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ALERT! - WIENER-CEQA: Pre-Hearing Strategy & LAND USE HEARING Next MONDAY APR 8, 12:30pm & 1:30pm
by Eric Brooks 01 Apr '13

01 Apr '13

Hi all, This is the BIG one! Supervisor Wiener is taking his attack on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to the Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee next Monday April 8, and then potentially to the full Board the very next day! It is vital for every group opposing the Wiener measure to as rapidly as possible endorse the sign-on letter sent out two days ago (see the newest version attached). And it is equally important for all of us to then attend next Monday's hearing, which is our key (and likely only) moment to tell the Board of Supervisors in public comment that we strongly oppose Wiener's measure and want Kim's Community Alternative to be considered in its place. Board President David Chiu is on the Land Use Committee with both Supervisor Wiener and Supervisor Kim, and so Chiu's vote is extremely important to winning a delay of the Wiener measure in committee so that Kim's legislation can come forward and be considered. We need to arrive in force before David Chiu in this hearing. As before, we will gather in the City Hall Basement Cafe an hour prior to hearing time so that we can nail down our public comment strategy, and then come in hard into Wiener's hearing and show him no quarter! PRE-HEARING STRATEGY MEETING - Monday, April 8, 12:30pm - SF City Hall Basement Cafe LAND USE COMMITTEE HEARING - Monday April 8, 1:30pm - SF City Hall Room 263 As always please RSVP to brookse32(a)earthlink.net if you plan to attend the strategy meeting and/or the hearing. Let's kick some butt at zero hour! cheers, Eric Brooks 415-756-8844 -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." Che Guevara

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Re: [Transpo] [SFGP-A] VERY TIME SENSITIVE: Add Your Member Groups To Sign-On To Oppose Wiener-CEQA Legislation
by Eric Brooks 30 Mar '13

30 Mar '13

Yes. The SF Greens already oppose the Wiener legislation. I sent this to our lists so that Greens who are members of -other- groups can get them to sign on. cheers Eric B On 3/30/2013 11:59 AM, yolanda catzalco wrote: > Eric, I thought we agreed at the meeting you would. > Yolanda > > Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:43:00 -0700 > From: brookse32(a)aim.com > To: active(a)sfgreens.org; sustainability(a)sfgreens.org; transpo(a)sfgreens.org > Subject: [SFGP-A] VERY TIME SENSITIVE: Add Your Member Groups To Sign-On > To Oppose Wiener-CEQA Legislation > > Hi all, > > We have just heard through the grapevine that Supervisor Wiener may try > for a vote in the Land Use Committee for his CEQA legislation on April 8 > (instead of April 15) with a likely vote on April 9 at the full Board of > Supervisors. > > Because of this accelerated time line, it is vital that we quickly > generate an official sign-on letter opposing supervisor Wiener's CEQA > legislation so that we will have enough leverage to delay it until the > Jane Kim Community Alternative can come forward for consideration. > > The SF Green Party has already consensed to oppose the Wiener CEQA > legislation, however many of you are affiliated with other groups that > we also need to add in official opposition. > > See the sign-on letter attached as SF_CEQA_Sign-On_3-29-13 > > PLEASE REPLY BY APRIL 7 WITH YOUR GROUP'S ENDORSEMENT OF THE LETTER > > Also see attached for reference, 'CCIT_Fact_Sheet_on_Wiener_CEQA > Legislation' the most recent critique of Wiener's legislation from our > Community CEQA Improvement Team. > > Again, please reply by April 7 with your group's endorsement of this letter. > > My cell number is below, so feel free to call with any questions. > > thanks, > > Eric Brooks - 415-756-8844 > Campaign Coordinator, Our City > Coordinator, Community CEQA Improvement Team > > > _______________________________________________ San Francisco Green > Party Active Members List To unsubscribe or edit your options, go here: > https://list.sfgreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/active -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." Che Guevara

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VERY TIME SENSITIVE: Add Your Member Groups To Sign-On To Oppose Wiener-CEQA Legislation
by Eric Brooks 30 Mar '13

30 Mar '13

Hi all, We have just heard through the grapevine that Supervisor Wiener may try for a vote in the Land Use Committee for his CEQA legislation on April 8 (instead of April 15) with a likely vote on April 9 at the full Board of Supervisors. Because of this accelerated time line, it is vital that we quickly generate an official sign-on letter opposing supervisor Wiener's CEQA legislation so that we will have enough leverage to delay it until the Jane Kim Community Alternative can come forward for consideration. The SF Green Party has already consensed to oppose the Wiener CEQA legislation, however many of you are affiliated with other groups that we also need to add in official opposition. See the sign-on letter attached as SF_CEQA_Sign-On_3-29-13 PLEASE REPLY BY APRIL 7 WITH YOUR GROUP'S ENDORSEMENT OF THE LETTER Also see attached for reference, 'CCIT_Fact_Sheet_on_Wiener_CEQA Legislation' the most recent critique of Wiener's legislation from our Community CEQA Improvement Team. Again, please reply by April 7 with your group's endorsement of this letter. My cell number is below, so feel free to call with any questions. thanks, Eric Brooks - 415-756-8844 Campaign Coordinator, Our City Coordinator, Community CEQA Improvement Team

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VERY IMPORTANT: Wiener-CEQA STRATEGY MEETING & PUBLIC HEARING, Thu, Mar 14, 11AM & NOON - SF City Hall Cafe and Room 400
by Eric Brooks 10 Mar '13

10 Mar '13

Hi all, We have both a crucial Planning Commission hearing on Scott Wiener's legislation attacking the the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and a pre-hearing STRATEGY MEETING beforehand, coming up this Thursday in City Hall beginning at 11am. It is vital that we establish to the Planning Commission that Supervisor Wiener was absolutely unresponsive to their recommendation that he work with community stakeholders to improve his CEQA legislation. (NOTE: The Planning agenda items being heard in front of the Wiener-CEQA measure should go fairly quickly so show up on time. See talking points for public comment further below and attached. Please reply right away to brookse32(a)earthlink.net to confirm that you plan to attend either or both meetings.) NEXT CEQA STRATEGY MEETING: - Thursday, March 14, SF City Hall Basement Cafe, 11am - To discuss public comment strategy for Noon Planning Commission CEQA hearing THEN - PLANNING COMMISSION: on project deadlines & Wiener CEQA measure - Thursday, March 14, SF City Hall Room 400, 12 noon - NOTE: Two Items #8 and #12 Details & Talking Points: - Item 8, COMMISSION POLICY ON TIMING OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Two resolutions which extend the start deadlines for many developer projects to 6 years (instead of 3) and allow the Planning Dept. Zoning Administrator to unilaterally extend such deadlines indefinitely! See details at: http://commissions.sfplanning.org/cpcpackets/Commission_Packet-Policy_on_Pr… - Item 12, CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PROCEDURES (WIENER) Draft 3 of Supervisor Scott Wiener's CEQA measure; which still contains no significant amendments whatsoever in response to our concerns. **TALKING POINTS FOR THE HEARING** (also attached as pdf) ON ITEM 8, PROJECT TIMING These rule changes should not be considered until the proposed amendments to CEQA procedures are decided upon, -especially- where the rule changes would allow deadline extensions due to CEQA appeals. The rule changes themselves would give developers excessive leeway to delay, and leave important land and buildings idle much too long, with the selfish intention of increasing profits by waiting for property values to increase. And they would give FAR too much power to the Zoning Administrator to extend such delays indefinitely. ON ITEM 12, WIENER CEQA PROCEDURE AMENDMENTS (3 points) 1) On November, 29, 2012, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended to Supervisor Wiener that he meet with the many community opponents to the first and second drafts of his CEQA legislation, and to then introduce an AMENDED text which reflects feedback from these community organizations. 2) Supervisor Wiener was then highly selective in notices he sent to community representatives, leaving most of us uninformed that the meetings were taking place. Community representatives were forced to find out about the Supervisor's so-called 'roundtable discussions' third hand, and then send out our own notices to others and alert them to these important meetings. 3) After three so-called 'roundtable discussions' with Supervisor Wiener, Planning Staff, and City Attorney Elaine Warren, no substantial changes AT ALL have been made in this legislation to address the many serious problems that we have clearly documented both to them and to the Planning Commission. We therefore call on the Commission to recommend a 'NO' vote on Supervisor Wiener's legislation to the Board of Supervisors. Community requirements which have still not been met are: (Bring and refer to the longer attached 'Talking Points For March 14 Planning Hearing On CEQA' to read one or two specific requirements that Supervisor Wiener has failed to meet.) This is a big one all! Let's put Supervisor Wiener on public notice for his failure to work with us! Again, please reply right away to brookse32(a)earthlink.net to confirm that you plan to attend either or both meetings. peace Eric Brooks Campaign Coordinator, Our City 415-756-8844 -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." Che Guevara

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VERY IMPORTANT: Wiener-CEQA STRATEGY MEETING & PUBLIC HEARING, Thu, Mar 14, 11AM & NOON - SF City Hall Cafe and Room 400
by Eric Brooks 10 Mar '13

10 Mar '13

Hi all, We have both a crucial Planning Commission hearing on Scott Wiener's legislation attacking the the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and a pre-hearing STRATEGY MEETING beforehand, coming up this Thursday in City Hall beginning at 11am. It is vital that we establish to the Planning Commission that Supervisor Wiener was absolutely unresponsive to their recommendation that he work with community stakeholders to improve his CEQA legislation. (NOTE: The Planning agenda items being heard in front of the Wiener-CEQA measure should go fairly quickly so show up on time. See talking points for public comment further below and attached. Please reply right away to brookse32(a)earthlink.net to confirm that you plan to attend either or both meetings.) NEXT CEQA STRATEGY MEETING: - Thursday, March 14, SF City Hall Basement Cafe, 11am - To discuss public comment strategy for Noon Planning Commission CEQA hearing THEN - PLANNING COMMISSION: on project deadlines & Wiener CEQA measure - Thursday, March 14, SF City Hall Room 400, 12 noon - NOTE: Two Items #8 and #12 Details & Talking Points: - Item 8, COMMISSION POLICY ON TIMING OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Two resolutions which extend the start deadlines for many developer projects to 6 years (instead of 3) and allow the Planning Dept. Zoning Administrator to unilaterally extend such deadlines indefinitely! See details at: http://commissions.sfplanning.org/cpcpackets/Commission_Packet-Policy_on_Pr… - Item 12, CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PROCEDURES (WIENER) Draft 3 of Supervisor Scott Wiener's CEQA measure; which still contains no significant amendments whatsoever in response to our concerns. **TALKING POINTS FOR THE HEARING** (also attached as pdf) ON ITEM 8, PROJECT TIMING These rule changes should not be considered until the proposed amendments to CEQA procedures are decided upon, -especially- where the rule changes would allow deadline extensions due to CEQA appeals. The rule changes themselves would give developers excessive leeway to delay, and leave important land and buildings idle much too long, with the selfish intention of increasing profits by waiting for property values to increase. And they would give FAR too much power to the Zoning Administrator to extend such delays indefinitely. ON ITEM 12, WIENER CEQA PROCEDURE AMENDMENTS (3 points) 1) On November, 29, 2012, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended to Supervisor Wiener that he meet with the many community opponents to the first and second drafts of his CEQA legislation, and to then introduce an AMENDED text which reflects feedback from these community organizations. 2) Supervisor Wiener was then highly selective in notices he sent to community representatives, leaving most of us uninformed that the meetings were taking place. Community representatives were forced to find out about the Supervisor's so-called 'roundtable discussions' third hand, and then send out our own notices to others and alert them to these important meetings. 3) After three so-called 'roundtable discussions' with Supervisor Wiener, Planning Staff, and City Attorney Elaine Warren, no substantial changes AT ALL have been made in this legislation to address the many serious problems that we have clearly documented both to them and to the Planning Commission. We therefore call on the Commission to recommend a 'NO' vote on Supervisor Wiener's legislation to the Board of Supervisors. Community requirements which have still not been met are: (Bring and refer to the longer attached 'Talking Points For March 14 Planning Hearing On CEQA' to read one or two specific requirements that Supervisor Wiener has failed to meet.) This is a big one all! Let's put Supervisor Wiener on public notice for his failure to work with us! Again, please reply right away to brookse32(a)earthlink.net to confirm that you plan to attend either or both meetings. peace Eric Brooks Campaign Coordinator, Our City 415-756-8844 -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." Che Guevara

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Fwd: Alert - German Green MP Hans-Josef Fell in SF - Press Event - July 10
by Eric Brooks 27 Jun '12

27 Jun '12

Woody Hastings wrote: Dearest SF Greens that-I-know, Please help circulate the attached to other Greens in SF and others of all stripes. Hans-Josef Fell, Green Party member of the German Parliament and originator of the German Feed-in Tariff with Hermann Scheer in 2000, will be in town for InterSolar, the big solar conference at Moscone. (http://www.intersolar.us/en/intersolar.html) Hans-Josef has a new book out and will be holding a press conference at 1pm on July 10 at the Intercontinental Hotel. I've attached their advisory about the press conference, complete with quirky tranlation errors. Hans-Josef is wonderful. He speaks English and is captivating. We had him up to Santa Rosa in 2010 when he was here at that time. Here are some more of the details: Who: Hans-Josef Fell, Author Prof. Mark Z. Jacobson Stanford University What: Press conference When: July 10, 2012 Time: 1 pm to 2 pm Location: InterContinental San Francisco, 888 Howard Street, San Francisco, Mission Room

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Alert: Central Subway
by Eric Brooks 28 Apr '12

28 Apr '12

Hi all, Please see the quoted email below from transit activist Howard Strassner for more details. In addition to the MTA agenda item he highlights, the Board of Supervisors has also snuck authorizing this item as a resolution onto their 'Adoption Without Committee Reference' calendar for this Tuesday May 1st. (Board agenda item 49). This item sets San Francisco up for exactly the scenario that many have warned about; that Federal or other Central Subway funding will be cut and the MTA will then take up the slack from its own revenues, thereby inevitably raising fares and fees and/or cutting basic transit services to pay for this ridiculous billion dollar a mile boondoggle. NOTE: Sean Elsbernd has not yet co-sponsored this legislation, so it may be possible for us to ask that he send it to committee for a full hearing. Any of you with a friendly connection to Elsbernd please contact him and asked him to do so. Here is the Board item text: 49. [Supporting Assurance Funding for the Central Subway Project] Sponsors: Wiener; Chiu, Avalos, Mar, Campos, Olague, Cohen, Kim, Chu and Farrell Resolution supporting SFMTA's commitment to issue revenue bonds as assurance funding for the Central Subway Project in the event of any delay or other shortfall in the availability of funding. 04/25/2012; REFERRED FOR ADOPTION WITHOUT COMMITTEE REFERENCE AGENDA AT THE NEXT BOARD MEETING. Question: Shall this Resolution be ADOPTED? Eric B On 4/28/2012 10:31 AM, Howard Strassner wrote: > ** > > MTA BOARD AGENDA, MAY 1, 2012:See link for Item 10.4 for details. > > http://www.sfmta.com/cms/cmta/SFMTABoardMay12012agenda.htm > <http://www.sfmta.com/cms/cmta/SFMTABoardMay12012agenda.htm> > > SaveMuni.com has asked that Item 10.4 be removed from the Consent Calendar . > > ** > > The MTA is quietly authorizing and incurring debt for $61 million in > revenue bonds for the Central Subway.But the premises of Prop A 2007, > which granted revenue bond authority to the MTA, have not been > met. Despite increased funding from increased parking taxes/ fees/ fines/ > enforcement, MTA has shifted those funds to work orders and bad projects > like the Central Subway. Mandated citywide improvements from the Transit > Effectiveness Program (TEP) have not been implemented---only service > cuts, discontinued routes, shortened and curtailed lines.Revenue bonds > are much more needed to address Muni’s $25.4 billion in existing capital > needs. > > PROP A CHARTER AMENDMENT, November 2007:See Page 39 and 115. > > http://sfpl.org/pdf/main/gic/elections/November6_2007.pdf > <http://sfpl.org/pdf/main/gic/elections/November6_2007.pdf> > > The MTA calls the issuance of revenue bonds as assurance funding---in > the event that State High Speed Rail Bond Funds are delayed.But Governor > Jerry Brown has not supported the Central Subway Project for Proposition > 1A High-Speed Rail funds---because /“the project appears unrelated to > the high-speed rail project or a comprehensive statewide rail plan”./In > fact, the Central Subway disconnects Muni from High-Speed Rail

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ALERT! - Call Today! Contact Supes Cohen, Olague & Kim To Stop Redevelopment Freight Train
by Eric Brooks 20 Mar '12

20 Mar '12

Hi again all, Final Alert! Before tomorrow's Redevelopment transfer 'Freight Train' vote: Call Supervisors Malia Cohen, Christina Olague, and Jane Kim before 2pm tomorrow (Tue, Jan 24) to stop the Redevelopment Transition Freight Train! See my previous post below for details on what's happening. Call, Malia Cohen: 415-554-7670 Christina Olague: 415-554-7630 Jane Kim: 415-554-7970 with one or more of the following 3 demands: - Amend your Redevelopment transition legislation to be only the -minimal- required transfer of powers and authority necessary to comply with the State's deadline on February 1st. NO other powers or authority over Redevelopment should be given to the City, agency staff, or any Oversight Board, until a full WELL NOTICED public hearing, allowing public comment, is held in mid to late February, so that the people of San Francisco have a strong voice in this process. - The Mayor's appointment of three high level, unelected, Mayor's office, Planning Department, and Controller's office staff to run the Redevelopment Oversight Board is UNACCEPTABLE. We demand that actual RESIDENT representatives of the Bayview Hunters Point, Mission Bay, and Transbay neighborhoods be appointed to the Oversight Board, and we demand that you postpone these appointment decisions to full WELL NOTICED public hearings, ALLOWING PUBLIC COMMENT, to be held in mid to late February. - The fact that there was no broad public notice of this legislation sent in early January, to ALL of the thousands of San Francisco residents who have formally commented on the Mission Bay, Hunters Point Shipyard phase 1 & 2, Transbay Terminal, Treasure Island and other San Francisco Redevelopment projects is UNACCEPTABLE. Immediate timely notice of the current proposed legislation, and of all future hearings on this matter, must go out to all such commenters who provided their contact information when commenting on Redevelopment projects! That's the alert! Please call Cohen, Olague and Kim immediately so that the public gets a voice in this unacceptably fast tracked Redevelopment freight train process! thanks Eric Brooks 415-756-8844 http://ourcitysf.org/campaigns >Here is my previous email which shows links to the details on what's happening: Here are the details on the sudden Redevelopment crisis which emerged during the MLK holiday weekend.. The Mayor's office is using the fact that San Francisco must transfer legal authority over SF Redevelopment projects to itself by February 1st as an excuse to fast track legislation that will give far -more- authority than necessary over Redevelopment (especially in the Transbay Terminal, Hunters Point Shipyard, and Mission Bay projects) to high level pro-developer Mayoral and Controller staff. Specifically, Lee is trying to put the Planning Director, Mayor's Housing Director, and the Controller's office in firm control of an 'Oversight Board' for Redevelopment in San Francisco; in legislation which gives them authority to make program changes without approval of the Board of Supervisors. The legislation, which will probably be voted on this Tuesday, can be read at http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/committees/materials/bf0118… The specific section on the Oversight Board is on page 9-9 (page 33 of this pdf file). The Mayor's appointees are; Nadia Sesay (Controller's Office), Olsen Lee (Housing Director), John Rahaim (Planning Director), and Bob Muscat (a state required appointment from Local 21). These appointments are currently 'at will' and perpetual, with no fixed term of office! Supervisors Cohen, Olague, and Kim are co-sponsoring the Mayor's legislation and appointments. I will be sending out an alert on Monday asking people to call Cohen, Olague and Kim to insist that the Redevelopment legislation be -drastically- scaled down to only fill state transfer requirements with no added authority or powers, delaying any such expanded powers to be taken up in full public hearings in February and/or March; and also delaying the appointments of the 'Oversight Board' for full public hearings in which we should insist on community representatives being on the Oversight Board. Anyone who knows Cohen, Olague and Kim, please call them ASAP to insist on these changes! Otherwise the Mayor's Downtown developer backers will continue to undemocratically and disastrously lord over Redevelopment in San Francisco for decades. cheers Eric B

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Christmas/New Year Eco Present - Inspiring Speech By Naomi Klein On Blocking Tar Sands Exploitation!
by Eric Brooks 25 Dec '11

25 Dec '11

Christmas & New Year Present! Inspiring Speech By Naomi Klein, on how the Canadian tar sands are the front line of the fight to save the Earth, and how we -will- stop the corporations from mining them. The Keystone Pipeline has been halted. A full blockade of tar sands oil exploitation is next! Listen at: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/56564 <http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/56564>

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The Green Bubble Manifesto (please share widely)
by Eric Brooks 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Hi all, Today, in a response within a blog debate about energy, I suddenly discovered that I had just crystallized into one page, the case for using a final 'Green Bubble' via capitalism to leverage a clean energy and sustainable future for the planet. (It forms an interesting, and even harmonizing, counterpoint to the socialism vs libertarianism debates that we have recently had on the Active list.) Here it is (also attached). Please spread it around if it resonates. Hopefully it will catch fire so that people start grasping this concept. The Green Bubble Manifesto While it would fundamentally solve a lot of problems to phase out capitalism (a task we should have begun at least a couple of decades ago), at this particular point in history, we have little choice but to use the deeply flawed mechanisms of capitalism to get a new green economy off the ground, because it will be the only way to do so quickly enough to deal with the looming climate crisis. At this stage, capitalism is hopelessly stuck in having to generate a series of larger and larger economic debt bubbles just to keep itself from collapsing. Because such bubbles have to be paid back with interest, this cycle will never stop and will never cease dangerously escalating in size (and impact on the physical world). However, because we have to completely revolutionize our entire energy and transportation infrastructure in the next two decades on this planet in order to come even close to keeping the atmosphere from spiraling into an utterly disastrous series of climate warming tipping points that will destroy our civilization, it is pretty obvious that we should use another, even larger capitalist bubble expansion, to leverage that badly needed rapid retooling of our energy economy into being. This is the obvious solution in the short term. We need national, state, and local governments to together pump an infusion of trillions of dollars into a global WW2 scale Green New Deal, which will rebuild our entire civil infrastructure to run on renewable energy and mass transit by somewhere between 2030 and 2040. This will create another, even larger, interest driven capitalist bubble. However it will be far more benign than our previous bubbles, and will actually be relatively stable, because after that renewable infrastructure is built (and its installation costs are paid off) it will flood our economy with essentially free energy from the sun and wind for upwards of a century; the selling of which energy can be used to pay off the interest payments on the funding of the bubble. (The savings from much more efficient, lower cost transportation and shipping will also help pay off that interest debt.) And once that universal, nearly free energy is flowing, its economically decentralizing influence will indeed help us phase out capitalism, a task that we absolutely must begin as soon as we can before capitalism destroys literally everything. Because capitalism depends on endless growth to fund endless ever expanding finance interest bubbles (as referred to above) it is literally eating this planet alive at an extremely rapid and exponentially expanding pace. If we don't immediately shift to a clean decentralized energy economy and then immediately gear down capitalism itself such that we quickly transition to a sustainable, rather than 'growth' economy within the next few decades, we and the planet are doomed. And I would think that the most educated capitalists are beginning to figure that out now. The first step toward this transition to sustainability would be phasing in what I would describe as 'nonprofit capitalism' in which income and property ownership are gradually lowered until no person can make more than a couple hundred thousand dollars a year, and each is also limited to a sane amount of personal physical ownership of cubic feet of living space and 'stuff'; with any excesses from sales and service prices going to either R&D or to national, state and local governments to further retool the economy into becoming one which will not destroy the Earth. This is our 21st Century manifesto, if we have the courage to take it up. Eric Brooks San Francisco, CA 6, September, 2011

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