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Greenzine: Happy Holidays!
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 19 Dec '15

19 Dec '15

December 19 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Happy Holidays to all! Our mayoral candidate, Francisco Herrera, is working to recover a couple thousand dollars for office rent and other costs. At the same time, his commitment to working class self-esteem and culture continues to be a high priority as he organizes for a working family-friendly City and region. After an impressive run, or "walk" for San Francisco Mayor, Francisco finished as the runner-up. You can help Francisco pay off his campaign debt and support the Living Wage Coalition through the purchase of his music, which also makes a perfect gift for the holidays: http://www.livingwage-sf.org/support-us-by-supporting-francisco-herrera/ *===========================* In the new year, we'll be planning for how we might build a SF Progressive Alliance modeled on Richmond's. Please encourage other like-minded organizations and allies to join us in helping to organize this coalition. In the last several elections, SF progressive groups have squandered electoral opportunities by foolishly opposing each other in cases like this year's College Board race, when discussions prior to making endorsements might have cleared up misunderstandings. Greens think we need to follow the model of Richmond CA, in which Greens, progressive Democrats, and other like-minded voters organized together in a solid, long-term alliance well in advance of individual elections. The Richmond Progressive Alliance swept Chevron-backed candidates in 2014 elections, despite being vastly outspent. Let's follow Richmond's model, so we have more successful elections in 2016 and beyond. *===========================* Paid contractor wanted: SF Green Party Fundraiser/Volunteer Coordinator (a part time independent contractor (1099) position): http://sfgreenparty.org/help-wanted *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: election analysis and planning tonight
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 18 Nov '15

18 Nov '15

November 18 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, We'll be analyzing the results of the November election at our meeting tonight. We'll also be planning for how we might build a SF Progressive Alliance modeled on Richmond's. Details below: What: Green Party Monthly Meeting and Election Analysis When: Wed, November 18, 7-9 pm Where: The Redstone Building, 2940 16th Street #302, SF Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, this month's meeting will be a week early, on the 3rd Wednesday instead of the 4th. We'll be analyzing the results of the SF election in detail, and planning for how we might build a SF Progressive Alliance modeled on Richmond's, at a larger organizing meeting next year. In the last several elections, SF progressive groups have squandered electoral opportunities by foolishly opposing each other in cases like this year's College Board race, when discussions prior to making endorsements might have cleared up misunderstandings. Greens think we need to follow the model of Richmond CA, in which Greens, progressive Democrats, and other like-minded voters organized together in a solid, long-term alliance well in advance of individual elections. The Richmond Progressive Alliance swept Chevron-backed candidates in 2014 elections, despite being vastly outspent. *===========================* For those of you who are KPFA members, this is a reminder that the SF Green Party has endorsed the United for Community Radio slate of candidates for the station board. Voting in the board election runs through early December. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/ *===========================* Paid contractor wanted: SF Green Party Fundraiser/Volunteer Coordinator (a part time independent contractor (1099) position): http://sfgreenparty.org/help-wanted *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: events and post-election analysis
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 13 Nov '15

13 Nov '15

November 13 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, With just a few hundred ballots left to be counted, the results of this November's election are in: http://www.sfelections.org/results/20151103/ Our Mayoral candidate, Francisco Herrera, finished second with 15% of the vote. Amy Weiss, who received our #2 endorsement for Mayor, finished 3rd. Taking ranked choice votes into account, Francisco was favored over Mayor Lee by 1 of every 3 voters, and his campaign spent less money per vote than all other candidates on the ballot. This is our strongest Mayoral showing since 2003, when Matt Gonzalez won 47% of the vote against Gavin Newsom. We'll be analyzing the results of this election in detail at our meeting next Wednesday evening. We'll also be planning for how we might build a SF Progressive Alliance modeled on Richmond's. See below for meeting details. *===========================* For those of you who are KPFA members, this is a reminder that the SF Green Party has endorsed the United for Community Radio slate of candidates for the station board. Voting in the board election runs through early December. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/ *===========================* What: Green Festival When: November 13-15 Where: Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave, Daly City The Green Festival is a commercial event that was originally organized by Green Party members working at the nonprofit Global Exchange. In prior years when the Green Festival took place in South of Market, we always did voter outreach from our booth on the street in front of the entrance. Many Greens will be attending this year's event at the Cow Palace, and evaluating whether this location would be a good place to do voter outreach next year. http://greenfestivals.org/sf/san-francisco-2015 *===========================* What: Discussion about Single Payer Healthcare in Colorado When: Sat, November 14, 10 am-noon Where: Alameda County Public Health Department, 1000 Broadway, Oakland The San Francisco & East Bay branches of the California Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program are proud to present journalist and health reform advocate T.R. Reid, well-known author of "The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care." Reid will be speaking about ColoradoCare - a citizen's initiative to provide affordable, high quality health care for all Colorado residents going before voters of Colorado in November 2016. Alameda County Public Health Department, 1000 Broadway, Oakland Fifth Floor - Room 5000 A&B, 2 blocks from the 12th Street/Oakland City Center BART station. Parking available on the street or in nearby structures, but not in the building. $10 requested donation at the door to offset costs (or $20 if you'd like to support the work of PNHP-CA). Refreshments will be served. *===========================* What: Green Party Monthly Meeting and Election Analysis When: Wed, November 18, 7-9 pm Where: The Redstone Building, 2940 16th Street #302, SF This month's meeting will be a week early, on the 3rd Wednesday instead of the 4th. We'll be analyzing the results of the election in detail, and planning for how we might build a SF Progressive Alliance modeled on Richmond's, starting next year. In the last several elections, SF progressive groups have squandered electoral opportunities by foolishly opposing each other in cases like this year's College Board race, when discussions prior to making endorsements might have cleared up misunderstandings. Greens think we need to follow the model of Richmond CA, in which Greens, progressive Democrats, and other like-minded voters organized together in a solid, long-term alliance well in advance of individual elections. The Richmond Progressive Alliance swept Chevron-backed candidates in 2014 elections, despite being vastly outspent. *===========================* Paid contractor wanted: SF Green Party Fundraiser/Volunteer Coordinator (a part time independent contractor (1099) position): http://sfgreenparty.org/help-wanted *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: get out the vote!
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 03 Nov '15

