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Election Day is tomorrow. And we need you to vote so that we can continue to make San Francisco a model of innovation, a city that the rest of the country looks to for new ideas. If you have an absentee ballot at home, please return it in person to the Dept. of Election's City Hall office (1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 48) or you can drop it off at your polling place on Election Day by 8PM. Tomorrow, we are going to be working all day long as we walk every district, talk to voters and ask them to vote. If you can join us at our campaign headquarters tomorrow at any time we could use your support. We'll be there from 5AM until 8PM. Also, if you need a ride to the polls tomorrow please give Aaron Goldsmith a call at 351-0359. We will be available throughout the day to drive you to the polls.  
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Editorial: San Francisco Examiner

Newsom has spent the last four years crafting nonideological and pragmatic solutions to The City’s myriad problems. He made his first big splash, both locally and nationally, by backing gay marriage, a stance that positively cemented his standing with many San Franciscans. But he’s shown a refreshing ability to buck San Francisco’s prevailing liberal winds and pursue more moderate agendas. His support of development both downtown and in existing neighborhoods and new industries such as biotech have been refreshing, as has his budgetary support for more police on the streets and nuts-and-bolts priorities such as parks and well-kept roads rather than ill-defined social causes prized by the left. Read more »

By Jill Tucker
San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco's schoolyards have long been off-limits on the weekends and holidays, most with large padlocks and chain-link fences that keep families out. The city and school district have decided to change that, announcing a pilot program Monday that would allow weekend access at up to 14 school playgrounds.The idea sounds simple enough: Open the gates, let kids in, and then shut the gates at the end of the day. But actually putting that into practice is not so easy.

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By Bernice Young
San Francisco Chronicle

Though community courts have emerged as a popular and practical method for integrating problem-solving justice approaches, there is no single way to do it. Other examples include community policing and drug courts. But what these efforts have in common is an openness to include the voice of the community in the court process, a willingness to look at a defendant as something more than the perpetrator of a crime, and a desire to look to root causes and rehabilitation, rather than resorting to straight punishment.

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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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San Francisco Chronicle
Originally Published June 8, 2007

THIRTY-SEVEN million dollars is not much in the context of a $6.06 billion budget, but it can go a long way, if targeted wisely and effectively. But there is nothing wise or efficient about Supervisor Chris Daly's bald political ploy to strip $37 million from Mayor Gavin Newsom's budget priorities and shift most of it into affordable housing. Now let's be clear: We know that San Francisco does need housing. Newsom's budget also acknowledges the shortage, pumping $217 million into housing programs.

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In the past week, more than two-thousand people have signed our petition to bring a Community Justice Center to the Union Square area to address quality-of-life concerns and help make sure more homeless San Franciscans are connected to social services.  The key to the Community Justice Center is that it will have everything under one roof: criminal justice agencies, social service providers and judges.  A similar program has worked in New York City and we think it will help create a better living environment and change lives in San Francisco.  Read more »