Hi. Here are my recommendations for Tuesday's election. The majority, originally from Faramarz Nabavi, and several from identified others. Here's my updated intro, then the choices and Faramarz' analyses. Many thanks to all who contributed.
I will only add that democracy demands the voice and power of the public on an ongoing basis. My good rule of thumb is to vote alternate where either the Dem or Rep is 10pts ahead in the polls. So, I'm voting Peter Camejo for Governor, Donna Warren for Lt. Gov., Jack Harrison Atty. Gen., Marsha Feinland for Senator, and strongly urging those in the beach cities to vote for Jim Smith, vs Jane Harmon. Sarah Knopp, a remarkable educator, for State Suprintendant of Educ. Debra Bowen is very special and in an apparently tight race. I can think of nobody more needed or capable of changing our corrupted voting system and our democracy preserved. Other than that, I pray the Dems will have a Congressional majority, at minimum. Conyers and Waxman holding hearings can do wonders in exposing, educating and stopping Bush's not so creeping fascism, our #1 priority in this election. Ed 2006 GENERAL ELECTION VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS Election Day: Tuesday, November 6, 2006 Hours of voting: 7:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M. To find your voting location or sample ballot, go to http://www.lavote.net or call 800-815-2666 VOTING LIST ON TOP EXPLANATIONS FOLLOW BELOW SOURCES LISTED AT BOTTOM NOTE: To the best of my ability, I have listed candidates who are anti-war/pro-civil liberties for federal office, and for state office who are not prominent promoters of the death penalty. Third party candidates are listed in "safe seats" where the Democrat won by at least 10 points more than the Republican in the previous race and where the current Democratic candidate does not deserve to be elected and is not in danger, with one exception (Treasurer). I have not recommended any candidate I find strongly objectionable. The recommendations listed here do not represent the views of any particular organization. Also, check out my new daily blog at http://faramarz.freeshell.org STATE Governor: Phil Angelides (D) Ed: Peter Camejo (G) Lt. Governor: John Garamendi (D) Ed: Donna Warren (G) Secretary of State: Debra Bowen (D) Controller: John Chiang (D) Treasurer: Gerald Sanders (PF) or Mehul Thakker (G) Attorney General: Jerry Brown (D) Ed: Jack Harrison (PF) Insurance Commissioner: Cruz Bustamante (D) [with reservations] Member State Board of Equalization 4th Dist: Judy Chu (D) State Suprintendant of Education: Ed: Sarah Knopf (G) UNITED STATES SENATOR Marsha Feinland (PF)*** *** this is important not only because Dianne Feinstein (D) is pro-war, pro-business, and anti-civil liberties, but also to keep the Peace and Freedom Party on the ballot; the Green Party won't lose ballot status because it has a sufficient number of registered voters as party members. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 28th: Byron De Lear (G) 29th: Lynda Llamas (PF) or Bill Paparian (G) 30th: Adele Cannon (PF) 31st: Xavier Becerra (D) 32nd: Hilda Solis (D) 33rd: Diane Watson (D) 34th: Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) 35th: Maxine Waters (D) 36th: James Smith (PF) 39th: Linda Sanchez (D) STATE SENATOR 24th: Gloria Romero (D) 28th: Jenny Oropeza (D) MEMBER OF STATE ASSEMBLY 37th: Ferial Masry (D) 39th: Richard Alarcon (D) 41st: Julia Brownley (D) 43rd: Paul Krekorian (D) 44th: Anthony Portantino (D) 47th: Karen Bass (D) 49th: Mike Eng (D) 51st: Curren Price (D) 53rd: Karl Abrams (PF) 56th: Tony Mendoza (D) 57th: Ed Hernandez (D) 61st: Nell Soto (D) Judges: From Anne Marie Staas (and Stonewall Democratic Club) and Art Goldberg, here are their recommendations. I'll go with these. -Ed Judicial - Supreme Court Justice Joyce L. Kennard -YES Carol A. Corrigan-YES Judicial - Court of Appeal Justice Frances Rothchild-YES Victoria M. Chavez-YES Patti S. Kitching-YES Norman L. Epstein-YES Nora M Manella-YES Richard Most-YES Arthur Gilbert-YES Laurie D. Zelon-YES Candace D. Cooper-YES Madeleine Flier-YES Judicial - Judge of the Superior Court Office # 8-Bob Henry Office # 18-John C. Gutierrez Office #102-Hayden Zacky Office #104-Bobbi Tillmon Office #144-Janis Levart Barquist STATE MEASURES YES on 84, 86, 87, 89 neutral on 1C, 1D NO on 1A, 1B, 1E, 83, 85, 88, 90 NO 1A Transportation Funding Protection NO 1B Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction ? 1C Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund ? 