Here's my rebuttal on Prop. B, copied below and attached as an MS Word document. It lists as 253 words, but with all the "San Franciscos" counting as 1 word each per the Elections Dept., should be 250 or less for the final count.
Aubrey, you asked me to print out hard copies of the stories at the links below. I can do that if you want, but if you can print them then you wouldn't need to come by here and get them from me, unless you'd like me to come with you to City Hall for some other reason.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
PROPOSITION B ENDANGERS FUNDING FOR HEALTH, EDUCATION, PUBLIC SAFETY, AND HOUSING
Prop. B would remove over $1 billion in funding from San Francisco’s general fund for 30 years, putting other budgetary priorities at risk.
Children’s health, fire protection, paving the streets – all these services and many others would have fewer resources to draw upon in time of need if it passes.
Supervisors may assume they’ll just be able to raise taxes to make up any resulting budgetary problems, but will voters agree?
Proponents insist Prop. B has safeguards assuring equitable funding to all neighborhoods. But according to the legislation’s text, even if the Controller determines the Recreation and Park Department (RPD) has failed to meet these requirements, all the Board of Supervisors would be allowed to do is withhold 5% of RPD’s budget at most!
Proponents also claim park funding has eroded as a share of the City’s total budget. That’s only true because the total municipal budget has grown even more rapidly than the parks budget!
The April issue of San Francisco magazine reports “San Francisco’s budget has almost doubled over the last 10 years, from $5.3 billion to nearly $9 billion” (http://modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/san-franciscos-incredible-expanding-budget).
Meanwhile, RPD’s budget has increased substantially over the past decade, from $100 million in 2005 (http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/CITYWIDE-Czar-of-Rec-and-Park-has-high-2576441.php) to $163 million last year (http://sfbay.ca/2015/01/15/city-parks-brighten-budget-forecast/ )..
Unfortunately, like the rest of San Francisco’s budget, park funding is being eaten up by personnel costs. Let’s address that problem, not cannibalize other City services!
Vote NO on B!
Libertarian Party of San Francisco
www.LPSF.org
No On B (Rebuttal)-2016 (56.5 KB)