Jenkins thinks voters should back her because she has the most experience as a prosecutor, and is “the one person who is committed to balancing the interests of the need to reform and (the need to) improve inequities within the system,” vowing to be a champion for victims of crime. “I think the majority of the city has reached a point of feeling fed up with the state of things, and the status quo is not working anymore,” she says. In her first seven weeks in office she says she’s made “significant strides in helping to restore things.”

Alioto Veronese says his 22 years as a civil rights attorney, time on the police commission, three-year stint as a San Francisco police officer, and career as an investigator in former San Francisco District Attorney Terrance Hallinan’s office, all prepared him to serve as district attorney . “At the time, I wasn’t as progressive as Hallinan, when, if you remember, he was the ultimate progressive DA,” Alioto Veronese says. Hallinan started some of the first diversion programs for offenders. Alioto Veronese initially opposed the diversion programs but now believes in that work, saying “I’ve come such a long way.”

Hamasaki Believes his 14 years as an attorney and “broad experience within the law” gives him a strong foundation to be the next district attorney. He also touted his time on the San Francisco Police Commission as valuable experience in terms of interacting with San Francisco’s criminal justice system. Responding to Jenkins’ critique that he lacks prosecutorial experience, he says that would be important “if they were hiring a line prosecutor ,” but that the district attorney’s office is “a job opening for a leader.” Hamasaki says he has that experience from the American Bar Association and experience in criminal litigation.

The post 2022 San Francisco County Election Outcomes appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco today announced the results of its 2022 director elections.

FHLBank San Francisco’s members elected Gary L. Trujillo to a nonmember independent director position. Mr. Trujillo is the founder and serves as president and CEO of Southwest Harvard Group, LLC, at an investment firm and family office in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also executive chairman of the Standard Printing Company, Inc.

Mr. Trujillo has been a serial entrepreneur for over 30 years with significant experience as a CEO, financier, founder, operator, and independent corporate board member, including serving on three publicly traded company boards and multiple privately owned company boards in the technology, healthcare , auto, real estate, and financial services industries. Mr. Trujillo is also recognized nationally as a dedicated community leader, having co-founded the Be A Leader Foundation in 2002, an education-focused nonprofit serving more than 14,000 students per year.

The Bank’s California members elected Chang M. Liu as a California member director. Mr. Liu is president and CEO of Cathay Bank and its holding company Cathay General Bancorp, where he serves on both entities’ board of directors. Mr. Liu has over 31 years of experience in the financial services industry. Mr. Liu joined Cathay Bank in 2014 as senior vice president and assistant chief lending officer. He has held various leadership positions of increasing responsibilities, including executive vice president and chief lending officer in 2016 and chief operating officer in 2018.

Before being named president, Mr. Liu was responsible for managing and overseeing all commercial and real estate lending, business development, and various operations. Mr. Liu also serves as a member of the Western Bankers Association board of directors and the American Cancer Society’s CEOs Against Cancer group, on the board of advisors for the UCLA Anderson Forecast, and serves on the board of directors of Foothill Family Service.

The Bank’s Arizona members re-elected Brian M. Riley as an Arizona member director. Mr. Riley is a director for the Oxford Life Insurance Company in Phoenix, Arizona.

Each of these three positions has a four-year term beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2026.

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a member-driven cooperative helping local lenders in Arizona, California, and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity, and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutions-commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions-foster homeownership, expand access to quality housing, seed or sustain small businesses, and revitalize whole neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant, equitable, and resilient.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8e480285-232a-4910-b4a7-15ee401363ce

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b74b0418-d09e-4709-b4a4-b013aa936112

Contact: Mary Long, (415) 572-6717 longm@fhlbsf.com

Copyright 2022 GlobeNewswire, Inc.

The post Federal House Mortgage Financial institution of San Francisco Broadcasts 2022 Director Election Outcomes | Information appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Voters Face Big Choices in November

San Francisco voters have a lot on their plate in November. Two contested supervisor races, three School Board seats and competing slates for Community College Board are joined by many high profile ballot measures. And if that’s not enough, November could also have a DA’s race between Brooke Jenkins and Chesa Boudin.

Here’s our early forecast.

D4 and D6 Supervisors

D4

Earlier this year I noted that despite belief in Gordon Mar’s D4 vulnerability that no strong challengers had emerged. Two now have, Leanna Louie and Joel Engardio.

If this remains the field of major candidates Mar faces a very tough race. Every debate will have two candidates challenging him while avoiding criticizing each other.

Louie is a relative newcomer to San Francisco politics but is said to be a tireless campaigner. Engardio ran a strong race in D7 in 2020 only to have his home redistricted to D4. He is a very strategic activist. He will do his best to ensure that his supporters and Louie’s make each other their second choice vote. A well coordinated ranked choice vote could overtake Mar’s likely lead in first place votes.

A Louie or Engardio victory would replace a solid progressive with the Board’s most moderate member.

D6

I earlier saw the Matt Dorsey-Honey Mahogany race as a tossup. Nothing has changed. The politics of the substantially changed D6 electorate remain unclear. There’s new district lines and so many incoming residents since 2018 that it’s a heavily changed electorate.

Mahogany backs policies similar to those promoted by Matt Haney. Dorsey has been aligned with Mayor Breed’s positions. Which do D6 voters prefer? We’ll know more as the campaigns unfold.

Local Ballot Measures

Returning Cars to JFK Drive

It’s been years since San Francisco has had so many high-profile ballot measures. Pre-vaccination COVID prevented signature gathering for initiatives but those days are gone.

Some measures are already easy to predict. This list starts with the measure to reopen JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park to cars—it will lose big.

It will lose big because Walk SF, the SF Bike Coalition, and thousands of activists have fought too long and too hard to allow a ballot measure to open JFK Drive to cars. No local campaign will have more volunteers than the “No” campaign against reopening JFK to cars.

Ending off-year elections

Another easy prediction is passage of the charter amendment to shift all local elections to even-numbered years. While opponents claim it connects labor contracts to mayoral elections and eliminates an election cycle for bonds, voters in many cities have backed this move. I urge this shift in Generation Priced Out because odd year elections inflate the voting clout of older white anti-housing homeowners while reducing the tenant vote.

This charter amendment must still be approved by six supervisors but it seems Mayor Breed is the only public opponent. If successful, the shift adds a year to her term.

Homeless Commission

I can also predict passage of the charter amendment creating a commission to oversee the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH). Sponsored by Supervisor Ahsha Safai, the measure is long overdue.

HSH was created without a commission despite its programs being previously under the Human Services Commission or the Health Commission. The lack of a commission has restricted public input into city homeless policies. It has also empowered unaccountable city staffers over those with far more knowledge and experience in the field.

Thanks to Safai’s leadership, voters will install a commission over homeless programs.

Vacancy Tax

Initiated by Dean Preston and the city’s DSA chapter, the vacancy tax should easily win. While some criticize its exclusion of vacant single family homes, potential supporters will not vote against it because of this omission.

While the vacancy tax marginally increases affordable housing funding, it’s been overhyped as a meaningful strategy for addressing San Francisco’s affordability crisis. It’s politically easier to pass a homeowner-protected vacancy tax than to try legalizing new apartment buildings in their neighborhoods.

Housing Wars

A coalition of pro-housing groups got tired of waiting for the city to expedite its housing approval process and qualified the Affordable Homes Now (AHN) measure for the November ballot. Mayor Breed and state housing champion Scott Wiener have endorsed it. The measure reduces San Francisco’s slowest in the state approval times from four years to six to twelve months. This is critical for improving the city’s affordability.

Projects using the AHN must add 15% more affordable units than otherwise required. But Supervisor Connie Chan and four additional supervisors are not satisfied with this increase; they are backing a rival charter amendment requiring 8% more affordable units than the AHN. AHN backers argue the rival plan—which still needs one more supervisor to qualify for the ballot—makes projects financially infeasible.

Will either win?

