September 16 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty instagram.com/sfgreenparty mastodon.sfgreens.org/@sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Do you live in District 4 (the Sunset)? See our statement below on the Engardio Recall. Today is election day, so you can vote in person, or mail or drop off your absentee ballot. Greens also endorsed NO on Prop 50, Newsom's gerrymandering ballot measure for November. We are writing a statement with further details. *===========================* Statement on the Engardio Recall - please share! The District 4 Recall Election is happening between now and Election Day, September 16. If you are voting by mail, your ballot must be postmarked on or before September 16. You can also vote in person on Election Day, or beforehand at City Hall. Only voters in District 4 (the Sunset) can vote in this election. The ability to recall elected officials is a critical right in a representative democracy, because politicians who disregard the wishes of those who put them in office know they are always at risk of being fired. District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio spearheaded 2024's Prop K, which closed the Great Highway to cars. This proposition was opposed by almost 2/3 of his constituents in D4, as well as by Greens (as we wrote at the time, this was primarily out of concern for the over-monetization of our public parks and YIMBY plans for coastal development). However, SF Greens are not making any endorsement on Prop A, the Engardio recall, because SF's recall process is rigged to favor the Mayor and his wealthy supporters. As we have written previously: Greens believe that our current recall system is broken in two ways: first, if voters recall an elected official in SF, only the Mayor has the power to choose a replacement. Voters who the Mayor does not listen to cannot meaningfully exercise our constitutional right to recall elected officials, because if we recall a Mayoral ally, the Mayor can just replace that person with a different sock puppet. Second, there are no meaningful campaign finance laws that apply to recall elections, as there are for regular elections, so wealthy people and corporations have far too much influence. This leads to even more corruption in our local government. Greens have long called for giving voters (not the Mayor) the right to choose the replacement for recalled elected officials. Recall elections could be done as a "vote of confidence" in the politician, who would appear on a single ranked choice ballot along with all the candidates hoping to replace them. The person with majority support in the final ranked choice tally would win: either the original official would survive the recall, or the voters would choose a more popular candidate to serve the remainder of the term. We ask all Supervisorial candidates if they would support a charter amendment to allow voters to choose a replacement official on the same ballot as the recall vote. Engardio did not answer our candidate questionnaire when he ran for office in 2022. We hope that voters will vote your conscience on Prop A, and then join us in working to empower ordinary San Franciscans to elect our own representatives in future recall elections. *===========================* What: Save the Date - Green Party monthly members' meeting Where: 2973 16th St, #300, SF When: Wed, Sep 24, 7-9 pm Save the date - we'll work on the agenda at the CC meeting one week before the meeting. 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 Mask policy: Masks are currently optional indoors, for both vaccinated and non-vaccinated people. We provide the option for SF Green Party members and invited candidates to participate in our meetings via Zoom, so email cc@sfgreens.org for info on how you can join us virtually. *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news@sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.