1D Kindergarten - University Public Education Facilities Bond NO 1E Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond NO 83 Sex Offenders Sexually Violent Predators YES 84 Water Quality, Safety and Supply [with reservations] NO 85 Waiting Period and Parental Notification YES 86 Tax on Cigarettes YES 87 Alternative Energy Tax on California Oil Producers NO 88 Education Funding Real Property Parcel Tax YES 89 Political Campaigns Public Financing Corporate Tax Increase NO 90 Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property CITY ALHAMBRA City Council Dist 5: Adele Andrade-Stadler CLAREMONT YES S Wilderness Park Expansion LOS ANGELES CITY SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION YES H Affordable Housing General Obligation Bonds YES J City of Los Angeles Proposition J Technical Change for Proposition F Fire Stations NO R Councilmember Term Limits of Three Terms; City Lobbying, Campaign Finance and Ethics Laws PASADENA NO A Rose Bowl Renovation and Lease by NFL SANTA MONICA For City Council, SMRR has endorsed Kevin McKeown, Gleam Davis and Pam O'Connor. The very progressive Santa Monica Democratic Club has endorsed Kevin McKeown and Gleam Davis. These are the people who can be relied on to vote for affordable housing, rent control protections, and school budget enhancements YES Y Lowest Enforcement Priority for Adult, Personal Use of Marijuana DISTRICT Water Replenishment Board, District 3 Lillian Kawasaki Castaic Lake Water Agency Jan Heidt - Division 1 Cam Noltemeyer - Division 2 Carole Lutness - Division 3 Isaac Lieberman - At Large EXPLANATIONS EXPLANATIONS EXPLANATIONS STATE Governor: Angelides (D) has had a progressive record as Treasurer, shifting state pension funds from the stock market to community reinvestment, and promoting shareholder activism against irresponsible corporations. He supports universal health care, public campaign financing, and strong environmental protections. Schwarzenegger has vetoed universal health care and almost every environmental bill this year, as well as pushing hard to prevent the unjust "3 Strikes" law from being voted out in 2004. Lieutenant Governor: Garamendi (D) has defended consumers' interests several times as Insurance Commissioner. McClintock is an arch-conservative, anti-tax, anti-abortion, anti-environment, anti-union, pro-business ideologue. More than a token position, the Lieutenant Governor sits on several important state boards and casts tie-breaking votes in the state Senate, in addition to filling in when the Governor is not available. Secretary of State: Bowen (D) is the rare state legislator who has given large amounts of time and staff resources to supporting a grassroots movement - in this case, to protect our right to vote and to have our votes counted. Republican incumbent Bill McPherson (R) has been trying to push through the same faulty Republican-owned electronic voting machines that produced surprising Republican victories in other states. Controller: I personally asked Chiang (D) what he would do if elected, and he replied that going after the tax breaks for oil producers and refineries would be one of his top goals. He is the only elected state official to have organized free tax assistance for the indigent. Treasurer: Lockyer (D) led the public lynch mob campaign to execute Stanley "Tookie" Williams, which alone should disqualify from any office, as well has having supported predatory lending, taking contributions from companies he was supposed to regulate as the state's chief law enforcement officer. By contrast, Sanders (PF) and Thakker (G) have both put forward progressive visions about how the state should handle its finances, such has moving its deposits away from corporate banks and investing in renewable energy. Attorney General: Brown (D) has publicly stated his personal opposition to the death penalty, so although he will uphold his legal obligation to support the prosecution in death penalty appeals, he hopefully won't cynically use his position to curry favor with voters at the expense of a person's life. His record on police issues in Oakland has not been progressive, though. Insurance Commissioner: Bustamante (D) accepted, then returned contributions from the insurance industry. On the other hand, every Republican who has held this office has been so bad for consumers that Bustamante would not be worse. On balance, Bustamante is better; had I felt strongly that his record was negative, I would not have recommended him over his rival. Member State Board of Equalization 4th Dist: Chu (D) has been one of the most progressive legislators in the state. UNITED STATES SENATOR Marsha Feinland (PF)*** *** this is important not only because Dianne Feinstein (D) is pro-war, pro-business, and anti-civil liberties, but also to keep the Peace and Freedom Party on the ballot; the Green Party won't lose ballot status because it has a sufficient number of registered voters as party members. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 28th: De Lear (G) is a peace activist running against the only CA Democrat who supports the war, Howard Berman (D), who mis-represents a heavily liberal district. Berman has been bad on so many issues - civil liberties, corporate accountability, and anything on foreign policy - that you should not only vote for De Lear (G), but give him money and tell every one of your friends to vote for him too or bring 10 years of bad luck on themselves!!! 29th: Llamas (PF) is a peace activist who has led solidarity caravans to Cuba, and Paparian (G) is a progressive lawyer and former Pasadena mayor, whereas the incumbent, Adam Schiff (D), has a voting record on war, civil liberties and foreign policy that is almost as bad as Berman. 30th: Cannon (PF), a long time progressive activist, is running against Henry Waxman (D) because he supported the war and the Patriot Act. Waxman mis-represents a very progressive district: he needs to get a message that it's not enough to challenge the Republicans on corruption; he needs to take a stand against the Iraq war and against starting a war on Iran. 31st: Becerra (D) opposed the war, supported civil liberties. 32nd: Solis (D) is a consistent progressive advocate on most issues. 33rd: Watson (D) opposed the war, supported civil liberties. 34th: Roybal-Allard (D) opposed the war, supported civil liberties. 35th: Not only is Waters (D) is a consistent progressive advocate on all issues, she personally tried to save the South Central Farm and also worked very hard to overturn the Bush Administration's coup d'etat against the democratically elected government of Haiti, and denounced the attempted coup against President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. 36th: Smith (PF) is a peace and labor activist running against the wealthiest member of Congress, Jane Harman (D), who made her money through military contracts, which is part of why she supports every war and restriction on civil liberties. 39th: Sanchez (D) opposed the war, supported civil liberties. STATE SENATOR 24th: Romero (D) has been a leading advocate for stopping the emphasis on imprisoning youth. 28th: After surviving cancer, Oropeza (D) has become one of the strongest advocates for environmental justice. MEMBER OF STATE ASSEMBLY 39th: Alarcon (D) has made addressing poverty a focus of his work. 41st: Brownley (D) has good positions on the environment and health care. 43rd: Krekorian (D) has supported green building policies at the Burbank school district. 44th: Portantino (D) has a good record of supporting open space and has avoided the temptation of being a "centrist" even though he represented a heavily Republican town. Costa (G) is also a good candidate with a clearly progressive agenda. 47th: Bass (D) is a strong voice for progressive causes. 49th: As a Monterey Park councilmember Eng (D) has supported environmental bills at the state level. 51st: Price (D) supported the campaign to stop Wal-Mart in Inglewood. 53rd: Abrams (PF) is a solid progressive; the incumbent, Ted Lieu (D), is pro-war and has had a bad voting record on environmental and consumer issues. 56th: Mendoza (D) was endorsed by labor and environmental groups in the primary. 57th: Hernandez (D) was endorsed by labor and environmental groups in the primary. 61st: Soto (D) has a good record as a state senator. STATE MEASURES NO 1A Keeps gas taxes for spending on highways. We need to shift this money to more public transit and renewable energy. NO 1B Road building pork barrel. Very little for public transit. Will damage open space. ? 1C We need more affordable housing for everyone, not just small specific groups. Bond financing is regressive. ? 1D Funding formula is not favorable to districts that have the greatest need. Bond financing is regressive. NO 1E This is meant to benefit agribusiness and large real estate developers. It is not an environmental bill. NO 83 Most sex offenders are actually relatives of victims, not strangers; this does nothing to protect most victims. It does give Republicans one more excuse to enact more police state measures to take away civil liberties. First child molesters/gang members/terrorists, then everybody else will get hit - just look at the Patriot Act. If the Republicans are serious about stopping sex offenders, they should have been policing their own members of Congress like Mark Foley (R-FL)!!! YES 84 [with reservations] Having worked for two environmental nonprofits on water issues, I think that the current framework for giving bond grants is ineffective; I feel lukewarm about supporting yet another bond that systematically favors big projects of modest benefit. NO 85 This is an attack on abortion rights, defining life at conception, and targets youth in particular through parental notification. YES 86 A cigarette tax for public health expenditures. YES 87 This is NOT, NOT a