Campaign Buttons Are Now Available
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

We're pleased to announce the New Solidarity union printing shop over in Oakland has manufactured beautiful #‎VotePetrelis‬ campaign buttons for us and they are now available for supporters and voters to wear.

A word about New Solidarity. We made many inquiries for an affordable union shop in San Francisco and also checked out commercial printers to get price quotes and here's what we learned.

There are no such unions shops here that produce finished, quality buttons. One shop said they would print the campaign images on paper but that we'd have to finish them ourselves, after purchasing button-making machine. Commercial venues such as Office Max and Kinkos had high prices and would out-source the job.

The price quote from New Solidarity was the best deal around, so we sent them out graphic design and we now have 250 fabulous looking shining campaign buttons to distribute. They may even become collectors' items, so get yours soon!

League of Women Voters & My Public Access Close-Up

Did you know that SF Gov TV has a fully equipped studio loaded with lights, cameras of all sorts, make-up supplies, editing facilities and a teleprompter located in the bowels of the main library on Grove Street?

I didn't until the League of Women Voters invited me to participate in their program of taping a five-minute statement from Supervisorial candidates, that will air on the City's two public access channels and be available as video-on-demand on SFGovTV.org the final week of September.

My friend Bill Wilson of the #ILikeMikeSF team accompanied me this afternoon as we met up with Nati Oron of the league near the Koret Auditorium on the library's lower level, who escorted us to the studio.

Nati went over the details about how I had only twenty-minutes for a take or two, that there would be no editing of the tapes, I'd have to choose which take to use and to not mention other candidates, among other fine points.

The technicians had prepared my statement for the teleprompter and this was my first time using one for a speaking engagement. I liked using the teleprompter and sure would love to have the device available for when I make public comment at City Hall hearings.

I was told where to stand under the blazing hot lights, in front of a green screen which would transform into a background image of City Hall when the tape airs, and did a sound-check.

We filmed two takes and the first one was chosen because I spoke slower and made fewer flubs than in the second version. Many thanks to the League of Women Voters and SF Gov TV for making this outreach tool available to this alternative candidate.

Once we hear from the league that the segment is available for viewing, we'll share the details with you.