My Ballot and Endorsements: November 2022 (California, Alameda County, Emeryville) End of Article
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My Ballot and Endorsements: November 2022 (California, Alameda County, Emeryville)

1968 words published on Oct 9, 2022

10/14/2022: I haven’t sent my ballot in yet and my positions may change on some of these races, but this is where I’m at so far.

✅ 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.

State Props

Prop 1 – Amendment for Reproductive Rights: YES ✅❤️

Discussion: Facebook

We need this on a national scale too.

Prop 26 – Allow In-Person Gambling on Tribal Land: NO

Discussion: Facebook

The tribes supporting this law are in the “pro” column for me, but I simply don’t see this as necessary. The amount of money it would contribute to homelessness doesn’t seem enough to justify the extraction that casinos pull from their communities. It’s also an odd thing to consider using a Ballot Measure for, so I’m leaning no.

Prop 27 – Allow Online Gambling: NO ✅

Discussion: Facebook

This is an exploitative measure supported by out-of-state corporate interests that want to use partnerships with local tribes to extract money from our citizens in their online apps.

  • Full disclosure: I am an investor in Draft Kings. If this measure passes, I will likely buy more stock. I’d rather not though. I invest cynically and vote hopefully.
  • CalMatters
  • Ballotpedia

Prop 28 – Arts and Music in Public Schools: YES ✅❤️

Discussion: Facebook

As the child of two musicians/teachers, grandchild of a painter/teacher, and holder of a Bachelor of Arts, it’d be extremely out of character for me to vote against funding arts in public schools.

Prop 29 – Dialysis Clinics Require Licensed Medical Staff: YES ✅

Discussion: Facebook

The companies fighting this measure are using misinformation and fear tactics while they threaten to close clinics over this. I’m appalled they’ve been allowed to operate the way they do for as long as they already have.

Prop 30 – Funding Wildfire Prevention and Zero Emission Vehicles: YES ✅

Discussion: Facebook

Tax extremely rich (top 0.2%) Californians who make over $2,000,000 to help us transition to cleaner and safer practices.

Prop 31 – Prohibit Sale of Flavored Tobacco: NO ✅❤️

Discussion: Facebook

It is already illegal to sell tobacco products to minors. Prohibiting adult use of flavored products is pointless, and costs us $1 billion per year to enforce this ridiculous restriction.

State Reps

Discussion: Facebook

Most of these are obviously chosen down party lines. The primaries are generally when we need to do more research and think in more nuance, while the closest these general elections get are more like “NIMBY Boomer Democrat vs. Openly Corrupt Corporate Fascist” and the lesser of two evils is fairly obvious once we look at the opposition.

U.S. Senate: Alex Padilla (x2) ✅❤️

Just like in the primary, Padilla is the right choice and his competition is even weaker now than before.

Governor: Gavin Newsom ✅

Newsom has been surprisingly effective so far, and I say that as someone who voted for him. He’s managed to become a top target of the national right-wing machine, so he frightens the right people. There are certainly other people I’d support against him, but not on the other side of the aisle.

Lieutenant Governor: Eleni Kounalakis ✅

I still like her.

Secretary of State: Shirley N. Weber ✅❤️

Voted for her in the primary, and will do so again now.

Controller: Malia M. Cohen ✅

Voted for her in the primary, and will do so again now.

Treasurer: Fiona Ma ✅

Voted for her in the primary, and will do so again now.

Attorney General: Rob Bonta ✅❤️

Voted for him in the primary, and will do so again now.

Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara ✅

Voted for him in the primary, and will do so again now.

District Reps

Congressional District 12: Barbara Lee ✅❤️

Perhaps my favorite politician in any office.

State Assembly District 18: Mia Bonta ✅

State Supreme Court

  • Patricia Guerrero: YES ✅
    She’s a former prosecutor, but she’s endorsed by the right people.
  • Goodwin Liu: YES ✅❤️
    Liu’s policy and philosophy is in the right place and his career has been slowed because he stood up for what was right. We need more like him.
  • Martin J. Jenkins: YES
    While his middle-of-the-road politics are unappealing, he’s not a bad choice at all.
  • Joshua P. Groban: YES
    He seems fine.

Alameda County

I’ve found the League of Women Voters and their local chapter to be very helpful for keeping up with the politics and candidates in the East Bay. They host candidate forums that they sometimes post on their YouTube channel too.

Measure D “Save Agriculture and Open Space Lands” : YES

A reasonable adjustment to existing law that’s only opposed by NIMBY types who care only about whether their taxes go up or down.

District Attorney: Pamela Price ✅❤️

She’s exactly who I want as my DA.

