[Ed. Note: After years of the ‘Deep Slate being email only, I’ve moved it to my blog as well as email. You can find all the online ones here]

1. You can find your polling place in SF HERE or for the rest of CA HERE.
2. You can print just the LIST (all the better to take to the polls) from HERE.

Thanks again to the number of folks who have asked me for my opinions. I know I say it every time but it is quite true: I really am honored by your interest.

Sorry this has taken so long, but as usual, I’m doing the best I can under the relentless pressure of October (Work deadlines! Halloween costume! election stuff!).

If you like it, please do let me know! Also questions, criticisms, comments welcome!

GO VOTE! ‘deep —–

The format of this post is simple:

1. The LIST: The simple list of my endorsements for this election
2. The DETAILS: The whys and wherefores of each endorsement.
3. My VALUES: A brief explanation of my values and sources, to help make sense of my opinions.

THE LIST:

The key is as follows:

• The more UPPERCASE – the more strongly I feel.
• An ‘*’ by the Yes/No means I don’t know a lot about it & went with the SF Bay Guardian or California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) or some set of organizations I value, like the Sierra Club.

US: President: Barack Obama US Senate: Dianne Feinstein Congress: Nancy Pelosi

CA: Assembly D13: Tom Ammiano Assembly D19: Phil Ting State Senate D11: MARK LENO BART Board D9: TOM RADULOVICH

Prop. 30: Temporary Sales Tax & Progressive Income Tax for Schools: YES YES YES Prop. 31: Budget and Legislative “Reforms”: No Prop. 32: Unfair Limits to Political Spending: NO NO NO Prop. 33: Changing Insurance Rates to Benefit Insurance Companies: No* Prop. 34: Replace the Death Penalty with Life w/o Parole: YES YES YES Prop. 35: Deeply Flawed Human Trafficking Legislation: NO Prop. 36: Improve Three Strikes Law: YES YES YES Prop. 37: Require Labeling for GMO Foods: YES Prop. 38: Raise Income Taxes for Education: Yes Prop. 39: Tax Treatment for Multistate Businesses: Yes* Prop. 40: Support Redistricting Decisions: Yes*

SF: Board of Supervisors D1: Eric Mar D3: David Chiu D5: 1. John Rizzo 2. Christina Olague D7: Norman Yee D9: David Campos D11: John Avalos

Community College Board Chris Jackson Rafael Mandelman Steven Ngo Amy Bacharach

Board of Education Sandra Fewer Jill Wynns Rachel Norton Matt Haney

Prop. A: City College Parcel Tax: YES Prop. B: Parks Bond: Yes Prop. C: Affordable Housing Trust Fund: YES YES YES Prop. D: Consolidate Off-Year Elections: Yes Prop. E: Gross Receipts Tax: Yes Prop. F: Hetch Hetchy and Water Study: YES Prop. G: Corporations Are Not People: YES

Read on for the details of why I’m recommending the above…

Continue reading →

[Ed. Note: 10/31/2015: This “post” was originally an email I sent to my friends on 06/05/2012. I have posted it today in 2015, and backdated for archival/search purposes]

(my apologies if you get this multiple times & if you don’t want to get this type of stuff from me, just let me know)

Hey folks –

Sorry this is so RUSHED: Two Words: Wedding Planning!. I KNOW THIS FEELS LIKE AN UNIMPORTANT ELECTION TO MANY OF YOU – BUT PLEASE VOTE! At the SF Level, the DCCC races are actually a big deal (and always under the radar) and at the STATE level, Prop 28 is a small ray of HOPE!

Usually, I write two emails for the ‘Deep Slate, one for just the simple list of my voting recommendations & another which is the detailed “whys & wherefores” , however for today’s election that won’t be necessary. The two bits will fit in this handy email 🙂 I’ve included the boilerplate “who I am section” at the bottom for those of you who are receiving this who don’t know me.

