Hold Your Nose and Vote by Tuesday, November 3, 2020

[mithriltabby]

It didn’t have to be this bad.

At the time of this writing, the current death toll of COVID-19 in the USA is 209,560. By the end of the year, it will likely double.

For comparison of scale, 2,977 people died in the 9/11 attacks.

Our nation is being hit harder than one 9/11 attack per week because the President shut down our proactive measures against pandemics, botched the response, and made mask-wearing a partisan issue, and his party has done nothing to mitigate this. If we had moved faster, made mask-wearing the norm, and rolled out test and trace nationwide, we could all be sending kids to school safely and dining indoors in restaurants by now. Compare deaths per 100,000 population; if we were doing as well as Germany (another large country with large land borders), over 160,000 more people would still be alive.

It is time for the Republican Party to go the way of the Whig Party that they replaced. This willful, colossal failure should be sufficient cause, though I could fill this post with more, starting with their efforts to undermine democracy. I have voted for Republican candidates in past years; I will now consider membership in the party to be disqualifying for any office, and will not link to their campaign pages.

Here are links to the resources I used to figure out how to fill out my ballot. I give my conclusions, and I invite you to come to your own, and I hope this effort saves you a headache.

Offices

President and Vice President

This is not a good year for a protest vote. We need the biggest blue wave possible this year to make sure the election doesn’t get stolen through voter suppression and other shenanigans, and then we need to turn around and harangue the Democrats to clean up the mess and institute measures to armor our democracy against the next grifter. I’m not happy about the limited choices, but Duverger’s Law holds that we’re stuck with two parties until we change the voting system; FairVote are working on a fix and are worthy of support.

• Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy “Spike” Cohen. Libertarian. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris. Democrat. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Los Angeles Times, 200 retired generals and admirals, some of whom served under Trump, John Scalzi, and for the first time in their 175-year publishing history, Scientific American have endorsed a presidential candidate. Biden might have more endorsements, but he asked some governors not to endorse him so they didn’t risk losing federal funding, because that is just how unworthy and vindictive the current President is. Independent estimates say that his health care plan would cover an additional 15–20M people, and premiums would fall sharply.
• Donald J. Trump and Michael R. Pence. Republican. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. A few reminders: Trump did nothing about Russian bounties on US troops. Pence ran the COVID-19 task force and slowed down its response. Trump’s $400M debt may be a national security risk. Trump is scamming taxpayer dollars into his private pockets. After a positive COVID-19 test, Trump tried to keep it secret, exposing more people to his infection. And his administration will argue before the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act on November 10, after 7.44M people have added COVID-19 as a pre-existing condition.
• Gloria La Riva and Sunil Freeman. Peace and Freedom. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Roque “Rocky” de la Fuenta Guerra and Kanye Omari West. American Independent. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Howie Hawkins and Angela Nicole Walker. Green. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

United States Representative, District 17

• Ro Khanna. Democrat. Incumbent. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale. Khanna has been a reliable progressive.
• Ritesh Tandon. Republican. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

State Senator, District 13

• Alexander Glew. Republican. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Josh Becker. Democrat. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.

Member of the State Assembly, District 24

• Peter Ohtaki. Republican. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Marc Berman. Democrat. Incumbent. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.

Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 24

• Stuart J. Scott. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. He has been publicly admonished by the State of California Commission on Judicial Performance for knowingly breaking professional conduct (coverage in the Mercury). A murder conviction he obtained as a prosecutor was overturned on appeal because he made inflammatory, racist closing remarks that the defense should have objected to.

Member, Santa Clara County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1

• Grace H. Mah. Incumbent. Voter’s Edge. Republican, and big supporter of charter schools.
• Melissa Baten Caswell. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.

Foothill-De Anza Community College District Governing Board Members

Vote for no more than three. You can see three of them speak in this recording of the September 12 endorsement meeting of the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.

• Govind Tatachari. Voter’s Edge.
• Peter Landsberger. Incumbent. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Laura Casas. Incumbent. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Gilbert Wong. Incumbent. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.

