› steve@sfbg.com
If there is a single symbol of American wastefulness, military fetishism, and willful ignorance about what it means to be heating up the planet at the end of the age of oil, it is the Hummer. And if there is one American who is most closely associated with the Hummer, it is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
So why, in a state whose voters consistently rank environmentalism as one of their most important concerns, is Governor Hummer considered such a lock for reelection? Read more »

› sarah@sfbg.com
If you knew there was an initiative on the ballot that would make it impossible for government to protect the environment, build affordable housing, raise minimum wages, and mandate health care, you'd vote no on it, right?
Especially if you knew this measure would force taxpayers to spend billions to prevent developers and private property owners from doing things that harm neighborhoods, communities, and the environment.
So why is Proposition 90, which does all this and more, still leading in the polls?
It's all about fear — and the ability of one wealthy real estate investor Read more »

Here are some of the things that could be impacted if Proposition 90 passes: NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING Developers could argue against providing additional community benefits, which are often mandated when increased building height or density is allowed. New zoning restrictions would be hit hard. LOCAL LAWS If Prop. 90 passes, it amends the state's constitution — and virtually nullifies a number of local antisprawl and smart-growth measures also on the November ballot. Read more »

When supporters of Prop. 90 submitted their ballot argument for the state voters handbook, they made sure to list off the poignant tales of some eminent domain victims.
But perhaps the stories of these victims could have included a little more detail.
The owner of a luggage store in Los Angeles, Bob Blue, did indeed have his 5,500 square-foot building threatened by a multimillion-dollar redevelopment project. Read more »

Prop. 90's moneyed backers are battle-scarred veterans of an ongoing movement across the United States to foist right-wing ballot measures onto voters at the state level using gobs of money from a handful of enormously wealthy libertarian ideologues.
The largest contributors have links to the infamous anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist who once famously vowed to cut government in half and "get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
As of late September, the pro-Prop. Read more »

› steve@sfbg.com
Consider the perspective of Marie Harrison and her political allies in Bayview — including the owners and writers at the San Francisco Bay View newspaper — whose support for Proposition 90 has put them at odds with the progressive political community.
Harrison, who is running for supervisor against incumbent Sophie Maxwell, lives on Quesada Avenue just off Third Street, in a diverse neighborhood bustling with vitality. Residents have transformed the wide median on her street into a gorgeous community garden. Read more »

› amanda@sfbg.com › sarah@sfbg.com If you live in San Francisco's District 6, it's pretty difficult to avoid what some residents are calling a new filth polluting Tenderloin corners and SoMa streets. It's not overflowing trash bins or urine-stained door frames — it's the relentless election billeting that uses those images to support Rob Black and oppose Chris Daly for the district's seat on the Board of Supervisors. "We're tired of talk. Of loud, whining, condescending, offensive, abusive, lying, showcasing, arrogant talk," reads a recent poster on a telephone pole. Read more »

› steve@sfbg.com
Mayor Gavin Newsom called a meeting with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. president Thomas King in July to let the utility chief know that the city intended to pursue public power projects on Treasure Island and Hunters Point.
“It was just to tell him that we’re going to do it,” Newsom spokesperson Peter Ragone said of the meeting. “The mayor thought it was a gentlemanly thing to do.”
King used the occasion to start an aggressive new offensive — and to preview PG&E’s latest political strategy.
In an Aug. Read more »

› gwschulz@sfbg.com
Colorado Springs, Colo., is likely the most Christian city in America, a Vatican for the Evangelicals, if you will. It's home base for some of the most potent forces in Christian conservative politics, and perhaps no place in the country celebrates Christmas with as much conviction. The central Colorado city of 350,000 even sports a 25-acre Christmas-themed amusement park known as Santa's Workshop that stays open from spring until the end of the year, complete with rides and a shop selling miniature nativity sets and Precious Moments figurines. Read more »

PG&E's Letter to Newsom - Page 1 of 3

PG&E's Letter to Newsom - Page 2 of 3

PG&E's Letter to Newsom - Page 3 of 3