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Yes, You Can Vote If You Are Homeless

10.17.2016
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By Steven Cuevas, KQED News/The California Report
Billy Cunningham has been eligible to cast a ballot almost as long as he’s lived in San Francisco. “I’ve been here overs 40 years. I came to San Francisco about 10 or 11,” says Cunningham, sitting in an office at the nonprofit Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco. The thing is, though: He hasn’t voted. Not even the chance to vote for America’s first black president could move him. 
Read the complete story at KQED News/The California Report.

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Board of Education, for the S.F. Unified School District

10.16.2016
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Stevon Cook

Stevon Cook is a third-generation San Franciscan who was “headed down a troubled path” before entering and graduating from Thurgood Marshall High School in Bayview-Hunters Point. He has served as an academic adviser for a district school and wants to continue to give back to the district, which he says helped him become a leader. » Read more

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Superior Court Judge

10.16.2016
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Paul Henderson has served for the past five years as deputy chief of staff of public safety for Mayor Ed Lee. His job has been “to advise the Mayor on a variety of topics and to develop and implement policy across a broad range of issues affecting San Francisco,” his website states. He “supports the administration of various City departments, providing direct support to the Mayor, with a particular emphasis on the criminal justice system and cooperation with and between local, State and Federal partners.”
He previously worked in the District Attorney’s office as trial attorney, co-manager and then chief of administration under then-District Attorney Kamala Harris. As trial prosecutor he worked every type of case in the criminal justice system, from nonviolent misdemeanors to serious felonies, including homicide, and won dozens of trials. The Bar Association of San Francisco rated him “well-qualified” for judge on the Superior Court, where he has experience serving temporarily in criminal cases.

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Competing Visions of Bay Area’s Future at Core of Transit Race

10.13.2016
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By Peter Schurmann, New America Media
In a turbulent election season, the race to fill seats on the governing body of the Bay Area’s major transit system isn’t exactly a headline grabber. Yet the race for who will represent one district on the BART board offers voters the most dramatic contrast between competing visions for the region’s future of any on the ballot. Of the nine BART districts, District 7 is the only one that spans the bay, incorporating three counties – Contra Costa, Alameda and San Francisco – and 19 cities. And while debates swirl around problems like crowding, aging infrastructure and labor disputes, to name just a few,  the reality is that BART is struggling to hold together a region being pulled apart by gentrification. Read the complete story at New America Media.

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Why San Francisco Rarely Sends Youth Directly to Adult Court

10.12.2016
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By Laura Klivans, KQED News Fix/The California Report
Direct file is a practice by which a district attorney — not a judge — can decide if a minor as young as 14 will go to adult court. The practice is used differently across California’s 58 counties. But whether direct file will continue to be used in the state is up for a vote. It’s on the ballot this November under Proposition 57, a broader criminal justice reform initiative backed by Gov. Jerry Brown. If it passes, young people would be required to have a hearing in front of a judge to determine whether their trial would go to adult court or stay in the juvenile system.

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Bay Bridge East Span Bike Path: It’s Done, but Not Open Just Yet

10.11.2016
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By Dan Brekke, KQED News Fix
Cyclists and long-distance walkers, listen up: The bicycle and pedestrian path across the eastern span of the Bay Bridge is done. But hold on: The path from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island isn’t open yet — repeat, it’s not open — and won’t be until crews complete a few finishing touches on the island side of the route. The path is expected to open in the next two to three weeks, officials and bike advocates say, and an exact date could be settled on this week. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.

2016 Non-partisan Voter Guide

Board of Supervisors: District 11

10.11.2016
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Kimberly Alvarenga has worked for numerous community-based organizations for 20 years, including Bay Area Legal Aide, Bridge Housing Corporation and Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center. In 2008, Alvarenga joined the office of Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, where she was the district director for six years. » Read more

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A Fight for the Soul of City College of San Francisco

10.10.2016
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By Peter Schurmann, New America Media
This week a team from the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges is visiting City College of San Francisco. The team is expected to produce a report that will help guide the commission in a decision that will determine the school’s fate. But under a new commission policy, the visiting team will not include recommendations in its final report, and that has supporters of the school crying foul. “Why do they even bother to come if they are not going to be able to make recommendations?” asked Tim Killikelly, president of the faculty union at CCSF, adding that the reason given by the commission for the policy is to “avoid perceived inconsistencies” between recommendations and the commission’s  decisions. Read the complete story at New America Media.

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Virtual Landlord Unlocks Campaign Websites — for a Fee

10.06.2016
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By Laurel Rosenhall, CALmatters
Andrew Naylor was working at a digital advertising firm in Silicon Valley when the “a-ha” moment struck. It was 2008, and money — more than $83 million — was gushing into the advertising world as Californians prepared to vote on Proposition 8, the measure to limit marriage to heterosexual couples (later ruled unconstitutional). “I saw what was happening with politics in California and everything was just huge. The amount of money both sides were spending, for and against, on online advertising and television ads was just incredible,” said Naylor, who lives in Menlo Park. And it opened his eyes to a potential ballot proposition campaign bonanza: domain names.

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Organizing the Homeless Vote Could Swing November’s Election

10.05.2016
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By Lucy Kang, KALW/Crosscurrents
Lisa Galinas and Laura Sinai are sitting at a folding table with stacks of voter registration cards near the intersection of Turk and Hyde in San Francisco, registering people in the Tenderloin to vote. In this precinct, fewer than half of residents turned out to vote in the June primaries. That drops to 32 percent in the next precinct over, compared to nearly 60 percent in the city overall. The Tenderloin is well known for its vast street population. San Francisco’s District 6 – the Tenderloin and SOMA – is where the majority of the city’s unsheltered homeless people stay, based on the most recent homeless count in 2015.