Libertarian friends,
On November 3, 2009, San Francisco voters will once again be presented with a plan concocted by the Board of Supervisors to change the city charter in order to increase the number of aides they are permitted to have. Three days ago LPSF Treasurer Marcy Barry and I submitted on behalf of the Libertarian Party of San Francisco and myself what I believe is a strong and compelling argument I wrote against this costly and ill-timed ballot measure, but unfortunately it was not chosen in the Elections Department lottery to be the official opponent argument.
There is one last chance to get this language placed in the Voter Information Pamphlet, and that is to publish it as a paid ballot argument. However the charge for this is $200 plus $2 per word, so I estimate it will cost about $780 (the exact figure may be a few dollars more or less, as the Elections Department has its own rules for determining word count). Myself and three other Libertarian Party of San Francisco members have so far pledged a total of $230 toward this end, but time is short. If this language against the Supervisors' power grab is to appear in the voter handbook, it must be submitted by TOMORROW, Monday August 17, at noon!
I'll be honest here -- I do not think Proposition B will pass. It is difficult to imagine voters rewarding such chutzpah in this economic climate. But this is likely to be a low-turnout election, and in highly politicized SF, that doesn't necessarily mean a more fiscally conservative group of voters! If by a stroke of ill fate Prop. B *were* to pass, it would likely be *here to stay.* In 2002, voters removed the language mandating that Supervisor be a part-time job. Subsequently, the Civil Service Commission more than tripled the Supervisors' salaries, from $37,585 a year to $112,320. Voter outrage got their pay lowered again -- but only slightly. Today they still "earn" a whopping $98,660, and there is no sign on the political horizon that this figure will ever be cut to anything near what it was before the dam was breached. The passage of Prop. B would constitute a similar breach. Right now, each Supervisor is limited to two paid aides. This measure would make it so there is *no limit* on how many aides could be hired. Imagine within a few years, people like Chris Daly and his colleagues having three, five or even more aides to help promote their agendas, at an annual cost to SF taxpayers of millions of dollars!
While $780 is a good chunk of money for a short print ad, dollar for dollar there is probably no better way to reach San Francisco voters. Hundreds of thousands of Voter Information Pamphlets will be published and mailed directly to the precise individuals who are legally eligible to vote. No doubt the Board members and those who wish to curry favor with them will be sure that their misleading rationalizations are included for voters to read. Will you help us raise the remaining $550 of this sum so that San Franciscans going to the polls in November will have the opportunity to read the following language as well?
PROPOSED PAID ARGUMENT AGAINST PROPOSITION B: