Sunday, May 15, 2022

June 7 election -- San Francisco and beyond


Yes, we have an upcoming primary and local election here in California on June 7. Yesterday, while having lunch with friends, they asked whether I'd made my usual slate of endorsements/commentary. I hadn't, because there's only one matter on the ballot I much give any brain cells to. But I aim to please ...

 If you live in San Francisco, the one and only measure that matters is Vote No on Prop. H. That's the effort to recall our District Attorney Chesa Boudin, after two pandemic years which have left the electorate pissy and the city looking a little squalid. The city has real problems -- a police department which seems to be on a kind of work slow down while facing increased oversight, very little life in the downtown business district which provides the economic engine of the region, and corrupt governance. Entrepreneurial tech and real estate bros want to offer up Boudin as a scapegoat for all that ails us. I've passed along the Chronicle's rejection of the recall. Here's the Examiner's:

The recall campaign’s case against San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin tends to be light on facts but heavy on anecdote, emotion and accusations that usually prove untrue. ... Easily disprovable claims typify the recall’s attacks on Boudin. They also raise an important question: If the charges against Boudin are so strong, why does the recall promote so many falsehoods?

... Contrary to popular belief, Boudin’s record so far largely resembles those of previous DAs. In addition, San Francisco has experienced far smaller crime spikes than Sacramento, which has a supposedly “tough on crime” DA. Boudin does not take credit for these relatively positive statistics, but he gets blamed for nearly every individual act of crime even though his own critics admit that’s illogical.

If we recall Boudin, we'll be compounding breakage of local government. If you don't like Boudin's work, dump him at the next regularly scheduled election in 2023 -- that's not so far in the future.

• • •

So what else are we voting on? We face Props A through G. Yikes!

Prop. A is a Muni bond measure. Muni needs all the help it can get ... let's hope the transit system can use this money well if it passes.

Prop. B gives the mayor more control over the Building Department. The Building Department has been a corrupt nest of vipers since Willie Brown's tenure (ended 2004). This would give mayors more control over the department's oversight commission. Hard to believe anything short of some jail terms will have much effect ...

Prop. C would prohibit recalls within a year of the next election for the post and would prohibit anyone a mayor appointed to fill in for a recalled official from running in the next election. Yes!

Prop. D would create an Office of Victims and Witness Rights to coordinate services. Hard to be enthusiastic about proliferating bureaucracies, but it might help.

Prop. E try to prevent a form of graft most recently exemplified by former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru. Not sure why our laws don't already cover these influence deals, but sure, let's have some more laws.

Prop. F also responds to corruption revealed in city employees' and leaders' relationship with Recology, the garbage company. Might work.

Prop. G covers a gap in protection of employees of large businesses revealed by the pandemic, requiring paid public health emergency leave. Yes.

• • •

Then we have various statewide offices to which our June votes promote candidates for the November election. The emphatic rejection of the Newsom recall rendered most of these proforma exercises. All the Democratic incumbents for statewide office face little realistic opposition, so we'll mostly vote for them now -- and vote for them again in November.

The one exception is the contest for Attorney General, California's top law enforcement officer. Among other duties, this is where police reforms ultimately land. A former state assemblyman, Rob Bonta, was appointed by Gov. Gavin to fill the office vacated when Xavier Becerra went off to join the Biden administration. Bonta seems to be doing a solid, responsible job in a difficult place. Bonta's competition is hard law-n-order Sacramento DA Anne Marie Schubert who wants this job so much she dropped her Republican identification to run as an independent. (California doesn't elect Republicans.) Schubert is a huge fan of the death penalty and has the enthusiast support of the police unions. Even in this pissy year, I don't think Californians want to go there, though I expect a hard fought contest in November.

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