All quiet at City HallSan Francisco City Hall -- normally a beehive of activity on election nights -- is nearly empty. One reporter (Rick Knee, stringing for AP), a couple of political junkies ... and that's about it. The Department of Elections doesn't even have its usual display screen for election results.
Frankly, nobody's paying attention to the local election. California's a big deal tonigh, and the state primary is huge news; municipal elections are lost in the whirlwind. (Of course, let's remember that the state's delegate total, which is what really counts, will probably be split pretty close to even, whoever "wins" the state; Paul Hogarth has a good analysis here.
But there IS a local election, and there are results, and we can pretty much call the three ballot measures now.
Prop. A, the parks bond, needs 66 percent of the vote, and has 64.9 percent in the (generally conservative) absentees. That should pass. Prop. B, the police retirement plan, is a slam dunk and will probably get 70 percent of the vote. The rather wacky Prop. C, the Alcaraz "peace center," is toast, with 73 percent voting no.
An interesting note the the local vote: Hillary Clinton's absentee-vote effort had paid off, big time. 65,000 people voted absentee, and Clinton is ahead in those votes, 53-38. I think we're going to see this statewide -- Obama will probably win on election day, but Clinton has a huge bank of absentees that he will have to overcome.
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Comments (2)
Why do you at the Guardian insist on calling Prop C, for which I voted, as wacky or other such names? You prefer a prison as the main thing visitors see in the Bay? You should think about how anti-progressive your stance on this issue is, regardless of whether there are some defects in the proposition.
Posted by Jeff Hoffman | February 5, 2008 09:01 PM
I don't think that transforming Alcatraz into something different is entirely a wacky idea (although I do favor historic preservation). Frankly, I'd rather give the island back to the Indians (but maybe not for a casino).
My problem is that Prop. C was poorly thought out, is lacks any kind of basis in reality and will never come to pass.
It's not the notion of a peace center on Alcatraz that's wacky; it's this measure.
Posted by tim redmond | February 6, 2008 01:44 PM