No on Propositions E and F

A fundraiser was held at Buck's Tavern on Thursday evening to raise money to get the word out about the perniciousness of Propositions E and F. (Pictured above is Bob Planthold.)

There is a lot of garbage on the San Francisco ballot this November 8th, and I am not referring to the candidates running for everything from Mayor to Sheriff. Two of the more egregious propositions are E, which would allow the Board of Supervisors to tinker with any voter-passed legislation if they decided they didn't care for it, and F, which would allow the oxymoronic Ethics Commission make up their own rules about lobbyist registration.



Aaron Peskin above and the San Francisco Democratic Party have both come out against the measures, while the San Francisco Chronicle predictably endorsed both. Possibly the best explanation of why Proposition E is so dangerous came in a letter to the Editor at the San Francisco Examiner from Richard Reidy. Here it is in full:

"Supervisor Scott Wiener has placed on the November ballot Proposition E, which would enable the Board of Supervisors and mayor to modify or rescind any future voter-approved legislation — such as the rent-control ordinances and every other voter-approved ballot measure that might be approved by San Francisco voters.

If this measure passes, it will open the door to an eventual vulnerability for all existing ballot initiatives as well. It’s a real Trojan horse — once in the gates, the damage begins. Wiener’s initiative does not show trust in the voters. His excuse for Prop. E is that we, the poor misguided public, may be confused by too many complex ballot measures. Such thinking insults voters who do make the effort to understand ballot measures. It should not be up to the supes to overturn the will of San Francisco voters, or to amend voter-approved propositions."

Larry Bush above, a former aide in the Art Agnos administration, has started a website called CitiReport (click here) that features the best political writing in San Francisco, partly because Mr. Bush understands how the local kleptocracy actually works. His explanation of how John St. Croix and his Ethics Commission buries all inquiries was funny and depressing.

"They are required to put financial filing information online, but they have decided what that means is they put the information into digital form and if you want it, you have to come down to their offices and pick up a disc. It's crazy."