San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters

Prop I on the November 8, 2022 San Francisco ballot would reopen two streets to cars: JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park and the Great Highway south of Sloat. Like everyone else in San Francisco, the League had big feels about whether or not JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park should be (partially) closed to car traffic. But the idea of trying to reopen the Great Highway south of Sloat is foolish in the face of climate change (and the California Coastal Commission), so our members voted for a No on Prop I.

Background: After the Supes voted to keep JFK Drive car-free in April 2022, a coalition largely funded by Republican mega-donor (and Fine Arts/DeYoung Museum trustee) Dede Wilsey gathered signatures for Prop I (fully re-opening the Drive and the Great Highway Promenade to cars again.)

What swayed us to a No on Prop I was the damage it would do to the City’s sensible Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaption Project to address sea-level rise and sandstorms in 2023 by closing the Sloat extension, removing harmful coastal armoring, and restoring habitat. If Prop I passes, the City would have to spend at least $80 million to construct a ridiculous seawall at Ocean Beach– a temporary and destructive attempt to wish away the water.

Here’s some more context if you want to go deep: 

It’s hard to overstate how divorced from reality it would be to try to armor the Great Highway South of Sloat to try to keep it a two-way road for cars.  The City committed to closing the Great Highway South of Sloat back in 2014, when they settled a lawsuit about coastal erosion. In 2018, the SFPUC studied four options for this stretch of road, none of which included full car access because they said the California Coastal Commission wouldn’t allow it. But if somehow we were allowed to build that stupid ugly seawall, the EIR for the Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaption Project says it would require placing 100,000 cubic yards of sand every year to protect the seawall and could “result in accelerated erosion of shore areas to the north and south of the wall,” including "bluff instability at Fort Funston.”  In the interests of all-cars-all-the-time, Prop I would pour huge amounts of money into bad infrastructure, pretending that the sand’s not blowing and the seas aren’t rising. 

We also oppose Prop I because it can only be amended by another ballot measure. That means even if the City implements all the accessibility improvements that SDA and others are asking for, we’d have to beat Dede Wilsey’s money at the ballot to make any changes to JFK in the future.

For all of those reasons, we urge you to vote no on Prop I.

And see our full Pissed Off Voter Guide for our take on everything else on the ballot.

Paid for by the San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters.
Committee major funding from:
Save John F Kennedy Promenade, Yes on J, No on I. ($5,000) - contributors include Jeremy Stoppelman ($300,000), The Nature Conservancy ($50,000), Emmett Shear ($50,000)
Financial disclosures available at sfethics.org.

Hey! Surely you're looking for our November 2022 Pissed Off Voter Guide - this is just our endorsement lists - click through to read the full thing!

The San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters membership voted to endorse the following candidates and ballot measures for the November 2022 election. Our full Pissed Off Voter Guide is available now- read it!

Statewide Offices

Governor: No Endorsement
Lt Governor: No Endorsement
Secretary of State: Shirley Weber
Controller: No Endorsement
Treasurer: No Endorsement
Attorney General: Rob Bonta
Insurance Commissioner: No Endorsement 
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond
Board of Equalization, District 2: Sally Lieber

State Assemblymember, District 17: No Position
State Assemblymember, District 19: No Endorsement

Supreme Court Judges: Yes on Groban, Guerrero, Jenkins, Liu
Appeals Court Judges, First District: Yes on Brown, Burns, Fujisaki, Jackson, Petrou, Rodriguez, Goldman, Stewart, Tucher

Federal Offices

US Senator: Alex Padilla
US Representative, District 11: No Endorsement
US Representative, District 15: David Canepa

Local Offices

Supervisor, District 2: No Endorsement
Supervisor, District 4: Gordon Mar
Supervisor, District 6: #1 Honey Mahogany, #2 Cherelle Jackson
Supervisor, District 8: No Endorsement
Supervisor, District 10: Shamann Walton
City College Board of Trustees, 4 Year Term: Vick Chung, Anita Martinez, Susan Solomon
City College Board of Trustees, 2 Year Term: Adolfo Velasquez
SFUSD Board of Education: Alida Fisher, Karen Fleshman, Gabriela López
Assessor-Recorder: No Endorsement
District Attorney: John Hamasaki
Public Defender: Mano Raju
BART Director, District 8: Janice Li

State Propositions

Prop 1: Protect Abortion Rights: Yes
Prop 26: Legalize Sports Betting in Tribal Casinos: Yes
Prop 27: Legalize Mobile Sports Betting: No
Prop 28: K-12 Art and Music Education: Yes
Prop 29: Dialysis Clinic Regulation: Yes
Prop 30: Wealth Tax for Climate Change: Yes
Prop 31: Ban on Flavored Tobacco: Yes

Local Propositions

Prop A: Retiree Supplemental Cost of Living Adjustment: Yes
Prop B: Sanitation & Streets Public Works Reorg: Yes
Prop C: Homelessness Oversight Commission: Yes
Prop D: Affordable Homes Now: No
Prop E: Homes for Families and Workers: Yes
Prop F: Library Preservation Fund: Yes
Prop G: Student Success Fund: Yes
Prop H: Voter Participation Act: Yes
Prop I: Open JFK Drive + Great Highway to Cars: No
Prop J: Close JFK Drive to Cars: No Position
Prop K: Withdrawn E-Commerce Tax: No
Prop L: Renew Half Cent Sales Tax for Transit: Yes
Prop M: Empty Homes Tax: Yes 
Prop N: City Funding for Golden Gate Park Parking Garage: Yes 
Prop O: City College Parcel Tax: Yes

• Daniel Landry
• Adolfo Velasquez

• Alida Fisher
• Karen Fleshman
• Gabriela Lopez
• Lainie Motamedi
• Lisa Weissman-Ward

The San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters members voted to endorse the following candidates and ballot measures for the June 2022 Primary election. Our full, unabridged Pissed Off Voter Guide is coming soon!

Statewide Offices

Governor: Luis Rodriguez
Lt Governor: Mohammad Arif
Secretary of State: Shirley Weber
Controller: Ron Galperin
Treasurer: Meghann Adams
Attorney General: Rob Bonta
Insurance Commissioner: Nathalie Hrizi
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Marco Amaral
Board of Equalization, District 2: Sally Lieber

State Assemblymember, District 17: No Endorsement
State Assemblymember, District 19: No Endorsement

Federal Offices

US Senator: Alex Padilla
US Representative, District 11: No Endorsement

Local Offices

City Attorney: No Endorsement

Local Propositions

Prop A: MUNI Bond : No Endorsement
Prop B: Building Inspection Commission : Yes
Prop C: Recall Reform : Yes
Prop D: Victims and Witness Rights City Department : No
Prop E: Behested Payments : Yes
Prop F: Garbage Collection Overcharging : Yes
Prop G: Public Health Emergency Leave : Yes
Prop H: Recall District Attorney : No

The San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters members met on March 11th and voted on endorsements for the April 2022 runoff election.

After a lot of discussion, no candidates or options received the majority of votes. So we have no endorsement but plenty of thoughts. See our April Pissed Off Voter Guide for our full write up.

State Assembly District 17

• No Position

Did you catch your breath from that bummer of a special election in February? Good, because the April special election is right around the corner!  :/  That means we need to decide our endorsement ASAP.

WHEN: Friday, March 10, 2022, 5:30pm
WHERE: Zoom zoom zoom!
WHAT: League endorsement meeting for the April election
To RSVP, email us at theleaguesf @ gmail.com and tell us one sentence about your experience with the League, and we'll send you the Zoom link.

Hey! Surely you're looking for our February 2022 Pissed Off Voter Guide - this is not it!

The San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters members voted to endorse the following candidates and ballot measures for the February 2022 election. Our full, unabridged Pissed Off Voter Guide is coming soon! You can see the candidates' responses to our questionnaire here.

State Assembly District 17

• Dual Endorsement: David Campos & Matt Haney

Assessor-Recorder

• No Endorsement

Board of Education Recall

• Alison Collins: No, do not Recall
• Faauuga Moliga: No, do not Recall
• Gabriela Lopez: No, do not Recall
  

Monday, January 11th is the last day to register to vote in the wonky local Democratic Party election known by wonks as ADEMs (for Assembly District Election Meetings.) 