If sound housing policy were the test the AHN wins in a landslide. But in the real world of an overflowing November 2022 ballot its passage depends on how much money and endorsements the AHN draws in support and opposition. If the San Francisco Democratic Party opposes it—which is quite possible—passage will require an extremely well funded and effectively messaged campaign.

Chan’s proposal faces an uphill fight even with the local Democratic Party endorsement. Backers of AHN will oppose it and will be joined by NIMBY’s opposed to both measures.

Generation Priced Out argued that San Francisco’s glacial housing approval process promotes unaffordability. I hope the AHN wins. But nobody ever got rich betting on San Francisco voters backing new housing. The AHN measure is currently a tossup.

School board (3 seats)

The three School Board members Mayor Breed appointed to the Board following the recall are all running for full terms. The SF Guardians group that led the recall campaign strongly back all three. I see all three winning.

Community College Board (4 seats)

A rare San Francisco occurrence could happen in November: incumbent Community College Board members could be defeated. For decades those with name recognition and the SF Democratic Party endorsement coasted to re-election despite some paying little attention to their job. But the politics of CCSF have changed since the Board’s funding failures caused teachers and staff layoffs.

Susan Solomon, former president of the United Educators of San Francisco, Anabel Ibáñez, also formerly a UESF official, and Anita Martinez, once head of the college faculty union, are challenging CCSF incumbents. Also on the ballot is a parcel tax to bring CCSF to an estimated $45 million annually. The grassroots campaign for the parcel tax will boost the three candidates challenging incumbents’ mishandling of finances.

Incumbents John Rizzo, Thea Selby, and Brigitte Davila are also running as a slate. They are in deep political trouble.

Upzoning and Rent Control

I wrote about this proposed charter amendment on July 5 (“Upzoning and Rent Control: The Perfect Match”). The necessary six votes are still being secured.

Supervisors should not delay giving voters a chance to approve this charter amendment. Delaying adding tenant protections to upzoning plans will cause neighborhood by neighborhood fights over the issue and/or deny thousands of future residents basic tenant protections. Better to allow voters in November to decide the question.

A Jenkins-Boudin Race?

I think Chesa Boudin will run against newly appointed District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. This November is his best if not only chance to return as District Attorney. Assuming the charter amendment moving city races from 2023 to 2024 wins (see above), Boudin’s next chance to run would be November 2024. By that time Jenkins and her team will have earned enough public support to make a Boudin challenge unwinnable.

Adding to the likelihood of his running is that Boudin has a campaign team in place from opposing the recall. He’s got a team of people who have been fired by Jenkins; they don’t want to wait until 2024 for a chance to return to their jobs.

Further, San Francisco’s print media has continued its blatantly biased reportage on Jenkins. The publications that strongly opposed the recall want Boudin restored. They will help build a sense of “momentum” for him to run.

I’ve been incredibly impressed with Jenkins’ first week on the job. She has appointed a woman of color leadership team that contrasts with the former DA, a white male from Yale. I see public officials expressing alarm about the termination of many attorneys (which also occurred when Boudin took office). But many of these officials have never expressed concern about the Tenderloin families impacted by drug dealers. Dealers Boudin refused to prosecute.

I see Jenkins as very well positioned to win in November. But that could depend on the San Francisco Police Department more effectively doing its job. A DA who promises to close open drug markets won’t have success if the SFPD isn’t providing a visible presence to deter dealers.

When I toured the tenderloin with Jenkins last week no police officers were in sight. Few were visible even after the massive media coverage of the DA’s decision to spend her second day in office meeting with Tenderloin families (I did see photos of a closed drug market at 7th and Mission, so some progress outside the Tenderloin has already been made) .

As I wrote last week (“DA Brooke Jenkins Offers Hope to the Tenderloin”), reporters are readying stories on Jenkins’ failure to stop open drug dealing. The SFPD said the DA was the reason they weren’t moving to stop open drug markets in the tenderloin; now the police have to deliver.

Meanwhile, these San Francisco races will occur in a larger national political landscape. Many San Francisco activists will forego local contests to volunteer instead in the Central Valley and other parts of the state. Their goal will be helping Democrats keep control of the House. Swing California seats could play a critical role in deciding this.

