The 2011 Nonpartisan Voter Guide is a succinct, printable listing of S.F. mayoral candidate positions and quotes on more than two-dozen key policy issues and ballot initiatives, including pensions, taxes, transportation and homelessness. The research and survey were conducted by University of California’s Hastings College of the Law and the San Francisco Public Press. The voter guide was produced by Newsdesk.org.
Category: Elections
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, News
Ranked-choice voting explained
In November, San Franciscans choose their next mayor through an electoral process called ranked-choice voting. Also known as “instant runoff voting,” voters will pick three candidates (instead of one), and rank them in order of preference, eliminating the need for a separate runoff election. It’s the first time San Francisco will use this system to decide a competitive mayor’s race, and many are waiting to see how well it all works out.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Law & Justice
Q&A: Candidates for San Francisco district attorney
Fifth and final interview is with Vu Trinh
One of the more important and most overlooked races in San Francisco is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Previously, we spoke with Bill Fazio, David Onek, Sharmin Bock and George Gascon. Today, in our final interview, we speak with Vu Trinh, a longtime public defender and current member of the Board of Legal Specialization.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Law & Justice
Q&A: Candidates for San Francisco district attorney
Fourth interview is with George Gascon
One of the more important and most overlooked races in San Francisco is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Previously, we spoke with Bill Fazio, David Onek, and Sharmin Bock. Today, we sit down with Gascon.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Law & Justice
Q&A: Candidates for San Francisco district attorney
Third interview is with Sharmin Bock
One of the more important and most overlooked races in San Francisco is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Previously, we spoke with Bill Fazio and David Onek. Today, we feature Sharmin Bock, a San Francisco native and longtime prosecutor in Alameda County, known especially for her work on child sex trafficking. Bock sat down with Jason Winshell and Hank Drew from the San Francisco Public Press.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Law & Justice
Q&A: Candidates for San Francisco district attorney
Second interview is with David Onek
One of the more important and most overlooked races in San Francisco is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Yesterday, we spoke with Bill Fazio. Today, we turn to David Onek, a longtime criminal justice reformer and founding director of the Center for Criminal Justice at U.C. Berkeley’s School of Law.
Posted inElections, News
Researchers use S.F. mayoral candidates’ positions to rethink their places on ideological spectrum
Political scientists are trying to measure the ideology of candidates for mayor of San Francisco in an effort to give voters a better guide as to who most closely shares their views. San Francisco’s crowded field of 16 candidates and a ranked-choice voting system, which some find baffling, seemed to be the ideal testing ground for a project that measures mayoral hopefuls positions by surveying them on past actions at the Board of Supervisors and on current policy debates. Voters aren’t always as well informed as they can be for city elections, which tend to attract less attention than national races and also lack the party labels that help distinguish each candidate, said Christopher S. Elmendorf, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis, and a visiting professor at U.C. Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Law & Justice
Q&A: Candidates for San Francisco district attorney
First interview is with Bill Fazio
One of the more important and most overlooked races in San Francisco is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. We’ll be posting interviews with all five of the candidates for district attorney this week. First up: Bill Fazio, a longtime prosecutor and defense attorney who grew up in San Francisco.
Posted inCity Hall, Community, Elections, Housing, Neighborhoods, News, Social Justice
An appreciation: Eric Quezada, 1965-2011, a champion for social and economic justice
When Eric Quezada — for decades a community organizer and widely respected leader on housing and economic justice and immigrants’ rights — died Wednesday after a seven-year struggle with cancer, there was an immediate outpouring of grief, love and appreciation from progressive friends and allies across San Francisco and the nation. The lonlongtime executive director of Dolores Street Community Services was a leading candidate for District 9 supervisor in 2008 and an accomplished grassroots community organizer.
Posted inElections, Government & Politics, Health, News
Tracking of medical pot data, key aim of state program, varies greatly by county
San Francisco hands back applications to cannabis card users
San Francisco is among the most active cities in California in easing access to medical marijuana, having issued more than one-third of the 47,828 cannabis cards in the state. But unlike surrounding counties, San Francisco has a long-standing practice of handing back the paper applications for cards and not recording the names of patients or the doctors who give them the required recommendations.