Hold your nose and vote on Tuesday, 11/8/2005

[mithriltabby]

The California special election on November 8, 2005 is being held in an off year in hopes of a decreased turnout of people who hold middle-of-the-road positions. I urge you to get out there, hold your nose, and vote.

• State of California

  Some of the propositions on the ballot this year have some devious things lurking in the fine print. The SmartVoter summaries are very naïve, but may contain links to more useful information. There is a liberal bias to the selection of supporting/opposing organizations because it’s the union of everyone that bothered to contact me and everyone I ran across during my research, and I get more contacts from liberal organizations since they tend to support my agenda more often than conservative ones do.

  • Proposition 73: Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle (and more) and the San Jose Mercury. SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis. HealthVote analysis.

    Supported by

    Opposed by

    Parents for 73 / Protecting Our Children Yes on 73 (which have an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle) California Republican Party Los Altos Town Crier Traditional Values Coalition California Conference of Bishops California Republican Assembly

    Campaign for Teen Safety California Democratic Party California Green Party League of Pissed Off Voters NARAL Pro-Choice California (fact sheet) Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (who have an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle) ACLU of Northern California People For the American Way California Medical Association California League of Women Voters California Nurses Association Standing Up for California, which includes Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Phil Angelides and Nancy Pelosi. the San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury [summary]

    This is
    1. a sneaky way to define abortion in the state constitution as “death of the unborn child, a child conceived but not yet born”, without even distinguishing between a blastula and an independently viable organism
    2. a way to further screw up the lives of teenage girls with irrational parents. If a daughter doesn’t feel safe talking with her parents about a decision like that, the problem is with the parenting, not the law.
    No.

  • Proposition 74: Public School Teachers: Waiting Period for Permanent Status. Dismissal. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle (including their Ad Watch) and the San Jose Mercury. SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis.

    Supported by

    Opposed by

    Join Arnold California Republican Party California Libertarian Party The San Francisco Chronicle The director of the Governor’s Initiative to Turn Around Failing Schools

    Standing Up for California California Democratic Party California Green Party League of Pissed Off Voters ACLU of Northern California People For the American Way Consumer Federation of California The Alameda County superintendent of public schools Alliance for a Better California California Nurses Association California League of Women Voters Service Employees International Union California California Organization of Police and Sheriffs San Jose Mercury [summary] Los Altos Town Crier

    We need more and better teachers in California’s public schools, and having a five-year probationary period is not going to attract them if there are 33 states with a three-year period. No.

  • Proposition 75: Public Employee Union Dues. Restrictions on Political Contributions. Employee Consent Requirement. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury. SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis. PayDar.

    Supported by

    Opposed by

    Join Arnold California Republican Party California Libertarian Party Los Altos Town Crier San Jose Mercury [summary] California Chamber of Commerce

    Millionaires for Prop 75 No on Prop 75 California Democratic Party California Green Party League of Pissed Off Voters Standing Up for California ACLU of Northern California People For the American Way Consumer Federation of California Union Voice Alliance for a Better California California League of Women Voters Service Employees International Union California California Organization of Police and Sheriffs California Nurses Association (who have an op-ed in the San Jose Mercury) San Francisco Chronicle

    Cleaning up money in politics is not going to work by making citizen groups clean up before groups representing moneyed interests do. It’s not like this is rescuing anyone from some vile fate: all it does is change the system from opt-out to opt-in, creating an extra level of effort for people to act in their own interest. No.

  • Proposition 76: State Spending and School Funding Limits. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle (1 2 3) and the San Jose Mercury. SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis. PayDar.

    Supported by	Opposed by
    Join Arnold California Republican Party California Libertarian Party San Jose Mercury [summary] Los Altos Town Crier	California Democratic Party California Green Party League of Pissed Off Voters People For the American Way Consumer Federation of California Standing Up for California California Nurses Association Alliance for a Better California California League of Women Voters Service Employees International Union California California Organization of Police and Sheriffs San Francisco Chronicle

    This won’t fix California’s financial problems, and stands a good chance of gutting school funding. No.

  • Proposition 77: Redistricting. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle (1 2 3 4 5) and the San Jose Mercury (1 2). SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis. PayDar.

    Supported by

    Opposed by

    Yes on 77 (who have an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle) California Republican Party California Libertarian Party Californians for Fair Redistricting [ElectionTrack] San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury [summary] Los Altos Town Crier

    Standing Up for California [ElectionTrack] California Democratic Party League of Pissed Off Voters ACLU of Northern California People For the American Way Californians for Fair Representation [ElectionTrack] The president of the Congress of California Seniors California Nurses Association Consumer Federation of California California League of Women Voters Alliance for a Better California [ElectionTrack] Service Employees International Union California California Organization of Police and Sheriffs

    This is a difficult one. Gerrymandering is a big problem: it leads to complacency and inertia among our politicians. A real solution would be to group areas by their common regional interests, assign seats based on the fraction of the population in a given region, and use proportional representation to elect representatives for that area, but you won’t see any politicians willing to consider such a radical improvement. The criteria for redrawing the map favor Republicans over Democrats by packing Democrats into fewer districts. The president of Common Cause says we can’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good, but is Prop. 77 good enough? I think it’ll make our democracy less accurate in representation. No.

  • Proposition 78: Discounts on Prescription Drugs. This is the one backed by the drug industry. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle (1 2). SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis. HealthVote analysis. PayDar.

