The MetaGrrrl Slate 2006

Here's how I've marked up my sample ballot, barring any additional research before Tuesday morning.

Governor: Phil Angelides
Angelides seems to be more aligned with my goals for the state and I can't endorse the campaigning Schwarzenegger has done for the Republicans or its implications for commitment to true traditional American values as expressed in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Lieutenant Governor: John Garamendi
No brainer here. I like Garamendi's work.

Secretary of State: Debra Bowen
Her strong stance against election manipulation makes me more than happy to vote Democratic party lines here.
[Side note for this one: did anyone else think the Libertarian candidate Gail K. Lightfoot's statement in the voter information guide was a hoot? It is, in its entirety, "FULLY INFORM VOTERS." Lip service with no followthrough and delivered in an overbearing fashion; seems pretty accurate for many of my encounters with Libertarians.]

Controller: John Chiang
Very good endorsements from people I respect.

Treasurer: Bill Lockyer
Haven't heard anything to make me decide not to vote Democratic here. I recall voting for him in past elections with no subsequent wincing.

Attorney General: Jerry Brown
With pleasure. I'm a lifelong Californian and I respect the man.

Insurance Commissioner: Tom Condit
Bustamante's suspect relationship with special interest donors to his campaign sent me looking for an alternative. I think Condit's an optimist, but his goals are commendable.

Member, Board of Equalization, District 1: Betty T. Yee
Doing a fine job, from all I hear and I love her statement in the voter information booklet.

United States Senator: Dianne Feinstein (with some reluctance)
I am very unhappy about some of the choices she's made in the last half decade or so - such as supporting this horrible, unjustified war -  but she is a strong force and she's closer to the person I'd want in the position than the opposition.

United States Representative: Nancy Pelosi
Possibly the most powerful elected official in the country with whom I share more goals for the country than not.

Member State Assembly: Mark Leno
Yaaaay! Mark Leno! I really like what he does.

The whole judicial section always weirds me out a bit. It seems like a popularity contest. Sound jurisprudence, that's a reason to keep someone on the bench. Not knowing any reason to remove or applaud them, I will be skipping over this part of the ballot.

Member, Board of Education: Jane Kim (because her statement is impressive and my friend MJ is a long-time campaigner for Jane),  Kim-Shree Maufas (particularly for advocating small-by-design), and Hydra Mendoza (because this is one place where I think political ties will be useful to get resources allocated better & faster).

Member, Community College Board: Lawrence Wong, Bruce Wolfe, John Rizzo.
Seems like it's hard to go wrong with picking three from this list of candidates.
[Well, after 2 automated phone calls today - AFTER I had voted - for Bruce Wolfe, I'm really regretting that particular choice. Jeez, back the hell off, dude.]

State Measures
1A - No
This was a tough decision, but I think we need to have some flexibility to resolve state budgets and I firmly believe that schools trump freeways.

1B - Yes
Something does have to be done to address pollution and seismic safety issues. I wish it was less for roads & more for transit, but it will help.

1C - Yes
I support Habitat for Humanity and the Emergency Housing Consortium and they support 1C.

1D - Yes
We've got to do something to start making up for the damage Prop 13 did. I would rather restore the property taxes, particularly on corporate property, but bonds apparently is the best way to get the money approved in this "charge it" culture. At least this is once case where it isn't completely ridiculous to pass the costs on to the next generation...

1E - Yes
You'd have to be an idiot not to see that safe drinking water is absolutely critical and that it's in significant danger in the event of a major earthquake. Yes, this is something that we should be getting federal money for, but the current administration is blowing it all on a war they had to lie to get us into. This may be too little too late, but it may save some lives and some homes.

83 - No
Completely impractical. How about spending the money this would take instead on efforts to reduce the kind of dysfunctional situations that lead to sex crimes?

84 - Yes
Another important one; it's all about the water.

85 - No
I do so wish the bloody conservatives would put a tenth the interest into the well-being of the born as they do the unborn.

86 - Yes
Tax the shit out of the damn coffin nails. If the only way to get people to quit ruining their health and that of people around them is to make them outrageously expensive, then fine. The whining about the "tax on the poor" arguments carry no weight with me - cigarettes do no one any good and have a significant health care cost impact for the state. It's the addiction to smoking itself which is the real unnecessary "tax".

87 - Hell yes!
About time; it should have been done 30 years ago. This is a good investment. Yes, it will probably wind up making some folks rich off new alternative fuel sources. So be it. We don't have time not to solve this problem and if they're at least rich off something domestically available that'd be a fine start.

88 - Yes
Property tax is an appropriate way to fund schools. As usual, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is a good indication for me that I want to vote the opposite way they recommend.

89 - leaning to No
This is a tough one. Right intentions, but potentially very bad implementation.

90 - No
And this one was easy. Have you seen the lineup of organizations & individuals opposing this? Most impressive.

Local Propositions
A - Yes
A good companion to 1D

B - Yes
No brainer. Just catching up with technology.

C - Yes
This is a fair wage increase.

D - No
People I respect say this is a badly constructed proposition and could do more harm than good. Jennifer Granick's slate said:

The intent of this proposition is to stop the City from disclosing or selling personal information. Like most propositions, it is half-assedly drafted. Media law experts believe it has the potential to conflict with the Sunshine Ordinance and could be interpreted to bar the public disclosure of information that ought to be public. Protecting private information is important, but it has to properly define what is protected.

E - Yes
Cars have an enormous impact on a city and should pay disproportionately to pedestrian and transit users.

F - No
Places an unreasonable demand on small businesses

G - No
Inappropriate government interference in free trade and neighborhood decision making.

H - No
Places a completely unreasonable demand on landlords. People would be trying to get evicted with this one in place!

I - No
What a waste of paper and an example of bad government relationships!

J - Yes
I do believe that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have criminally violated their oaths of office. Does a city statement make a difference? Maybe, maybe not, but someone's got to stand up and say what they have done is wrong.

K - Yes
This statement, on the other hand, implies an action being taken when in fact it doesn't put anything binding in place. I think it shouldn't have been on the ballot, but it's not a bad statement.

Assessor-Recorder: Phil Ting
Seems to be doing fine and has good endorsements.

Public Defender: Jeff Adachi
Sounds like he's doing a very good job and should be given time to continue his projects.

Member, Board of Supervisors: Bevan Dufty
I like Bevan Dufty; I think he does a very good job. I've been increasingly put off by Alix Rosenthal's campaign and even more so by her machinations over the Halloween hullabaloo. First she was slamming Dufty for trying to end the party early and control it, then after the shooting incident she flipped to slamming him for not doing enough. I have no faith that she cares about the neighborhood. Dufty obviously does, deeply.