How I’m Voting and You Can Too - March 2024
I began writing this guide when I realized some people I know weren’t voting because they felt the ballot was too complicated. Now, I study the issues with dorky zeal and offer this guide to the public.
These views are mine, and mine alone. They do not represent the views of any organization I work for or am a member of. If you assume that my spouse shares these views, you are wrong and possibly very sexist.
VOTE. Not voting is actually a vote for, “I don’t care, be corrupt, put money in your pockets and screw the people.”
PREPARE but DON’T PROCRASTINATE. You probably already received your ballot in the mail. Go ahead and fill it in now. Who knows what will happen between now and election day.
IGNORE the advertising. The way money affects politics is through advertising. Paid political advertising will always be misleading, by design. Throw those mailers straight into the recycling. Ignore promoted posts on social media. You will receive a stack of mailers right before election day. These will contain the worst lies — there will be no time for journalists to fact-check them.
Live at Stern Grove
acrylic on canvas, 18” x 24”, 2024 SOLD
Protect San Francisco
This election is really about defense in San Francisco. There are several terrible cynical ballot measures meant to look good and reasonable, but with just a bit of scratching are actually very regressive and harmful.
Politics is full of decent-sounding policies that filter through tons of bureaucracy to become harmful at the application level. When we look at some of our streets in San Francisco, it’s understandable to react by saying, “Why can’t we make these people leave? Why can’t we make them get healthy?” If only it were that easy. I try to listen to the service providers on the front lines about what actually works, rather than politicians trying to stoke your anger and fear.
Meanwhile, GrowSF and other Elon Musk-loving billionaire-backed PACs are waging a full assault on San Francisco (you can look up “Garry Tan” to learn more about their outlook). The Guardian just published a report, “Inside tech billionaires’ push to reshape San Francisco politics: ‘a hostile takeover’”
They continue to push the lie that the failures in San Francisco are because of progressive policies, when we’ve actually had a moderate-conservative in the mayor’s office for decades. When progressives on the Board of Supervisors manage to budget for progressive approaches, Mayor London Breed doesn’t spend the money, fails to hire health workers, closes harm reduction centers, and tries to get the conservative Supreme Court to allow the city to violate the rights of people experiencing poverty.
Please help everyone you know to get the information they need to vote.
You should have received your ballot in the mail already. You can bring that to a drop box outside your local library branch or put it in the mail. The League of Women Voters of San Francisco has information about all of your voting logistics.
Scroll down to see My Picks, My Reasoning, and My Reference Materials
Be Boosted
Voting is one way to do your part for the greater good. Another way is to get your COVID booster and your flu shot. Wastewater tests show that COVID rates are as high as ever.
My Picks:
President of the United States
Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Member, County Central Committee, Assembly District 17 (East Side)
Peter Gallotta
Kristin Hardy
John Avalos
Jeremy Lee
Vick Chung
Patrick Bell
Gloria Berry
Adolfo Velasquez
Michael Nguyen
Sydney Simpson
Joshua Rudy Ochoa
Sal Rosselli
Jane Kim
Anita Martinez
Member, County Central Committee, Assembly District 19 (West Side)
Natalie Gee
Greg Hardeman
Frances Hsieh
Leah LaCroix
Connie Chan
Queena Chen
Sandra Lee Fewer
Mano Raju
Hene Kelly
Gordon Mar
Federal Offices
US Senator (term ending January 3, 2031): Katie Porter
US Senator (remainder of the current term ending January 3, 2025): Barbara Lee
US Representative, District 11: Leave it blank
US Representative, District 15: Leave it blank
Statewide Offices
State Senate, District 11: Leave it blank
State Assemblymember, District 17: Leave it blank
State Assemblymember, District 19: David Lee