So activists need to prepare for an all out fall blitz. We have a wild next few months ahead.

Randy Shaw

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s latest book is Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. He is the author of four prior books on activism, including The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. He is also the author of The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco

more posts

Filed under: San Francisco News

The post San Francisco Early Election Forecast appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Click here for a complete list of our election recommendations.

San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago hold their mayoral elections during non-presidential election years. So do Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

The idea is to give voters a better opportunity to focus on local issues, rather than having a mayoral race compete for attention with the political bombardment that takes place during presidential election years. Or had you forgot that Joe Biden and Donald Trump spent a total of $6.6 billion in 2020 trying to win voter support?

It would take a huge outlay of money to get your voice heard in San Jose through advertisements and news coverage in 2024 amid what is projected to be one of most heated presidential races in US history. Yet, a coalition of labor and other special interest groups are pushing Measure B on the June 7 ballot, which would move San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential election years.

The winner of the 2022 mayor race would serve for two years, rather than the usual four, and then the city would hold mayoral elections again in 2024. Measure B would also allow the winner of the 2022 election to potentially serve 10 years rather than the usual limit of eight.

Voters should reject Measure B.

Shifting San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential years and forcing candidates to raise more money to have their voices heard would give an edge to mayoral candidates backed by big-money interests and force candidates with limited financial resources out of the race.

Supporters of Measure B, including the South Bay Labor Council, Asian Law Alliance and Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium, say that moving the election would increase voter turnout. But supporters of higher voter turnout — and that should include everyone — should put their efforts behind getting higher voter turnout in all elections — and ensuring voters are also well-informed.

Vote no on Measure B.

The post San Jose voters ought to reject transferring mayoral election appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Click here for a complete list of our election recommendations.

San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago hold their mayoral elections during non-presidential election years. So do Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

The idea is to give voters a better opportunity to focus on local issues, rather than having a mayoral race compete for attention with the political bombardment that takes place during presidential election years. Or had you forgot that Joe Biden and Donald Trump spent a total of $6.6 billion in 2020 trying to win voter support?

It would take a huge outlay of money to get your voice heard in San Jose through advertisements and news coverage in 2024 amid what is projected to be one of most heated presidential races in US history. Yet, a coalition of labor and other special interest groups are pushing Measure B on the June 7 ballot, which would move San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential election years.

The winner of the 2022 mayor race would serve for two years, rather than the usual four, and then the city would hold mayoral elections again in 2024. Measure B would also allow the winner of the 2022 election to potentially serve 10 years rather than the usual limit of eight.

Voters should reject Measure B.

Shifting San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential years and forcing candidates to raise more money to have their voices heard would give an edge to mayoral candidates backed by big-money interests and force candidates with limited financial resources out of the race.

Supporters of Measure B, including the South Bay Labor Council, Asian Law Alliance and Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium, say that moving the election would increase voter turnout. But supporters of higher voter turnout — and that should include everyone — should put their efforts behind getting higher voter turnout in all elections — and ensuring voters are also well-informed.

Vote no on Measure B.

The post San Jose voters ought to reject transferring mayoral election appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney declared victory Tuesday in a special election for the state Assembly but he will have to run again in June and November to keep the seat.

Haney received nearly 64% of the vote and former Supervisor David Campos had about 36%, according to mail-in ballot returns for the 17th Assembly District special election.

Campos conceded Tuesday evening, telling supporters that “big money has figured out how to win elections …and that’s what happened here.”

Haney significantly outraised Campos, who had pledged to avoid corporate contributions.

Both candidates are on the progressive end of the Democratic Party but Mayor London Breed endorsed Haney and will get to pick his replacement on the Board of Supervisors.

Assembly District 17 covers the eastern half of San Francisco and includes tourist-heavy neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, downtown and the Mission. It also includes the tenderloin, which is a hot spot for homelessness and illicit drug use.

People are also reading…

The special election was held because neither Matt Haney nor David Campos received more than 50% of the vote in February’s special election.