03 Nov '15

November 3 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Today is election day! Please vote, and encourage your friends to vote as well. The complete text of our Voter Guide is below--please forward to any friends interested in the Green Party's positions in this election. After the polls close at 8 pm, join Greens at election night parties tonight: * Francisco Herrera's party will be at 2969 Mission St, at 25th St (ANSWER coalition HQ) * Ross Mirkarimi's party will be at 2950 25th St, at Bryant (Puerto Alegre #2, NOT the one on Valencia near 16th St) After the election, we'll be working on organizing a San Francisco Progressive Alliance, modeled on Richmond's (see our endorsement of Wendy Aragon, below). We've moved this month's organizing meeting to November 18, and will send out details after the election. We'll be analyzing the results of this election and planning for a larger summit of progressive groups next year. *===========================* 2015 GREEN VOTER GUIDE Election Day: Tuesday, Nov 3 Mayor: Francisco Herrera (#1 choice) Amy Farah Weiss (#2 choice) Francisco Herrera is a musician, a long-time Green Party member, and an activist with the Living Wage Coalition. He is running for Mayor in order to "bring the wisdom of the neighborhoods to City Hall." In a speech to the League of Women Voters, he asked: How do we get City Hall to listen to the wisdom of our neighborhoods and respect our strengths? What kind of city do we want for our children and grandchildren - for ourselves? Francisco started the "People's Campaign" to form a long-term effort to develop a plan and vision of San Francisco as a city friendly and affordable to working families. Francisco's platform includes building more affordable housing, eviction protection, a budget that prioritizes arts and human services, safe streets and a better Muni system, public education, an expansion of Healthy SF, an end to deportations and cooperation with ICE, accountable policing, and more living wage jobs. Francisco's campaign has been endorsed by the Green Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, Tom Ammiano, John Avalos, Ross Mirkarimi, the Tenants' Union, the League of Pissed Off Voters, SEIU Local 1021, and AFT Local 2121, among others. You can find out more at: http://www.peoplescampaign.net/platform Since this is a ranked choice election, we urge voters to rank more than one opponent of Mayor Ed Lee. For your #2 choice, we support Amy Farah Weiss. Although Weiss is a Democrat, she agrees with the Green Party on many key issues. She supports a more ethical and open government, public power, and natural grass fields in parks. Weiss agrees with the Green Party on many aspects of City transit and development policy. She joins the Green Party in support of Props F and I, in opposition to her own official Party's position. You can read details of Weiss' answers to the Green Party's questionnaire online: http://sfgreens.org/questionnaires/weiss_mayor.html Sheriff: Ross Mirkarimi (sole endorsement) The Green Party strongly endorses Ross Mirkarimi for another term as Sheriff. In the face of constant attacks from Mayor Lee and the SFPD, Mirkarimi has been surprisingly effective at continuing the legacy of former Sheriff Mike Hennessey. He has succeeded in lowering the costs for inmates to stay in touch with their families by phone (a key factor in lowering recidivism). He has supported Five Keys, an award-winning high school inside the jail, which has received nationwide recognition including a $100,000 prize from Harvard University. Even LA County has established a branch of Five Keys within their jail. Mirkarimi has increased visiting hours for all inmates, and houses transgender inmates according to gender identity. He also helps to enroll inmates in Obamacare when they are released from jail. All of these factors have reduced recidivism and greatly improved public safety in SF. Sheriff Mirkarimi has made some tough decisions that have put him at odds with Mayor Lee. He strongly supports SF's "sanctuary city" policy, which allows undocumented immigrants to cooperate with law enforcement without fear of deportation. In contrast, his opponent Vicki Hennessy (no relation to the previous Sheriff) cooperated with immigration authorities at ICE when she was briefly appointed interim Sheriff, and she has promised to resume cooperation with ICE if elected. Mirkarimi is also is the only Sheriff in the state to have an Eviction Assistance Unit, which protects tenants and slows evictions. This assistance, while short of an outright refusal to evict (which would result in Mayor Lee suspending Mirkarimi), has put Mirkarimi at odds with landlords and developers. Just as in the SFPD, there have recently been some problems in the Sheriffs' Department (including an inmate death, staged inmate fights, and the death of a woman at SF General Hospital). Sheriff Mirkarimi responded appropriately and effectively in each case. And in the case of the inmate fights, Sheriff Mirkarimi even welcomed an FBI investigation. We suspect that his opponent, who is the favorite candidate of the Deputy Sheriffs Association, would have maintained a "blue wall of silence" in covering up internal problems. The deputies are resistant to having civilian oversight and control, and it is unclear to us whether the department's problems were in fact concealed by an insubordinate and defensive chain of command. It is essential that the Sheriff's Department be run by an independent civilian outsider like Mirkarimi in order to avoid the department being controlled by deputies and staff who would cover up such problems in the future. Mayor Lee, the SFPD, and the Chronicle have also attacked Sheriff Mirkarimi by manipulating the political process and media perceptions around a domestic conflict case that involved Mirkarimi and his wife Eliana Lopez. However, when Lopez was finally able to speak for herself, it became clear that the Mirkarimi-Lopez family is strong, loving, healthy and dedicated, and that the manipulations around the case were indeed nothing more than cynical political maneuvering. As we said in our statement at the time (http://sfgreenparty.org/issues/37-statement-on-sheriff-mirkarimi) the appropriate response to the domestic disagreement was both counseling and the empowerment of Ms. Lopez to decide for herself what she wanted for her life and her family. That response was embraced wholeheartedly by Ross Mirkarimi, and their family became far stronger through their shared adversity. Partly because of how well Mirkarimi and Lopez handled their personal conflict and the political firestorm that surrounded it, the San Francisco Women's Political Committee is supporting Ross Mirkarimi to be re-elected Sheriff. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's accomplishments, both personal and professional, shine in the midst of the adversity surrounding both his family and our City. We strongly support re-electing him as Sheriff. Community College Board: Wendy Aragon Wendy Aragon is a long time activist who is seeking her first elected office on the College Board. We endorsed her in 2014, and she is running again after coming within 2 percentage points of winning a seat in that election. She has good ideas for how the current Board could have avoided the accreditation crisis, and her answers to our questionnaire (http://sfgreens.org/questionnaires/aragon_ccb.html) show that she supports many Green Party priorities, such as free education, open government, and equal rights for non-citizens. She has also been out front in the campaign to take back City College from the ACCJC, so we once again give her our enthusiastic endorsement. College Board elections do not use ranked choice voting, or even require a majority of votes to win. Because two candidates with backing from various progressive groups are running in this contest, Aragon unfortunately faces a tough uphill battle to win this election against the appointee of Mayor Ed Lee. Overall, we think Aragon is easily the best candidate: she is the most familiar with CCSF and its politics, she is the only major candidate opposed to military recruiting on campus, and she has no ambitions to use the seat as a springboard to higher office. She is also a woman, in a City where women are under-represented in politics, and in progressive circles in particular. As a feminist party, we strongly believe that women should not step back as candidates to allow ambitious men to lead on our behalf. In the last several elections, SF progressive groups have squandered electoral opportunities by foolishly opposing each other in cases like this College Board race, when discussions prior to making endorsements might have cleared up misunderstandings. Sadly, history may repeat itself in this election. Greens think we need to follow the model of Richmond CA, in which Greens, progressive Democrats, and other like-minded voters organized together in a solid, long-term alliance well in advance of individual elections. The Richmond Progressive Alliance swept Chevron-backed candidates in 2014 elections, despite being vastly outspent. Aragon agrees that a San Francisco Progressive Alliance is necessary, and we look forward to working with her and other progressive groups after this election to ensure we don't continue to be dominated by the so-called "moderates" from the Democratic Party Machine. SF Board of Supervisors, D3 No candidate from District 3 sought the Green Party's endorsement. SF City Attorney: no endorsement SF District Attorney: no endorsement SF Treasurer: no endorsement Local propositions: NO on A Prop A is a $310 million bond that is advertised by proponents as being for "affordable housing." In reality, this will be a slush fund with little oversight that the local Democratic Party Machine will use to pay off politically connected developers and nonprofits. The Green Party therefore opposes it. Because of demand for workers and materials due to the explosion of luxury housing, construction costs for affordable housing have risen above $500,000 per unit. Therefore, even if Mayor Lee spent 100% of the Prop A bond money on truly affordable housing, only about 620 units could be built. But the reality is far worse: Prop A is filled with loopholes that would allow Mayor Lee to spend most of the money on other things, such as "funding middle income rental housing units." Prop A does not specify that even half the money be spent on housing that would be affordable to current SF residents. The Green Party is also concerned about using bonds to fund expenses that should be part of SF's normal budget. SF now has a $9 billion budget, up from $5 billion in the Newsom years. Residents have seen little benefit from this increase: under Mayor Lee, the streets are dirtier and Muni is even slower than when he took office. $310 million for affordable housing is just a crumb from this huge pie. Even with current low interest rates, bond funding means that taxpayers will pay twice: once for overpriced land, and again for the interest on borrowing money from Wall Street 1%-ers (see our full Statement on Bond Funding, below). Vote NO on Prop A, and demand that the next Mayor spend a higher portion of our City budget on real affordable public housing. YES on B Prop B will provide more paid parental leave for City public employees. The United States provides far less paid leave on average than other countries, and is one of only two countries in the world that does not guarantee some type of paid parental leave for all workers. Although Prop B does not directly affect private employers, it will indirectly pressure them through competition with the public sector for skilled workers. Importantly, Prop B provides leave for both parents regardless of gender. Studies have shown that paid paternal leave is important for decreasing the gender pay gap. As feminism is one of our key values, measures that lower the pay gap are especially critical. NO on C Prop C would require "expenditure lobbyists" to register and file monthly reports with the Ethics Commission. An expenditure lobbyist is defined as anybody who spends at least $2500 in one month to influence other people to contact City government to advocate for legislative or administrative actions. Registering with