Results tagged “election”

Filling the void left by Ellen Tauscher, former Lt. Governor John Garamendi was sworn in today "as a new representative in the House for the 10th district representing parts of Contra Costa, Alameda, Solano, and Sacramento counties." Fun! In related lieutenant governor news, Gavin Newsom might not be eying the lesser position as was rumored a week ago. Why? Well, as Melissa Griffin expertly pointed out in her column today, "Being lieutenant governor isn’t worth moving to Sacramento since it basically requires you to be the John Oates to the governor, who gets to be Daryl Hall."

The votes are in. Four out of five propositions passed. Here's how things went down after yesterday's election:

Steve Rhodes reports that, by 10 a.m. this morning, only 60-plus people out of several thousand voted at this Bernal Heights polling place.

For your convenience, here's a handy voter guide.

Hey kids! Tomorrow is Election Day across this great land of ours and you know what good citizens do on Election Day? They vote, that's what! Here is a quick run down of what we have to look forward to dealing with here in San Francisco as we engage in that great experiment this writer loves to call la democracia:

While everyone and their pet goldfish thinks they're the only ones to have predicted that SF Mayor Gavin Newsom would withdraw his bid for California governor -- in related news, we predict you will have a bowel movement within the next 24 hours! -- this has been ancient watercooler talk for months. Why, just last week, if you recall, Newsom not only denied but chided reporters for having the gall to question him about it.

              

Rumor has it there's more you can do to voice your support for Iranians protesting a fraudulent election than turning your Twitter avatar green. Take, for example, participating in a protest or a rally, like yesterday's event at the UN Plaza. (An aside: we love the color palate popping up at these protests. Green, white and red -- so bold and vibrant without overpowering the eye. Just lovely, really.)

Ever since "hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets" in Iran, accusing the government of holding a fraudulent presidential election, social sites like Facebook and Twitter have played a wildly significant part in getting information out. (An aside: Do you see, you foolish and stubborn book / print fetishists, what the point of typing out silly little words is all about? That, in the end, it is just about communicating information? Communicated to as many sets of eyeballs as possible? Free of any arrogant literary stank? That your dusty 'zines stacked at Dog-Eared Books and your elite writers compounds speak to no one but you?) It seems the Iranian government found out about the world wide web, and then started blocking those sites in their country. As the Slog posted yesterday, proxies came to the rescue. That is to say, you could allow a n Iranian protester to connect to your computer instead, then they could use Twitter or whatever. (The protesters really could use it.)

Hey there, did you know Iran is having some sort of brouhaha, and Twitter will single-handedly bring democracy, sunshine and gumdrops to the nation? Or something like that? Anyway, reader and activist Michael Petrelis writes SFist to ask the following. Ahem:

Can you feel it? It runs thick in the air. The 2010 election is coming. And with that comes the deluded hopes and dreams of many a wonk who think that this next election will solve all of their problems. (See: Obama) But here's something most all of us can look forward to: the legalization of marijuana. According to NBC Bay Area, "State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, introduced a resolution Monday urging the federal government to end medical marijuana raids in California." The measure, if passed, would also "let people 21 and older possess an ounce and grow plants as long as the 'garden' is no bigger than 5 by 5 feet." Counties would then be able to tax and regulate it. This comes on the heels of Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's bill to further legalize mary jane. Ammiano's office tells SFist that they hope to have the bill heard either later in the fall or at the beginning of next year.

Oh, this is rich.

Aw boo.

"Everyone has to be ready to have difficult conversations NOW," said Kate Kendall (Exective Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and one of the architects of the No On Prop 8 campaign) at an event last night that was a hybrid of town hall, panel discussion, and mass-group-therapy. She was talking about having challenging talks with potential allies who still need some winning-over, but she might as well have been referring to the event itself. It was, by the standards of consensus-happy San Francisco, a pretty tough room.

San Francisco supervisors proved their penis was bigger than Gavin Newsom's, at least for now, when they overrode the mayor's veto, setting the stage for special election to take place on June 2. To no one's surprise, Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu voted against the override. (God. Yet again, this entire civic thing, if you will, reeks of us vs. them -- that there is your news story -- so forgive us if we sit under the bleachers putting on another coat of black eyeliner while lighting up a clove cigarette. Ugh. Also, this election is about taxes. Which? Zzzz. Only little people pay taxes, folks.) While the election is "expected to cost the city $3 to $4 million," San Francisco faces a ginormous $576 million budget deficit.

