Peter's March 5, 2024 San Francisco Voter Guide

This March election is critical. If you are a registered Democrat you'll need to choose about a dozen candidates to vote for for Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC). This is the most important least known part of the ballot and where your vote makes the most difference. DCCC members choose who the Democratic party endorses in future elections. In SF, whom the Democratic party endorses makes a big difference in who gets elected Mayor and to the SF Board of Supervisors. The DCCC also can be a step to higher office. 

I recommend the candidates below because they are serious about climate change and the environment and are the better choice or many other issues as well such as education, public safety and transit. Most of these candidates have been endorsed by the Sierra Club and or the SF League of Conservation Voters. I've researched their positions on Car Free JFK, Great Highway Park, Slow Streets, housing, a climate bond, extending parking meter hours and more. 

State Senate District 11 Scott Wiener

State Assembly District 17 Matt Haney

State Assembly District 19 Catherine Stefani

DCCC AD17

(in the order in which they appear on the ballot)

Emma Heiken 

Cedric Akbar 

Nancy Tung 

Frank Tizedes 

Michael Lai 

Trevor Chandler 

Carrie Elise Barnes 

Michael Nguyen 

Lyn Werbach 

Joe Sangirardi 

Joshua Rudy Ochoa 

Luis A. Zamora 

Matt Dorsey 

Bilal Mahmood 

DCCC AD19 

(in the order in which they appear on the ballot)

Parag Gupta 

Greg Hardeman 

Mike Chen 

Dan Calamuci 

Sara Barz 

Jen Nossokoff 

Catherine Stefani 

Marjan Philour 

Gordon Mar 

Brian Quan 

Yes on A - Super important this needs 2/3 to pass. 

No on B

Yes on C

Yes on D

Yes on E

No on F

Yes on G

Yes on California Prop 1

And even if you are mixing and matching from different voter guides, do NOT vote for the following candidates: Gloria Berry, Connie Chan, Queena Chen, Sandra Fewer, Frances Hsieh, Natalie Gee and Jeremy Lee. They have the worst records on climate and more. 

Am I registered to vote? Here 

Which assembly district do I live in? Here 

Nov 2022 voter guide

Here are my recommendations for November 2022. I only covered the races where I have an informed opinion. Feel free to reach out if you have questions. 

State Assembly, District 17

MATT HANEY

San Francisco Supervisor, District 10

BRIAN SAM ADAMS (incumbent Supervisor Walton has been an outspoken opponent of Car Free JFK, an opponent of making the Great Highway a Park and has not been an active vocal advocate for slow streets nor safe bike infrastructure.)

Board of Education

Ann Hsu, Lainie Motamedi, Lisa Weissman-Ward

Community College Board 

Brigitte Davila, John Rizzo, Thea Selby

California Propositions

1 – YES  Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom
28 – YES  Additional funding for Arts & Music Education in Public Schools
30 – YES  Funding to reduce GHG emissions by increasing tax of income over $2mil
31 – YES  Ban sale of flavored tobacco

San Francisco Propositions

A – YES  Retiree Supplemental Cost of Living Adjustment
D – YES  Affordable Housing – Initiative Petition
E – NO Affordable Housing Production Act– Supervisors
F – YES  Library Preservation Fund
G – YES  Student Success Fund – Grants to the SFUSD
H – YES  City Elections in Even-Numbered Year

I – NO  Vehicles on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park & the Great Highway

J – YES  Recreational Use of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park
L – YES  Sales Tax for Transportation Projects
M – YES  Tax on Keeping Residential Units Vacant
N – YES  GG Park Underground Parking Facility; Concourse Authority

O – YES  Additional Parcel Tax for City College

2022 Dogpatch and NW Potrero GBD voter guide

Here is Peter's Dogpatch and NW Potrero Hill Green Benefit District (GBD) voter guide. It's just my personal opinions/recommendations. Hope they are useful. They are influenced by my feeling that we are in a climate emergency and thus need to move fast on infrastructure changes to support sustainable transportation. 