the Ethics Commission would cost a flat fee of $500 each year, and the monthly reports would include details of all expenses related to influencing government action. The SF Ethics Commission put this measure on the ballot in order to close a loophole that allows corporations to create "astroturf" groups to lobby City government. For example, SFBARF is a billionaire-funded group that advocates for building more luxury housing. Other corporate astroturf groups lobby against restrictions on soda, or for the preservation of utility monopolies, or against regulating the conversion of rental apartments into illegal hotel rooms. Corporations like PG&E, Airbnb and AT&T spend many times more money on indirect lobbying through astroturf groups than they do on direct lobbying. Many City-funded nonprofits are part of the problem, spending City money to lobby for additional funding. Unfortunately, Prop C lumps in genuine grassroots groups with these corporate astroturf campaigns. For example, the Sunset and Richmond residents who organized opposition to Mayor Lee's plan to replace grass soccer fields in Golden Gate Park with toxic fake turf spent thousands of dollars on outreach to their neighbors. A neighborhood group that puts out a single mailing to area residents could pass the $2500 threshold to be defined as lobbyists, and the $500 registration fee and monthly reporting requirements would be very onerous to small groups that depend on volunteers and individual donations. In contrast, large corporations and their shell nonprofits could easily afford these expenses. Prop C also does not distinguish between money spent directly influencing government officials and money spent on ads or studies that ultimately result in ordinary citizens contacting their elected representatives. There's a huge difference between spending $2500 on an ad asking people to call their Supervisor, vs spending $2500 to directly pay people to pack a Board or commission meeting or flood an office with phone calls. The Green Party opposes Prop C, because it will stifle grassroots opposition to the Democratic Party Machine, while not solving the problem of well-funded corporate astroturf groups. Even the local Democratic Party, which is currently in the hands of developers and corporate interests, endorsed Prop C because they do not see it as a threat to their system of patronage politics. Vote NO on C, and support alternatives such as the DISCLOSE act and more transparency in how nonprofits spend City funds. NO on D Prop D would increase height limits for the Giants' proposed Mission Rock development from the current 40 feet to 240 feet for some buildings. Since last year's Prop B (which we supported) became law, public votes are now required to raise height limits along the waterfront, in order to ensure that the proposed project will provide sufficient benefit to the public. The developers of Mission Rock have made all sorts of promises about affordability of the project and the benefit to the public, but none of those promises would be legally binding if Prop D passes. We suspect that, like most other development supported by Mayor Lee and his allies, this project will almost entirely consist of luxury condos that will be off limits to the current residents of San Francisco. We urge voters to reject Prop D, so that the Giants can come back with a better proposal for developing this site. NO on E Prop E is billed as a "sunshine and open government law." It is the only proposal on the ballot on which Greens agree with both the Democratic and Republican parties: vote NO! Prop E would allow corporations to hire people from around the world to make videos and send them to Board and Commission meetings, where they would crowd out public comment from City residents. Prop E would allow our public debate to be dominated by hired trolls, with the same level of insight as SFGate.com's comments section. Prop E also looks like a stalking horse for David Lee, a probable future candidate for Supervisor in the Richmond District. By backing a different campaign, such as a ballot proposition, candidates can circumvent donation limits and build name recognition and donor lists, just as Mayor Newsom did with "Care not Cash" and Mayor Lee did with "Run Ed Run." Greens support open government and sunshine, and some ideas in Prop E should be recycled in a future ballot measure. For example, Greens support livestreaming and televising more commission meetings, and we support allowing SF voters to submit public comments online rather than having to show up to meetings in person. However, Prop E is so flawed that it belongs in the garbage bin. YES on F Prop F would create real regulations on companies like Airbnb and VRBO. These companies make huge profits from landlords who evict tenants and convert properties into full-time unlicensed hotels, avoiding zoning codes and other laws that apply to real hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. The current regulations on such companies were written by Airbnb, and are by design completely unenforced by the City. Prop F would require reasonable limits (75 days per year) on renting rooms, and would require companies like Airbnb and VRBO to report data to the City that would allow SF to enforce these limits. Airbnb is spending more than $8 million to defeat Prop F, including innumerable billboards and TV ads promoting the lie that Prop F will lead to neighbors suing their neighbors. The reality is that neighbors can already sue each other over nuisances, and Prop F does not change that. Airbnb is referring to a provision of Prop F that would allow people living near an illegal hotel to sue the hosting company as well as the landlord, if the City does not respond to complaints about illegal rentals exceeding the new 75 day limit. Opponents of Prop F also argue that tourists who stay in Airbnb rooms spend money in SF and help businesses. However, studies have shown that the residents evicted to make room for illegal hotels would have spent far more money than the tourists. Airbnb is therefore a net loss for SF taxpayers and businesses. The fact that the Democratic Party Central Committee voted to oppose Prop F just weeks after they received a $10,000 "contribution" from Airbnb says a lot about how such companies, and our local Democratic Machine politicians, operate. Vote YES on Prop F and support a Green alternative to politics as usual. NO on G, and YES on H: Prop G was originally put on the ballot by PG&E allies. It would manipulate the definition of clean energy so that our local community based program, CleanPowerSF, would not be allowed to call rooftop solar and other clean energy sources "renewable, greenhouse gas free," while allowing PG&E to call these very same sources "renewable, greenhouse gas free." Under Prop G, PG&E could falsely label its dirtier fossil fuel and nuclear energy mix "greener" than the much cleaner CleanPowerSF. Prop H was put on the ballot in response, and requires both PG&E and CleanPowerSF to follow the same rules under state law defining what can be called clean and renewable. PG&E has decided to avoid a nasty ballot fight by withdrawing support for Prop G. Be sure to vote NO on G and YES on H in order to support fair and accurate clean energy reporting rules. YES on I Prop I would create a temporary moratorium on building luxury housing in the Mission. The Mission is one the City's most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, and one in which many long-time residents are being evicted. Building luxury condos only encourages more gentrification in the immediate area. Mission landlords are falling for "get rich quick" schemes by evicting all their tenants and flipping their property for luxury condos while the housing market is hot. Long-established businesses are being forced out by skyrocketing rents in trendy areas such as Valencia Street. Prop I would call a "time out" on luxury housing, allowing 18 months for Mission residents to draw up plans for where new development should occur in order to displace as few current residents and businesses as possible. The Mission has always been a working class neighborhood, and its transformation into a playground for the rich has resulted in many priced-out workers having to drive for hours from Vallejo and beyond to get to their jobs in the City. Gentrification and displacement in the Mission should be a warning to all San Franciscans about the dangers of libertarian capitalism run amok. The Democratic Party Central Committee, controlled by developers and corporate investors, endorsed No on I, giving the green light to more luxury condos and the finger to current Mission residents. The Green Party stands as an alternative, and we strongly urge a YES vote on Prop I. NO on J Prop J claims to help local businesses avoid being displaced by skyrocketing rents. It would establish a "legacy business historic preservation fund" to help pay the rent for certain long-time (20 or 30 year old) businesses. We oppose Prop J, because not all legacy businesses could receive funding. Appointees of Mayor Lee would make the call, and use the grants to reward favored businesses (i.e., those whose owners make the right campaign donations) while ignoring the plight of others. The recipients of Mayor Lee's Prop J slush fund would also only receive a few hundred dollars per year per employee, at a time when rents are doubling and tripling as the result of gentrification. Although commercial rent control (which would solve the problem) is banned by state law, the City has other legal means to address commercial displacement. For example, the City could use property acquired by eminent domain to establish Community Land Trusts, and rent space in land trusts to long-time businesses. The threat of eminent domain would also make landlords think twice about destroying icons of SF culture in order to make quick buck. YES on K Prop K would establish priorities for building affordable housing on surplus City-owned properties. Currently, such properties are often turned over to politically connected developers to build luxury condos. Prop K would require 100% affordable housing to be built on smaller properties, and a mix of luxury and affordable housing on larger properties. Although Prop K could have been more aggressive about requiring 100% affordable housing on all surplus City-owned properties, it is an improvement over the status quo, so the Green Party supports it. SF Green Party Statement on Bond Funding The SF Green Party has often been hesitant to embrace bond financing. In addition to being environmentally and socially responsible, we are also fiscally responsible. Bond funding requires payments totaling about twice the actual cost of whatever improvements are made, and passes costs on to future generations. Because people who buy bonds are almost exclusively the wealthy, as investors are paid back over the 20-30 year life of the bond, wealth is transferred from middle and low income taxpayers to rich bondholders. Bond funding also helps rich people avoid paying their fair share of taxes, since interest on municipal bonds is exempt from both state and federal tax. As noted in the California Voter Guide in 1992, over 35,000 U.S. millionaires supplemented their income with tax exempt state and local bond checks averaging over $2,500 per week (that's over $130,000 per year tax free). They avoided paying federal and state taxes on over $5 billion, which must be made up by the rest of us. The SF Green Party calls on the public to join us in working to phase out this regressive and unfair subsidy of the rich and their investment bankers (who take millions of dollars off the top when the bonds are issued). There are a few cases in which Greens have supported bond measures. In general, we are willing to support bonds that are issued to in order to build urgently needed, publicly-owned infrastructure, such as a public hospital or high speed rail. We generally oppose bonds that fund ongoing maintenance projects; these should be paid for using City revenues (which should be increased by raising taxes on the wealthy). *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: campaign events for Herrera, Mirkarimi, Aragon
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 30 Oct '15

