Now, that was good. Very good. We don’t know if the big thinkers were pleased, but Mayor Newsom’s small-is-beautiful theme, articulated last week in his "State of The City" speech, gets us down to constructive business.Let’s hope the winners of next week’s municipal elections will reflect such thinking.
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As Election Day draws near, voters find themselves focusing on various ballot measures, both state and local. San Francisco asks approval of 11 measures, most of them substantive and some dangerously frivolous. Tuesday, we offered our recommendations on five of those measures. Today we assess the remaining six:
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I have to admit I like Chris Daly. The District 6 supervisor has always struck me as a truly innocent young man, with no sense of complication or convention, political or otherwise. In many ways this has been refreshing. Daly is, above all, entertaining.But on the other hand, Daly is bellicose, or tends to be at any rate, raising concerns about his effectiveness as the elected representative of his district.
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Ever since the surgeon general told us so in 1964, most of us have known that smoking tobacco endangers our health. In fact, it kills — so much so that a decades-longpublic policy debate has raged over whether government should protect us from ourselves or shield nonsmokers from those dwindling few who light up in our midst.One thing’s for sure: The anti-smoking Proposition 86 — and we’re not even sure we can call it well-intentioned — does not serve the public as advertised. Perhaps a warning should be printed on the ballot next to it.
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In less than two weeks California voters will choose the next state controller and insurance commissioner. Both offices can have enormous impact on citizens’ financial health, which is why the candidates must be extraordinarily disciplined and honest.Strictly partisan considerations shouldn’t factor into the qualifications for these positions. The Examiner insists on a nonpartisan evaluation of candidates, which explains — no surprise — how it happens that we picked one Republican and one Democrat to endorse.
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Among the most troubling issues on this year’s California ballot is Proposition 85, which would require teenaged girls to notify their parents if they decide to get abortions. To upholders of family values, the issue would seem a no-brainer: Of course parents should be notified.
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Proposition 88, the Classroom Learning and Accountability Act on the Nov. 7 ballot, aims to benefit California’s low-performing public school system. The measure is virtually guaranteed to fail and is a horrendous idea for many reasons.Prop. 88 levies a $50 statewide parcel tax on every property owner in California. This would be the only statewide property tax in California — and the first since 1910.
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San Francisco voters on Nov. 7 face 11 local ballot measures. The majority’s decisions, without question, will determine The City’s future substantially. Today The Examiner offers its views of five of the measures. Next week we’ll publish our recommendations on the remaining six.
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OK, fine, go ahead and throw the bums out in two weeks. Send Republicans scurrying as you put Democrats in control of the Senate and House, but don’t then expect balanced budgets, an improved economy, more concern for the poor, greater security from terrorists or greater respect and care for precious rights the left has been trying to subvert for decades now.
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Of course it’s understandable that many California voters might be feeling sticker shock about the nearly $50 billion in infrastructure bonds they are expected to decide Nov. 7. But we live in a state that is adding 500,000 population yearly while pushing to stay at the forefront of the global economy. This means California simply cannot afford the risk of massive breakdowns to an outmoded infrastructure, as was seen in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/archive/19/19?page=450&%3Btype=&quicktabs_1=0&quicktabs_6=0
