As of Thursday afternoon Measure B1 stands at 66.54%, just an eighth of a percent away from the 2/3rds super-majority needed to win. 

OMGWTF that is hella stupid. if you just take out the digits to the right of the decimal point and round it, it’s as close to 67% (above 66.7) as can get!

2/3 vote should be +/- 1% and B1 should have passed already!

stupid political process bs

now have to wait two years to put it up on the ballot again. spend more money and time trying to get people to vote. and it won’t even be a general election year so voter turnout will be significantly lower—hopefully get only the “yes” people to vote.

(B1 lost by 721 votes. and people don’t vote assuming it won’t matter. pshh)

from the east bay express, with brief descriptions/comments and additions by me.

Oakland

• City Council At-Large: Rebecca Kaplan. read response to WOBO.
• Council District 1: 1. Richard Raya 2. Amy Lemley 3. Dan Kalb
• Council District 3: Sean Sullivan, Alex Miller-Cole, and Lynette Gibson McElhaney
• Council District 5: Mario Juarez and Shelly Garza
• Council District 7: Sheryl Walton
• City Attorney: Barbara Parker
• School Board District 1: Jody London
• School District 3: Jumoke Hinton Hodge
• School District 5: Rosie Torres
• School District 7: James Harris
• Measure J: Yes

for some reason I only had councilmember at-large, city attorney, a council district, and EBMUD on my mail-in ballot..

Berkeley

• Mayor: Tom Bates
• Council District 2: Darryl Moore
• Council District 5: Laurie Capitelli
• Measure R: Yes
• Measure S: NO. Banning people from sitting on the sidewalk will not directly get them to look for help and is not a way to improve the local economy.
• Measure T: Yes. This will not allow high-rise development near Aquatic Park as opponents have lied about. This will only allow development of a few underutilized/empty blocks in West Berkeley.
• Measure U: No
• Measure V: No

Alameda

City Council: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Stewart Chen, and Tony Daysog

Alameda County

• Measure A1: NO. taxpayer money to fund private nonprofit Zoological Society which already receives $2.8m annually from the gov’t?? pshh. and their yard signs “yes on a1 for animal care”?? LIES. read: oakland zoo campaign spending tops $800,000.
• Measure B1: YES. half-cent increase in transportation tax to keep funding and improving ac transit, BART, repaving roads, complete streets, bike and ped projects. read: funding the future.

Richmond

• City Council: Tom Butt, Marilyn Langlois, and Eduardo Martinez
• Measure N: Yes

Assembly

• 18th District: Abel Guillen

AC Transit

• At-Large: H.E. Christian “Chris” Peeples
• Ward 1: Yelda Bartlett

BART

• District 3: Rebecca Saltzman
• District 7: Maria Alegria

State Propositions

• Prop 30: Yes. increase taxes for the wealthy to help fund k-12 education. ebx.
• Prop 32: No. “This year’s most deceptive ballot measure would enhance Big Money’s ability to corrupt California elections.” ebx.
• Prop 33: No. Auto insurance pricing initiative. ebx.
• Prop 34: Yes. Executing the death penalty. “Prop 34 would save California about $180 million a year, and would eliminate the possibility of putting innocent inmates to death.” ebx.
• Prop 35: No. increasing fines and prison time for human traffickers will not get to the root of the problem. and california already has laws to combat human trafficking. latimes.
• Prop 36: Yes. reshaping the three strikes law. only if third offense is serious (vs. non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual crime) can the convicted be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. huffpo.
• Prop 37: Yes. Require that GMO foods be labeled.
• Prop 38: No. either this or Prop 30 must pass to increase funding for education. Prop 30 is better.
• Prop 39: Yes. “The ballot measure would simply close a tax loophole that incentivizes California companies to create jobs elsewhere. The money saved would help balance California’s budget, and it would be invested in clean energy and energy efficiency projects that will create good jobs.” huffpo.
• Prop 40: Yes. to continue letting letting an independent group draw district lines. against: nobody. huffpo.

Congress

• 15th District: Pete Stark

President

• Barack Obama
• or Jill Stein (Green Party)?
• or write in Ron Paul? 

A series of commentaries on San Diego’s major issues —proposed stadium, education, neighborhoods, pension reform— written by the four front-running candidates: DeMaio, Filner, Dumanis, and Fletcher. 

We don’t have a reliable transit system that connects the neighborhoods in our city, nor do we have options for more walkable or bike-friendly communities. In all of these areas we can do better. You deserve better.

I’m committed to rebuilding the city of the future. I’m the only candidate with specific plans to improve not just our roads and fill potholes, but also to create transportation alternatives. I have partnered with the cycling community on a comprehensive plan to make San Diego the nation’s bike-friendliest city — to make cycling safer and more accessible. I envision a network of pathways that connect our neighborhoods, allowing people to move back and forth from work, home and play on their bike.

—Nathan Fletcher, 07.04.12.

Campaign posters for Leland Yee and Wilma Pang for mayor on display in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Monday, October 31, 2011. An unprecedented five Chinese candidates are contending for the city’s highest office, ten months after Ed Lee became the first Chinese-American mayor by appointment.

“To the Chinese, you succeed if you have skills, if you work hard,” Liang said, shaking his head. “But politics is different. You need to have tricks. You need to be dirty.”

thebaycitizen, 05.11.11.

Fan Xie, center, counts votes cast by members during a gathering of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (known as the Chinese Six Companies) on Saturday, October 29, 2011. The associations, who controlled much of Chinatown’s political life for over 150 years, have seen their influence diminish, as a younger generation of non-profits have taken their place, and many American-born children of Chinese immigrants moved out of Chinatown
Credit: Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

SF Mayoral Race this Tuesday, 08.nov.

_____________________________
Proud to be Chinese American.

And/but from the point of view of myself and my parents’/grandparents’ generation:

I don’t like the newer immigrants (to the Bay). Those are (for the most part) the non-Cantonese speakers, from northern China, Shanghai, Beijing, and other places.

They don’t know the history of Chinese-Americans in San Francisco/the Bay Area. They have it so easy—having benefitted from the being part of the rising middle class in China, gone to university, have jobs, etc—and can just go to Chinatown and buy stuff, eat Chinese food, etc. They make money quickly and move out to the suburbs.

While the older immigrants worked their asses off, endured discrimination, etc etc., and built up Chinatown, assimilated (to an extent), and are more involved in the community.

I wonder if these newer arrivals even know about the railroads stint, and the history of Chinatown.

probably not.  

Help Elect a Bike-Friendly Mayor & Yes on B!

This year’s field of San Francisco mayoral candidates is the most bike-friendly in the city’s history. We are thrilled to see that the vast majority of candidates recognize the growing importance of building complete, crosstown bikeways that connect our neighborhoods and make it easier and more welcoming for people ages 8 to 80 to ride a bicycle in our city. We appreciate so many candidates’ commitments to making our city more accessible, affordable, and family-friendly by improving and increasing bicycling in San Francisco.

With such a strong field of candidates, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is proud to share our mayoral endorsements, in ranked-choice order:

1. John Avalos
2. David Chiu
3. Ed Lee

It’s time to Bike the Vote! November 8 is Election Day in San Francisco and there are several important races and measures on the ballot for voters to decide — including who will be the city’s next mayor and whether to commit nearly 250 million dollars in bond money to repair our shattered streets and create great bikeways on reimagined streets (addressing pedestrian safety and other transit and infrastructure needs as well). Sign up to help us win these important victories!

more info on candidates and measure B. sf bicycle coalition.