Member, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, District 3

• Otto Lee. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
• Kansen Chu. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

Mayor, City of Sunnyvale

All three candidates are current councilmembers. Klein is the current mayor, which, in Sunnyvale, means he got a majority of the other councilmembers to support him leading the council meetings. (In Sunnyvale, the council hires the City Manager, who functions as the chief executive of the city government.) Smith and Klein would each be entirely competent as mayors; Smith would be more progressive. Goldman is anti-growth and difficult to work with, and would not do well as mayor. You can see them all speak on the recording of the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale endorsement meeting on August 15. The League of Women Voters has candidate forums for all open seats.

• Michael S. Goldman. Voter’s Edge. He believes that Sunnyvale should encourage big employers to move jobs elsewhere, and claims he's not racist because he has a "trophy wife of Asian descent."
• Nancy Smith. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. Dual-endorsed by the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Larry Klein. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury and Jim Griffith. Dual-endorsed by the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.

Sunnyvale City Council, District 2

• Alysa Cisneros. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Jim Griffith, and Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Josh Grossman.
• Hina Siddiqui. Needs some experience on a commission before she runs for council.

Sunnyvale City Council, District 4

• Russell Melton. Sitting councilmember. Left the Republican Party after the 2016 election; now a moderate Democrat. I voted for him back when he was a moderate Republican, and would vote for him again if he were in my district. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury and Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Paul Joseph Lesevic-Campos. Declined to be interviewed by the San Jose Mercury. Seems to be unprepared for the job.

Sunnyvale City Council, District 6

• Omar Din. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Jim Griffith. Dual-endorsed by the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Leah Mehlman. Dual-endorsed by the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Charlotte Thornton. Her Twitter feed promotes Qanon and Infowars. The district only went 20% for Trump in 2016, so it is unlikely she’ll be elected by vote-splitting between Din and Mehlman.

El Camino Healthcare District

Vote for no more than three. Coverage in the Mountain View Voice.

• John Zoglin. Incumbent. Voter’s Edge.
• Dr. Jane Chen Lombard. Voter’s Edge.
• Dr. Carol Ann Somersille. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Julia E. Miller. Incumbent. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.
• Dr. Meghan Fraley. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Democratic Club of Sunnyvale.

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Director, Ward 3

• Jed Cyr. Incumbent. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale. Spoke knowledgeably at the Sunnyvale Dems meeting, which was recorded.
• Ed Riffle. Voter’s Edge. He’s on the Silicon Valley GOP Central Committee. I can find no information on his positions.

Measures Submitted to the Voters

State

• Proposition 14: Stem Cell Research Bonds. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Should the state issue $5.5 billion in general obligation bonds to fund stem-cell research? The League of Women Voters of California is neutral.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 14 California Democratic Party Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	Pete Rates the Propositions San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times Orange County Register California Republican Party Green Party of California Libertarian Party of California

  Going into the COVID-19 economic downturn is not a good time for this; it’s backed by $4M from a few rich people. No.
• Proposition 15: Increase Taxes on Commercial Property. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 15 Pete Rates the Propositions League of Women Voters of California Sierra Club California California League of Conservation Voters San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times California Democratic Party Green Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	No on 15 Larry Stone and Bob Dutton San Jose Mercury Orange County Register Cupertino Chamber of Commerce California Republican Party Libertarian Party of California

  Much as I would like to limit the damage done by Proposition 13, according to my friends in the assessor’s office, this is doing it in a way that will cause administrative chaos at a time when we can’t afford it. It will generate a huge demand for reassessments, and we won’t be able to train up enough assessors in time to do it, nor will the courts be able to handle the number of cases it will generate, and this will turn into a denial-of-service attack on our bureaucratic infrastructure. If we weren’t about to be hit by the COVID Crash, I might still go for it. Spending for is $41M ($12M from the Califonia Teachers Association), against $29M ($13M from the California Business Roundtable). If this passes and chaos does not result, I will be delighted to be wrong. No.
• Proposition 16: Restore Affirmative Action. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 16 Pete Rates the Propositions League of Women Voters of California Sierra Club California California League of Conservation Voters San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times California Democratic Party Green Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	No on 16 Tom Campbell Orange County Register California Republican Party Libertarian Party of California