30 Oct '15

October 29 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Our full Green Voter Guide is now posted on our website: http://sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/72-november-2015-endorsements If you're a registered absentee voter, it's too late to vote by mail, since your ballot needs to be received at City Hall by next Tuesday. Instead, you can drop off your vote-by-mail ballot (in the signed envelope that it comes with) at any polling place on Election Day, or at City Hall between now and next Tuesday. We'll send out one more newsletter on the morning of the election, with updates on election night parties and post-election events. *===========================* What: Get Out The Vote for Francisco Herrera for Mayor! Where: Excelsior, Haight, and Mission Districts When: Friday and Saturday This Friday, we'll be campaigning in the Excelsior District: 10:30-11:30 am, corner of Mission and Ocean Ave 12-1 pm, corner of Geneva and Mission 2:30-3:30 pm, corner of Geneva and Mission 5-6 pm, corner of Geneva and Mission Then we'll be moving to the Haight on Friday evening: 6-7:30 pm Meet at the corner of Haight and Ashbury at 6 pm, for a campaign walk down Haight St. On Saturday, the campaign will be forming a caravan to drive and ride bikes around the city to different locations to hand out postcards and window signs. If you don't mind plastering Francisco signs all over your bike or car, please considering joining us for part or all of the ride! The caravan will start on Saturday at 1 pm at 24th & Mission Streets, and go all over the City. For more info on events Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, call Miguel, Francisco's campaign manager, at (415) 240-1697. *===========================* What: Rally to Re-elect Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi Where: 24th and Mission BART plaza When: Saturday, 10 am - 12 noon You are cordially invited to join Sheriff Mirkarimi and his wife Eliana Lopez and the campaign to our last Saturday Rally before the November 3rd Election. We still have a lot of work to do to in order to ensure the best Sheriff in the United States is reelected. Our campaign remains so grateful and indebted to its wonderful volunteers. This campaign is truly community driven and supported throughout the Bay Area and California. This election is for San Francisco. What we need to win: 1) Visibility and Voter contact at strategic locations throughout the city between 7-9 and 4-6 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Big thanks to those who have started volunteering and scheduling these shifts with us. 2) Precinct walkers are needed to distribute our next order of door hangers. Many thanks for those who have helped us deplete our stock so quickly. We must reach more voters to win. 3) Election Day: A. we need precinct captains to watch the polling locations of our walked precincts. B. we need volunterrs for visability activities throughout the city on Monday evening and election day. C. we need precinct walkers for the morning of election day.Please contac the campaign to schedule your shifts: (415) 940-2467. Remember, campaigns can be won or lost just by a few votes. So it is important we do the best we can to reach as many voters as we can before now and November 3rd at 8pm. Re-Elect Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi http://www.reelectrossforsheriff.com/ *===========================* What: GOTV for Wendy Aragon for College Board Where: various locations, see below When: now through Tuesday It's GOTV weekend and we need everyone's help to get out that last minute push! Some great ways to get involved all around the City are listed on Wendy's website: http://www.wendyaragon.com/all_in_gotv_push For more info, contact Keenan Patterson, (415) 548-3585. *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: Green Voter Guide and campaign events
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 23 Oct '15