Judicial Offices
Superior Court Judge, Seat 1: Michael Isaku Begert
Superior Court Judge, Seat 13: Patrick Thompson
State Propositions
Prop 1: Money for Behavioral Health and Treatment Beds: Y̶e̶s̶ No
Local Propositions
Prop A: San Francisco Affordable Housing Bonds: Yes
Prop B: Police Officer Staffing Levels: No
Prop C: Tax Breaks for Downtown Developers: No
Prop D: Tighten City Ethics Rules: Yes
Prop E: Weakening Police Oversight: NO
Prop F: Require Drug Screening for Public Assistance: NO
Prop G: Encourage Algebra 1 in 8th Grade: No
Make Choices
classroom sign
acrylic on paper, 19” x 24”, 2024
My Reasoning
President of the United States: Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Yeah, I wish we had an actual primary for a nomination. There are many billionaires and other powerful forces who know that Trump and the Republican party is ridiculously unhinged and bad for the country, but support them to keep us scared and prevent the Democratic party from embracing policies that would really help people. And that strategy is working. We’ll need to support old Joe until we can build an alternative—which starts at the most local level. That brings us to the DCCC…
Member, County Central Committee, Assembly District 17 (East Side): Peter Gallotta, Kristin Hardy, John Avalos, Jeremy Lee, Vick Chung, Patrick Bell, Gloria Berry, Adolfo Velasquez, Michael Nguyen, Sydney Simpson, Joshua Rudy Ochoa, Sal Rosselli, Jane Kim, Anita Martinez
Member, County Central Committee, Assembly District 19 (West Side): Natalie Gee, Greg Hardeman, Frances Hsieh, Leah LaCroix, Connie Chan, Queena Chen, Sandra Lee Fewer, Mano Raju, Hene Kelly, Gordon Mar
The DCCC or Democratic County Central Committee makes official party endorsements and can guide the policies. GrowSF is pouring loads of money to try to take over San Francisco’s Democratic party on behalf of the wealthy. Some of the people running on the GrowSF endorsed slate claim to be Democrats, but sound a lot like MAGA Republicans.
Federal Offices
Beautiful Bernal
acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20", 2024
US Senator (term ending January 3, 2031): Katie Porter
US Senator (remainder of the current term ending January 3, 2025): Barbara Lee
I admit, it’s weird to split my vote like this.
Barbara Lee is clearly the best candidate. She distinguished herself as having the most integrity in Washington DC when she voted against the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which led to decades of ineffective war and abuse of powers. Since then, Lee has continued to be a savvy and committed fighter for justice on domestic issues.
Unfortunately, current polls are predicting Lee to finish fourth in this “top two” primary (where the two candidates with the most votes have a run-off in November).
But what about Adam Schiff? By putting Schiff in charge of the impeachment process, Nancy Pelosi gave Schiff a huge boost in name recognition and helped him create a brand as an anti-Trump. Schiff has been trying to frame himself as a progressive for this election, but when he joined congress, he became a member of conservative “Blue Dogs Democrats” and often sided with Republicans to support Bush’s foreign policy. That’s a no from me.
And Steve Garvey? He’s a Republican who voted for Trump twice. Definite no.
Let’s look at Katie Porter: You may know Porter from seeing clips of her holding a white board and grilling corporate executives. She’s great at economic policy, and I believe would be innovative in trying to bring some accountability to corporations. In foreign policy areas, I’m less confident. She eventually did call for a cease-fire in Gaza, but didn’t do that until December. Back in March 2023 (as Netanyahu was pushing through a despotic take-over of the Israeli judiciary), she talked about being “impressed” with Netanyahu after meeting with him as part of an AIPAC junket—displaying some troubling naivety.
If Barbara Lee really doesn’t have a chance to advance in this election, then Katie Porter is the best strategic choice. With the special election (to replace Diane Feinstein for the remainder of her term from November - January) we can take more of a risk and vote with our hearts.
