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Instant Runoff Voting Gives Ethnic Communities Greater Say in Elections nstant runoff voting, recently introduced in cities like San Francisco and Burlington, Vt. has been criticized as being difficult to understand, especially for non-English speaking voters. But new studies show that ethnic voters not only prefer the new system, it also helps more of their votes be counted, giving them more say in who gets elected....
Posted: Wed, Mar 15, 2006 4:26pm PST
Jared Huffman Wins Prized Sierra Club Endorsement in Bid for California's 6th Assembly Dis Jared Huffman Wins Prized Sierra Club Endorsement in Bid for California's 6th Assembly District Seat...
Posted: Mon, Mar 13, 2006 3:50pm PST
Mayor Favors Parking Garages, Unsafe Sidewalks with Veto Last week, in a move quickly becoming a theme of the Newsom administration, the Mayor sought to limit media coverage of his veto of progressive legislation by sending his veto message on a Friday afternoon. The legislation would have reduced the number of parking spaces downtown, thereby decreasing congestion, improving the safety of the streets, and encouraging the use of public transit. Newsom, however, did say after the veto that if certain changes were made to the legislation, he’d sign i...
Posted: Mon, Mar 13, 2006 7:07am PST
Legal Non-Profits Win Major Victory in California's Supreme Court The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday to uphold the right of non-profit advocacy groups to practice law, handing a major victory to these non-profits and the people they represent. The case, Frye vs. Tenderloin Housing Clinic, began as an attempt by landlord attorney Andrew Zacks to stop the Clinic from representing low-income tenants. The attempt backfired, however, when more than 70 other non-profit corporations from across the state, ranging from the far-right Pacific Le...
Posted: Sat, Mar 11, 2006 10:13am PST
"Vote415" Kicks Off This Saturday San Franciscans can kick off this year’s election season at a grassroots-level voter registration drive this Saturday in the Excelsior as progressive groups look to carry the success of last year’s special election to this year’s gubernatorial election....
Posted: Thu, Mar 9, 2006 9:15am PST
Budget Surplus: Will the People Have a Say? After news of an unexpected budget surplus of $137 million hit City Hall, just about every elected representative threw out a proposal for spending it before there was time to blink. Now, as the debate over the competing proposals heats up, it’s important to remember a crucial voice in the process - the people of San Francisco. Budget and Finance Committee Chair Chris Daly has called for an initial public hearing on all proposals March 15, and will hopefully call for a following series of hea...
Posted: Tue, Mar 7, 2006 10:12pm PST
Berkeley City Council should respect will of voters and implement 'free' elections Green Party candidate for Secretary of State, Dr. Forrest Hill, will participate in a rally calling on the Berkeley City Council to respect the will of the voters and implement IRV. The rally will be held on TUESDAY (March 7) at 6:30 p.m. in front of Old City Hall (2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way)....
Posted: Mon, Mar 6, 2006 4:14pm PST
Resolution to Impeach Bush-Cheney Passes 7-3 On Tuesday, February 28, 2006, the City and County of San Francisco became the first large municipality to call for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney, by a 7-3 vote. Supervisors Sean Elsbernd, Michela Alioto-Pier, and Sophie Maxwell cast the dissenting votes (Sup. Jake McGoldrick was absent for the vote). Sup. Chris Daly commenced his introduction of Agenda Item 27 with "I initially thought this ... would be a noncontroversial piece of legislation. Perhaps it still is, maybe...
Posted: Fri, Mar 3, 2006 5:35pm PST
Peter Camejo Joins CA Governor's Race 
This isn't a great article, but no surprise coming from Sacramento. Peter is an excellent candidate....
Posted: Mon, Feb 27, 2006 2:44pm PST
Chronicle Owes Readers an Explanation I wrote on February 24 that the San Francisco Chronicle’s front-page story falsely claiming “momentum” for Governor Schwarzenegger (See “A Bad Week for the Chronicle,” http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2977#more ) was part of a long running, pro-Arnold disinformation campaign. Further support for this assessment comes in a story in the Sunday, February 26 New York Times, “Schwarzenegger is Forced Into a Political Tightrope Act,” that notes how the Governor is in fact“ politica...