23 Oct '15

October 23 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Our full Green Voter Guide is now posted on our website: http://sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/72-november-2015-endorsements The complete text of our Voter Guide is appended to this newsletter--please forward to any friends interested in the Green Party's positions in this election. If you can help hand out some of our slate cards with a summary and link to our full endorsements, please email cc(a)sfgreens.org. If you can donate to help pay for our slate mailing, follow this link: http://sfgreenparty.org/donate *===========================* What: Monthly Green Party membership meeting Where: Redstone Building, 2940 16th Street #302, near South Van Ness When: Wed, 10/28, from 7-9 pm On the agenda: 1) Last minute campaign activities. Come pick up our slate cards and volunteer to hand them out or walk a precinct. 2) Planning for election night party, post-election recap, and other post-election meetings this year 3) Discussion of Mayor Lee and Katy Tang's plan to wreck the Western Neighborhoods. Update from Westside Greens and planning our response. *===========================* What: Fundraiser for Wendy Aragon for College Board Where: Denise D'Anne's house, 351 Guerrero Street When: Sunday, Oct 25, 11 am - 1:30 pm All of the details can also be found in this link: http://www.wendyaragon.com/garden_party *Hon. Eric Mar * Hon. Brigitte Davila * Hon. John Rizzo* *Mahnani Clay * Denise D'Anne * Sue Englander * **Eileen Hansen * Barry Hermanson * Francisco Herrera * **Hene Kelly * Jonathan Lyens * Gabriel Medina * Jane Morrison * **Christina Olague * Debra Walker * William Walker * Amy Farah Weiss * Bruce Wolfe* *Cordially invite you to a "Garden Party" Fundraiser* *in support of their choice for City College Board* *WENDY ARAGON* *Sunday, October 25, 2015* *11:00 am to 1:30 pm* At the home of Denise D'Anne 351 Guerrero Street * San Francisco (Between 15th and 16th Streets) *$35 * *suggested minimum price per person** *Student/Senior/Low Income - $20 (No one will be turned away for lack of funds) Sponsorship Levels *$500 * $250 * $100* *===========================* What: Rally and Precinct walks for Ross Mirkarimi Where: 24th & Mission St When: Saturday, October 24, 10 am, and every day at campaign HQ Our campaign has been off to a great start. Lets keep this momentum going.... We have 10 precincts being walked today. Last Saturday we had a good showing for our rally which included former Mayor Art Agnos and former Supervisor Silver. On Sunday Streets in the Mission Ross had a wonderful time making contact with voters up and down Valencia. This is an exciting, busy office. Still, we will not win this election without everybody's participation. Thank you for making a donation if you have done so. Will you send us volunteers or put up a window sign if you can not show up for the rally this Saturday? Thank you if you have walked a precinct already. Will you bring a friend with you next time if you can not make the rally this Saturday? If you haven't done anything for Ross's campaign yet, what day and what time are you available? We need everyone's participation. Please join us this Saturday, October 24th, 2015, 10:00am for one of our last rallies before November 3rd!@ Mission & 24th Street. Please stop by our campaign office anytime between 9am and 9pm any day between now November 3rd: 3254 24th Street, San Francisco, @ Mission Street Bart Plaza. To make a monetary contribution to Ross's campaign you can visit www.rossmirkarimi.com and/or also mail a check payable to "Re-elect Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi" to 77 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 101, P.O. Box 2008 San Francisco, CA 94102. ??Please contact me with any questions: 415.940.2467. *===========================* What: Volunteer Opportunities for Francisco Herrera for Mayor Where: Various locations, see below When: Every Day The activities listed below will be on-going for the following month. Please RSVP to Alyse Ceirante <volunteerf4m(a)gmail.com> if you plan to attend. Francisco would really appreciate it if all his supporters could turn out at least once: Mondays Castro Street MUNI Station Castro at Market Two shifts: 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet at the Castro Street stairs to the station Tuesdays Van Ness MUNI Station Van Ness at Market 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. Meet in front of the donut shop Castro Street MUNI Station Castro at Market 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet at the Castro Street stairs Wednesdays 16th Street BART Station 16th at Mission 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet in front of Walgreens Thursdays Van Ness MUNI Station Market at Van Ness 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. Meet in front of the donut shop 24th Street BART Station 24th at Mission 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet at plaza We still need lots of volunteers for this final stretch. If you find yourself at a scheduled event with no flyers, or if you would like to do your own thing but need flyers, please call Miguel at (415) 240-1697. He will make provide you with materials. *===========================* 2015 GREEN VOTER GUIDE Election Day: Tuesday, Nov 3 Mayor: Francisco Herrera (#1 choice) Amy Farah Weiss (#2 choice) Francisco Herrera is a musician, a long-time Green Party member, and an activist with the Living Wage Coalition. He is running for Mayor in order to "bring the wisdom of the neighborhoods to City Hall." In a speech to the League of Women Voters, he asked: How do we get City Hall to listen to the wisdom of our neighborhoods and respect our strengths? What kind of city do we want for our children and grandchildren - for ourselves? Francisco started the "People's Campaign" to form a long-term effort to develop a plan and vision of San Francisco as a city friendly and affordable to working families. Francisco's platform includes building more affordable housing, eviction protection, a budget that prioritizes arts and human services, safe streets and a better Muni system, public education, an expansion of Healthy SF, an end to deportations and cooperation with ICE, accountable policing, and more living wage jobs. Francisco's campaign has been endorsed by the Green Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, Tom Ammiano, John Avalos, Ross Mirkarimi, the Tenants' Union, the League of Pissed Off Voters, SEIU Local 1021, and AFT Local 2121, among others. You can find out more at: http://www.peoplescampaign.net/platform Since this is a ranked choice election, we urge voters to rank more than one opponent of Mayor Ed Lee. For your #2 choice, we support Amy Farah Weiss. Although Weiss is a Democrat, she agrees with the Green Party on many key issues. She supports a more ethical and open government, public power, and natural grass fields in parks. Weiss agrees with the Green Party on many aspects of City transit and development policy. She joins the Green Party in support of Props F and I, in opposition to her own official Party's position. You can read details of Weiss' answers to the Green Party's questionnaire online: http://sfgreens.org/questionnaires/weiss_mayor.html Sheriff: Ross Mirkarimi (sole endorsement) The Green Party strongly endorses Ross Mirkarimi for another term as Sheriff. In the face of constant attacks from Mayor Lee and the SFPD, Mirkarimi has been surprisingly effective at continuing the legacy of former Sheriff Mike Hennessey. He has succeeded in lowering the costs for inmates to stay in touch with their families by phone (a key factor in lowering recidivism). He has supported Five Keys, an award-winning high school inside the jail, which has received nationwide recognition including a $100,000 prize from Harvard University. Even LA County has established a branch of Five Keys within their jail. Mirkarimi has increased visiting hours for all inmates, and houses transgender inmates according to gender identity. He also helps to enroll inmates in Obamacare when they are released from jail. All of these factors have reduced recidivism and greatly improved public safety in SF. Sheriff Mirkarimi has made some tough decisions that have put him at odds with Mayor Lee. He strongly supports SF's "sanctuary city" policy, which allows undocumented immigrants to cooperate with law enforcement without fear of deportation. In contrast, his opponent Vicki Hennessy (no relation to the previous Sheriff) cooperated with immigration authorities at ICE when she was briefly appointed interim Sheriff, and she has promised to resume cooperation with ICE if elected. Mirkarimi is also is the only Sheriff in the state to have an Eviction Assistance Unit, which protects tenants and slows evictions. This assistance, while short of an outright refusal to evict (which would result in Mayor Lee suspending Mirkarimi), has put Mirkarimi at odds with landlords and developers. Just as in the SFPD, there have recently been some problems in the Sheriffs' Department (including an inmate death, staged inmate fights, and the death of a woman at SF General Hospital). Sheriff Mirkarimi responded appropriately and effectively in each case. And in the case of the inmate fights, Sheriff Mirkarimi even welcomed an FBI investigation. We suspect that his opponent, who is the favorite candidate of the Deputy Sheriffs Association, would have maintained a "blue wall of silence" in covering up internal problems. The deputies are resistant to having civilian oversight and control, and it is unclear to us whether the department's problems were in fact concealed by an insubordinate and defensive chain of command. It is essential that the Sheriff's Department be run by an independent civilian outsider like Mirkarimi in order to avoid the department being controlled by deputies and staff who would cover up such problems in the future. Mayor Lee, the SFPD, and the Chronicle have also attacked Sheriff Mirkarimi by manipulating the political process and media perceptions around a domestic conflict case that involved Mirkarimi and his wife Eliana Lopez. However, when Lopez was finally able to speak for herself, it became clear that the Mirkarimi-Lopez family is strong, loving, healthy and dedicated, and that the manipulations around the case were indeed nothing more than cynical political maneuvering. As we said in our statement at the time (http://sfgreenparty.org/issues/37-statement-on-sheriff-mirkarimi) the appropriate response to the domestic disagreement was both counseling and the empowerment of Ms. Lopez to decide for herself what she wanted for her life and her family. That response was embraced wholeheartedly by Ross Mirkarimi, and their family became far stronger through their shared adversity. Partly because of how well Mirkarimi and Lopez handled their personal conflict and the political firestorm that surrounded it, the San Francisco Women's Political Committee is supporting Ross Mirkarimi to be re-elected Sheriff. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's accomplishments, both personal and professional, shine in the midst of the adversity surrounding both his family and our City. We strongly support re-electing him as Sheriff. Community College Board: Wendy Aragon Wendy Aragon is a long time activist who is seeking her first elected office on the College Board. We endorsed her in 2014, and she is running again after coming within 2 percentage points of winning a seat in that election. She has good ideas for how the current Board could have avoided the accreditation crisis, and her answers to our questionnaire (http://sfgreens.org/questionnaires/aragon_ccb.html) show that she supports many Green Party priorities, such as free education, open government, and equal rights for non-citizens. She has also been out front in the campaign to take back City College from the ACCJC, so we once again give her our enthusiastic endorsement. College Board elections do not use ranked choice voting, or even require a majority of votes to win. Because two candidates with backing from various progressive groups are running in this contest, Aragon unfortunately faces a tough uphill battle to win this election against the appointee of Mayor Ed Lee. Overall, we think Aragon is easily the best candidate: she is the most familiar with CCSF and its politics, she is the only major candidate opposed to military recruiting on campus, and she has no ambitions to use the seat as a springboard to higher office. She is also a woman, in a City where women are under-represented in politics, and in progressive circles in particular. As a feminist party, we strongly believe that women should not step back as candidates to allow ambitious men to lead on our behalf. In the last several elections, SF progressive groups have squandered electoral opportunities by foolishly opposing each other in cases like this College Board race, when discussions prior to making endorsements might have cleared up misunderstandings. Sadly, history may repeat itself in this election. Greens think we need to follow the model of Richmond CA, in which Greens, progressive Democrats, and other like-minded voters organized together in a solid, long-term alliance well in advance of individual elections. The Richmond Progressive Alliance swept Chevron-backed candidates in 2014 elections, despite being vastly outspent. Aragon agrees that a San Francisco Progressive Alliance is necessary, and we look forward to working with her and other progressive groups after this election to ensure we don't continue to be dominated by the so-called "moderates" from the Democratic Party Machine. SF Board of Supervisors, D3 No candidate from District 3 sought the Green Party's endorsement. SF City Attorney: no endorsement SF District Attorney: no endorsement SF Treasurer: no endorsement Local propositions: NO on A Prop A is a $310 million bond that is advertised by proponents as being for "affordable housing." In reality, this will be a slush fund with little oversight that the local Democratic Party Machine will use to pay off politically connected developers and nonprofits. The Green Party therefore opposes it. Because of demand for workers and materials due to the explosion of luxury housing, construction costs for affordable housing have risen above $500,000 per unit. Therefore, even if Mayor Lee spent 100% of the Prop A bond money