US Representative, District 11: Leave it blank
I agree with the League of Pissed Off Voters about this one. “Look, Nancy Pelosi is gonna win, no surprises here. She doesn’t need our endorsement. Every two years our members debate if we should endorse her: do her national contributions outweigh her lack of leadership back at home and justify the shade she loves to throw at progressives? See our 2018 or 2014 voter guides for more thoughts on that. Her most recent unconscionable move in our book? Her insulting and witch-hunty calls for the FBI to investigate those of her constituents calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying they might be getting paid by Russia—or, as she suggested in October 2023, that they should “go back to China.”
US Representative, District 15: Leave it blank
Kevin Mullin is an establishment guy running unopposed.
State Offices
State Senate, District 11: Leave it blank
Poor Scott Wiener was ready to run for Congress, but Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t get out of the way.
Wiener can be great in some areas—digital security and trans rights—but his perspective has always been firmly aligned with the wealthy. This is another unfortunately non-competitive race.
Blustery Candlestick Point
acrylic on canvas, 15.75" x 11.75", 2024
State Assemblymember, District 17: Leave it blank
When Haney was on the San Francisco Board of Education, he sponsored the plan to rename schools named after people with racist records, then he got elected to the Board of Supervisors. As the renaming of schools became an issue in the school board recall, Haney was busy aligning himself with more conservative forces.
State Assemblymember, District 19: David Lee
David Lee has endorsements from Jane Kim and Mark Leno and that’s good enough for me. Opponent Catherine Stefani has reliably been one of the most conservative members of the Board of Supervisors, and she will likely win this race and head to Sacramento. It’s a shame there isn’t a more well-known candidate on the west side of the city.
Judicial Offices
Superior Court Judge, Seat 1: Michael Isaku Begert
Superior Court Judge, Seat 13: Patrick Thompson
The way judges are “elected” is convoluted. Basically, we only have elections if there are challenges to the seats. and then the incumbents are very restricted on what they can say about their records. KQED explains what’s going on in the current election in, “Amid Politicized Elections, SF Judges Can't Defend Themselves. Here's Why.”
The opposition candidates are being pushed by the same Republican billionaire who has been behind some of the toxic campaigns in the past few elections.
State Propositions
Prop 1: Y̶e̶s̶ No
At the last minute, I changed my mind on this one. On the one hand, it includes a bond that would raise money for treatment and housing. However, as the California League of Women Voters states, “it has the overall effect of reducing counties’ ability to set priorities based on local needs for mental health services.”
If this passes, money can be moved from county-level programs that are effective but under-funded to state-run programs that don’t work. If the counties don’t find other funds to replace what they lose, that could do some real harm.
Meanwhile, the measure would also use a bond to build more capacity for treatment. I don’t want to pass up an opportunity to put more money to good use and I’m really skeptical that something else will come along.
Learning about the effective programs that this measure could defund made me check “No” on my ballot.
Just remember that this quandary is Gavin Newsom’s fault.
Local Propositions
Prop A: San Francisco Affordable Housing Bonds: Yes
This is an easy, non-controversial “yes.” We need affordable housing and that requires government funding.
Prop B: Police Officer Staffing Levels: No
The background of this bond measure is convoluted, but the answer is easy. We don’t need minimum staffing requirements. The SFPD was never defunded — their budget has constantly increased. Maybe the SFPD should think about how their terrible reputation may be a reason they’re having trouble recruiting new officers. Mission Local has a deep dive with lots of data about police staffing in “Yes, the SFPD has a staffing crisis — but that’s just the beginning.”
Meanwhile, it turns out that SF SAFE, a non-profit with close ties to the police department, has been defrauding the city (see SF SAFE Scandal Gets Way Bigger, With Allegations of Check Forgery, and Millions of Dollars Missing). One of the grants that SF SAFE got from the city was to run an “ambassador program” employing people from the neighborhood to help with safety - but those ambassadors have had trouble getting paid. See “Latest casualty of S.F. nonprofit scandal: Mission District safety program” in the SF Chronicle.
