Dear All,
Attached and pasted below are the Minutes of the April 10 meeting I received this morning from Jawj. Please let me know if there are any corrections to be made.
Thank you.
Marcy
Minutes of the LPSF Meeting of April 10, 2010
Members Present: Phil Berg, Marcy Berry (Chair), Michael Edelstein, Francoise Fielding, Ron
Getty, Jawj Greenwald (Secretary).
Non-members: Sheila Dean, Ann Grogan, Mark Williams.
Officer’s Reports:
Treasurer: Marcy Berry reported on last month’s
bank account activity. After
spending $126.91 on printing and mailing announcement/outreach postcards
to members, the balance in the LPSF account is $2,193.36.
Secretary: The minutes of the
February and March meeting were approved after amendment to the latter to
add the names of other candidates for Chair of the national LP.
Chair: Marcy Berry noted and will
investigate the strange lack of mail for the past two months.
Committee Reports:
Internet Communication/Social
Networking: Sheila Dean
reported difficulty accessing the Discussion list. Rob Power will add her.
Outreach: No report. Starchild was
absent.
Membership: Marcy Berry reported
that there were no new memberships or renewals this month.
Announcements:
The May meeting will be held at the Main Library at Civic Center. Ron Getty will confirm any necessary
arrangements for getting access to the room, e.g. a training session.
Old Business:
Ballot Measure
Recommendations:
Ron Getty distributed a
summary of voter initiatives to appear on the June 8 ballot. We voted to recommend as follows. Our recommendations will be mailed on a
postcard to party members and others:
Measure A. SFUSD: District Tax Measure: Continuation
of special parcel tax for the Unified
School District.
Recommend NO (unanimously)
Measure B Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response
General Obligation Bond: Bond measure to upgrade and earthquake proof
police stations, fire stations, and certain water and infrastructure
facilities. Recommend NO (3 No, 2
Yes)
Measure C Establishing a Film
Commission, its Membership, Qualification and Power: Creation of a Film Commission . Recommend NO (unanimously)
Measure D Reducing Employer
Benefit Cost: Reductions in
health and pension benefits for future city employees. Recommend YES (unanimously)
Measure E Budget Line Item
for Police Department Dignitary Security Requirement for a police
budget line item for costs of providing security for officials and
dignitaries. Recommend YES (4 Yes, 1 No, 1 No position)
Measure F Renters Economic Relief: New limitations on landlord pass-throughs of
certain taxes and costs under rent control with limits based on tenant
income. Recommend NO (unanimously)
Measure G Policy Statement on Location of the New Transbay
Center: Policy statement that a new state high
speed rail site should be located where the current Transbay Terminal is.
(Issue now moot) Recommend Yes (5 Yes, 1 No position)
LPSF Business Cards. Rob Power circulated for review and
approval various formats for a two-sided LPSF business card featuring the
world’s smallest political quiz. Ron
Getty circulated a full page handout with the same quiz. Both will have space to personalize them with
local and individual contact information. Rob will finalize the cards and arrange an
initial print run so that they can be used to administer the quiz and promote
the LP at our Gay Pride booth in June.
April 15 Tax Protest. Jawj Greenwald had no success reaching Sally
Zelikovsky, organizer of the Bay Area Patriots Tea Party Protest. She couldn’t get a phone number or any
response to emails. The website,
however, invites candidates to set up tables at the Tax Protest event (which
has been moved to Union Square,
from 4-7 p.m.). Accordingly, the LPSF as
a group will not sponsor or participate in any tax day protest, but individual
members are urged to participate however they wish.
Campaigns.
Phil Berg and Sheila Dean reported on his Congressional District
campaign. Last weekend he campaigned in
the Castro. They circulated an early
draft of campaign literature for review.
Comments can be made to Phil at philzberg@gmail.com
or Sheila at beatthechip@gmail.com. He would be willing to participate in the Bay
Area Patriots’ Tax Day Protest under certain circumstances.
San
Francisco Patrol Special Police. Ann
Grogan gave a brief introduction to the special police, and will come to our
May meeting to discuss more fully their role and how we might support
them. Although the Police Chief and
Police Commission support this private/public policing partnership in
principle, in practice police unions disfavor it and the program in San
Francisco has dwindled to about 40 participants. A report by a Boston consulting group on the role of the
special police will be published shortly, and is expected to be negative in
tone. .
New Business:
LPSF Participation in local politics. There was a general discussion of LPSF
participation in local politics – its level of and opportunities for
participation. Rob Powers will host a
“quasi-potluck” barbecue on July 4th, and it was agreed to allocate $300 to
this event and its publicity.