Ballot: November 2020

1873 words published on Aug 17, 2020

And please also show up to vote. 🙂

Important! This article was originally published with unfinished thoughts. As I continue to learn more up until Election Day, I will make edits and mark them with timestamps.
Corry Frydlewicz

Let’s start with our most important elections and work our way up to the national ones.

San Francisco City Ballot Measures

Ballotpedia page for all San Francisco City and County Ballot Measures

Yes on A: Health and Homelessness, Parks, and Streets Bond

Investing into our communities is always important, and as much as I hate the phrase “now more than ever”… *gestures around him*

No on B: Sanitation, Streets, and Public Works

While I believe that we need to do a better job with sanitation, I don’t think that splitting off a new department that separates the people maintaining the structures and the people building them will help with that. I’m all for reform here, but this one doesn’t make a lot of sense.

SPUR Recommends No on Measure B

Yes on C: Removing Citizenship Requirements for Members of City Bodies

Currently, those who serve on the city’s boards, commissions, and committees must be registered to vote in San Francisco. That means members and nominees must be U.S. citizens, San Francisco residents, and at least 18 years old. The ballot measure, approved Monday by the Rules Committee, would loosen those requirements.
[…]
The point of the amendment is to allow new, diverse voices to advise the Board of Supervisors, Mayor London Breed, and city departments on public policy issues — especially those that impact minorities and immigrant communities. Those boards include the Police Commission, Planning Commission, and Human Rights Commission.
SF Chronicle

I don’t think you need to be an adult citizen that’s registered to vote in order to contribute to a local board.

Yes on D: Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board

No one is arguing against this fairly common-sense measure.

Ballotpedia page for San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board Charter Amendment

Yes on E: Change to Police Staffing

Removes the mandatory minimum for police staffing so public officials can have more control over the numbers.

Ballotpedia page for San Francisco Change to Police Staffing Charter Amendment

Yes on F: Business Tax Overhaul for Revenue

It is a significant achievement to produce compromise tax reform in the midst of an economic recession, especially when the reform measure would provide targeted relief and manage to raise revenue. Prop. F would also unlock over a billion dollars to fund critically urgent needs around homelessness and child care. While the measure does raise rates on many technology companies, it would provide relief to struggling industries, and delay rate increases in a way that’s responsive to the health of the economy. While the circumstances are extraordinarily challenging and Prop. F is imperfect, it represents a number of wins for San Francisco at a critical moment.
SPUR

Yes on G: Youth Voting in Local Elections

Getting people engaged in voting earlier is an excellent idea, and having kids that are still in High School able to vote would provide them with teachers and counselors to help them learn about and understand the local elections that matter much more than the national ones that take all the press coverage.

No on H: Deregulate Commercial Districts

This measure encourages businesses to open and re-open quickly, which I don’t think is the right call. I could also see having such a fast turnaround for permitting putting a strain on our city resources and creating more disruption in our neighborhoods.

Like many of our ballot measures, I don’t think this should be a measure that we vote on. Emergency local business aid measures should be handled by our elected representatives.

Yes on I: Real Estate Transfer Tax

This tax only affects enormous ($10,000,000+) property transfers and can add a ton of funding to City coffers that need them.

Yes on J: Parcel Tax for SF Unified School District

I always lean Yes on education funding, and this parcel tax is written better than many others I’ve voted in favor of in the past.

Yes on K: Affordable Housing Authorization

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Yes on L: Tax Corporations Based on Top Executive’s Pay

It probably won’t do much because companies can find other shadier ways to inordinately compensate their top beneficiaries of nepotism and the sycophants thereunder, but it sends a message I happen to agree with.

Aside: I still hope for a measure that makes it illegal for a company to compensate their top executives more than 100x what they pay their lowest-paid employees.

Yes on RR: Rail Service Tax

I don’t use CalTrain, but I want us to improve and maintain all of our public transit systems.

California State Senate: Jackie Fielder

I’ve been following Jackie Fielder for a couple of years now and I’ve even had a few 1-on-1 phone conversations with her. She is the real deal, she gives a shit about regular people, is running a clean campaign, and aims to fight for the people who need it most in the state senate.

While my complaints about Scott Wiener are not especially numerous, he does tend to cater to the Karens in action. He has supported wrong-headed housing initiatives and police unions. Fielder is an exceptional candidate who I consider a big upgrade.