  • She focuses on transparency and anti-corruption.
  • She doesn’t consider herself on the same team as police departments and unions as opposed to citizens.
  • She believes in a pragmatic approach toward diversifying the ways we deal with conflict in society away from using the police for everything.
  • She wants to drastically reduce the number of illegal guns in our cities.
  • She’s been on the right side of history her entire public life.

Board of Equalization, District 2: Sally J. Lieber ✅

The Board of Equalization is a huge waste of resources and should be eliminated. Until then, Sally Lieber is the better candidate. I voted for her in the primary, and will do so again now.

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony K. Thurmond ✅

I don’t like Thurmond’s use of public money, as I mentioned in my previous ballot, but he’s still clearly better than his opponent who’s in favor of a classist tiered education system where rich kids don’t have to share their advantages with poor ones.

Peralta Community College District Trustee, Area 7: Sheweet Yohannes

I’m leaning toward Yohannes here because she seems to have a more student-level perspective while Steward seems more administrative. Neither are bad choices from what I can tell.

Alameda County Court of Appeal

All of these judges seem good to me. I read up on their histories and search news headlines for cases they’ve ruled on. I read their opinions when they provide them. All seem reasonable to me.

Emeryville City

Emeryville Measure O : YES ✅

Taxing million+ dollar real estate sales transactions so we can all get benefits across the city for environmental and quality of life initiatives seems like a no-brainer to me. The idiotic fact-free opposition just solidifies my support.

Emeryville City Council (2)

Our city council is full of drama and no one who isn’t trying to personally gain from the position seems to want the job. I hope I’m wrong this term.

Some basic statements can be found on the Eville Eye.

  1. Sukhdeep Kaur ✅ (Yes)
    She seems great, but what I’ve seen from her so far isn’t very revealing of how she wants to tackle the issues she prioritizes, and I think that clarity is important. She still seems like the most transparent and qualified of the candidates.
  2. David Mourra ✅ (Yes)
    Mourra has a lot in common with my personal perspective as a resident. He lives in a condo, is active locally, and cares about similar things. But he has little information about his specific goals shared online. The Sierra Club endorses him, which is something at least.
  3. Kalimah Priforce 🤷 (Maybe)
    His “politically moderate” and business-centric views turn me off a bit. He has a website that claims to be about sharing his platform easily for people… but it doesn’t say anything of substance about his issues or priorities there. The “Ask Me Anything” section of it requires registration and I don’t feel like he deserves my contact info. I have a few friends that know him, and that balances out the things I’ve seen that make me dislike him a little.
  4. Brooke Westling 🤷 (Dropped Out)
    Westling also shares some things in common with me and seems invested in making Emeryville a stable long-term investment for residents of all kinds. She doesn’t have a transparent website where she lists her issues and priorities (you have to join a private Facebook group to learn anything substantial beyond her candidate statement), which bothers me. Days after requesting access, I finally saw the group and most of its posts are pretty self-centered on shaping Emeryville so her own family and ones like it can be comfortable here. It’s fine, but not inspiring for someone who doesn’t have children, nor my elderly neighbors who have completely different lifestyles.
  5. Eugene Tssui ❌ (No)
    This dude is a local eccentric creative. His intentions are good and I agree with him on some things, but I find his egotism annoying. His communication is a bit weird and erratic too, which makes it difficult to gauge sincerity. I don’t think he’d be effective in a position of political power where he’d have to compromise with others.

Emery Unified School District Governing Board Members (3)

  1. Susan Donaldson ✅ (Yes)
    A solid foundation and history of effective work.
    Candidate Questionnaire
  2. Regina Chagolla ✅ (Yes)
    Her experience and priority for mental health services for students are much needed in today’s world.
    Chagolla for Emery
  3. Brynnda Collins ✅ (Yes)
    She’s got a few strikes against her. Her close ties with police are a double-edged sword. Local Emeryville PD have been solid so far since I moved here, so I don’t automatically consider that a dealbreaker the way I do for SFPD and OPD. More worrying to me is her dodge of the question of rent control and her answer about listening to outside business interests just as much as residents in her interview ( Candidate Questionnaire ). All that being said, she’ll have little control over those things at the School Board.
  4. Brian Donahue ❌ (No)
    The best way to get into the mind of Donahue is by reading The Emeryville Tattler, where he rabble-rouses in ways I sometimes appreciate. That being said, his words and actions during this campaign have made him look like your least favorite prick of a co-worker that would get in the way of anything getting done if it wasn’t done his way. A definite no.

AC Transit District Director At-Large: Alfred Twu

Alfred Twu seems more down to earth and has several interoperable skills that serve as the basis for his opinions about how to handle the issues in this role. Young has experience in the seat on his side, but he seems to rely on delay tactics and politics instead of solutions.

Don’t Forget to Vote!

Wherever you are, be sure to get your vote counted.