Candidate forum on August 26

We emailed questionnaires to all candidates for Supervisor, Mayor, and College Board who gave their contact info to the Department of Elections.  We have invited all candidates who return completed questionnaires on time to speak and answer questions at our candidate forum and endorsement meeting, on Wednesday, August 26 from 6-9 pm (note new start time).  This forum is open to the public, and everybody is invited!  Our forum and endorsement meeting will take place in room 302 of Redstone Building, located at 2940 16th Street (between Mission and South Van Ness, 1 block from 16th St BART).

 

We've already made early endorsements of Francisco Herrera for Mayor and Ross Mirkarimi for Sheriff.  We will consider endorsing other candidates and ballot propositions at this meeting.

 

Ballot propositions and their text are on the Department of Elections website.  We'll have outside presenters for some of the more difficult ones, and have shorter discussions on others.

 

We received the following responses from candidates seeking our endorsement.  Please read them before the meeting so you can follow up on anything of particular interest:

 

Mayoral candidates: Amy Farah Weiss, Reed Martin, Stuart Schuffman (late; received Oct 14)

 

College Board candiates: Wendy Aragon, Alex Randolph, Tom Temprano, Jason Zeng

 

Supervisor: No candidates from District 3 are seeking our endorsement.

 

SF Green Party Events

2012 Presidential Campaign News

News from our Presidential ticket:

Hip-Hop and the Green Party: Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente Were Right.  Shamako Noble of the Green Party and Hip-Hop Congress discusses the burgeoning relationship between the hip-hop community and the Green Party as both look to move past the rhetoric and imagery of current and past presidential/electoral politics.

 

Why I'm Voting Green.  Author and Activist Chris Hedges explains why he's voting for Stein/Honkala.

 

Voting Green in a Swing State.  B. Sidney Smith explains why he's voting for Stein/Honkala, even though he lives in the swing state of Virginia.

 

Jill Stein was recently arrested for bringing food and supplies to activists blocking the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas.  Articles posted on her campaign website explain why she risked arrest.

 

Jill Stein will be in debates the Sunday and Monday before the election; see our debate post for more details.

Open Letter to the DCCC

An open letter to the San Francisco Democratic Party Central Committee, from Denise D'Anne, Green Party county council member:

 

The Democratic Party, at least in San Francisco, is noted for its compassion and egalitarian principles.  Recently, during the last debate between candidates Obama and Romney, Dr. Jill Stein, a Green Party presidential candidate, was not only denied entrance to the debate, but also arrested.  She was shackled to a metal chair for eight hours merely for expressing her constitutional right to be unhindered in her expression of attending a debate.  This kind of police tactic is a blemish on all of us who sit back and allow this abuse of anyone's constitutional right to peaceful free speech or association and should not be tolerated in a democratic society.  It behooves this body to express its outrage no matter who is denied their right guaranteed under our constitution and laws.

By not speaking out we give silent assent to an abuse that may come back to us in a similar fashion under different circumstances.  Please use this opportunity to write to the authorities in Hempstead, New York or Hofstra University where the debate was held on October 16.
 

Happy Voter Registration Day

It's easier than ever to join the Green Party!  California residents can now register online, and you no longer have to print out and mail in a paper form.  And although same-day voter registration recently passed, it is not yet in effect.  You have until October 22 to register for this November's election if you have moved to a different address.

 

Occupation Update

Peaceful "Occupy" protests around the country are being violently supressed, mostly by Democratic Party mayors like Ed Lee.  LA Green Party member Patrick Meighan writes about his recent arrest on his blog.

In response, West Coast occupiers are coordinating a port blockade this Monday, 12/12.  Join SF Greens at the Oakland protest, leaving promptly at 5 PM Monday from the West Oakland BART station.  Get further info and RSVP here.