You can register online and in this pandemic year, all voting is by mail, so you never have to leave your house! These delegates help set the California Democratic Party policies and priorities. So if you’ve ever been pissed off about sellout Democrats, this is a chance to say something about it.

The League’s steering committee has a range of feelings about how involved we should be in ADEMs, absent a formal endorsement process, so we’re not making any official endorsements. We are not a Democratic club and some of us aren’t Democrats. Some of us are turned off by participating in these insider politico machinations and/or question if the ADEMs really matter or if it’s just a popularity contest for politicos. Some of us are excited to see some of our allies and heroes stepping up to run for the ADEMs to reform the state Democratic Party that has been dominated by corporate sellouts for as long as we’ve been around. If this kind of geekery interests you, read on!

Who's running?

Lots and LOTS of people! Our friends at the Harvey Milk club and the SF Berniecrats have endorsed slates. They both mostly align with the Progressive Power slate in Assembly District 17 (the East Side of SF represented by David Chiu) and the Progressive Alliance slate in Assembly District 19 (West Side of SF represented by Phil Ting), but with a few differences. 

Assembly District 17 - the East Side of SF represented by David Chiu

Assembly District 19 - the West Side of SF represented by Phil Ting

* Progressive Power "recommends" both Alan Wong and Ryan McGilley for their sixth slot. 

What the hell is the ADEMs?

The ADEM elections are held every two years to elect Assembly District Delegates to the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC). There’s an explainer video on the California Democratic Party website.  

In San Francisco, registered Democrats and Decline to State voters elect leaders to the local Democratic Party governing body, the San Francisco's Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) that decides the Party’s endorsements of candidates and ballot measures. ADEMs are like the DCCC on the state level. But unlike the DCCC elections that are run by the independent Department of Elections and appear on your City ballot, ADEMs are weird and run by Democratic Party. In the past, you had to vote in in person at specific polling places based on the district. Instead of being a public government-run election, the process is managed by a convener and volunteers. In the past, that lack of accountability has led to long lines and some major shenanigans. But thanks to the pandemic, this year's ADEM is all by mail, so you don't have to sacrifice a weekend day for this!

Why are the ADEMs important?

San Francisco and California are essentially “one party towns” where the Republicans are thankfully mostly sidelined while third parties struggle to break through the Dems’ monopoly. The ADEM delegates vote on the party chair and leadership for the California Democratic Party that controls a massive amount of resources for campaigns up and down the state. In 2017, the progressive candidate for chair, Kimberly Ellis, lost by just 57 votes in a hella shady election marred by disorganization and accusations of ballot stuffing. (The winner, Eric Bauman, resigned after accusations of sexual misconduct, so...there’s that.)

The delegates also will decide the state party endorsements for 2022 ballot measure and candidates. The ADEM election is important for movement building, securing official party endorsements for progressive candidates, and moving the dial on progressive issues. The 2017 progressive delegates added tenants rights and addressing homelessness to the party priorities. The party chair they elect impacts fundraising, and the chair wields an enormous budget and political power.

23 Reasons to Vote for John Avalos instead of Ahsha Safaí

There is no starker choice on the San Francisco ballot than District 11 for the Board of Supervisors. (Okay, maybe the Presidential election!) Back in 2016, we wrote about 9 Reasons Ahsha Safaí is shady. Unfortunately, he won (by only 413 votes), and he's been just as bad as we feared, so now we have twenty-three reasons to vote him out.

We're excited to support John Avalos, a proven leader with integrity. But because people keep asking us about Safaí, here are all the ways he's proven to be a failure, with plenty of receipts: 

Safaí's COVID response has been too little, too late

• The contrast between the response in the Mission versus the Excelsior and OMI is pretty damning. The Mission has conducted groundbreaking studies and offered support for its vulnerable communities, with mass testing at BART stations.
• We're glad community groups have hustled to make testing available one day a week at Crocker Amazon park and on Broad Street in the OMI, but the hard-hit District 11 needs more. Why can't Safaí get large-scale testing at Balboa Park BART or on Mission Street, where vulnerable essential workers need it?

