Meaning of Voting Yes/No

A YES vote of this measure means:

A "yes" vote means that a municipal utility district including the City and County of San Francisco and the City of Brisbane would be created.

A NO vote of this measure means:

A "no" vote means that the municipal utility district would not be created.

SAN FRANCISCO LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS ON THE CREATION AND MAINTENANCE OF A MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT

Measure I would create a municipal utility district (MUD) with the same exterior boundaries as the City and County of San Francisco and the City of Brisbane. The petition states that public interest and necessity demand the creation and maintenance of the municipal utility district. The municipal utility district would be known as "San Francisco-Brisbane Municipal Utility District."

A MUD is a public agency which may be formed upon voter approval, to acquire, construct, own, operate, control, or use any utility which supplies the inhabitants of the district with light, water, power, heat, transportation, telephone service, or other means of communication, or means for the collection, treatment, or disposition of garbage, sewage, or refuse matter, and may do all things necessary or convenient to the full exercise of its powers. The district may also purchase any such commodities of services from any other district, public agency, person, or private company, and distribute them, pursuant to the California Public Utilities Code Section 12801.

The proponents for the formation of the MUD, San Francisco Coalition for Lower Utility Bills, a locally organized group, filed a petition with the City and County of San Francisco, which contained approximately 24,456 signatures.

The proposed MUD would be governed by a locally elected, five member board of directors which would be elected by the voters of the district who vote on the question of whether or not the district is formed. If the district is formed, one director will be elected from each of the five wards established by the Board of Supervisors.

Candidate Statements for the proposed district Board of Directors

Public power is 18% cheaper than private utility power on average in California because:

• MUDs don't pay investor dividends;
• MUDs are exempt from taxes; and
• MUDs can borrow funds for capital improvements more cheaply.

San Francisco was mandated by the 1913 federal Raker Act and the U.S. Supreme Court to utilize our Hetch Hetchy water and power resources for the benefit of San Francisco residents and businesses. For over 80 years, PG&E's influence has kept San Francisco from realizing this public power mandate, forcing City residents to buy PG&E's expensive power.

On November 6, vote for lower utility bills, energy self-sufficiency and an end to pollution impacts on our southeast neighborhoods.

The primary opponent to public power is PG&E, a corporation that has given its executives unprecedented bonuses while saddling consumers with $8 billion in debt. PG&E and its allies are trying to scare ratepayers by arguing that a MUD can't work in San Francisco: but Los Angeles, Sacramento, Palo Alto, and dozens of other California cities already enjoy the benefits of public power.

Please vote Yes on Measure I to establish a MUD and Yes on San Francisco Proposition F to ensure public power.

Please join State Senators John Burton and Jackie Speier, State Assembly Member Carole Migden, former Mayor Frank Jordan, Board President Tom Ammiano, former Board Presidents Angela Alioto and Harry Britt, the Sierra Club, and the SF Labor Council and visit http://www.SFBMUD.org for information on MUD Board candidates.

/s/ San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Labor, Businesses and Policy Experts Against the Billion Dollar Bill

Measure I will create a powerful new bureaucracy with the authority to condemn property, raise utility rates and levy new taxes. It would place this power with a new group of politicians exempt from San Francisco's sunshine, ethics and campaign finance laws.

This initiative was placed on the ballot in the name of the electricity crisis, but it doesn't contain one word about providing electricity. It is so broad, it grants this new bureaucracy the power to seize any utility business in San Francisco - including telephone, gas, electricity, cable and water and to raise taxes and rates to pay for the seizures.

This initiative will not lower your utility rates. In fact, it may be the most expensive proposal in the history of the San Francisco ballot. For example, the cost of seizing the electrical distribution network in San Francisco alone will cost at least $800 million, according to the City Controller's own estimates. The cost of seizing or building new power plants, gas lines, transmission lines, phone and cable lines will cost billions more. This infrastructure would be funded by you - through your utility rates and your tax dollars.

Not a single study has been done on the feasibility of a MUD.

No one knows how a MUD would operate or exactly how much it will cost residents of San Francisco and Brisbane.

That is why San Francisco's labor leaders, business community and SPUR, San Francisco's oldest and most respected public policy institution, all agree that Measure I is a bad idea.

/s/ Perry Zimmerman
Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 1245

/s/ Michele Noia
President, Communications Workers of America, Local 9410

/s/ Lee Blitch
President & CEO, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce