just so many city issues being tangled by state policy, from the housing crisis to innovative street design, and we need strong leaders representing San Francisco. David Chiu is unfortunately running unopposed so there is no need for me to vote for him for another term.
Judge of the Superior Court, Seat #1 - Maria Evangelista
I asked my pal Jesse Stout who is a criminal justice activist and attorney in San Francisco what he thought about the candidates for judges, and he gave me insights on the races for seats #1, #18, #21 that I will share with you here: Maria Evangelista brings charisma to her causes, and is dedicated to seeking justice for her clients. She’s a native San Franciscan born to undocumented parents. Her opponent has worked as a prosecutor.
Judge of the Superior Court, Seat #18 - Michelle Tong
Michelle Tong is also running against a prosecutor. Tong has litigated on behalf of tenants, immigrants, and workers. And she is apparently also a really fun person, according to the aforementioned Jesse Stout.
Judge of the Superior Court, Seat #21 - Carolyn Gold
I think I am most excited to vote for Carolyn Gold of the judge candidates. She is the litigation director at Eviction Defense Collaborative. For 15 years, she's protected thousands of San Franciscans from eviction. Since we passed Prop F in 2018 she's helped lead implementation of SF's civil right to counsel for evictions. A candidate you can feel good voting for. And, surprise! She is also running against a prosecutor. I guess it is a theme.
State Proposition 13 - Bonds for Facility Construction at Schools - Yes
This would be the largest school construction bond in California state history if passed and it enables districts to place bond measures to raise the taxable limit of property for schools that would then be matched. I am sure many people are going to be confused that this Prop 13 funds school construction when California’s 1978 Proposition 13 gutted school funding, but that is a different conversation. Here we are in 2020 and for this Proposition 13, I am voting yes.
School Proposition A - City College Job Training and Earthquake Safety Measure - Yes
This is a much needed measure to fund facilities and training at one of San Francisco’s most important institutions. What’s great about this one is that it is smartly designed legislation. Pals at League of Pissed Off Voters explain, “None of the money can go to administrator salaries, the state has to keep their hands off the money since it’s coming through a local measure, and there’s an oversight committee to watch how the money gets spent.” Yes, vote yes!
City and County Proposition B - San Francisco Earthquake Bond - Yes
I am guilty of consistently voting yes on earthquake bonds in earthquake country to prepare us for earthquakes. This one is particularly compelling because it would fund maintenance and repairs to our cistern system dating back to the 1850s that, by the way, helped save the Mission (my neighborhood) from burning down after the 1906 earthquake. Yes!
City and County Proposition C - Make retiree health care coverage available to former San Francisco Housing Authority employees? - Yes
File under: administrative. Any changes to the City Charter must go to the voters, and just because this addresses health care administration for only 24 workers, it still has to go to the voters. It sounds like these workers got the short end of the healthcare stick when there was some bureaucratic shuffling of management of the San Francisco Housing Authority to address its mismanagement. At any rate, we can fix that now and do what is right by the workers by voting yes.
City and County Proposition D - Tax owners or tenants who keep ground floor retail or other commercial space vacant to assist small businesses? - YES!!!!!
This is one of two compelling propositions on the ballot that will help address the affordability crisis by taxing those who are maintaining vacant storefronts after six months to encourage their activation. Currently storefronts are often left vacant until someone will pay the predatory sky-high rents that make this city unaffordable for many of us. The money raised here would go to support small business (though it is a pittance, let’s be real). I mostly love this proposition as a property owner-motivator, and it is about time. Vote yes.
City and County Proposition E - Tie annual allotment for Large Office Projects to Affordable Housing Goals and change the approval criteria for office projects? YES!!!!!
Here is the second of the two compelling propositions on the ballot that will help address the affordability crisis, this one relates to housing. This ties the allowed capacity of office development to the city’s affordable housing goals, that we don’t typically meet. So, if we only reach 50% of our affordable housing goals, the capacity for office development would be decreased by half. By pairing office project capacity with affordable housing goals, we incentivize real estate investors to meet the city’s affordable housing goals. It is an interesting strategy and I am all for it, since the workers at those offices have to live somewhere, and I rather they not live a two-hour commute away. Vote yes.