Haney will have to run again in the statewide June primary and November general elections to keep the seat for another two-year term, meaning residents of the district could vote on the race up to four separate times this year.

The seat became vacant last year after David Chiu resigned to become San Francisco’s city attorney, a job that became available when Breed appointed then-city attorney Dennis Herrera to head the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission after Harlan Kelly resigned in 2020.

Kelly left after federal prosecutors charged him with fraud for allegedly accepting bribes from a permit expediter in exchange for insider information. Kelly is fighting the charge and is just one of several city officials and contractors ensnared in a public corruption scandal involving former public works director Mohammed Nuru.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

The post San Francisco Supervisor Haney wins Meeting election | Govt-and-politics appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco parents and other residents frustrated by the city’s scandal-plagued Board of Education will get a chance to recall three of its members.

City officials announced Monday that a special municipal election will be held on Feb. 15 after an effort to recall the board members gained enough signatures to put it on the ballot. The board has seven members.

Voters will decide the fate of Board President Gabriela Lopez, Vice President Faauuga Moliga, and Commissioner Alison Collins.

Pandemic Handling Fuels Recall Effort

The recall effort stemmed from anger and frustration at how the school board handled the pandemic. Most of San Francisco’s 115 public schools were kept closed for much of the last year, even as nearby districts eventually reopened classrooms and private schools across the city held in-person classes.

The San Francisco school board drew national attention for a variety of self-inflicted controversies, including an effort to rename 44 schools that was part of a racial reckoning that critics said went too far.

The renaming effort was criticized for historical inaccuracies and shoddy research as well as being a waste of time, when the city’s 57,000 K-12 students were struggling with distance learning and the focus should have been on getting classrooms open. The plan was ultimately scrapped.

End of Merit-Based Admissions Criticized

The board also faced criticism for a decision to end merit-based admissions to San Francisco’s top public high school, Lowell, and use the same lottery-based system that admits students to other high schools.

After the renaming debacle, the board faced multiple lawsuits, including one from the city of San Francisco which took the dramatic step of suing the school district and the board to pressure both to reopen classrooms more quickly.

Collins came under fire in March for tweets she wrote in 2016 that were widely criticized as racist. In the tweets, Collins, who is Black, said Asian Americans used “white supremacist” thinking to get ahead and were racist toward Black students.

Collins said the tweets were taken out of context and posted before she held her school board position. She refused to take them down or apologize for the wording and ignored calls from parents and public officials, including Mayor London Breed, for her resignation.

Mayor Would Appoint Interim Replacements

If any of the three board members are recalled, Breed would appoint their interim replacements.

Critics say the recall effort is a waste of time and money, as the district faces a number of challenges including a $116 million shortfall next year and the need to replace retiring Superintendent Vince Matthews.

The post San Francisco Units Recall Election for Scandal-Plagued Faculty Board – GV Wire appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Two San Francisco school board members facing a recall squared off Wednesday night, with Alison Collins and Faauuga Moliga publicly clashing over their plan to spend money on a new parent advisory committee as the district tries to pare back expenses.

It was a heated disagreement less than two weeks before an election day that could see both removed from office.

The conflict unfolded during a budget committee meeting looking at the impact of a resolution by Collins to create a Queer Transgender Parent Advisory Council and add a central office staff position to support the group.

Moliga, who chaired the meeting, questioned the financial impact of the measure, which would cost an estimated $260,000 in start-up costs as well as $220,000 annually for a district staff person.

The district faces a $125 million shortfall next year, which has resulted in the appointment of a state expert to help guide financial decisions, including a recent recommendation to freeze all but critical spending and hiring. The conflict reflects what’s at stake personally for these board members and how passionate commissioners have become on the issues facing the district from the budget crisis to equity to the role of families in public education.

With two of the three committee members present, Moliga declined to support moving the measure forward until further review, which meant it was not guaranteed to up for vote at the next school board meeting Tuesday — the last one before the Feb. 15 recall vote.

He wanted the board to consider several upcoming resolutions, including this one, in a committee of the whole meeting to prioritize spending and identify funding sources.

