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by Jeremiah Jeffries
Hello friends, neighbors, fellow SF residents,
Here is Jeremiah’s Social Justice Voter Guide for the Nov. 8 Election.
I hope you and your loved ones are doing well. If you believe that educators, parents should be in the lead when it comes to schools and that the people most impacted should have a say in policies that impact them, and you believe ending racism and working toward equity should always be a priority, then this is the voter guide for you. VOTE by mail or in person by Nov. 8, 2022!
This voter guide relies on word of mouth and personal connections; please share with your family, friends and networks. Be sure to vote and work to make the world a better place. I hope this guide is helpful for you.
Peace, Empowerment & Wellness,
Jeremiah Jeffries,
Public School Teacher,
Teachers 4 Social Justice
“Not everyone who disagrees is an enemy and not everyone who agrees (or looks like you) is a friend.”
– Rafiq KalamId:Din Sr., 1975
Jeremiah’s Social Justice Voter Guide for the Nov. 8 Election
Courage matters. It works to build our resilience and it encourages us to have a better story of ourselves. Courage is an antidote to doubt. Courage does not guarantee success, but it makes success possible when the forces against you seem too great. Most people are not courageous. Some will have their moments; few try to live and embody it. I’m not one of those people, but I would like to be. So I make the effort.
It is not easy remaining hopeful and engaged in political work, but it needs doing nonetheless. This election is important, particularly for the Board of Education in San Francisco but also in the propositions to change our state constitution. In this particular moment in history, we need courageous leadership.
We need courageous efforts against big money and racism that wields our institutions to neglect, marginalize and exploit the poor and working class. Even with some courageous leadership, we need many individuals – the people, you and me – to have courageous moments, to stand with those speaking out and doing their best to make the world a better place. Volunteer. Donate. Do some work for change beyond your job. Use and share this voter guide and invite others to come have a moment of courage with all of us.
Local SF Candidates
SF Board of Education: Gabriela López, Alida Fisher, & Karen Fleshman*
This election I have been inspired by the courage of Gabriela López, teacher educator, public school teacher and education leader. She has shown so much courage in the face of so much hate, money and power. She refused to be cowed and bullied for fighting racism and taking care of our children and educators in our public schools before, during and beyond the pandemic. I am moved to do more because of her demonstrated commitment to our public schools. I feel I don’t do enough to honor her work and effort. Please join me in supporting her.
Alida Fisher is a special education advocate, public school parent and has been a constant hardworking voice for equity in SFUSD. Please support her and Karen Fleshman, a workplace diversity workshop facilitator and small business owner who is passionate about serving public schools.
They are running against a group of self:interest mayoral appointees who have sought to undermine educators and schools communities with an eye toward school closures and privatization.They have embraced a process over people and the needs of community approach that limits public input and attempts to silence the voices of educators, parents and youth in favor of political expediency. We can not give the mayor control of the schools, nor allow her political cronies to keep power.
VOTE: LOPEZ, FISHER & FLESHMAN
SF Public Defender: Manojar Raju
Manojar Raju is the real deal. With a heart of service and willingness to engage the community and fight for justice, he continues to be an outstanding public defender. He and his team are talented and committed to serving the people and fighting for them to receive justice in this broken criminal judicial system.
SF District Attorney: John Hamaski
John has the experience and values to stabilize the DA’s office and have it serve the will of the people instead of political corruption.
CCSF Board of Trustees: William Walker, Anita Martinez, Susan Solomon (four:year terms) and Adolfo Velasquez (two:year term)
William Walker knows and has been a long time champion of CCSF for over 15 years. Anita Martinez and Susan Solomon are labor leaders and some of the most knowledgeable candidates about CCSF, its budget and the politics of the college.
SF Board of Supervisors:
D2 No Endorsement
D4 Gordon Mar*
D6 No Endorsement
D8 No endorsement
D10 Shamann Walton
Local SF Propositions
Prop A: Yes – Support retired city employees.
Prop B: Yes – Cleaner streets maybe, but reducing bureaucracy and increased accountability and coordinated city services is a good thing.
Prop C: Yes – Homelessness Oversight Commission
Prop D: NO! NO! NO – Makes affordable housing unaffordable! A clear developer benefit scheme, Prop D changes the definition of affordable and makes housing less affordable under the guise of building more housing faster. It does not guarantee that and will definitely be misused.