    Supported by	Opposed by
    Yes on Prop 78 / No on Prop 79 California Republican Party California Organization of Police and Sheriffs Los Altos Town Crier the chairman of the California Hepatitis C Task Force	Alliance for a Better California California Democratic Party California Libertarian Party California Green Party League of Pissed Off Voters AARP Consumer Federation of California California League of Women Voters California Nurses Association Service Employees International Union California San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury [summary]

    Big pharma have burned $50M to push this one: a voluntary program that they can choose to ignore. No.

  • Proposition 79: Prescription Drug Discounts. State-negotiated rebates. This is the one backed by labor and consumer groups. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle. SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis. HealthVote analysis. PayDar.

    Supported by	Opposed by
    Vote Yes on Proposition 79 California Democratic Party California Green Party League of Pissed Off Voters Consumer Federation of California Alliance for a Better California Service Employees International Union California California League of Women Voters San Francisco Chronicle an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle	Yes on Prop 78 / No on Prop 79 California Republican Party California Libertarian Party California Organization of Police and Sheriffs San Jose Mercury [summary] Los Altos Town Crier

    Big pharma are blowing $24M to fight this one, with the supporters spending under $2M. There are too many people in this state who can’t afford the medication they need. Yes.

  • Proposition 80: Electric Service Providers. Regulation. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle. SmartVoter profile. Easy Voter Guide. UCB Institute of Governmental Studies analysis. PayDar.

    Supported by	Opposed by
    The Utility Reform Network (who have an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle) Alliance for a Better California California Democratic Party Consumer Federation of California Service Employees International Union California	San Francisco Chronicle Californians for Reliable Electricity California Solar Energy Industries Association California Republican Party California Libertarian Party League of Pissed Off Voters San Jose Mercury [summary] Los Altos Town Crier

    We don’t need reregulation; we need to do a better job of the botched 1996 deregulation. It’s nice that 80 requires utilities to switch to 20% renewable resources by 2010 instead of 2017, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to make it difficult for 100%-renewable competitors to enter the market. If they want to do that, create economic incentives for the established companies and leave the market open to newcomers. No.

• City of Sunnyvale Sunnyvale’s Political Action Committee is our local pro-business lobbying group, which has separated from the Chamber of Commerce and has entanglements.
  • Member, City Council, Seat 1: Profiled in the Sunnyvale Sun. SmartVoter profile.
    • Anthony (Tony) Spitaleri’s opponent has a damning site called www.TheTruthAboutTony.org (pointed out by a letter in the Sunnyvale Sun)); Spitaleri has a rebuttal. The acrimony has been going on for a while. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.
    • Tim Risch gets quite a lot of pro and con letters in the Sun: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Also some coverage in the Metro. He’s endorsed by the Sunnyvale Sun, the Palo Alto Daily News and Jack Walker. SmartVoter profile.
      
    I’m leaning toward Risch, but I’m not thrilled with either one, and neither is the San Jose Mercury.

  • Member, City Council, Seat 2: Profiled in the Sunnyvale Sun. SmartVoter profile.
    • Darab Ghaffary. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.
    • Pete Richards. SmartVoter profile
    • Christopher R. Moylan supports putting in a good fiber optic backbone in Sunnyvale. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Sunnyvale Sun, Palo Alto Daily News, and Jack Walker. SmartVoter profile

    I’m voting for Moylan. He’s got the best forward-looking policies. The San Jose Mercury states that Moylan is better qualified.

  • Member, City Council, Seat 3: Profiled in the Sunnyvale Sun. SmartVoter profile.
    • John N. Howe. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury and California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.
    • Nancy Smith. Endorsed by the Sunnyvale Sun, Palo Alto Daily News and Jack Walker. Letter in the Sunnyvale Sun, and an article on pressure put on Smith by a local councilman. SmartVoter profile.
    
    The Sunnyvale City Council is pretty firmly in the pocket of big business; let’s shake ’em up a bit. I’m voting for Smith.

  • Measure D. Coverage in the Sunnyvale Sun. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury and Sunnyvale Sun. Yes.
  • Measure E. Coverage in the Sunnyvale Sun. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury and Sunnyvale Sun. Yes.
  • Measure F. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury. Yes.
  • Measure G. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury. Yes.
  • Measure H. SmartVoter profile. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury. Yes.

• Foothill-De Anza Community College District
  Governing Board Members. Profiled in the Mountain View Voice and Los Altos Town Crier. SmartVoter profile.
  • Bruce Swenson has lots of experience and is well-spoken. SmartVoter profile. He’s endorsed by the Mountain View Voice, Los Altos Town Crier, and Palo Alto Daily News.
  • Julia E Miller seems to me less qualified than the other candidates; she lacks relevant experience. Her SmartVoter profile points out that she has the support of the Faculty Association PAC for the district.
  • Laura Casas Frier has worked as a lawyer for the insurance industry convincing people to settle before things go to court, which speaks very well for her negotiation skills. SmartVoter profile. She’s endorsed by the Palo Alto Weekly, Mountain View Voice, and Los Altos Town Crier.
  • Paul Fong is passionate and committed, but I think Frier and Swenson have better teamwork skills. SmartVoter profile.
  I’m voting for Swenson and Frier.
• Sunnyvale School District Governing Board Members [SmartVoter profile]
  • Anita Herrmann. SmartVoter profile.
  • Wendy Bockholt. SmartVoter profile.
  • Jeffrey D. Arnett. SmartVoter profile.
  • Michael Anthony Flores. SmartVoter profile.
  I’m voting for everyone but Flores. He’s well-intentioned, but naïve; I don’t think he’s ready for the job.

Resources: Chronicle Endorsements, the San Jose Mercury News Voter Guide, the League of Pissed Off Voters’ San Francisco Voter Guide. Common Cause PayDar, PFAW, and more. I also had a chance to see all the college and school district candidates speak in person tonight.