Democratic Party County Central Committee (DCCC)
The DCCC votes on endorsements for candidates and ballot initiatives for the official San Francisco Democratic Party. They have a lot of power. So! I happen to still have opinions about favorite candidates. You get to vote for up to fourteen seats for District 17 and ten seats for District 19 so make sure you include these awesome people:
Assembly District 17
Matt Haney!
Honey Mahogany!
Jane Kim!
John Avalos!
David Campos!
Peter Gallotta
Hillary Ronen
Frances Hsieh for DCCC
Shanell Williams
Nomvula O'Meara
Gloria Berry
Anabell Ibanez
Christopher Christensen
Assembly District 19
Queena Chen, Leah LaCroix, Janice Li, Faauuga Moliga, Mano Raju
Oh hey! You made it to the end. Nice work. Now go out there and vote!
NOTES & PERHAPS SOME ANSWERS TO FAQ from Kate:
If you can, it is always best to cast a live ballot at your polling place. You can always go to City Hall on Election Day (March 3!) 7am-8pm to register and cast a provisional ballot If you don’t know your polling place, or where you were last registered to vote, or even if you don’t know if you are registered. But go vote.
If you have an absentee ballot, you can surrender your absentee ballot for a live ballot at your polling place. This is what I usually do. The poll workers will destroy your surrendered absentee ballot and its envelope, and will give you a live ballot. This assures you that your ballot is read and counted as you intended it. (When you vote absentee, if a machine rejects your ballot, the machine depends on a human to interpret your absentee ballot. I am not trying to be all conspiracy-theorist here, but feeding your own ballot into the machine and hearing it beep is the best way to ensure your ballot is interpreted as you intend it to be, particularly if you abstain on votes as I will this election.)
I write the Kate Slate race-by-race, issue-by-issue, and sometimes end up voting against something that seems right up my alley if it has some fatal (to me) flaw. I tell you if I think it does and why.
My opinions in the Kate Slate are my own, and in no way should be thought to represent any views of anyone other than myself. I have thoughtful engaging conversations with well-informed friends who sometimes shed light on aspects I hadn’t considered; I get the tacky expensive mailers you get (no I am not going to vote for you Mr. Super Billionaire); and, cool people like yourself send me others’ slates. I am not affiliated with any party.
When I voted for the very first time as an eighteen year old, I found myself in the voting booth surprised that I didn’t understand all the issues or know all the candidates on the ballot. The next election, I studied the ballot and shared my notes with friends, bringing about the Kate Slate. For the past decade the slate is preceded by a Slate Party my pal Sacha Ielmorini co-hosts with me. The Slate Party is a big informer of the Kate Slate, as is the League of Pissed Off Voters (thank you for your impeccably-researched guide), social media and coffee break chatter.
Feel free to forward the Kate Slate to friends (and friends, if someone other than me–Kate–sent this to you feel free to drop me a line if you end up reading it, I like to hear who this made its way to, and I can add you to the email list for the next Kate Slate).
As always, thanks for reading, now please go vote. Take others with you.
EMAIL Kate Michelle McCarthy <msk...@gmail.com> if you want to be informed of the next voter discussion potluck, or want to share thoughts on her awesome Kate Slate write-ups!
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A note unrelated to voting to close... THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who made it out Saturday to wish Amnesia farewell!! Aahhhhh. That was amazing and so beautiful and sad at the same time. Huge thanks to everyone who played, donating their time and songs: Sean Hayes, The Moni Cache, Slow Motion Cowboys, Margo Cilker, An American Forrest, and friends!!! My heart is still stirring with the experience. I'm grateful, feeling so much love for this sweet music community, even as the spaces we've cherished for so long shift for us.
-Jessie