“We’re in a budget deficit,” he said Thursday. “I was trying to be really responsible in moving forward and making decisions. Our sole responsibility (on the budget committee) is to vet items, to figure out the fiscal impact.”

Collins took to Twitter during the meeting, writing “Commissioner Molinga said he could not support moving the resolution forward without ‘further fiscal analysis’. Make no mistake, this is a tactic.” She also retweeted a message that called him “spineless.”

Collins did not respond to a request for comment on the interaction.

Moliga said he did not see the tweets and preferred not to read them, adding he fully supports the queer and trans community and would not be pulled into a fight. His only goal, he said, was to “show leadership for the people.”

“We have to figure out how we pay for all these things so that it makes sense,” he said. “If (Collins) wants to have a conversation, she can give me a call.”

Collins had not identified funding sources for the measure.

Board President Gabriela López, who also faces a recall and has been aligned with Collins on many issues, tweeted Thursday that she would place the measure on Tuesday’s agenda despite a lack of support from the budget committee.

Collins also publicly criticized Moliga last year. She accused him of not respecting women when he was nominated for the vice presidency in 2021 after the board removed Collins from the position in the wake of the rediscovery of her offensive tweets comparing Asian Americans to “house n****r[s].”

Collins was also stripped of committee assignments, including her seat on the budget committee.

Collins’ resolution, which seeks “Equitable Representation and Services for Two-Spirit Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex Asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) Parents and Families,” is among several measures adopted or considered by the board in the past two years to support specific demographic groups, including African Americans, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and English learners.

The school board currently hears from 14 advisory councils and committees, and four of them have central office staff liaison.

Collins’ queer and transgender resolution would require leadership of the associated parent advisory council to be parents or caregivers who identify as “2SLGBTQIA+,” even if their children who are students in the district don’t.

Heterosexual parents or caregivers and those who are not transgender would not be able to hold leadership positions despite the gender or sexuality of their children.

District staff recommended adopting the queer transgender resolution only if the board identified funding or budget cuts to pay for it given the district’s financial crisis. The board recently adopted a budget balancing plan to cover the deficit, which included $50 million in cuts to schools.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Jilltucker

The post As election nears, two San Francisco faculty board members going through recall conflict appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

By the end of 2022, San Jose voters could postpone the city’s future mayoral elections to presidential years and potentially give non-citizens living in the city the right to vote in upcoming elections.

By a 10-to-1 vote Tuesday night, the San Jose City Council voted to move forward with a measure in the June 7, 2022 vote asking voters to move the city’s mayoral elections from mid-election years to presidential election years beginning in 2024. The move, which has been in the works for years, will help increase voter turnout and improve representation in the city’s mayoral elections, according to supporters.

“It was a long time coming,” said City Councilor Maya Esparza. “Our current system was designed to suppress votes – it was designed to suppress certain types of votes and allow other votes.”

City leaders also agreed to explore possible additional voting measures for November’s election, including a controversial proposal that the city extend voting rights for local races to non-citizens, such as B. Undocumented immigrants and legal non-citizens who are green card holders or have the right to study or work in the United States

Councilwoman Dev Davis voted against both postponing the mayoral election and considering extending voting rights to non-citizens, saying she didn’t think it was “fair or right.”

If the June 2022 voting measure is approved, the next San Jose mayor elected this year would serve an initial two-year term and then have the option to serve two additional four-year terms in 2024 and 2028 to run for a potential of up to 10 years in office.

Tuesday night’s City Council decisions follow months of work and protracted public meetings by the city’s Charter Review Commission, which was made up of a group of 23 residents appointed by City Council to make recommendations on potential changes to the city’s charter. The commission was formed after Mayor Sam Liccardo endorsed — and then abruptly gave up — a “strong mayor” measure that could potentially have given him significantly more power and an extra two years in office.

The commission’s final report, released Tuesday night, made 17 recommendations, ranging from increasing the number of city council seats from 10 to 14 wards to removing citizenship requirements for board and commission members and public safety reforms such as creating a police rich commission and gave the city’s independent police examiner subpoena powers and full access to unedited records.