Mission Local: Jackie Fielder Introduces Housing Plan
https://missionlocal.org/2020/01/state-sen-candidate-jackie-fielder-introduces-housing-plan-says-sb-50-is-on-its-last-legs/
Scott Wiener’s Backing of Police
http://www.theleaguesf.org/wiener_kaepernick

California State Propositions

Yes on Prop 14: Funding Stem Cell Research

I have Alzheimer’s in my family, so I’m normally supportive of research and development in this field. But I’m skeptical about who is getting this money and who will own the patents to drugs and treatments developed with it. I have no interest in subsidizing pharma companies if there’s nothing stopping them from selling those treatments back to us at a huge profit margin as a monopoly.

[UPDATE 10.03.2020] I hosted a ballot discussion talk over Zoom today and together we read through this Proposition and some of the arguments for and against it. One of the members of that discussion had some direct experience with CIRN and gave us some insights into the good work they’re doing. At the same time, we looked into some of those arguments against the proposition and found them to be false and/or unsubstantiated claims. Because of these factors, I’ve changed my stance to a Yes on Prop 14.

Yes on Prop 15: Tax Commercial Property Based on Real Market Value

Currently, commercial property can be taxed based on the price that was originally paid for it. This reduces the potential revenue we can gain for schools and other public services and shifts more of the tax burden onto residential property.

Yes on Prop 16: End the Ban on Affirmative Action

In the imaginary U.S. where we don’t need affirmative action, it wouldn’t hurt anything to have it on the books. In this world, it can help right some wrongs.

Yes on Prop 17: Restore Voting Rights to Parolees

There should be no exceptions for an American citizen’s right to vote. It should be an inalienable right in any true democracy.

Yes on Prop 18: Let (some) 17-Year-Olds Vote

I turned 18 after the 2000 election, and I would’ve loved to vote for Al Gore. Voting isn’t mandatory and it’s a pain in the ass, so it’s not like thousands of 17-year-olds are going to show up to troll vote. I welcome any citizen that wants to vote into the booth. If it were up to me, 16 would be the national voting age.

Leaning No on Prop 19: Property Tax Breaks, Closing a Loophole, and Fighting Wildfires

This proposition is similar to one I confidently voted against in 2018, and so far I don’t believe that the additions are enough to change my mind on it. It is once again being pushed hard by the real estate lobby, which I distrust nearly as much as cop unions.

No on Prop 20: Allow Cops to Upgrade Petty Charges

Law enforcement lobbyists are pushing this proposition to accelerate non-violent offenses with heavier felony-level charges. As anyone who knows me should expect, fuck the police. The more power we give them to attack our citizens, the more they abuse it to hurt minorities and fill up our for-profit prisons with nonviolent offenders.

Yes on Prop 21: Rent Control

I am on the side of tenants 99% of the time in any housing discussion. This will not change until the housing crisis is over. I believe that being a landlord or real estate investor should be rare if the role exists at all.

Housing is a human right. Get a real job instead of pretending that owning property fulfills a necessary role in a productive society.

No on Prop 22: Designate Workers in the Gig Economy as Independent Contractors

This proposition was promoted by Uber, Lyft, and other ride-share companies to exempt themselves from paying their drivers a fair wage and benefits. Fuck that.

Yes on Prop 23: Regulate Dialysis Clinics

For the benefit of customers and workers in the industry, vote yes.

No on Prop 24: Additional Privacy Protections

UPDATE 09.30.2020 : After learning more about this prop and reading about the ACLU’s reasoning for encouraging a NO vote, I have come to realize that the law itself is not written well and contains exclusions for big companies that shouldn’t be there.

Yes on Prop 25: Confirm the Ban on Cash Bail

Cash bail makes the poor suffer more for their offenses than the rich. It is unethical and adds to the systemic pressures placed on people below the poverty line.

This proposition was placed on the ballot by the Bail Bonds industry to save themselves from having to find other, more ethical means of making a buck in California. They want us to roll back the ban that passed in 2018. Kick them to the curb.

National Offices

U.S. House CA District 12: Shahid Buttar

Shahid Buttar standing outside city hall

Nancy Pelosi is an accomplished and savvy politician with many years of good service to our state. Recently she has done more to hinder the progressive agenda than help it, and Shahid Buttar is the best progressive candidate we’ve ever had to contend with her.

President & VP: Biden & Harris

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris talking to each other behind a podium

The lesser of two evils is less evil. Sometimes we have to look at voting as a defensive action rather than a proactive one. That being said, I have much less objection to these candidates than I did for the ones we had in 2016, even without considering their opposition.

Quick Reference Sheet

Share if you like, or just use it for quick reference of what your crazy friend is voting for.