Prop C: Real Estate Transfer Tax Exemption : No
This measure poses as just being an incentive to convert office space to residential, but it actually does a lot more.
From The San Francisco Tenants Union: “Allegedly, Prop C would be a temporary exemption to 2020’s voter-approved transfer taxes (Prop I) for commercial space to be transformed into residential space. In reality, Prop C would enable City Hall to unilaterally overthrow any real estate transfer tax, anywhere in the city, without voter approval. So Prop I could be permanently repealed, as well as the mansion tax voters passed to save City College, or any other real estate transfer tax – all without voters having a say.”
Prop D: Tighten City Ethics Rules: Yes
This is a bunch of several small but meaningful changes to tighten up city ethic rules to prevent bribery and undue influence. Definitely yes.
The League of Pissed Off Voters gives some background in their guide: “The Ethics Commission put this prop on the ballot to firm up the City’s lax laws on gift-giving, tighten various loopholes, and make it harder for the Board of Supervisors to monkey around with ethics rules in the future. They started drafting it a few years ago, in response to the bonkers corruption kablooie that put former DPW head Mohammed Nuru in federal prison (and ended the careers of various other City bigwigs and contractors.)”
Prop E: Weakening Police Oversight: NO!
Every time I write a voter guide, there’s a fresh SF Police Department racism scandal to share. Here’s one: “Muslim ex-SF cop to get $455K in bias settlement,” in which, when an officer complained to supervisors about experiencing daily racism from other officers, the supervisors retaliated against him.
This police department needs more oversight, not less. The ACLU provides a strong argument against the surveillance allowed by Prop E.
SFPD has had increasing disparities in use of force against Black people vs. white. Prop E would stop requiring them to report those disparities.
Prop F: Require Drug Screening for Public Assistance: NO!
San Francisco has not been able to hire people for all of its public health positions, so there hasn’t been nearly enough staff to help get people with substance use addiction who want treatment into programs that don’t have room for them. Should those public health workers instead spend their time testing people for drugs?
It’s an absurd idea.
Service providers explain why Prop F would hurt more than it helps.
Prop G: Encourage Algebra 1 in 8th Grade: No
In the Middle School Art Room (self-portrait)
acrylic on canvas, 18” x 24”, 2024
Remember when you took math class in middle school and how much you believed it was going to be so helpful for you in life? San Francisco changed its math curriculum a few years ago to try to make classes more socially, economically, and racially integrated, while also making math class more about building problem-solving skills and having students work together. I saw the change happening while substitute teaching in high schools and was impressed by how much more practical the curriculum felt. Meanwhile algebraic concepts were integrated into the curriculum all the way down through elementary school.
The biggest problem with this change is it makes it tougher to take AP calculus in 12th grade (though the College Board AP system seems to be quite a scam that is falling out of favor with “elite” colleges, and students would be better off accessing community college classes while in high school but let’s not go down that rabbit hole).
So the SFUSD is reintroducing options for Algebra 1 classes in 8th grade. But that was happening before this got on the ballot. So then why is this something you’re asked to vote on now?
“Algebra in the 8th grade” is being used as a rallying cry from those who are in favor of more segregation in the SFUSD, especially the Friends of Lowell Foundation—which has the same lawyer and Virginia mailing address as Moms for Liberty, the extremist hate group. That’s who Joel Engardio is trying to gain support from by putting this measure on the ballot.
But you don’t need to know all that to recognize that a non-binding declaration like this is a ridiculous way to create curriculum in the school district.
My Reference Materials
Some of the tabs I had open while writing this guide include these ballot guides: The League of Women Voters of San Francisco, The League of Pissed Off Voters guide, San Francisco Rising, the San Francisco Tenants Union endorsements, KQED’s voter guide, Bay Curious Prop. Fest, Harvey Milk Democratic Club Endorsements and United Educators of San Francisco endorsements. I get much of my news from those sources and by following local officials and journalists on social media, and sometimes observing meetings myself.