Proposition G on November’s ballot is for the Upper Great Highway, the scenic roadway near Ocean Beach where generations of San Franciscans have traveled to the Cliff House, V.A. Hospital, the San Francisco Zoo and numerous other points north and south.
September used to be the month I returned to school after being released in the middle of June. That’s gone with the wind. San Francisco public schools opened up for business on Monday, Aug. 17, two weeks before Labor Day. My Napa grandsons, Emmett and Brooks (16 and 12) reported for academic duty in their schools on Aug. 10. Naturally, football practice began even before that.
Although the June special election feels like it just happened, District 4 voters will return to the polls this November to elect a supervisor for a full four-year term. I’ve been surprised by how many neighbors didn’t know there was another election.
I am running as an independent candidate for District 2 Supervisor because I love this City and believe we can do better.
There were a total of 61 candidates for California governor on your June 2 primary election ballot. In addition, there were seven write-in candidates that you may or may not have heard about. How did you vote? Did you support a candidate you really liked because of the positions he or she took on issues? Was your vote influenced by whether or not your candidate had a chance of winning? Did you make your choice based on which candidate is the most popular in opinion polls? Do you rely on political advice from friends and neighbors? Or, are you influenced by the mountain of political literature that arrives in your mailbox and advertisements that flood all types of media?
Last month we learned from a reported City Hall audit that a wily operator, former Chief Assistant Treasurer Tajel Shah, ignored procurement rules to ensure that a $7 million City Hall contract for a new tax collecting system went to tech corporation Mechanical Orchard. The system handles billions of dollars in San Francisco‘s infamous business taxes. City Attorney David Chiu, City Controller Greg Wagner and the Controller’s Auditor of City Services uncovered Shah’s perfidy. Shah never revealed her friendship with the chief revenue officer of Mechanical Orchard whose subcontractor (Ratio PBC) then hired Ms. Shah’s niece. A complaint was thereafter filed by a knowledgeable citizen with the Ethics Commission in late 2024. The San Francisco Standard reported such malefeasance on Sept. 25, 2025. Mechanical Orchard pulled out of contract talk the day before Shah’s perfidy was revealed. Shah resigned on Nov. 21, 2025.
On March 5, 1946, Winston S. Churchill spoke at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, having traveled 1,000 miles with then President Harry S. Truman from Washington D.C. to do so (Churchill also observed: “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken over me.”)
To ensure taxpayer obliviousness, the Rail Authority claims “real progress” on the project and says almost 80 miles of “guideway” are complete in Madera, Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties, plus “171 miles under design and construction from Merced to Bakersfield.”
District 4 voters deserve to know who is trying to buy influence in our neighborhood election. Recent reporting by Mission Local shows outside spending in our supervisorial race has reached unprecedented levels. This isn’t just about campaign advertising; it’s about a high-stakes clash of interests attempting to dictate the future of our community.
On May 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the District 1 Youth Council will host a Town Hall at the San Francsico Public Library, Richmond Branch open to all students in the Richmond District, creating a space where young people can speak honestly about their experiences and help shape what comes next.
This Memorial Day weekend, take a moment with your families to honor the memories of the men and women who gave up their lives in the service of our country.
As we reach the pinnacle of our California primary election on June 2 – early voting by mail starts May 4 – the effect of 62 candidates of which 24 are Democrats, 12 are Republican, 19 are “no party preference” (meaning they’re Independents like me!), one Libertarian and one Peace and Freedom who present themselves as worthy of serving four years as our next governor.
It’s been said that: “There is nothing quite as permanent as a temporary government program.” And, as we enter income tax month, I’m reminded of someone who observed: “Patrick Henry ought to come back and see what taxation with representation is like.”
In the November election, westside residents may be asked to decide the fate of the Upper Great Highway (UGH). This time our community’s safety may hang in the balance.
“Some citizens are so good that nothing a leader can do will make them better. Others are so incorrigible that nothing can be done to improve them. But the great bulk of the people go with the moral tide of the moment. The leader must help create that tide.”
