San Francisco Examiner
Editorial Originally Published July 23, 2007

It was welcome news for San Francisco that the Board of Supervisors passed Mayor Gavin Newsom’s election-year budget last Tuesday without indulging in destructive stonewalling. The $6.1 billion budget is the largest in city history, but it appears to be supported by sufficient revenues and also preserves a record-breaking $117 million supplementary reserve fund. Especially important is that this 2007-08 budget shifts more funding into curing long-neglected infrastructure and life-quality problems that directly impact the daily existence of ordinary San Franciscans. Public Works will receive the most money ever allocated for fixing potholed streets. Beleaguered Muni riders can expect some improvement in service with 150 more drivers and 86 new hybrid buses.

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Please join Mayor Gavin Newsom as well as representatives from labor, local political clubs and enthusiastic supporters like yourself at our campaign HQ this Saturday, July 21st at 10:30AM. We will be hitting the streets of San Francisco with the Mayor, collecting signatures and talking to other San Franciscans. (If you can't make on Saturday you can download the signature forms at anytime. Just click on Aaron's blog and follow the instructions). Your signature is a mark of support for our efforts to make free WiFi a reality, improve MUNI, create a Community Justice Center and more – including passing a budget that prioritizes the basics of daily life like filling potholes, cleaning up our parks and policing our streets.

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San Francisco Examiner
Editorial Originally Published July 16, 2007

In one of the more practical visionary plans to emerge from the San Francisco municipal government during recent years, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Task Force on Green Building has laid out a detailed blueprint for phasing in green standards that would make The City the most environmentally advanced in the nation by 2012.  Advantages to the public from adoption of such rigorous environmental standards for all new private and government-funded construction would include projected savings of 220,000 hours of electricity and 100 million gallons of drinking water, elimination of 60,000 tons of CO2 emissions and 700 million pounds of construction/demolition waste. Read more »

San Francisco Chronicle
Editorial Originally Published July 10, 2007

The long, winding and sadly, whinging road toward bringing free citywide wireless to San Francisco may finally be approaching the finish line this week. We'd like to applaud Supervisor Aaron Peskin for being one of the few board members to show some actual leadership. He has countered the mayor's agreement with providers Google and EarthLink with a compromise that deserves support from all parties.

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Union members showed their colors and numbers last Thursday when over 300 union workers from more than 30 individual unions came together to show their support for Mayor Newsom's re-election.  The event was held at AT&T Park and it was standing room only.  Union members snacked on Giants dogs while they waited for the Mayor and the room erupted when Local 798 President John Hanley began the program.  It was a great show of support from the rank and file of San Francisco's labor community. Read more »