| San Francisco County, CA | November 5, 2002 Election |
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MAJOR ISSUES OVER VIEWBy James GreenCandidate for Supervisor; County of San Francisco; District 8 |
This information is provided by the candidate | |
CITY BUDGET- Prioritize the city departments, total review of the critical services in each one, use attrition to bring man power in line with revenue resources instead of using lay-offs, new hires for critical positions only, actually use auditor reports to recover waste, no new taxes until we get our house in order. HOMELESS and "CARE NOT CASH"- This is the only homeless initiative I support. It does not merely take money away from the homeless, but rather changes the way the money is spent. It will allow the City to provide expanded alcohol and drug treatment programs, expand mental health services, create job training programs and guaranty housing. However, as a Firefighter-Paramedic I know first hand that even with this initiative there will remain a small but visible percentage of the homeless still living on our streets. These are the people suffering from profound mental illness along with alcohol and drug addiction. The only way to have any measurable impact on their lives is for the Police to cite them for public offenses, the District Attorney to then bring them into Court and for the Judges to mandate them into treatment programs. HOUSING- If we want more affordable, accessible housing then we have to accept that it is a matter of supply and demand. In order to increase supply we can start by building taller, higher density tiered housing along transit corridors and start building family friendly apartments where we were building inefficient lofts. "HOPE"- I support the HOPE initiative because increased home ownership adds stability to the City. This initiative provides tenants who wouldn't normally be able to buy a single family home with the very real prospect of home ownership and the ability to build real equity for the future. With requirements that both the landlord and the tenant mutually agree to a sale and then negotiate a price along with rent control protections for those who remain as renters the result will be a positive increase in home ownership; and there will be none of the dislocations and evictions that are common with true condo conversions or Tenancies in Common (TIC's). LOW INCOME HOUSING BOND- I support Bond Measure B. Passage of Prop A in 1996 has resulted in 1800 new low income family housing units, 270 group home units and provided $15 million in down payment assistance to low income first time home buyers. Prop A demonstrated that City sponsored public-private partnerships are effective, cost efficient methods of increasing affordable housing. San Francisco needs measure B to continue that work. MUNI- The Municipal Transportation Agency has made impressive improvements in service that have raised on-time performance and rider satisfaction with out the need for fare hikes. We must continue these efforts. We must also replace our aging buses with clean burning diesel/electric hybrid buses and we must build the Central Subway from the Caltrain Station to Chinatown/North Beach. CIVIL RIGHTS- Our City must continue to foster a climate that celebrates all manner of diversity, says no to violence and hate crimes, and embraces domestic partner rights such as inheritance, adoption, medical decisions and visiting privileges. HETCH HETCHY- I strongly support Revenue Bond Measure A which will provide $1.6 Billion to repair our aging water system. What is so sad about this issue is that the sudden rush to fix the Hetch Hetchy water system, an undeniably critical part of San Francisco's history and infrastructure, is so emblematic of what is wrong with City Hall. We have known since the 1989 earthquake that it needed to be seismically upgraded. Yet none of our politicians had the intestinal fortitude to make the tough decisions and tackle the job head on. It seems ironic that we elect our Supervisors to act as our representatives -to take care of the peoples business- but in the final analysis we find ourselves forced by their in action to go to the polls and make the tough decisions for them. MONSTER HOMES- We need legislation #such as Uniform Building Guidelines- that will strike a balance between the legitimate needs and rights of property owners to enlarge their homes to accommodate their families and the needs and desires of the surrounding community to temper building excesses and to maintain the architectural character of their neighborhoods. LIBRARY'S- Construction of the new Glen Park Library and seismic renovation of the Noe Valley branch must contain increased community meeting space, areas for children and the technical infrastructure necessary to accommodate electronic media. EDUCATION- Our children must receive a quality education that includes the arts, music, and vocational education, in safe and decent schools, that will guarantee them that they have the skills and knowledge they'll need to compete in our university's and in today's job market. TRAFFIC- To stop red light runners we must impose significantly higher fines like we did with cars parking in bus stops, illegal sidewalk parking must be enforced, dangerous pedestrian intersections should have four way stops or blinking red lights along with count down cross walk timer lights. Where possible I would support a network of bicycle lanes. PARKS- They are a vital part of the soul and esthetic of this City. They need to be maintained, properly funded and reforested. Creative physical methods and compromises must be used to allow children, seniors, and off leash dogs to safely co-exist. SOCIAL WELFARE SAFETY NET- We must have a fully funded San Francisco General Hospital, pharmacy and neighborhood Health Clinics. We also need a 24hour Mental Health drop-in clinic. Funding for Senior Services and Senior housing must reflect the needs of this growing portion of our population. The City must remain committed to a living wage and to finding ways to help working class families, especially single mothers with children by creating neighborhood child care centers. MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC POWER- I don't support either of the ballot propositions. I do support the construction of new clean burning co-generation plants to provide electricity and then the closure of the two existing polluting power plants. |
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 16, 2002 15:39
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