Dogpatch Property Owner (vote for 4)

Donovan Lacy (top choice) - Donovan has spent considerable time advocating for sustainable transportation in our neighborhood. He is walking the walk and is a leader on these topics. He supports all 5 topics listed below. 

Sean Harris - supports all 5 topics. 

Sarah Miers - supports all 5 topics. 

John Rambsbacher - Supports all 5 topics. 

Jason Kelly Johnson - Supports all 5 topics. Has been an active supporter of MinneSLOWta including providing hands on volunteer time

Have not yet heard back from these:

An Van de Moortel - a colleague said she supports bikeable cities

Dogpatch Tenant - Vote for 2

Janice Sheppard (top choice) - Supports at least 4 of the 5 topics below. Just double checking on Innes. 

Paul Selmants - statement mentions support for protected bike lanes

Erin Epperson - no reply yet

More details if you are interested:

All of the candidates seem like great people. They are generously volunteering their time to help the community and deserve our thanks and support. That said, for a voter guide one has to make choices so there you have it. Two of the seats are not contested (Portero Owner and Greenspace Advocate) and so because there is no choice I have not listed those here. 

This voter guide does not cover all of the topics that the GBD works on. Similarly environmental voter guides don't cover things like taxes, social security and defense but I still find them useful. I asked the candidates

1. Would you sign our petition to make the Minnesota Slow Street (Mariposa to 22nd) permanent?  
2. Would sign this petition I also started to create a safe place for pedestrians and bike along Innes in India Basin?  
3. Would you sign up on this website to support our www.safer17th.com effort in Potrero/Dogpatch? 
4. Would you use this link to quickly send a letter to the supervisors in support of permanent car free JFK Promenade? https://kidsafesf.com/jfk
5. And finally would you sign up here to lend your support for the Great Highway Park? https://kidsafesf.com/great-walkway-park

Dec 16, 2021 Bike Bus (JFK to SOMA)

Join the bike Bus!!! 

Inspired by the Barcelona Bike Bus, we will meet 12/16 at 7:40am sharp at the intersection of 8th Ave and wonderful car free kid safe JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park. We'll bike east along JFK to Panhandle, Oak, Scott, Page, Market, 11th ending at Presidio Knolls School in SOMA by 8:20am. If you haven't had the opportunity to ride around SF in a group of 20+ folks it is not to be missed. There is a wonderful feeling of safety when riding in a group that size. 

Shoot me a quick message if you can join just so I can keep a quick headcount. pbelden at gmail. We'll play music while we ride too!

Peter 

Peter's November 2020 Voter Guide

I've made this one shorter, fewer links and explanations. But see the info at the bottom if you want to learn more. I often have consulted the Bike Coalition, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, SF Chronicle and slates from a friend or two. 

STATE:

CA State Senator: Scott Weiner (great on transportation issues among others)
State Assembly (D17): David Chiu (among other things he's a great champion of bike infrastructure!)

Prop 14: Stem Cell Research Bonds: No (SF Chronicle also opposed)
Prop 15: Property Tax for Schools: YES (No brainer. Very important)
Prop 16: Allows Affirmative Action: YES (April can give you the full explanation on this one)
Prop 17: Right to Vote After Prison: YES (no brainer. They have completed their prison term. Taking away voting during parole is excessive punishment)
Prop 18: 17 Year Olds Vote In Primaries: Yes (already approved by legislature)
Prop 19: Prop Tax Rules: No (I like what the LA Times said, "Proposition 19, a cynical and unwelcome melding of good and bad tax proposals. Voters should reject it.")
Prop 20: Parole Restrictions: NO (This is the prison guards and police unions trying to increase incarceration) 
Prop 21: Local Jurisdiction for Rent Control: No (we need to increase the supply of housing)
Prop 22: Benefits Exemption for Uber/Lyft etc: NO (tricky but what got me is that if passed prop 22 can’t be changed without a (near-miracle) 7/8 super majority of both chambers of the State Assembly. 
Prop 23: State Requirements for Kidney Dialysis Clinics: No
Prop 24: Consumer Privacy Protections: No
Prop 25: Bail Reforms: Yes (Cash bail has always struck me as crazy unjust)