on truly affordable housing, only about 620 units could be built. But the reality is far worse: Prop A is filled with loopholes that would allow Mayor Lee to spend most of the money on other things, such as "funding middle income rental housing units." Prop A does not specify that even half the money be spent on housing that would be affordable to current SF residents. The Green Party is also concerned about using bonds to fund expenses that should be part of SF's normal budget. SF now has a $9 billion budget, up from $5 billion in the Newsom years. Residents have seen little benefit from this increase: under Mayor Lee, the streets are dirtier and Muni is even slower than when he took office. $310 million for affordable housing is just a crumb from this huge pie. Even with current low interest rates, bond funding means that taxpayers will pay twice: once for overpriced land, and again for the interest on borrowing money from Wall Street 1%-ers (see our full Statement on Bond Funding, below). Vote NO on Prop A, and demand that the next Mayor spend a higher portion of our City budget on real affordable public housing. YES on B Prop B will provide more paid parental leave for City public employees. The United States provides far less paid leave on average than other countries, and is one of only two countries in the world that does not guarantee some type of paid parental leave for all workers. Although Prop B does not directly affect private employers, it will indirectly pressure them through competition with the public sector for skilled workers. Importantly, Prop B provides leave for both parents regardless of gender. Studies have shown that paid paternal leave is important for decreasing the gender pay gap. As feminism is one of our key values, measures that lower the pay gap are especially critical. NO on C Prop C would require "expenditure lobbyists" to register and file monthly reports with the Ethics Commission. An expenditure lobbyist is defined as anybody who spends at least $2500 in one month to influence other people to contact City government to advocate for legislative or administrative actions. Registering with the Ethics Commission would cost a flat fee of $500 each year, and the monthly reports would include details of all expenses related to influencing government action. The SF Ethics Commission put this measure on the ballot in order to close a loophole that allows corporations to create "astroturf" groups to lobby City government. For example, SFBARF is a billionaire-funded group that advocates for building more luxury housing. Other corporate astroturf groups lobby against restrictions on soda, or for the preservation of utility monopolies, or against regulating the conversion of rental apartments into illegal hotel rooms. Corporations like PG&E, Airbnb and AT&T spend many times more money on indirect lobbying through astroturf groups than they do on direct lobbying. Many City-funded nonprofits are part of the problem, spending City money to lobby for additional funding. Unfortunately, Prop C lumps in genuine grassroots groups with these corporate astroturf campaigns. For example, the Sunset and Richmond residents who organized opposition to Mayor Lee's plan to replace grass soccer fields in Golden Gate Park with toxic fake turf spent thousands of dollars on outreach to their neighbors. A neighborhood group that puts out a single mailing to area residents could pass the $2500 threshold to be defined as lobbyists, and the $500 registration fee and monthly reporting requirements would be very onerous to small groups that depend on volunteers and individual donations. In contrast, large corporations and their shell nonprofits could easily afford these expenses. Prop C also does not distinguish between money spent directly influencing government officials and money spent on ads or studies that ultimately result in ordinary citizens contacting their elected representatives. There's a huge difference between spending $2500 on an ad asking people to call their Supervisor, vs spending $2500 to directly pay people to pack a Board or commission meeting or flood an office with phone calls. The Green Party opposes Prop C, because it will stifle grassroots opposition to the Democratic Party Machine, while not solving the problem of well-funded corporate astroturf groups. Even the local Democratic Party, which is currently in the hands of developers and corporate interests, endorsed Prop C because they do not see it as a threat to their system of patronage politics. Vote NO on C, and support alternatives such as the DISCLOSE act and more transparency in how nonprofits spend City funds. NO on D Prop D would increase height limits for the Giants' proposed Mission Rock development from the current 40 feet to 240 feet for some buildings. Since last year's Prop B (which we supported) became law, public votes are now required to raise height limits along the waterfront, in order to ensure that the proposed project will provide sufficient benefit to the public. The developers of Mission Rock have made all sorts of promises about affordability of the project and the benefit to the public, but none of those promises would be legally binding if Prop D passes. We suspect that, like most other development supported by Mayor Lee and his allies, this project will almost entirely consist of luxury condos that will be off limits to the current residents of San Francisco. We urge voters to reject Prop D, so that the Giants can come back with a better proposal for developing this site. NO on E Prop E is billed as a "sunshine and open government law." It is the only proposal on the ballot on which Greens agree with both the Democratic and Republican parties: vote NO! Prop E would allow corporations to hire people from around the world to make videos and send them to Board and Commission meetings, where they would crowd out public comment from City residents. Prop E would allow our public debate to be dominated by hired trolls, with the same level of insight as SFGate.com's comments section. Prop E also looks like a stalking horse for David Lee, a probable future candidate for Supervisor in the Richmond District. By backing a different campaign, such as a ballot proposition, candidates can circumvent donation limits and build name recognition and donor lists, just as Mayor Newsom did with "Care not Cash" and Mayor Lee did with "Run Ed Run." Greens support open government and sunshine, and some ideas in Prop E should be recycled in a future ballot measure. For example, Greens support livestreaming and televising more commission meetings, and we support allowing SF voters to submit public comments online rather than having to show up to meetings in person. However, Prop E is so flawed that it belongs in the garbage bin. YES on F Prop F would create real regulations on companies like Airbnb and VRBO. These companies make huge profits from landlords who evict tenants and convert properties into full-time unlicensed hotels, avoiding zoning codes and other laws that apply to real hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. The current regulations on such companies were written by Airbnb, and are by design completely unenforced by the City. Prop F would require reasonable limits (75 days per year) on renting rooms, and would require companies like Airbnb and VRBO to report data to the City that would allow SF to enforce these limits. Airbnb is spending more than $8 million to defeat Prop F, including innumerable billboards and TV ads promoting the lie that Prop F will lead to neighbors suing their neighbors. The reality is that neighbors can already sue each other over nuisances, and Prop F does not change that. Airbnb is referring to a provision of Prop F that would allow people living near an illegal hotel to sue the hosting company as well as the landlord, if the City does not respond to complaints about illegal rentals exceeding the new 75 day limit. Opponents of Prop F also argue that tourists who stay in Airbnb rooms spend money in SF and help businesses. However, studies have shown that the residents evicted to make room for illegal hotels would have spent far more money than the tourists. Airbnb is therefore a net loss for SF taxpayers and businesses. The fact that the Democratic Party Central Committee voted to oppose Prop F just weeks after they received a $10,000 "contribution" from Airbnb says a lot about how such companies, and our local Democratic Machine politicians, operate. Vote YES on Prop F and support a Green alternative to politics as usual. NO on G, and YES on H: Prop G was originally put on the ballot by PG&E allies. It would manipulate the definition of clean energy so that our local community based program, CleanPowerSF, would not be allowed to call rooftop solar and other clean energy sources "renewable, greenhouse gas free," while allowing PG&E to call these very same sources "renewable, greenhouse gas free." Under Prop G, PG&E could falsely label its dirtier fossil fuel and nuclear energy mix "greener" than the much cleaner CleanPowerSF. Prop H was put on the ballot in response, and requires both PG&E and CleanPowerSF to follow the same rules under state law defining what can be called clean and renewable. PG&E has decided to avoid a nasty ballot fight by withdrawing support for Prop G. Be sure to vote NO on G and YES on H in order to support fair and accurate clean energy reporting rules. YES on I Prop I would create a temporary moratorium on building luxury housing in the Mission. The Mission is one the City's most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, and one in which many long-time residents are being evicted. Building luxury condos only encourages more gentrification in the immediate area. Mission landlords are falling for "get rich quick" schemes by evicting all their tenants and flipping their property for luxury condos while the housing market is hot. Long-established businesses are being forced out by skyrocketing rents in trendy areas such as Valencia Street. Prop I would call a "time out" on luxury housing, allowing 18 months for Mission residents to draw up plans for where new development should occur in order to displace as few current residents and businesses as possible. The Mission has always been a working class neighborhood, and its transformation into a playground for the rich has resulted in many priced-out workers having to drive for hours from Vallejo and beyond to get to their jobs in the City. Gentrification and displacement in the Mission should be a warning to all San Franciscans about the dangers of libertarian capitalism run amok. The Democratic Party Central Committee, controlled by developers and corporate investors, endorsed No on I, giving the green light to more luxury condos and the finger to current Mission residents. The Green Party stands as an alternative, and we strongly urge a YES vote on Prop I. NO on J Prop J claims to help local businesses avoid being displaced by skyrocketing rents. It would establish a "legacy business historic preservation fund" to help pay the rent for certain long-time (20 or 30 year old) businesses. We oppose Prop J, because not all legacy businesses could receive funding. Appointees of Mayor Lee would make the call, and use the grants to reward favored businesses (i.e., those whose owners make the right campaign donations) while ignoring the plight of others. The recipients of Mayor Lee's Prop J slush fund would also only receive a few hundred dollars per year per employee, at a time when rents are doubling and tripling as the result of gentrification. Although commercial rent control (which would solve the problem) is banned by state law, the City has other legal means to address commercial displacement. For example, the City could use property acquired by eminent domain to establish Community Land Trusts, and rent space in land trusts to long-time businesses. The threat of eminent domain would also make landlords think twice about destroying icons of SF culture in order to make quick buck. YES on K Prop K would establish priorities for building affordable housing on surplus City-owned properties. Currently, such properties are often turned over to politically connected developers to build luxury condos. Prop K would require 100% affordable housing to be built on smaller properties, and a mix of luxury and affordable housing on larger properties. Although Prop K could have been more aggressive about requiring 100% affordable housing on all surplus City-owned properties, it is an improvement over the status quo, so the Green Party supports it. SF Green Party Statement on Bond Funding The SF Green Party has often been hesitant to embrace bond financing. In addition to being environmentally and socially responsible, we are also fiscally responsible. Bond funding requires payments totaling about twice the actual cost of whatever improvements are made, and passes costs on to future generations. Because people who buy bonds are almost exclusively the wealthy, as investors are paid back over the 20-30 year life of the bond, wealth is transferred from middle and low income taxpayers to rich bondholders. Bond funding also helps rich people avoid paying their fair share of taxes, since interest on municipal bonds is exempt from both state and federal tax. As noted in the California Voter Guide in 1992, over 35,000 U.S. millionaires supplemented their income with tax exempt state and local bond checks averaging over $2,500 per week (that's over $130,000 per year tax free). They avoided paying federal and state taxes on over $5 billion, which must be made up by the rest of us. The SF Green Party calls on the public to join us in working to phase out this regressive and unfair subsidy of the rich and their investment bankers (who take millions of dollars off the top when the bonds are issued). There are a few cases in which Greens have supported bond measures. In general, we are willing to support bonds that are issued to in order to build urgently needed, publicly-owned infrastructure, such as a public hospital or high speed rail. We generally oppose bonds that fund ongoing maintenance projects; these should be paid for using City revenues (which should be increased by raising taxes on the wealthy). *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: Green Voter Guide, LWV mayoral forum, campaign events
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 08 Oct '15

08 Oct '15

October 8 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Early voting has started at City Hall, and vote-by-mail ballots have been sent out. Our full Green Voter Guide is now posted on our website: http://sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/72-november-2015-endorsements We are sending a mailing with our endorsements to all Greens, and printing more to hand out. If you can help hand some out, please email cc(a)sfgreens.org. If you can donate to help pay for our slate mailing, follow this link: http://sfgreenparty.org/donate Events for our endorsed candidates and campaigns are listed below. The League of Women Voters will hold a panel tonight featuring both Francisco Herrera and Amy Farah Weiss, our #1 and #2-endorsed Mayoral candidates, as well as Ed Lee. It's not a debate, but we hope some tough questions will be asked. *===========================* What: League of Women Voters San Francisco Mayoral Forum Where: UCSF, Genentech Hall, 600 16th Street, San Francisco When: Thu, Oct 8th, 6:30 pm The League of Women Voters is holding Mayoral candidate forum with Ed Lee, Francisco Herrera, Amy Weiss, and 3 others! https://www.facebook.com/events/1152339848113841/ *===========================* What: Volunteer Opportunities for Francisco Herrera for Mayor Where: Various locations, see below When: Every Day The activities listed below will be on-going for the following month. Please RSVP to Alyse Ceirante <volunteerf4m(a)gmail.com> if you plan to attend. Francisco would really appreciate it if all his supporters could turn out at least once: Mondays Castro Street MUNI Station Castro at Market Two shifts: 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet at the Castro Street stairs to the station Tuesdays Van Ness MUNI Station Van Ness at Market 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. Meet in front of the donut shop Castro Street MUNI Station Castro at Market 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet at the Castro Street stairs Wednesdays 16th Street BART Station 16th at Mission 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet in front of Walgreens Thursdays Van Ness MUNI Station Market at Van Ness 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. Meet in front of the donut shop 24th Street BART Station 24th at Mission 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Meet at plaza *===========================* What: Let's Rock, party for Prop I Where: Roccapulco Dance Club, 3140 Mission Street When: Thu, Oct 8, 6 pm - midnight LATIN LEGENDS ROCK for LA MiSSiON The concert will feature an incredible line-up of talented legend artists from the Mission District who have recorded and toured around the world. The lineup includes: - Leo Rosales of Malo - John Calloway - John Santos - Marcus Lopez Mission Varrio Project - Dr. LOCO & DJ Bobby A All the proceeds will go toward Prop I. *===========================* What: Mural Dedication Francisco Herrera for Mayor Where: South Van Ness at 24th St When: Sat, October 10, 10 am We need 200 supporters to come to a mural dedication this Sat. Oct. 10 @ 10 am on S.Van Ness and 24th. They will also be celebrating the campaign for Francisco Herrera. The press will likely be there so Francisco would like a big turnout of supporters wearing Francisco 4 Mayor buttons. *===========================* What: Precinct walks for Wendy Aragon for College Board Where: Various locations, see below When: Sat and Sunday, Oct 10-11 Saturday - Richmond District Democratic Club's Walk for an Affordable San Francisco: 10:00am to 2:00pm at Argonne Playground Sunday - Japantown and Pacific Heights: 1805 Pine (at Gough) 11:00am to 2:00pm *===========================* What: Francisco Herrera Bike Caravan at Sunday Streets Where: Valencia between 16th and 17th Streets When: Sun, October 18, 11 am - 4 pm Plans are being made for a bike caravan at the last Sunday Streets on Oct. 18 in the Mission. We will meet at the Green Table on Valencia St between 16th and 17th. Kids on bikes welcome and there will be decorations for bikes available. Meet at 16th and Valencia to get signs or decorate bikes. *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: events for local candidates, and presidential panel discussion
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 03 Oct '15