gas tax, and won't raise your gas prices. What it will do is make companies extracting oil out of California pay a similar amount of money as they do in states like Texas and Alaska - incredibly, California basically gives away our resources virtually free, unlike everywhere else - and invest that money in alternative energy. You know it has to be something real good if the oil companies are spending $100 MILLION (!) to defeat it. Tell the oil companies to drop dead - instead of sending Americans to fight and die for their profits! NO 88 No folks, this is worse than Prop. 1D because it uses a very regressive type of tax by property parcel: in other words, a retired widow on a minimal fixed income living in a small house in Compton would pay the same tax as the owner of a high rise office building or shopping mall! The benefits will also go disproportionately to charter schools vs. regular public schools. Those are two of the reasons why Chamber of Commerce types are supporting it: because the rest of us will foot the bill. Not every initiative claiming to promise money for education is a good thing. YES 89 Public campaign financing makes a real difference in leveling the playing field: Maine passed a universal health care plan thanks to grassroots candidates being able to challenge the insurance-funded incumbents. The money for the campaigns will come from a corporate tax increase. This system has proven to loosen the death grip corporate lobbyists hold over government, though it won't make every politician honest! NO 90 This is about giving property owners even more rights to strangle the public interest and steal our money. It is not going to eliminate eminent domain, which is in the United States Constitution, but it would give any property owner the right to sue any city or district that passes a regulation which could cause a potential loss of profits, which the city or district then have to pay. Although the transfer of property from one private owner to another through eminent domain has been abused and needs to be drastically curtailed, this is a "cure" that's even worse than the disease. We need to be yanking the charters of criminal corporations, not giving them the right to blackmail us out of protecting our communities! CITY ALHAMBRA City Council, District 5: Andrade-Stadler advanced progressive issues as the District Director for Rep. Hilda Solis (D) and continues to be a strong supporter of the environment and unions. CLAREMONT YES S will protect endangered open space. LOS ANGELES CITY SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION YES H Will help generate badly-needed affordable housing for everyone. YES J Will save money. NO R Most of our city council consists of a bunch of lackeys for developers. The last thing we should do is give an extra term in office to the same bunch of crooked politicians who handed the South Central Farm to a developer at a fraction of the market value, without any public notice or comment. "arrgh" - VOTE NO ON R!!! PASADENA NO A Tell the NFL, a private for-profit entity, to invest its own money if it wants a stadium built to its specs. SANTA MONICA (From SMRR) City Council: For City Council, SMRR has endorsed Kevin McKeown, Gleam Davis and Pam O'Connor. The very progressive Santa Monica Democratic Club has endorsed Kevin McKeown and Gleam Davis. These are the people who can be relied on to vote for affordable housing, rent control protections, and school budget enhancements YES Y The cops need to be reminded that we really want the drug war to end - even people like me who think smoking anything is bad for your health. DISTRICT - these are recommendations from the Sierra Club. For Castaic Lake, it is especially important because the agency has input into approval of mega housing developments that require access to water supplies in order to destroy large areas of wilderness to build thousands of cookie-cutter houses. Castaic Lake Water Agency Jan Heidt - Division 1 Cam Noltemeyer - Division 2 Carole Lutness - Division 3 Isaac Lieberman - At Large Water Replenishment Board, District 3 Lillian Kawasaki SOURCES CHECKED: League of Women Voters - www.smartvoter.org Court of Appeal - www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/courtsofappeal/2ndDistrict/justices.htm LA County Democratic Party - www.lacdp.org LA County Peace & Freedom Party - www.la-peaceandfreedom.org Green Party of California - www.cagreens.org LA County Federation of Labor - www.launionaflcio.org Sierra Club - angeles.sierraclub.org Google - www.google.com Southern California Republican Coalition - www.socalgop.com/voting_guide.htm Ventura County Republican Party - www.vcrcc.org [almost every judge endorsed by the GOP got an automatic "NO" on this list] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