The commission did not recommend that the city adopt a “strong mayor” style of government. They did not discuss the proposal to extend voting rights to non-citizens living in San Jose.

The council will hold two study sessions in the coming months to narrow down what recommendations any future election action will make. One meeting will focus on the Charter Review Commission’s recommendations, and another will focus on extending voting rights to non-citizens – a proposal put forward by councilors Magdalena Carrasco and Sylvia Arenas after the commission’s work was completed.

In the United States, more than a dozen municipalities currently allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections. New York City earlier this month became the nation’s largest municipality allowing legal noncitizen residents to vote in all local elections, provided they are green card holders or have the right to work in the United States. San Francisco voters approved a measure in 2016 that would give parents without citizenship the right to vote in school board elections.

Councilors Carrasco and Arenas, who are campaigning for San Jose to join these other cities, say it would give a voice to those who have long been excluded from participating in the democratic process but play an important role in the community, including business owners, essential workers and consumers.

“Some of these people have been here longer than our own council members,” Carrasco said. “… It is a fantastic thing to give our citizens the opportunity to have a say in their democratic process.”

Santa Clara County is home to nearly 366,600 non-citizens, most of whom are lawful residents but not citizens such as

Dozens of residents who called in support of expanding the city’s voting rights Tuesday night said it would create a “more democratic,” “more inclusive,” and “racially just” city, arguing it was unfair for immigrants to have to pay taxes but local politics could not falter.

“Immigrants here have helped build our city’s infrastructure and prosperity, but we’ve left so many of them without the right to vote in local decisions that directly affect their lives,” said resident Nicholas Hurley.

However, other residents strongly opposed the last-minute proposal, calling it “ridiculous” and arguing that immigrants should be required to go through the relevant citizenship process before acquiring the right to vote.

“I think it’s an attempt to let foreigners take over our city,” said a resident named Brenda. “This is America — if you become a citizen, you get the right to vote.”

During their discussion, several council members expressed that the article “brought out the worst in people” and noted that their inboxes were flooded with “appalling” and racist emails about immigrants.

The post San Jose to resolve transferring mayoral election, undocumented vote appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Officials from the San Francisco Electoral Department said Tuesday the ministry had certified a petition calling for San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin to be recalled.

The special election to recall Boudin will take place on June 7, 2022 during the nationwide primaries.

About two weeks ago, the Safer SF Without Boudin group announced that they had collected 83,487 signatures from San Francisco voters wanting to recall Boudin – far more than the 30,000 needed for the June vote.

The group claims Boudin failed to prioritize public safety by being too lenient to repeat offenders.

Two former prosecutors for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, former assistant prosecutor Brooke Jenkins and former prosecutor Don du Bain, have joined the recall.

Safer SF Without Boudin has said the recall effort will be democratic.

However, the Stand with Chesa group, which opposed the recall, has claimed that the recall efforts are being led by Republicans.

Make no mistake: this Republican run-down attempt is fueled by scare tactics and dangerous misinformation. They are driving this recall at a time when we should focus on public health and economic recovery from the devastating effects of the pandemic on our city, “Stand with Chesa said in a statement on the group’s website.

Boudin, a former assistant public defender for the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, took office in 2020 after beating former interim attorney Suzy Loftus in a close race. After his victory, Boudin said his office would focus on bold new initiatives like ending cash bail, reducing pre-trial detention, ending the three-strike rule and establishing a program to restore justice.

Since taking office, however, Boudin has faced severe criticism, including from the San Francisco Police Officers Association.

In January, when 45-year-old Troy McAllister was paroled for armed robbery, he fatally beat two women – Elizabeth Platt, 60, and Hanako Abe, 27 – while they were crossing the street while McAllister was driving a stolen car.

After revealing that McAllister had been paroled and arrested several times since then without charge, Boudin admitted the two women’s deaths were preventable and said his office would make “systematic changes” in how it worked with its partner agencies. including police and probation officers.

San Francisco Criminal Justice Election

The post San Francisco certifies Chesa Boudin’s recall election for June 2022 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.