03 Oct '15

October 3 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Early voting starts next week at City Hall! Look for our postcard in the mail in about a week, and our full Green Voter Guide to be posted on our website: http://sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/72-november-2015-endorsements If you can donate to help pay for our slate mailing, follow this link: http://sfgreenparty.org/donate Events for our endorsed candidates and campaigns are listed below, and there's also a panel discussion tonight featuring several Green Party speakers, on whether Socialists should support Bernie Sanders in next year's presidential election. *===========================* What: Precinct walks for Francisco Herrera for Mayor Where: Ocean Beach, Great Hightway and Lincoln, and La Playa Safeway When: Sat, October 3 This is an event for those who love to walk! Ocean Beach Promenade, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m: Meet at the foot of Lincoln Avenue of the beach side of the Great Highway Walk from Lincoln along the beach side of the parking lot to the La Playa Safeway. Stop for lunch at the bus stop across from Safeway with signs and postcards. Either walk or take bus back to starting point, or stay for the outreach at the Safeway parking lot at La Playa Safeway, La Playa between Fulton and Balboa, 2:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Sign up to volunteer for Francisco at http://peoplescampaign.net *===========================* What: Precinct walks for Wendy Aragon for College Board Where: various locations When: Sat and Sunday, Oct 3-4 Saturday 10:00am to 1:00pm - Inner Sunset/Golden Gate Heights. Meet at Hidden Garden Steps on 16th and Kirkham). Point person is Kelly Groth, who will be providing delicious pastries and coffee from Arizmendi Bakery! Some of these precincts are flat, but others are hilly so be prepared to do some serious walking. Sunday 11:00am to 2:00pm - Park Merced and Ingleside. Meet at SFSU at the coffee shop in front of the HSS building on 19th Ave and Holloway. *===========================* What: Mobilization for Prop I Where: various locations When: Sat, Oct 3, 10 am Educate voters this Saturday, October 3rd at 10am at 1 of 3 locations: Castro/Noe/Mission Mobilization Campaign Office 2301 Mission @ 19th (1st floor Mercadito) Bernal Heights Mobilization Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center 515 Cortland Western Addition Mobilization West Bay Community Center 1286 Fillmore @ Eddy Come to the Rally for "Yes on Prop I" hosted by Our Mission No Eviction on Saturday, October 10th at 10am, 24th and S. Van Ness. - Get House signs/door hangers/lists of neighbors - Phone banking - Live music - Mural dedication Join the movement today! To learn of all "Yes on Prop I" volunteer opportunities, contact Gladys Soto at (415) 713-9424; holderg(a)sbcglobal.net *===========================* What: Should Socialists Support Bernie Sanders? Where: The Women's Building, 3543 18th St #8 When: Sat, Oct 3, 6-8 pm The Democratic primary campaign of Bernie Sanders has ignited a new enthusiasm among many who are fed up with the status-quo of politics in the United States. Tens of thousands have joined rallies to hear Sanders decry the billionaire class and call for an end to inequality. Many on the socialist left have embraced the campaign. Others have argued against support for Sanders, calling instead for socialists to organize independently of the Democratic Party. Join the International Socialist Organization in a panel discussion on the question of support for the Sanders campaign and socialist strategy during elections. Speakers will represent both support and opposition to supporting the Sanders primary campaign. Panelists include Alex Shantz, co-coordinator of the Green Party of California and a local elected official; Ragina Johnson, a coordinator of the Green Party's "Million Votes for Peace" campaign; and Steve Early, a Labor for Bernie voluneer and CWA organizer. *===========================* What: Save Midtown Takes City Hall Where: City Hall When: Tue, Oct 6, 11:45 am - afternoon Families Face An Average 120% Rent Increase, Forced Displacement + Eviction Threats from Mayor's Office of Housing Midtown is the only city owned apartment complex that is not public housing, the tenants have paid off the property mortgage in 2007. A lot of tenants lost their Fillmore based Victorians to eminent domain during the civic redevelopment and were promised equity ownership upon mortgage satisfaction. However that promise has been broken, instead we face the largest flight of Fillmore residents since the times of civic redevelopment. It's time for Midtown to take over the City Hall. Public officials have been deaf to our pleas asking them to stop willful destruction of our community. We've written letters and called. We came to Board of Supervisors hearing. We filed the largest rent control petition in San Francisco history and lost it. We launched the biggest rent strike in San Francisco since 1978. Now we must do what people who can't get their voices heard do - take our case directly to the people in charge. We'll be doing a large sit-in until we get our 30 minutes with the mayor, we've been asking for this opportunity for months - but were denied. Tuesday, October 6th 2015 11:45am event start 12pm-1pm press conference + public rally on City Hall Steps 1pm-1:45pm food break 2pm Board of Supervisors public comment 3pm Office of Mayor Ed Lee sit-in Facebook event: http://bit.ly/savemidtown *===========================* What: Let's Rock, party for Prop I Where: Roccapulco Dance Club, 3140 Mission Street When: Thu, Oct 8, 6 pm - midnight LATIN LEGENDS ROCK for LA MiSSiON The concert will feature an incredible line-up of talented legend artists from the Mission District who have recorded and toured around the world. The lineup includes: - Leo Rosales of Malo - John Calloway - John Santos - Marcus Lopez Mission Varrio Project - Dr. LOCO & DJ Bobby A All the proceeds will go toward Prop I. *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: organizing meeting tonight, 9/23
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 23 Sep '15

23 Sep '15

September 23 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, We've made our endorsements for this November's election. SF Green Party members will receive a postcard in the mail, and a full Green Voter Guide will be posted on our website in coming weeks. Our endorsements are posted on our website, here: http://sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/72-november-2015-endorsements We are meeting tonight at our regular monthly meeting, to work on finalizing our slate card and voter guide, and to hear from our endorsed campaigns and candidates on how Greens can help. Details below. *===========================* What: Monthly Organizing Meeting Where: Redstone Building, 2940 16th Street #302, near South Van Ness When: Wed, 9/23, from 7-9 pm We've invited organizers from our endorsed campaigns to present on upcoming events and talk about how Greens can plug in to these organizing efforts. We'll also go over draft copies of our slate card and voter guide before they go to the printers. If you can donate to help pay for our slate mailing, follow this link: http://sfgreenparty.org/donate *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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Greenzine: Green Party endorsements and volunteer opportunities
by Announcement list for SF Green Party, updated weekly 12 Sep '15

12 Sep '15

September 12 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, We've made our endorsements for this November's election. SF Green Party members will receive a postcard in the mail, and a full Green Voter Guide will be posted on our website in coming weeks. Our endorsements are posted on our website, here: http://sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/72-november-2015-endorsements See below for many upcoming volunteer opportunities to support Green Party-endorsed candidates and initiatives! *===========================* What: Sunday Streets When: Sunday, Sep 13, 11-4 Where: Fillmore between O'Farrell and Eddy Barry Hermanson will set up a table for the SFGP this Sunday at Sunday Streets in the Western Addition. The 32nd annual Alamo Square Flea Market will also be this Sunday. For more info: http://www.sundaystreetssf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/091315_WesternAdd… If you want to come out and help, look for me on Fillmore between O'Farrell and Eddy. I will have campaign materials for Francisco Herrera for Mayor and Prop I, the pause on luxury development in the Mission. The hours of Sunday Streets are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Depending on the size of the crowd, I may leave at 3:30. Call me at 415-255-9494 if you are planning on stopping by. *===========================* What: Volunteer for Green Mayoral Candidate Francisco Herrera When: All next week Where: San Francisco A request from volunteer coordinator Alyse Ceirante <honorlabor(a)hotmail.com>: Francisco needs you help now more than ever. We are at a point in the campaign where visibility is crucial! We need to get out there and be seen. Please show your support for Francisco by being seen at the following events: Wednesday, September 16th, 12:00 noon Please join Francisco at a press conference is holding to denounce the racism propagated by Donald Trump. We will meet at the Polk Street stairs in front of City Hall at noon. Thursday, September 17th, 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm Francisco will join us at the Van Ness Avenue MUNI station as we gather with signs and postcards at one of the busiest intersections in the city. Please meet us at noon in front of the donut shop on Van Ness at Market. We will provide signs and postcards. Sunday, September 20th, any time between 10:00 am and noon Join Francisco as he walks through the Potrero Hill Shopping Center at 16th and Bryant. We will walk through the mall with signs and postcards with the goal of getting as many distributed as we can. Please meet us in front of the stairs to the park on 16th at Bryant. We will provide the signs and the postcards. I cannot stress enough the importance of us getting out there in the street. It is up to us to make sure people start seeing Francisco's name and message everywhere. People can't vote for Francisco if they don't know he exists, but they will vote for him once they know he exists! *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news(a)sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.

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