Safaí is shady

• He flip-flopped on 2018's Prop 10 that would have expanded rent control. He told tenant groups he supported it, but then turned around and opposed it. When tenant rights advocates brought him a golden flip-flop, he hid in his office and wouldn't talk to them.
• An ugly alliance of Republicans, billionaires, venture capitalists, and developers are spending millions to elect Safaí and defeat progressive revenue measures. Why? They don't want to pay their fair share, and they trust Safaí to protect their interests.
• He pushed to increase the rents for a two-bedroom at the affordable housing planned next to the Excelsior Safeway from $1,730 to $3,026. That's not affordable!
• In 2016, the leadership of the janitors union Safaí worked for pressured its members to campaign for him, and fined members who didn’t "volunteer" $150 a day. These are janitors who are barely earning a living wage! 
  
• Safaí was an unregistered lobbyist for a real estate developer. 

Safaí has been a failure on climate change

• In his role on the SF Retirement Board, he voted against divesting from fossil fuels in 2018 and 2019, and didn't even show up when they voted against divesting again in 2020.  Even though in 2017 he voted for a non-binding resolution at the Board of Supervisors urging the Retirement Board to divest from fossil fuels (give him another golden flip-flop!), and even though oil companies have been some of the worst performing stocks on the market the last three years.
• He tried to get the City to pay for his City Hall parking space!
• He failed to support replacing a gas station and parking lot with affordable housing, and has taken at least $7K from gas station companies.
• He pissed off every sustainable transportation group in the City when he attempted to gum-up the City's ability to make transit, bike, and pedestrian improvements.
• No wonder the SF Bicycle Coalition, League of Conservation Voters, and Sierra Club have all endorsed John Avalos!

Safaí is a house-flipper

• Last year he bought a property in probate court, and the real estate company he used turned around and donated $5,600 to Safaí’s campaign a month later.
• He bought a house that was in foreclosure in 2005, and sold it less than a year later for a profit. The woman he bought the house from sued him for fraud, saying she was “frightened and intimidated” into accepting an unfair offer.
• He’s been involved in a number of questionable real estate deals over the years and made most of his money as a consultant for landlords and developers.
• No wonder nearly half of his campaign funds come from the real estate industry!
  
  

Safaí is a phony

• Safaí flat out lied to the District 11 Democratic club claiming that he supported June 2018’s “Baby Prop C” to tax office buildings for childcare. In fact, he supported the competing Prop D that had a poison pill to kill off the tax for childcare.
• Safaí claims that he "saved St. Luke's Hospital," but the California Nurses Association and others who led that campaign say he had nothing to do with it. Check out this damning video.
• Back in 2008, Safaí worked for Gavin Newsom, and he talked, dressed, and acted like a mini-Gavin. (Check out his pensive, pinstriped, hair-gelled glamour shot from a Chronicle puff piece). But when he came back to run again in 2016, he switched up his image to be a mini-Avalos! He dressed more casual and talked about working families, but we weren’t fooled.
• When he ran in 2016, he claimed to be a union organizer, but almost all of Safai's income came from being a consultant for landlords and developers. In 2012 and 2013, he earned less than $10,000 as a consultant for the janitors union, but more than $100,000 from his consulting firm.
  
  

Safaí won't stand up to for police accountability

• He was endorsed by the racist Police Officers Association (POA), who contributed $70,000 to an independent expenditure that supported him. 
• He rewarded them in 2018 by derailing a resolution to limit the cops’ ability to drag their feet on reforms.
• He also tried to replace one of our strongest Police Commissioners, Petra DeJesus, who the POA despises.
• He was AWOL on June 2018's Prop H, the POA's reckless attempt to remove civilian oversight of the cops use of tasers. 
• And now he's proposing legislation to crackdown on sideshows with harsher penalties. WTH? Didn't you get the memo, Ahsha? The Republican-style "tough on crime" approach to non-violent crime is ineffective and immoral. 

District 11 is lucky to have a clear choice in November. Vote for John Avalos for a Supervisor who knows the district, has a track record of getting things done, and shares our values. Check out his detailed policy positions on criminal justice, government corruption, climate justice, housing affordability, and many more issues. You can also read all about our take on Avalos in our full voter guide. 

We expect this race will be super close, so every vote counts. Can you help share this post and send it to everyone you know in the Excelsior, Outer Mission, and OMI?