Prop A: Health and Recovery Bond: YES
Prop B: Department of Sanitation and Streets: YES
Prop C: Non-Citizen Voting for Boards and Commissions: YES
Prop D: Sheriff’s Dept Oversight: YES
Prop E: Abolish Minimum Police Staffing Requirement: YES
Prop F: Business Tax Overhaul: YES
Prop G: Youth Voting for Local Elections: YES
Prop H: Planning Code Reforms for Neighborhood Commercial: Yes
Prop I: Increase Transfer Tax: Yes
Prop J: Parcel Tax Update: Yes
Prop K: Authorize Affordable Housing: YES
Prop L: Disproportionate CEO Pay Tax: Yes
Prop RR: Rescue Caltrain: YES

State Senator District 11: Scott Wiener
State Assembly Member, District 17: David Chiu
Member Board of Education: Jenny Lam, Michelle Parker, Alida Fisher
Community College Board: 

Many thanks to Deep for his fantastic "Deep Slate" voter guide which is another great resource. 

Nov 2019 voter guide

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Nov 2019 voter guide

San Francisco City and County Propositions:

A: Yes - Housing bonds
B: Yes - Renaming an agency and earmarking three seats
C: No - Would overturn citizen passed Vape law. Prop C was written by JUUL and is opposed by nearly everyone including now JUUL which just withdrew its support under a new CEO.
D: Yes - Tiny tax on Uber and Lyft to reduce traffic and improve public transit - Supported by the SF Bike Coalition, Sierra Club, Mayor Breed, all 11 Supervisors, Walk San Francisco and SF Transit Riders. I think this small tax is a useful first step worth taking.
E: No - Affordable housing for teachers built on public land and open space - Additional affordable housing for teacher would be great, but this measure will open up public lands zoned as "open space" to development. Along with the SF Green Party I don't want new development on SF's already limited public open space.
F: Yes - Sunlight on some Dark Money

City Attorney, City of San Francisco - Dennis Herrera - No other candidates
Public Defender, City of San Francisco - Manohar "mano" Raju - No other candidatesBoard of Education, City of San Francisco - Jenny Lam
Sheriff, City of San Francisco - Paul Miyamoto - No other candidatesMember, Community College Board, City of San Francisco - Ivy Lee - No other candidatesDistrict Attorney - City of San Francisco - In her five years on the Police Commission, Suzy Loftus fought for and won commitments to Vision Zero to reduce bias in traffic enforcement. As candidate for District Attorney, she has distinguished herself by being the first to develop a robust platform for street safety that promises real justice for victims of traffic violence. She's also endoursed by the SF Chronicle and the SF Bicycle Coalition.Mayor - City of San Francisco - London Breed
Treasurer - City of San Francisco - Jose Cisneros - No other candidates
District 5 Supervisor - Vallie Brown - because of her great climate related positions

Nov 2016 voter guide

President: Hillary Clinton
Senate: Kamala Harris
House of Representatives: Nancy Pelosi
State Senate: Scott Weiner

San Francisco City and County Propositions:

A. Yes - bonds to repair schools.
B. Yes - continue parcel tax for City College of SF
C. Yes - SF Gate endorsement
D. No - SF Gate endorsement. Why should an interim appointee be prohibited from running? That doesn't make sense.
E. Yes - Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters.
F. No - SF Gate and age 16 is too young.
G. Yes - SF Gate endorsement and Police Officers Assoc isn't opposing it.
H. No - SF Gate endorsement and bad to have this person as a shadow mayor.
I. No
J. Yes
K. Yes
L. No
M. No
N. Yes
O. Yes
P. No
Q. Yes
R. Yes
S. No
T. Yes
U. No
V. Yes
W. Yes
X. No

RR. Yes

California State Propositions:

51. Yes
52. Yes
53. No
54. Yes
55. Yes
56. Yes
57. Yes - SF Gate and League of Women Voters endorsed
58. Yes
59. No
60. No - Opposed by CA Dems and Repubs and all the State's Major Newspapers
61. No
62. Yes
63. yes
64. Yes
65. No - This is a trick measure put on the ballot by the plastic bag companies.
66. No
67. Yes