February 22 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty mastodon.sfgreens.org/@sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, For those of you voting early in the March primary, our complete Green Voter Guide is posted on our website: http://sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/91-march-2020-endorsements Please feel free to forward to other SF voters who might be interested! We're holding our monthly meeting for February next Wed, 2/26. The agenda is below. If you're a member of the Pacifica radio network, we've endorsed a NO vote on the proposed bylaws changes. See details below. One of our members forwarded a good article on the German Green Party. It discusses how Hamburg Greens have used municipalization to push some really innovative projects: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/22/getting-privatisation-undone-p... *===========================* What: SF Green Party Monthly Meeting Where: Redstone Bldg (2940 16th Street, near South Van Ness) #301, SF When: Wed, Feb 26, 7-9 pm Agenda: * Introductions * Events in March - volunteers needed for Sunday Streets. Barry also wants volunteers to help draft a letter to Greens who have re-registered to vote in the Democratic Party primary. * Finalize "A Green New Deal for San Francisco" proposals. How can we synergize with the national party's Green New Deal platform to promote similar local legislative priorities, such as social housing and free public transit? * Supe Report Card - what were the most important votes at the Board of Supervisors in 2019, and how did each Supe score? * Update on Environmental/Toxic Torts/Land Use Case--Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Artificial Fields - see details below. * Announcements 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 *===========================* KPFA Subscribers - Preserve Your Local Station Board! Vote NO on the New Proposed Bylaws! If you're a KPFA subscriber, you’ll be receiving a ballot starting on Tuesday, Feb 18 asking you to approve or reject a replacement set of bylaws for the Pacifica Foundation, KPFA’s parent organization. Please vote, and vote NO on this poorly-thought-out plan! (Voting in this election will only take a minute: there are no candidates to select, only one yes-or-no ballot proposition). After the infamous 1999 takeover attempt at KPFA, new bylaws were put in place providing for Local Station Board (LSBs), elected by subscribers and staff, at the five Pacifica stations. Representatives from the five LSBs then constitute the Pacifica National Board (PNB),which sets network-wide policies. The replacement bylaws would turn back the clock, by making most PNB seats filled by appointees, not elected representatives. And the Local Station Boards would disappear entirely. Without a local station board, where will KPFA listeners take their concerns about programs or other issues? And who will hold local management to account? So to maintain the right to elect Local Station Boards in the future, KPFA subscribers need to reject the replacement bylaws. Your “no” vote today protects your right to vote in the future. There’s also no doubt that the Pacifica stations, and the network as a whole, are confronting severe financial problems. But eliminating locally-based listener democracy won’t solve those problems. Many KPFA staff members and local community activists (see the list at www.rescuepacifica.net) are urging a NO vote on the replacement bylaws. ALL five Pacifica LSBs have already voted NO. *===========================* Environmental/Toxic Torts/Land Use Case--Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Artificial Fields In this country, there are thousands of Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Artificial Fields. There are about 40,000-50,000 ground up contaminated tires that make up a typical Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Field. Everyday, there are countless numbers of individuals that play on these fields without knowledge that they are on Artificial Turf Fields containing numerous toxic chemicals and substances. Hundreds of individuals have got cancer and other illnesses from playing on these Toxic Fields. There is a Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Field situation in the San Francisco Bay Area that I am aware of. The Tire Crumb Turf and Fake Green Grass materials consists of numerous toxic and hazardous chemicals. The field has been used by thousands of individuals in sports activities for over 9 years. At this toxic site, there is no running water, sinks, toilets, etc., creating a very unsafe, unhealthy and unsanitary environment. After playing sports on Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Fields, experts recommend that individuals wash their hands, hair, clothing and shoes immediately. Most Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Field locations are similar to this situation. The private entity that put up the Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Field did so without obtaining governmental or environmental approval. The issue of the entity that put up the field never obtaining governmental or environmental approval is very important. Not only does the toxic chemicals and substances get on the individuals that play on the field, but the toxic chemicals and substances in the Tire Crumb and Fake Green Grass materials are contaminating the air, the ground and the ground water. An Environmental/Land Use/Toxic Torts case needs to be filed regarding the Toxic Tire Crumb Turf situation. A very good Environmental/Land Use/Toxic Torts attorney has been found. This attorney knows the issues about this situation and stated that this is a very good case. The only thing that the attorney wants is a retainer. The attorney mentioned that when prevailing on the causes of action that would be filed, the attorney fees would be awarded/"refunded" as part of the resolution of the case, and money damages could be obtained as well. This is a very important and worthwhile case that needs to be filed. The issues involving this case could be applied to the other Toxic Tire Crumb Turf Fields that exist everywhere. Help is needed for the retainer to get this case going forward as soon as possible. Please contact Erika McDonald if you can help. 415-337-1499 *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news@sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.