Last night's Marriage Equality Community Forum was neat! It started with a brief hello from former New Paltz mayor Jason West. We tried to get a picture, but as you can see, he is simply too dreamy and wonderful to be captured by normal photographic equipment.

Because these are confusing times, there are confused people out there trying to do us harm. Take, for example, the foolish opponents of the measure to extend Bay Area Rapid Transit to Santa Clara County. These lost souls, you see, tried to get a temporary restraining order against getting BART to do its job: moving people from point A to point B and easing traffic congestion. But San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Busch -- the fairest and most heroic judge of them all -- denied their request. Measure B, which passed by the two-thirds required yes votes this last election, will extend BART to San Jose and spread happiness throughout the land.

The proposal to raise the sales tax in Santa Clara County by a teeny one-eighth of a cent to help fund the (much-needed) BART extension from the Warm Springs section of Fremont into San Jose is expected to pass. Measure B, which appeared to be losing on election day, has "has inched above the necessary two-thirds approval mark in the latest count of absentee and provisional ballots." The 16-mile extension would see Bart stops pop up in Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara. Fantastic news.

So what's the deal with the next round of Prop 8 protests? Oh, we are so glad you asked.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith interviewed crazy old man Ralph Nader the other night, chatting about, among other things, calling President elect Barack Obama an "Uncle Tom."

Oh, by the way, there will be a candlelight vigil at City Hall this evening for any and all who want to commiserate on Prop. 8 passing. Not sure what will go down. (Hide the police cars!) But it might be a great way for some of you to vent. Peacefully, that is. It starts at 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place.

Today City Attorney Dennis Herrera today, along with Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and Santa Clara County Counsel Anne C. Ravel, filed "a petition for a writ of mandate with the California Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8, an initiative constitutional amendment that intends to strip gay and lesbian citizens of their fundamental right to marry in California."

These "key" propositions have been called, with no real surprises. (Although the proposition asking voters to rename of the San Francisco sewage treatment facility in honor of George W. Bush went down in flames.)

                            

As predicted, last night's election night fever was dangerously high. And the Castro was ground zero for people celebrating Barack Obama's win, commiserating Prop. 8's victory, and celebrating this new era, if you will, with lively locals. The scene stayed festive but sane. Thank God.

While it's technically still too close to call, it looks like the same-sex marriage ban, Prop. 8, will prove victorious. Why? Well, one reason, according to BeyondChron's Paul Hogarth, might be that "[p]rogressives were lulled into complacency by early poll numbers, and distracted by the Barack Obama campaign." Hogarth goes on to say that "discrimination has been enshrined in our Constitution" as of this morning. (Read his thorough take on how it won, right here.)

So where were you last night? We were going to go to a bar, but everywhere was so packed that we ended up at home with burritos when it was called. We didn't know what to say, but then others said it for us - windows on our street opened and people started screaming. So we joined them.

During last Sunday's early voting period at City Hall, the line of those itchin' to vote stretched well around the building. And had Sarah Palin been there, she could have taken advantage of the pleasantly placed newspaper racks to read, well, you know.

The Mayor decided to rally for Obama and against Prop 8 in the bastion of left leaning voters-- a college campus. We're not entirely sure why he chose the Stanford Democrat rally to spend the last noon time hour before the elections, but maybe he managed to get a few undergrads to switch from Nader to Obama? Seriously, what 20-year-old could say NO to that hair?!

According to a handy zip-code-searching tool at the Chron, about 200 San Franciscans have stuck their noses into their neighbors' marriages by giving money to the anti-marriage campaign. Voting to end your neighbor's marriage? That's messed up. But here's what's even messier: less than 9,000 San Franciscans have donated to No On 8. Seriously, folks? How much easier could it be, especially now that they're matching donations?

Yes On 2: Sponsored by the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, Prop 2 says it's c"ruel and inhumane to confine animals in cages so small they can’t turn around or stretch their limbs." Why? Because all animals (tasty or otherwise) deserve humane treatment, even animals raised specifically for nourishment. Vote YES on Prop. 2 to save animals from unacceptable abuse.

We got the District One poll up, and the Richmond is letting us know who they want as their supreme leader. (Sue Lee is currently in the lead, with Eric Mar going for silver.)