My two cents below. Sue

Dear Supervisor xxx,

Congratulations on beginning another (for Ross: "your first") term with the Board of Supervisors!

The San Francisco Green Party is currently working on a platform that, unlike our California and national party platforms (both of which are available on the web), deals exclusively with local issues. We're happy to report that the first plank in the platform, dealing with Transportation issues, was adopted by consensus at our General Membership meeting in October.

We've enclosed a copy of this plank in hopes that you will find our positions helpful in crafting Transportation-related legislation during your term. In particular, the San Francisco Green Party is concerned that due to the current budget problems, Muni fares may be raised or services cut in order to close the gap. In the short term, we instead recommend raising the money by enacting one or more of the policies discussed in our plank, e.g., increasing the costs of parking, raising the transit impact fees paid by developers, or creating a local car registration fee. We're encouraged to hear that some of you are already looking into these possibilities. In the long term, we hope additional funds can be raised through progressive taxation: public transit should be primarily funded in the same ways as public parks, schools, and libraries, rather than through user

fees (which are essentially regressive taxes, but unfortunately much easier to increase).

In the long run, we hope additional funds can be raised through progressive FORMS of taxation. We believe that public transit should be primarily funded in the same ways as are public parks, schools, and libraries. Funding for public transportation should not be based primarily on user fees. These are essentially regressive taxes, and unfortunately, are much easier to increase than progressive forms of taxation.

If you have any questions or want clarification on the issues ed in our platform, we'd be happy to set up a meeting with members of our working group, or answer questions by email or phone. Our current co-chairs are John-Marc Chandonia (jmc@sfgreens.org, or 285-5696) and Sue Vaughan (susan_e_vaughan@juno.com, or 668-3119).

The San Francisco Green Party is continuing to revise and add to our platform, and we expect to adopt additional planks this year dealing with other important local issues. We hope you'll take a look at these as well.

JMC -- John-Marc Chandonia (jmc@sfgreens.org)