Please feel free to forward this far & wide….
————————————-
To find your polling place:
http://tinyurl.com/yfbsg9
——————–

The key is as follows:
• the more UPPERCASE – the more strongly I feel
• exclamation = don’t get me started!
• * = I don’t know a lot about it & went with the Guardian or California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV)
————————————-

State Senate, District 11: Mark Leno

State Assembly:
Tom Ammiano (D17)
Phil Ting (D19)

Democratic County Central Committee

District 17 (East Side)
Avalos, John
Campos, David
Chiu, David
DeJesus, Petra
Dorsey, Matt
Gembinski, Chris
Haaland, Gabriel Robert
Katz, Leslie
Mandelman, Rafael
Migden, Carole
Morgan, Justin
Pimentel, Leah
Rosenthal, Alix Amelia

District 19 (West Side)
Alonso, Mike
Aragon, Wendy
Bard, Kevin
Dwyer, Kelly
Lauterborn, Mar
Mar, Eric

California Ballot Measures
Prop. 28: YES
Prop. 29: YES

SF Ballot Measures
Prop. A: No
Prop. B: YES

——— WHY & WHEREFORE ———

State Senate, District 11: Mark Leno
State Assembly:
Tom Ammiano (D17)
Phil Ting (D19)

All 3 of these candidates are exactly the kind of people we need to retain at the State level. Mark Leno is remarkably strong and progressive leader while still managing to bring pragmatism and an ability to compromise to Sacramento. Tom Ammiano has done great work in in the Assembly & Phil Ting has been an excellent assessor here in SF & his steadfast opposition to Prop 13 can only help in Sacto.

Democratic County Central Committee
Avalos, John
Campos, David
Chiu, David
DeJesus, Petra
Dorsey, Matt
Gembinski, Chris
Haaland, Gabriel Robert
Katz, Leslie
Mandelman, Rafael
Migden, Carole
Morgan, Justin
Pimentel, Leah
Rosenthal, Alix Amelia

District 19 (West Side)
Alonso, Mike
Aragon, Wendy
Bard, Kevin
Dwyer, Kelly
Lauterborn, Mar
Mar, Eric

The Democratic County Central Committee is actually one of the stealth most-important things in SF politics. Since SF is around 75% Democratic & many people vote the party line in elections & the DCCC make the official Democratic party endorsements: voila. The DCCC has a lot of power! It has long been the front line in the constant battle between monied downtown interests in SF which tend to be more conservative, and neighborhood, environmental, and other grass-roots types that have sought a more progressive SF. This year is no different.

California Ballot Measures
Prop. 28: YES
Prop. 29: YES

I always like it when I can enthusiastically support ballot measures. They are so often so grey at best. While neither of these measures is perfect they are both DOING GOOD.

Prop 28 tweaks the heinous term limits system for the better. A significant part of the reason that the State Legislature is so startlingly lame is term limits. Our legislators are barely in office long enough to understand how the system works before they are termed out. We basically have a bunch of rookies at the wheel. All the time. Ugh. 28 doesn’t fix this but makes the terms longer so they have a chance to get better. YES YES YES

Prop 29: Yes it isn’t ideal for various reasons, but smokers really really really do cost our health care system a large amount of money – and yes, non-smokers pick up part of the tab. This measure, though regressive, is essentially fair. If you smoke, pay for treatment research.

SF Ballot Measures
Prop. A: NO
Prop. B: YES

Prop A is a good example of something that should be a good thing, but in reality isn’t. Recology, our waste disposal company is a monopoly & isn’t competitively bid. In general, I’d be against such a scheme. That being said, this alternative is flawed for many reasons and would probably lead to much much less successful recycling, composting and waste minimization here in SF, and Recology has really really been doing a good job with that. No on A.

Prop B: A pretty simple one. SF Rec & Parks has been increasingly renting out our public spaces to private entities, resulting in less access for the people of SF. While this is somewhat understandable given our tight budgets, this policy statement shows we don’t like it & want better solutions. Additionally, Coit Tower has been particularly heavily hit for private events & that is the focus of this non-binding policy statement. Yes.