March primary election (part 2): San Francisco ballot

There are only two measures I can bring myself to care about:

San Francisco Measure E is Mayor London Breed's effort to take advantage of the sour mood of city voters to unleash the police department from numerous constraints and reforms won in the last few years. Want the city cops hiding evidence of when they have used force? Want the cops freed to use any hot new surveillance techniques without supervision? Want our highly political mayor to take oversight of the SFPD from the police commission? That's what's going on in this one. Vote NO. 

San Francisco Measure F is also a foul item and also plays to the city's discontents. It claims to force welfare recipients into mandated drug treatment. But, as is usual in these things, it provides for cutting off benefits without providing genuine services. It's stupid; it's mean; and it won't work. But voters sick of seeing homeless people will probably vote for it; every once in awhile, this city has to kick homeless people. Vote NO.

Then there's the chance for San Francisco Democrats to elect members of the Democratic Party County Committee. WTF?? I usually think of this as the "student council" part of the ballot, the place for locally prominent Democrats to scuffle for attention. But the County Committee does get to pin the Democratic label on candidates and its recommendations might make a difference in the high turnout/low information election that will be the presidential in November.

And so the big money boys -- real estate and tech bros -- are going all out try to put in their guys and gals now. They've got outfits with names like NeighborsSF, TogetherSF and GrowSF and a full slate of "moderates" (that means representing the rich, not the neighborhood people) that they want to implant.

According to an exposé in the Guardian (based on work by Mission Local) they want

a tougher approach to homelessness and drug problems, a more punitive approach to crime, and a climate more friendly to business and housing construction. Some have called for centralizing more power in the office of the mayor.

Yeah -- no kidding they want more corruption and incompetence from a useless mayor they own ... she'll be running again in November. She works fine for these guys, just not for the rest of us.

There's a progressive slate running for County Central Committee. If you live on the east side in Assembly District 17, here are the recommendations of the Bernal Dems.

If you live on the west side of town in Assembly District 19, check out the recommendations from the Harvey Milk Club and Working Families.

I am not edified, but we have to do these things if we want a democratic (small "d") majority to continue to influence this city. Just say NO to our local plutocrats.