San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos reflects on his runner-up showing in the San Francisco mayor’s race. He also discusses how ranked-choice voting worked out in last week’s election, and describes his efforts to bring more lower-income and middle-class values to City Hall. Avalos also speaks about issues of the Occupy movement.
Elections
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San Francisco voter guide
For those who haven’t yet voted, we can’t tell you who to vote for, but we can give you a quick primer on each candidate running for office in San Francisco. Summaries–compiled by myself and KALW’s Ben Trefny–below. Candidates appear in the same order you’ll find them in on the ballot.
Roundup: The race for San Francisco district attorney
As you may have noticed from the piles of candidate flyers that arrive in your mailbox every day, or the swarms of politicians hovering around Muni stops and social protests, it’s election season.
SHARMIN BOCK: Hi there, I’m Sharmin Bock, I’m running for DA. Good morning, I’m Sharmin Bock, I’m running for DA…
Now, we’ll turn to the most important local election that very few are paying attention to. Last year, Kamala Harris was elected to statewide office, which meant leaving her post as San Francisco’s district attorney. That caused outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom to do something unprecedented: he appointed his police chief to replace her. Now, to defend his seat, District Attorney George Gascon will have to fend off four competitors. I sat down with KALW’s Ben Trefny to discuss the candidates.
Q&A: Candidates for district attorney, Part IV
One of the more important and most overlooked races going on in San Francisco right now is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Previously, we spoke with Bill Fazio, David Onek, and Sharmin Bock. Today, we sit down with the sitting District Attorney and former Police Chief George Gascon.
Q&A: Candidates for district attorney, Part III
Sharmin Bock
One of the more important and most overlooked races going on in San Francisco right now is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Previously, we spoke with Bill Fazio and David Onek. Today, courtesy of our partners on this project at the San Francisco Public Press, we feature Sharmin Bock, a San Francisco native and longtime prosecutor in Alameda County, known especially for her work on child sex trafficking. Bock sat down with the Public Press’ Jason Winshell and Hank Drew.
Proposition: Ending the death penalty in California
Julia Lundberg
Natasha Minsker speaks at San Francisco's City Hall on Tuesday morning.
By Julia Lundberg
This morning, outside San Francisco’s City Hall, a campaign launched to gather enough signatures to place an initiative on the ballot in November 2012 that would replace the death penalty with life without parole.
This coming week SAFE California (“Savings, Accountability, and Full Enforcement for California Act”) will tour San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego to gather signatures and inform people about the price justice and the community pay for the death penalty.
Among the speakers were law enforcement leaders, families of victims, and exonerated persons. One of them was Lorrain Taylor whose two sons, Albade and Obadiah, were gunned down in 2000 at the age of 22. In the clip above, Lorrain talks about why she is signing the petition.
Q&A: Candidates for district attorney, Part II
One of the more important and most overlooked races going on in San Francisco right now is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Yesterday, we spoke with Bill Fazio. Today, we turn to David Onek, a longtime criminal justice reformer and founding director of the Center for Criminal Justice at UC-Berkeley’s Law School.
Q&A: Candidates for district attorney, Part I
Bill Fazio
One of the more important and most overlooked races going on in San Francisco right now is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Why does this race matter so much? The district attorney is essentially the county’s top policy maker when it comes to criminal justice, deciding who gets charged with which crimes, and has an impact well beyond the courtroom. Theoretically, at least, a district attorney could choose to not make marijuana possession a local crime, or decide that police can or can’t engage in undercover operations, or decide that police should focus on murders and rapes above all else–all by virtue of being the one who decides whether or not to charge crimes. So how do the candidates stand on these issues? We’ll be posting interviews with all five of the candidates for district attorney this week. First up, Bill Fazio, a longtime prosecutor and defense attorney who grew up in San Francisco. [Note: an abridged transcript after the jump; full audio above]