Category: Politics

There is nothing more grand than deciding on how your money is to be spent by random strangers.

10/19/08

SF: Prop T – Free and Low-Cost Substance Abuse Treatment Programs

Shall the City be required to provide enough free and low-cost substance abuse treatment services to meet demand and to maintain funding for such services?

The City has become a haven for druggies and potheads. I feel nauseated every time I get on the bus due to the amount of pot in the air. Is the program working? Will throwing more money at the program make it work better? I am at a lost.

There needs to be a way to inform kids when they are young that drugs are not cool. Maybe they should show a shocking video, much like how unsafe drivers are shown how people look like having flown off a motorcycle and slamming into a rail.

10/19/08

SF: Prop S – Policy Regarding Budget Set-Asides and Identification of Replacement Funds

Shall it be City policy that the voters will not approve any new set-aside of City revenue unless the set-aside identifies a new funding source, includes limits on annual increases, and automatically expires after 10 years?

The City definitely needs this proposition to pass. Voters routinely approve new projects in the ballot as long as it benefits someone. Improve transportation? Yes. Improve schools? Sure. Help the homeless? Absolutely. Fix the roads? You betcha. New bridge? Why not. Plant trees? Yup. New program to help cross-eyed people in the 23-25 age range with a limp? Hell yeah! Let’s throw a million their way!

All these new programs add up. The City is not made out of money. Sooner or later, the City’s budget will be tapped out. Future earmarks should show how they will be funded for voters to have a firm understanding of how their vote will affect the City’s budget in other areas.

Vote yes on Proposition S.

10/19/08

SF: Prop R – Renaming the Oceanside Water Treatment Plant

Shall the City change the name of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the George W Bush Sewage Plant?

Someone is wasting tax dollars putting this proposition on the ballot. Everyone already knows President Bush has done a poor job in the Oval Office, but do we really need to resort to elementary school attacks? His performance will already be recorded in the annals of history.

Vote No on Proposition R and restrict access for whoever submitted this proposition from ever doing this again. Total waste of time and money and since time equals money, it costs twice as much.

10/19/08

SF: Prop Q – Modifying the Payroll Expense Tax

Shall the City specify that certain partnerships and other businesses are subject to the City’s payroll expense tax and expand the payroll expense tax exemption for small businesses so that businesses with annual payroll expenses of $250,000 or less would not have to pay the tax?

This proposition seems awfully similar to what Senator Obama is proposing in his tax plans. No tax for small businesses making $250,000 or less. Tax the shareholders and partners.

It is a plan to “spread the wealth” around if you will.

I will probably abstain from voting on this issue. Why can’t we just tax both? More money for the City’s coffers.

10/19/08

SF: Prop P – Changing the Composition of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board

Shall the City change the size and composition of the Transportation Authority Board and encourage the Authority to use City agencies and departments to perform staff functions, to obtain expert financial review before adopting Authority budgets, and to adopt the same ethics and public records laws that apply to City agencies?

When I first read this proposition, I thought this was just a power grab by politicians. But after further looking into the actual meat of the legal text, I still think this is a power grab by politicians.

However, something caught my eye. The mayor was one of the major backers of the NextBus service. I use the service in my daily life. It has saved me a ton of time in the mornings and after work. No longer do I have to stand and wait 30 minutes at a time. It is a awesome service. If the new board can come up with more beneficial ideas like NextBus then I do not see a problem of giving them the chance.

Yes, I am a greedy and selfish sob.

10/19/08

SF: Prop O – Replacing the Emergency Response Fee with an Access Line Tax and Revising the Telephone Users Tax

Shall the City replace the Emergency Response Fee with an Access Line Tax at the same rates and with the same exemptions, and revise the Telephone Users Tax?

That $2.75 fee seen in the phone bill for landlines is currently used to support the 911 service. But a court ruling found fees in general to be more of a tax than a fee. So now the only way the City can keep the fee in the bill is to make it into a tax. Although the revenue from the tax will not necessarily go towards supporting the 911 service. Instead, the revenue generated will go into the general fund where it can be distributed to other services. That sounds like a bad thing.

The proposition is also looking to revise the Telephone Users Tax to tax any future forms of communication whether it be VOIP or some other undiscovered form.

Vote no on Proposition O. Keep the fee until the court says otherwise and when the time comes, the voters can decide whether or not a tax is needed to fund the 911 service.

10/19/08

SF: Prop N – Changing Real Property Transfer Tax Rates

Shall the City increase its transfer tax on sales of real estate worth more than $5 million to 1.5% and reduce the tax by up to 1/3 on sales of residences where the seller installed solar energy systems or made seismic safety improvements?

I am going to vote yes for Proposition N. The proposition encourages residents to look towards tapping into solar energy to save on their electricity bills and create a safe environment against earthquakes. The City can also make some money off the increase in transfer tax to cover its budget deficit.

10/19/08

SF: Prop M – Changing the Residential Rent Ordinance to Prohibit Specific Acts of Harassment of Tenants by Landlords

Shall the City’s Residential Rent Ordinance be amended to prohibit specific acts of tenant harassment by landlords and to provide for enforcement by means of court orders, rent reduction, monetary awards or criminal penalties?

Proposition M prohibits landlords from doing certain acts which would be criminal outside the apartment building. The victims in this case are usually those living under rent control whose landlords wish to give them the boot to bump up the rent.
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10/19/08

SF: Prop L – Funding the Community Justice Center

Shall the City guarantee that the City provide first-year funding for the Community Justice Center, authorize the Director of Property to lease space for the CJC, and define the CJC’s scope and operations?

So, the Community Justice Center is already in place and has already leased space as well as hired the crew to staff the center. But, the Board of Supervisors decided to put a hold on their first year funding for unknown reasons. This proposition is on the ballot to guarantee that the Center receives the funding they were allotted when it was first created.
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10/19/08

SF: Prop K – Changing the Enforcement of Laws Related to Prostitution and Sex Workers

Shall the City: stop enforcing laws against prostitution; stop funding or supporting the First Offender Prostitution Program or any similar anti-prostitution program; enforce existing criminal laws that prohibit crimes such as battery, extortion and rape, regardless of the victim’s status as a sex worker; and fully disclose the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against sex workers?

Proposition K wants the City to not prosecute for prostitution and to not provide information of alternative opportunities to first-time offenders.

Yeah.

That is a no.

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