  Racial discrimination is still a problem in this state, and restoring affirmative action makes it possible to compensate for it. $13M for ($5.5M from Quinn Delaney), $222K against. Yes.
• Proposition 17: Allow Parolees to Vote. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 17 Pete Rates the Propositions League of Women Voters of California California League of Conservation Voters San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times Orange County Register California Democratic Party Green Party of California Libertarian Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	California Republican Party

  If you’re done with your prison sentence, you’re done with your prison sentence. The Yes campaign is only $800K. Yes.
• Proposition 18: Allow 17½-Year-Olds to Vote in Primaries. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Pete Rates the Propositions League of Women Voters of California California League of Conservation Voters San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times California Democratic Party Green Party of California Libertarian Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	San Jose Mercury Orange County Register California Republican Party

  If you can vote in the general election, you should be able to vote in the primary that selects the slate you’ll see in the general. The Yes campaign is under $400K. Yes.
• Proposition 19: Property Tax Relief for Older Homebuyers. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. The California Republican Party has no position.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 19 California Democratic Party Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	Pete Rates the Propositions League of Women Voters of California San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times Orange County Register Cupertino Chamber of Commerce Libertarian Party of California

  This is a giveaway to the real estate industry, which have spent $35M on it. Note that the tax increase is on inheritance, where they don’t make any money. No.
• Proposition 20: Harsher Parole Procedures. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 20 California Republican Party	No on 20 Pete Rates the Propositions Crime Survivors Coalition League of Women Voters of California California League of Conservation Voters San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times Orange County Register California Democratic Party Green Party of California Libertarian Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale

  This won’t prevent crime, but it will line the pockets of the prison industry. Almost $4M for (half of it from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association), $2.5M against (mostly from philanthropists). No.
• Proposition 21: Allow Rent Control on 16-Year-Old Units. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Coverage in the San Jose Mercury. The League of Women Voters of California is neutral.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 21 Pete Rates the Propositions California League of Conservation Voters San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times California Democratic Party Green Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	No on 21 San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury Sacramento Bee Orange County Register Cupertino Chamber of Commerce California Republican Party Libertarian Party of California

  $21M for (mostly from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation), $51M against (mostly from real estate). Rent control is a temporary patch that easily leads to problems down the road: landlords have incentive to sell their places out from under renters entirely, and when renters get kicked out, they can’t afford any place nearby and have to leave the area. However, as of 2020-01-01, we already have rent control, which expires on 2030-01-01, so the question is: is this a worthwhile modification of it? A tentative Yes.
• Proposition 22: Benefits for Uber & Lyft Drivers. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. The League of Women Voters of California has no position.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 22 San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury Orange County Register California Republican Party Libertarian Party of California	No on 22 Pete Rates the Propositions Supervisor Matt Haney Sierra Club California San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times Diego Aguilar-Canabal, Community Organizer Edan Alva, Lyft Driver California Democratic Party Green Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale

  Uber is not profitable. None of these “gig economy” companies are. Uber burns through investor cash without any real plan for becoming profitable, because its investors are gambling that they will succeed in driving cab companies out of business, at which point they can raise their prices to break even. These companies are moving all of their capital costs onto their drivers, so they don’t have to pay to maintain a fleet of vehicles, and the employees aren’t full-time, so they don’t get health insurance and other benefits that come with full-time work. Proposition 22 is an attempt to keep the scam running as long as possible. The gig-economy companies have spent $184M on this; labor has spent about $10M. No.
• Proposition 23: Regulation of Kidney Dialysis Clinics. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. The League of Women Voters of California is neutral.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 23 California Democratic Party Green Party of California	No on 23 Pete Rates the Propositions San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Los Angeles Times Orange County Register California Republican Party Libertarian Party of California Democratic Club of Sunnyvale