Posted: Mon, Feb 27, 2006 8:05am PST
Conservative Attacks on Leno Baseless Conservatives have long attacked San Francisco’s public officials as paragons of evil, for everything from their social liberalism to their adamant opposition to war. But the recent attacks on Assemblyman Mark Leno in blogs and op-ed pages across the country goes beyond the pale, both because of the level of vitriol within them and the deep misrepresentation of what Leno hoped to accomplish with the bill that prompted the outrage. AB 50, the source of the conflict, would strengthen protection...
Posted: Sun, Feb 26, 2006 12:19am PST
Universal Health Access and Closer Ties with China Top Agenda at Ethnic Media Briefing Mayor Gavin Newsom promised that San Francisco will become the first city to provide health care access to all its uninsured residents, some 83,000 people. Speaking at a press briefing held by New America Media for the city’s ethnic media, he said he was taking small steps now by expanding hours at community clinics and enticing patients to spend a small amount of money to receive primary medical services....
Posted: Sat, Feb 25, 2006 9:28am PST
SCHWARZENEGGER ALIENATES MANY GROUPS The people of California elected Governor Schwarzenegger to provide leadership, to cut wasteful spending and to control special interest groups; however Schwarzenegger has categorized most Californians as special interest groups....
Posted: Fri, Feb 24, 2006 4:04pm PST
Peter Camejo Event Tonight in Berkeley 
Peter Camejo who is planning to formally announce his candidacy to run for Governor of California will speak about his lifetime of activism for social justice and other topics tonight in Berkeley....
Posted: Fri, Feb 24, 2006 6:56am PST
McPherson must be thrown out of office for his failed judgement on Diebold! Acting as Secretary of State of California, McPherson recertified Diebold voting machines for use in California. Diebold has become famous for scandal. McPherson has exposed the entire state to potential vote fraud. Therefore, McPherson must go!...
Posted: Thu, Feb 23, 2006 8:25pm PST
SF Rules Committee Recommends Impeachment of Bush and Cheney On Thursday, February 16, the Rules Committee heard testimony and recommended and voted to send the proposed resolution to the full board for a vote, but not without controversy. Rules Chair Ross Mirkarimi has already spoken for impeachment on more than one occasion; and Tom Ammiano has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration. It was the conservative Sean Elsbernd who voted against the resolution thereby in effect choosing to take the side of the President and Vice President....
Posted: Tue, Feb 21, 2006 9:32am PST
End the War, Meet Workers' Needs: Peace and Freedom Party, Candidates Submit Statements The Peace and Freedom Party and six of its statewide candidates last week submitted brief statements to be included in the Voter Information Guide sent to all registered voters by the Secretary of State. The statements summarize key points of the party’s program of ending the war in Iraq and transforming society to meet the needs of working people in California....
Posted: Sun, Feb 19, 2006 10:05am PST
DIEBOLD RE-CERTIFIED IN CA! Secretary of State McPherson seems to have a thing for making major announcements late on Fridays just before holidays. Following in what seems to be a pattern of his, he announced late this afternoon that he was certifying Diebold Optical Scan and AccuVote TSx (touch-screens) for use in elections in the state....
Posted: Sat, Feb 18, 2006 5:04pm PST
Mandatory Health-Care Legislation & Minimum Compensation Ordinance Coverage (audio/mpeg 2.1MB) ...
Posted: Fri, Feb 17, 2006 6:13pm PST
Mayor Mathews Interview On FRSC Sunday 10 AM HUFF, the Human Rights Organization, SAFE, and Housing Now! in Santa Cruz sent two letters to Mayor Cynthia Mathews urging fairer treatment and an end to repressive behavior at City Council. Instead of answering our phone calls and letter, Mathews agreed to meet. The meeting was taped and will be replayed 10 AM Sunday February 19 on Free Radio Santa Cruz. A shorter segment will be played on Thursday evening at 7:30 PM....
Posted: Wed, Feb 15, 2006 10:50pm PST
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