Prop E: Yes – Affordable Housing : Improve and streamline the process to build affordable housing
Prop F: Yes – Library Preservation Fund
Prop G: Yes – Student Success Fund for SFUSD
Prop H: NO – Changing and Consolidating City Election Dates: This is a misguided attempt to impact voter turnout and will have unintended consequences of concentrating so many critical elections at the same time, it will overwhelm the ballot and voters being able to keep track of all the candidates. Major elections spread out over various years allows for more diverse leadership and more manageable ballot content for voters to read and digest.
Prop I : Yes – Basically creates one car-free day in Golden Gate Park. Vehicle Accessible Golden Gate Park six days a week, allowing for a car-free day once a week and for special occasions.
Prop J: NO – Basically bans regular cars from a big part of Golden Gate Park every day. A complete ban on regular vehicle access to Golden Gate Park seven days a week. Bans cars, reduces parking and blocks access by car to big parts of Golden Gate Park. Open space is good but not if most people cannot access it. Prop J would unfairly penalize communities of color and residents from neighborhoods far from the park or who have transit justice access issues such as Bayview Hunters Point, where driving would make the difference between being able to access the park or not.
Prop L: Yes – Sales Tax for Transportation Projects
Prop M: YES! – Tax on Empty Apartments/Residential Units
This is a really good tax on developers who build for the wealthy, who don’t live here in SF, who they hope will come and keep rent prices high even though their buildings are mostly empty. This will encourage developers, high rise and building landlords to price and build to meet real demand versus artificially keeping rents high even when there is less demand.
Prop N: Yes – Golden Gate Park: Music Concourse Parking Acquisition – Should the city buy back this parking lot in Golden Gate Park? Sure, though they seem to want to do this as they try to eliminate cars and significant parking in the park, forcing more people to use the garage.
Prop O: Yes– City College of San Francisco (CCSF) Additional Parcel Tax
*(Bonus) South San Francisco Measure DD: YES – Pre-K for All Commercial Parcel Tax
CA State Candidates
US Senator (Full Term): Alex Padilla (California’s first Latinx senator!)
US Senator (Partial Term) Alex Padilla , Yes, vote twice for Alex Padilla on this ballot, once for a full term and once for a partial term to complete what’s left of Kamala Harris’s term since she became our first Black woman vice president!
US Congress D11: No endorsement (The Democratic incumbent is Nancy Pelosi.)
US Congress D15: No endorsement (The Democratic candidate is David Canepa.)
Governor: No endorsement (The Democratic incumbent is Gavin Newsom.)
Lieutenant Governor: No endorsement (The Democratic incumbent is Eleni Kounalakis.)
Secretary of State: Shirley N. Weber (California’s first African American Secretary of State!)
CA Attorney General: Rob Bonta (California’s first Filipino American Attorney General!)
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond (incumbent)
Controller: Malia M. Cohen
Treasurer: No endorsement (The Democratic incumbent is Fiona Ma.)
Insurance Commissioner: No endorsement (The Democratic incumbent is Ricardo Lara.)
Board of Equalization District 2: Sally Lieber
CA State Assembly District 17: No Endorsement (A Democratic candidate is David Campos.)
CA State Assembly District 19: No Endorsement (The Democratic incumbent is Phil Ting.)
CA judges are non:competitive races in this election and simply need to be affirmed by a majority of voters. This group of judges is surprisingly qualified with seemingly good values in the position and cases they have taken on within the judicial system.
CA Chief Justice of California’s Supreme Court: Patricia Guerrero, Yes
Associate Justices of the California Supreme Court:
Goodwin Liu, Yes
Martin Jenkins, Yes
Joshua Groban, Yes
Associate Justice Court of Appeal, First District, Division 2: Theresa Stewart, Yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, First District, Division 3: Alison Tucher, Yes
Associate Justice Court of Appeal, First District Division 3:
Victor Rodriguez, Yes
Ioana Petrou, Yes
Carin Fujisaki, Yes
Associate Justice Court of Appeal, First District Division 4:
Tracie Brown, Yes
Jeremy Goldman, Yes
Presiding Justice Court of Appeal, First District Division 5: Teri Jackson, Yes
Associate Justice Court of Appeal, First District Division 5: Gordon Burns, Yes
CA State Propositions
Prop 1: YES, A constitutional amendment for reproductive freedom
Prop 26: No, A constitutional amendment and statute to expand gambling
Prop 27: No, A constitutional amendment and statute to legalize online sports gambling
Prop 28: YES, Additional state funding for Arts and Music in public schools and charters.
Prop 29: No, An attempt to force dialysis clinics to hire unnecessary medical staff
Prop 30: Yes, Tax on multi-millionaires to address wildfires, air pollution and support building out zero emissions infrastructure for businesses and individual homeowners
Prop 31: Yes, Blocks the sale of flavored tobacco products in vending machines and stores
