February 4 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, We had a great time at our first meeting of the year! Thanks to everybody who brought food for the potluck. We made an early endorsement in favor of the "right to counsel" initiative that gives tenants facing eviction the right to a publicly funded lawyer, and we endorsed in opposition to the police union's ballot initiative to buy Tasers for the SFPD. We also finalized the list of votes by the SF Board of Supervisors that we will include in our 2017 Legislative Report Card. We're writing up our opinions regarding these votes, and will publish it in the next couple of weeks. Spoiler alert: Interim Mayor Farrell ended his legislative career with a perfect 0-62 record in opposition to the Green Party on key votes. Congratulations??? We were thrilled to be joined at our potluck by two Green candidates running for office in 2018! We have already made an early endorsement of Barry Hermanson for Congress in District 8, against Nancy Pelosi. We have not yet endorsed any candidates for statewide office, because all these races currently have multiple Greens running. However, we're excited that one of the Green candidates for Governor is Veronika Fimbres, an activist from San Francisco! Her campaign has received some local media attention: http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=73231 https://brokeassstuart.com/blog/2018/01/25/veronika-fimbres-wants-california... Because of California's "top two" primary system, Greens no longer get to have our own primary. All Greens running for office in the June primary must now turn in thousands of signatures by February 7, or pay exorbitant fees, in order to appear on the ballot. *===========================* What: OccupyForum on the Stopping Deportations Where: SEIU Local 2, 215 Golden Gate Avenue near Civic Center BART station When: Mon, Feb 5, 6:45-9 pm OccupyForum presents: Immigration Crisis in the Bay Area Meeting, Discussion and Planning with Gayle McLaughlin and All Groups Working to Stop Deportations We are witnessing a most serious threat to our immigrant communities. But it is important to realize that the attacks on immigrants have aroused widespread, diverse and potentially powerful opposition. Included are immigrant groups themselves, activist groups, churches and faith groups, labor unions, lawyers, and some progressive, especially local, politicians. Gayle McLaughlin is the former two-term mayor of Richmond, CA, Richmond’s first corporate-free elected official, and a co-founder of the Richmond Progressive Alliance. As Mayor, Gayle led Richmond to significant transformation into a progressive City establishing rent control, increasing minimum wage, forcing Chevron to pay over $100 million in taxes, reducing homicides, preventing foreclosures, and promoting green energy. She is currently running for Lt. Governor to seize this moment for real, people-focused change. Gayle will speak to us about her campaign and the RPA model, and then focus on her position in support of defending immigrant rights, and how we need to mobilize to address the crisis at hand. *===========================* What: Rally for Universal Health Care Where: UCSF Library, 530 Parnassus / 3rd Ave When: Wed, Feb 7, 12-1 pm On February 7th, the California Assembly Select Committee on Healthcare will meet in Sacramento. They are finally going to hear presentations from SB 562 proponents and other universal healthcare advocates. For those not going to Sacramento on Feb. 7th, show your support for SB 562 at a UCSF medical school rally organized by Students for a National Health Program. SNaHP is the student arm of Physicians for a National Health Program (pnhp.org). Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/275034859692815/ The N-Judah streetcar and the 6-Haight-Parnassus bus will get you there. The 43 Masonic bus also has two stops at UCSF. Public parking: http://campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu/transportation/services/parking/public_pa... *===========================* What: Living Wage Pop-up Gallery, Art and Lit Mini-Gala Where: Redstone Labor Temple, 2940 – 16th Street #301, SF (our office) When: Sat, Feb 10, 2-4 pm Living Wage Pop-up Gallery Art and Lit Mini-Gala Book reading and signing by Joe Berry and Helena Worthen Joe Berry, a member of the Executive Board of the American Federation of Teachers Local 2121 at City College of San Francisco, wrote "Reclaiming the Ivory Tower: Organizing Adjuncts to Change Higher Education." His book describes the political-economic situation of the "new majority" of college teachers and outlines organizing strategies to improve pay, job security and working conditions of part-time faculty. Berry is a retired labor educator, history teacher and union organizer/staffer. He remains active in the contingent faculty movement as a leader of the New Faculty Majority and the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor (COCAL). Helena Worthen is a writer and activist. Her most recent book, “What Did you Learn at Work Today?” explains how collective learning takes place in the midst of conflict. The book is based on her years of experience as a labor educator and is intended for use by organizers and activists. After retiring from the University of Illinois Labor Education Program, she and Joe Berry have been teaching in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, in the Faculty of Labor Relations and Trade Unions at Ton Duc Thang University. Silent auction of art works by Michelle Acosta, Carina Lomeli, Ana Colomo, Andrea Valencia, Talleres Populares 28J, Txutxo Perez, Doug Minkler, Debra Walker, Rodger Scott, John Weaver, Ramon Deanda, Sara Thustra, Romeo Osorio, David Duckworth, Nanci Reese, Adriana Madrigal. *===========================* What: Save the Date - Progressive Mayoral Forum Where: TBA When: Wed, Feb 14, evening On Valentine's Day, Wednesday February 14th, there's an apparent opening in the schedules of the mayoral candidates. A number of progressive organizations, acting under the umbrella of the "San Francisco Progressive Alliance," are organizing a town hall-style forum. Greens are co-sponsoring the event. We will send out another announcement when the location and time are finalized. Note that the SF Green Party has sent questionnaires to all the candidates running for Mayor and for D8 Supervisor (except for Lawrence Dagesse, who didn't provide any contact info to the DOE). The questionnaires are due on Feb 21, and we will consider endorsing all candidates who return our questionnares at a meeting at a later date (possibly our regular meeting on Feb 28). *===========================* What: Green Party Monthly Meeting Where: Redstone Bldg (2940 16th Street, near South Van Ness) #301, SF When: Wed, Feb 28, 7-9 pm Every 4th Wednesday the SF Green Party meets to discuss issues of concern, listen to interesting speakers, endorse events, plan outreach and more! Everyone welcome. All meetings are wheelchair accessible. To make a presentation or gain the SFGP endorsement of events and issues, please contact our SFGP County Council at: cc@sfgreens.org *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news@sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.