My Ballot and Endorsements: March 2024 (California, Alameda County, Emeryville) End of Article

My Ballot and Endorsements: March 2024 (California, Alameda County, Emeryville)

1520 words published on Jan 20, 2024

✅ I endorse others voting the same way. If I leave this off, it means my decision was fraught and I’m not fully confident in it by the time the ballots were due.

❤️ A personal favorite that I emphasize especially strongly.

California State Props

Prop 1 – Mental Health Funding Allocated for Housing: NO ✅

After reading this prop in the packet I received in the mail, it seemed like a no-brainer. Housing insecurity is a fairly obvious driver of poor mental health, so funding efforts to help that makes sense.

It’s also opposed by many of the people and organizations I usually end up on the opposite side from. The arguments against it include multiple efforts at deliberate disinformation, which is another cue I usually take to discredit that side.

And then I checked in with one of my trusted sources, the League of Women Voters of California.

The bond portion of the measure was rushed through the legislature with last-minute amendments that opened the door to funding involuntary treatment in locked facilities. The rushed nature of these amendments precluded substantive debate and ignored arguments from diverse community-based organizations and health care and civil rights advocates. These groups contend that community-based care is more effective than institutionalization and that incentivizing institutionalization will both lead to worse health outcomes and curtail individual liberties.

[…]

It has the overall effect of reducing counties’ ability to set priorities based on local needs for mental health services.  Any variances that may allow counties to spend more or less on specific categories would increase their administrative costs and do not erase the lack of flexibility they would have to meet specific needs.

League of Women Voters

The prop is also being pushed by Gavin Newsom. While I don’t hate the guy as much as many folks do, I certainly don’t look to him for direction on homelessness. This initiative seems to focus on fixing the public perception of homelessness (focusing on encampments and other more visible folks), rather than doing the most good. And when the local organizations and advocates for the most marginalized are against it, so am I.

These points take my vote from a lukewarm YES to an I DON’T KNOW at the very least, and when I don’t know how to vote on a prop (especially a budget prop), I vote no. I don’t think the average CA voter should make these kinds of in-the-weeds decisions. Especially if we’re not well-informed and passionate about it.

More Info:

US Senate

Because of Senator Feinstein’s passing, there’s a partial term on our ballot, which makes voting a little more confusing than usual. I recommend reading up on that before making your own choices. I’m honestly not sure if my strategy is correct, but I plan to vote for Barbara Lee in both races.

(Please let me know if I’m somehow miscalculating here. I’m just doing my best based on the info I have so far!)

Barbara Lee ✅❤️

Barbara Lee posing near the U.S. Capitol

As I’ve said several times before, she continues to be a shining beacon of integrity and is more aligned with my views and effective than any other politician I’ve ever been represented by.

Katie Porter ✅

I adore Katie Porter. I wish I could do a ranked choice ballot for these two (one and a half?) seats and put her solidly #2, but that’s not how it’s going to work. Each seat is going to be judged independently based on who gets the most votes, so I don’t want to risk Lee not getting one of them.

Adam Schiff

Schiff is fine on a national level, but pales in comparison to the other candidates here. While I’m sure he’d do mostly good things in the senate if he wins, I can’t endorse him. Especially not while he holds Zionist views on the war in Gaza.

Congress (12th District)

Lateefah Simon ✅

She’s a clear front-runner and endorsed by Barbara Lee, so that’s good enough for me.

California State Senate (7th District)

Jesse Arreguin is bought and paid for by PG&E and Real Estate interests and is so pro-cop I don’t even think he should be allowed to have a “D” next to his name.

DINO
In U.S. politics, Democrat in Name Only (DINO) is a pejorative used to describe politicians of the Democratic Party to indicate that their governing or legislating style is more like a member of the Republican Party.

Wikipedia

[Sandré R] Swanson raised $186,850, with several law enforcement unions lining up behind his run — the state’s largest police union, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, made a $10,900 contribution, while the California Association of Highway Patrolmen gave $5,500 and the Oakland Police Officers Association gave $5,000.

Berkeleyside, Unions, developers, Uber and Phillip Morris: Who’s cutting big checks in the East Bay’s pricey state Senate race

Dan Kalb is a sketchy Zionist who doesn’t seem to have literacy about the issues he openly talks about on social media. Look it up if you like, but it’s not fun reading.

So who does that leave us with?

Jovanka Beckles ✅❤️

When people can’t get work, they’re going to resort to crime. And by passing that, being the first one in the state of California to bring forward a “Ban the Box” policy, really helped significantly to reduce recidivism by giving people a job.

Jovanka Beckles

Beckles has her head in all the right places and showcases the grit to get things done in ways that matter and can ripple out to greater changes throughout the state.

Kathryn Lybarger ✅

Queer, union leader, endorsed by Sukhdeep Kaur (one of my city council members I support). A great combination. If Beckles wasn’t on the ballot, I’d go for Lybarger.

California State Senate (11th District)

Scott Wiener ✅❤️

I can’t vote here anymore, but I want to endorse Scott Wiener anyway. He’s got his heart in the right place and has a really solid voting record.

California State Assembly (18th District)

Mia Bonta ✅❤️

Mia Bonta is a local treasure. She’s one of the only politicians whose newsletters I actually read. She’s in touch with the average human being she represents, which is such a sadly rare thing these days.

Superior Court Judge, Office #12

Neither of the candidates seem significantly better than the other, but I chose Mark Fickes because of his vocal support of DA Pamela Price.

County Supervisor (5th District)

🙄 Gerald Pechenuk can go fuck himself, wasting everyone’s time trolling.

John Bauters ✅

John Bauters is a staple in Emeryville, and the perception I have of him is that he likes to grandstand and flex his social popularity for the benefit of his friends, sometimes over what I’d consider the interests of the local average citizen. That said, he’s the most poised and effective person running for this seat and I think I’ll be grateful to have his influence in our city council reduced a bit.

Lorrel Plimier ✅

Another voice of reason on that forum that I feel is a great candidate. She had great answers for every question and her background seems strong for the role.

Gregory Hodge

Greg Hodge was the one I liked most in the forum above. He seemed reasonable and like he’d be a good collaborator with others. That said, I don’t know that he brings the experience and expertise I’d prefer in that seat. He didn’t prove that to me this time.

Alameda County Measures

Charter Amendment A: YES

This just seems like a good way to grease the wheels of hiring for county roles.

Charter Amendment B: YES ✅

The charter amendment would eliminate all of the recall laws on Alameda County’s charter, and replace them with the language, “California state law applicable to the recall of county officers shall govern the recall of county of Alameda elected and appointed officers.”

Jim Ross, a political consultant who advised Chesa Boudin’s anti-recall campaign and who has worked on campaigns in Alameda County for years, said it makes sense to align county rules with state law since that’s what most counties do.

KQED, Alameda County Recall Laws May Change, and Pamela Price Could Benefit

Alameda County Central Committee (18th District)

This committee is a total shitshow, but it’s still useful to put good people there to manage the Overton window of the local party.

We can vote for up to 10 people here, so here are mine:

  • Pamela Price ✅
  • Regina Chagolla ✅
  • Rowena Brown ✅
  • Hannah Groce
  • Zac Bowling
  • Adrien Abuyen
  • Nicole R. Grashton
  • Mayra Alvarado
  • Sean Dugar
  • Royl L. Roberts

Here are some I’m against:

Everyone unmentioned is neutral for me.

Don’t Forget to Vote on March 5th!