  This will divert doctors away from hospitals or close clinics. $6M for (almost all from SEIU United Healthcare Workers West) and $93M against (from dialysis companies) This is an attempt at revenge on the companies for resisting unionization; while I support unions, I don’t support this tactic. No.
• Proposition 24: Changes to Consumer Privacy Rules. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Coverage in the LA Times and Wired. The California Democratic Party is neutral. The Electronic Frontier Foundation does not support it.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 24 Pete Rates the Propositions Consumer Watchdog Los Angeles Times Dustin Gardiner, SF Chronicle	No on 24 Consumer Action League of Women Voters of California ACLU of California San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Orange County Register California Republican Party Green Party of California Libertarian Party of California

  This is a terrible bill for many reasons, starting with the requirement of a ⅞ majority of the Assembly and Senate in order to amend it. The EFF notes that it exempts “loyalty clubs” from the CCPA’s existing limit on businesses withholding a discount for a customer— so functionally, they can charge you extra for choosing privacy. It also expands an existing loophole from “sale” of data to include “sharing” it. It also expands the power of a business to refuse to delete your data when you ask them to. The League of Women Voters notes that it would “Eliminate the ability of businesses to avoid penalties by addressing violations within 30 days of being told of the violation”. The eagle eyes at the San Jose Mercury note:

  It would allow the Legislature to approve an amendment with a simple majority vote — with this caveat: “The law should be amended, if necessary, to improve its operation, provided that the amendments do not compromise or weaken consumer privacy, while giving attention to the impact on business and innovation.” How much “attention” needs to be given to the impact on business and innovation? Does it mean that a law strengthening consumer privacy is illegal if it negatively impacts business? To what degree? Bring on the lawyers.

  The Orange County Register notes that “affected companies … would be saddled with the ongoing costs of demonstrating and reporting their compliance with ever-evolving regulations”, which banks, insurers, and tech giants could easily afford, but would put a burden on small startups. $5.4M for, almost entirely from real estate developer and landlord Alastair Mactaggart, who rejected 38 suggestions that eleven privacy advocacy groups proposed to correct the measure's many reductions to privacy protections.; $45K against. No.
• Proposition 25: Eliminate Cash Bail. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on 25 Pete Rates the Propositions League of Women Voters of California Sierra Club California California League of Conservation Voters San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian Orange County Register California Democratic Party Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	No on 25 California Republican Party Green Party of California

  This is a veto referendum on legislation that already passed. “Yes” means SB 10 takes effect; “no” repeals it. Cash bail criminalizes poverty and supports systemic racism. ($8.3M for, mostly from Connie and Steven Balmer; $6M against, from bail bonds and insurance companies.) Yes.

Fremont Union High School District

• Measure M: renewing the existing parcel tax that supports local schools. Voter’s Edge. Information at FUHSD.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on M Santa Clara County Democratic Party Cupertino Chamber of Commerce	Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association

  Education is an important investment and well worthwhile; even if I were entirely self-interested, this would easily pay for itself my increasing the value of my house. Yes.

Santa Clara Valley Water District

• Measure S: renewing the Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program, leaving the existing parcel tax unchanged, but removing the expiration date. Voter’s Edge. Coverage in the San Jose Mercury.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on S San Jose Mercury Santa Clara County Democratic Party Cupertino Chamber of Commerce	Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association

  I like having confidence that the water coming from my tap is clean and that dams are well-maintained so they won’t break an cause floods in an earthquake, and having long-term funding means long-term projects can be planned. Yes.

Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board

• Measure RR: ⅛¢ sales tax to support Caltrain. Voter’s Edge.

  If this doesn’t pass, only a federal bailout will save Caltrain from the COVID crash, and that will drive thousands of commuters onto the roads, snarling traffic and worsening air pollution.

  Supported by	Opposed by
  Yes on RR San Jose Mercury Santa Clara County Democratic Party Cupertino Chamber of Commerce Democratic Club of Sunnyvale	Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association

  Yes.

Comments are screened. I’m not in a mood to argue.