Elections

Muni chief takes aim at swollen overtime budget

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Mar 22 2012 - 9:14am

City transportation director Ed Reiskin says he hopes to control Muni’s overtime spending in the next fiscal year by budgeting it at $42 million. After budgeting $32 million for this fiscal year, the actual spending is expected to reach $60 million.

Supervisors tangle over whether to kill or change ranked-choice elections this year

T.J. Johnston, SF Public Press — Mar 21 2012 - 9:41am

This story appears in the Spring 2012 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

Opponents of the ranked-choice voting instant runoff system say he relatively novel approach is still confusing to voters, while foes of the traditional system that often results in a second runoff election is a waste of money. Dueling measure on how San Franciscans elect their top office holders by Supervisors David Campos and Mark Farrell could end up on the November ballot.

Citizen petition claims more than 800,000 signatures for anti-trafficking ballot measure

Barbara Grady, SF Public Press — Mar 16 2012 - 8:00pm

A nearly three-year effort to put a strong anti-human-trafficking law before voters succeeded this week, organizers said, when they counted 873,000 signatures on their petition to put the proposed Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act on the November state ballot. The citizen-led campaign to strengthen criminal penalties against people who traffic teenagers, children and immigrant laborers on the streets of California cities, and over the Internet, has been working on the issue since 2009, when some Fremont residents started a grassroots organizing effort.

Same-sex marriage takes the day as court calls Prop. 8 unconstitutional

Kristine Magnuson, SF Public Press — Feb 8 2012 - 12:20am
Sorry, you need to install flash to see this content.

Same-sex marriage proponents celebrated an important victory Tuesday in San Francisco following the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. Backers of Proposition 8 were expected to appeal, either by asking for a review by a full panelof the court or by appealing directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Advocates launch campaign to get anti-trafficking bill on state ballot

Elena Shore, New America Media — Jan 12 2012 - 12:43pm
Sorry, you need to install flash to see this content.

A campaign to get a new measure on the November ballot that would increase penalties against human traffickers in California launched Wednesday in San Francisco. The campaign, announced on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, requires 800,000 signatures to make it into the state ballot. The California Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) Act would increase prison terms and fines for human traffickers (up to $1.5 million, which would go to fund victim services), remove barriers to prosecute child sex traffickers, require convicted sex traffickers to register as sex offenders and disclose their Internet accounts, mandate training for law enforcement officers, and prohibit the use of the sexual history of trafficked victims in court.

Lee and Gascón continue as mayor and D.A.; Mirkarimi new sheriff in town

T.J. Johnston, SF Public Press — Nov 9 2011 - 7:24pm

Incumbent Ed Lee was elected as San Francisco’s mayor following Tuesday’s ballot, in the first truly competitive race for the office using ranked-choice voting, according to unofficial results announced late Wednesday. George Gascón, who like Lee was appointed to his position during the previous administration, was sent back to the office for a full term, while Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi became the first sheriff elected in 31 years, preliminary results show.

Effort to recall Oakland mayor faces uphill battle

Jennifer Inez Ward, Oakland Local — Nov 9 2011 - 12:36pm

Mayor Jean Quan is facing the toughest fight in her tenure as CEO of Oakland – a recall effort. But whether the recall movement will gain traction and usher Quan out of office is far from clear. Although the recall effort has received extensive media coverage, and there were plenty of folks marching with "Recall Quan" signs at the city's hugely popular general strike Nov. 2,  the quest to replace the mayor will be a long process that could carry on well into mid-2012.

Election day threat to ranked-choice voting in San Francisco

T.J. Johnston, SF Public Press — Nov 8 2011 - 6:43pm

On the same day that San Francisco voters were deciding who would be the next mayor, the method used to elect that person was under attack. At a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Supervisor Mark Farrell introduced a charter amendment for the June 2012 ballot that would eliminate ranked-choice voting as a way of elevating candidates to city offices."Ranked-choice voting is an experiment whose unintended consequences continue to pile up election after election,” Farrell said.

Voters' guide to S.F. mayoral candidates

Josh Wilson, Newsdesk.org — Nov 7 2011 - 2:02pm

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.

Get drivers out of their cars and onto transit: mayoral candidate Leland Yee on Muni

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Nov 4 2011 - 12:45pm
Sorry, you need to install flash to see this content.

Can S.F.’s next mayor save Muni? - Part 8

State Senator Leland Yee is running for San Francisco mayor and said his main goal for Muni is to get drivers out of cars and onto buses and trains. He wants to add 100,00 new riders by 2020. Yee said in order to do this, Muni needs to update its technology for with more real-time data and focus on how the transit agency is spending its budget. He said the agency should be focused on fixing broken Muni vehicles.

Syndicate content