The SF Democratic Party’s Questionnaire Makes No Mention of Muni or the “Fix Muni Now” Charter Amendment…Why?

NJudah-postage copy.jpgThe San Francisco Democratic Party (known formally as the Democratic Central Committee) will be voting on its endorsements next week. This is an important vote, because many people simply look at what the party recommends on a postcard they get in the mail, and votes more or less along those lines.
Candidates who wanted the endorsement had to submit to a rather lengthy questionnaire which you can read here, or download it from their site.
I found it fascinating that amongst all the detailed questions, not one was about Muni, which is on most people’s minds whether they like it or not. Even after the publication of the Muni Death Spiral, and the ongoing debates between the Mayor and City Hall about the future of Muni, there’s nothing on here for local candidates for Supervisor or other office discussing something everyone is affected by. In a list of local ballot measures, the Fix Muni Now charter amendment isn’t even listed. This, an amendment which amassed 75,000 or so signatures to get on the ballot and would surely be of some interest to voters.
There’s been all sorts of speculating on how the DCCC will vote on a Fix Muni Now endorsement, but if I had to guess, looking at who serves on the board of the DCCC, it’s going to be an interesting vote.
Four members of the committee are also elected members of the Board of Supervisors (Campos, Chiu, Avalos, Mar) who rely heavily on organized labor’s support. Two are candidates for the Board (Walker, Mandelman) who also rely on labor support as a cornerstone of their campaign. Scott Weiner, another candidate for office, is sharing offices with Fix Muni Now in the Castro, and Gabriel Haaland is a well known labor leader in San Francisco.
It’s difficult to tell how the ex-officio members (those who are Democrats elected to office) will vote on this, as is with some of the other members of the DCCC. If anyone has any insight into this, feel free to post in the comments.
I find it fascinating that a city that claims to be “green” and “transit first” has a Democratic Party locally that doesn’t seem to want to talk about these issues. If the current questionnaire as posted on the Party website is wrong, and in fact they do list Fix Muni Now, I’d love to see it. Otherwise, it seems that once again, Muni’s challenges aren’t being relegated to the back of the bus – Muni isn’t even being allowed on in the first place.
Oh, the irony.
PS: Since the local party doesn’t seem to want to talk about these, I’ve launched the Muni Rider Voter Guide. It’s now live. Which candidates will speak up and tell us about their plans for Muni, and which will duck the issue?
PS2: The local Democrats voted “no endorsement” for Prop. G, the Fix Muni Now measure. If anything it just proves once again the so-called “progressives” don’t give a damn about Muni, and continue to actively work for its demise as much as Muni boss Nate Ford and Prince Newsom do.

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