The GrowSF Report: Know How to Vote in the February Special Election
The GrowSF Report: Know How to Vote in the February Special Election
Plus: Who biked every street in San Francisco?
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of January 2, 2022:
- Read & Share the GrowSF Voter Guide
- Watch the State Assembly Candidate Debate TODAY (Saturday the 8th) at NOON
- Chinese Voters Key Demographic for School Board Recall
- Why Won’t Chesa Boudin Make All His Crime Data Public?
Read & Share the GrowSF Voter Guide
Watch your mailbox! Your ballots for the Board of Education recall and the Assembly election will arrive in about two weeks and you’ll have until February 15th to vote.
Not sure how to vote? Read the GrowSF Voter Guide and then share it with your friends. Trust us: nobody has enough time to research everything on the ballot, so your friends will appreciate you doing the work for them. It’s the #1 way to multiply your impact and fix San Francisco.
In short:
YES on all three recalls
Bilal Mahmood for Assembly
Joaquín Torres for Assessor-Recorder
Watch the State Assembly Candidate Debate TODAY at NOON
We’re sending this newsletter on Saturday morning and there’s an important candidate debate for state assembly TODAY, Saturday the 8th, at NOON.
GrowSF strongly supports the candidate of change: Bilal Mahmood. All the other candidates served for years in local government positions and had a hand in many of the disastrous decisions that got us to this crisis point.
Chinese Voters Key Demographic for School Board Recall
Chinese voters have been the most important force for the School Board recall, mobilizing hundreds of volunteers and collecting tens of thousands of signatures.
Now, parent hero Kit Lam is registering hundreds of new voters for the election. Kit is focusing on Chinese residents who haven’t voted before, including non-citizens who can now vote in school board elections under a new law. Kit reports that his new all-volunteer group, Chinese/API Voter Outreach Taskforce, signed up more new voters in four days than an expensive city-funded effort was able to in an entire year. Sign up to volunteer (especially if you’re a Mandarin or Cantonese speaker!)
Democratic leaders from every shade of blue are coming together to support the recall of all three school board members on the February 15 ballot, including some progressive stalwarts and moderate champions:
Art Agnos, former mayor
John Burton, former chair of the state democratic party
Matt Gonzalez, former president of the board of supervisors
Mayor London Breed
State Senator Scott Wiener
Tech Community Getting Involved in Local Politics
With all the dysfunction happening around San Francisco, more folks are stepping up to learn about how the city is run and what they can do to get involved. NBC News covers the rise of folks in tech (including GrowSF co-founders Steven Buss and Sachin Agarwal), who are working to build a pro-growth city that’s more inclusive and more livable for all.
Why Won’t Chesa Boudin Make All His Crime Data Public?
San Francisco’s district attorney publishes some data but “It certainly doesn’t tell the full story,” said Catherine Stefani, a former prosecutor and current San Francisco Supervisor. Among the missing data:
Did it go to trial?
Was the defendant convicted?
What was the sentence?
Were there follow-ups after?
Boudin should follow the example of Kim Foxx, the progressive DA in Chicago. All of her data is available for anyone to see.
Read the full OpEd in the San Francisco Examiner by GrowSF’s Joel Engardio: “Safety and justice should go together. Justice reform is necessary. And for it to work, residents must feel confident public officials are doing their job to keep everyone safe. That starts with asking officials to put all crime data in the open.”
Your Action Plan
Now that you know what’s happening, help us shape what happens next:
Be a Smart Voter! Use the GrowSF Voter Guide
There’s an important special election on February 15 to recall the school board. If you live on the Eastside of San Francisco, you’ll also get to pick a new Assemblymember to represent you at the state capitol.
Mail-in ballots will arrive in just over a week! Get informed now and read the GrowSF voter guide.
Education-Focused Assembly Debate January 10
If you can’t make today’s assembly candidate debate mentioned at the top of this newsletter, then you have another chance on MONDAY January 10. This forum will be focused on public education.
Fun in SF
Check out some of our favorite fun activities happening in SF right now:
Someone Biked Every Street in San Francisco in 2021. Why? Because It’s There.
Reddit is buzzing over a post by an SF resident who biked every street in San Francisco last year.
“It was around 1,600 miles, but the killer was the 147,000 feet of climbing. It was a great way to fall back in love with a city I've lived in for more than a decade.”
The Last Week Tonight Masterpiece Gallery at the Cartoon Art Museum
Are you a fan of Last Week Tonight? Right now you can visit The Cartoon Art Museum see three pieces of art that were featured on the show including the famous “high-quality rat erotica.” More info here.
Love the GrowSF Report? Share it
Help GrowSF grow! Share our newsletter with your friends. The bigger we are, the better San Francisco will be.
Topical Tweets
Yes, there is good stuff on Twitter. Here’s some of it:
Great news: 72% of residents want JFK to stay car free! But the fight isn’t over. Our Supervisors have a habit of listening to a vocal minority instead of doing what’s best for the city. We’ll be here pushing and holding them accountable.
If you live in California, you’ll never need to request an absentee ballot.
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has lots to say about the state of SF, and it isn’t flattering. In his opinion, street conditions (including trash and filth) as well as crime are worse than they’ve ever been.
