2,001 District 8 Voters Can't be Wrong!

The San Francisco Department of Elections continues to count vote-by-mail and other ballots from the November 4th election and yesterday's daily update contained excellent news for my DIY Democracy campaign for Supervisor.

Thanks to District 8 voters, my vote tally now stands at 2,001 and it feels good to break the 2,000 mark, and to remain in second place.

Additionally, the number of votes for all four challengers to the incumbent is 6,535 and is a robust figure. Let's look at other D8 stats from the department for the election.

There are 53,781 registered voters in the district, of which 29,361 cast ballots and 24,420 didn't bother to vote last week.

The incumbent has thus far received 22,924 votes, but if when you combine the number (24,240) of folks who didn't vote and the 6,535 figure of the votes for us challengers, the total is 30,955.

In other words, the incumbent was reelected with less than half of registered voters casting ballots.

By the way, in the 2010 race for D8 Supervisor, the fourth-placed candidate was Bill Hemenger who is a business executive and quit his job at Oracle to run for office. His vote total was 1,802, which is nothing to sneeze at given his low-wattage name.

Needless to say, I think it's interesting to note I received more votes this year than Hemenger did in 2010.

Again, much gratitude to all who voted for me or in any way supported my alternative candidacy.

I Won Second Place With 7.2% of the Vote
By Michael Petrelis

The results are in and I'm damn proud to have received 1,485 of ballots cast in the San Francisco District 8 race for Supervisor, and winning the second place of the campaign.

Election results are for all intents and purposes complete, with 98.57% of the vote in our district counted, and my percentage of votes comes to 7.2%.

It's been a fantastic and long trip running for elective office, and my sincerest thanks go out to everyone who voted for me or in anyway lent support and friendship during the almost year-long campaign. I couldn't have done this without you!

Special gratitude and love to my great and wonderful husbear Mike Merrigan, who had to put up with all the ups and downs of this DIY Democracy effort and kept me laughing and healthy.

I spent the final hours of this Election Day at the David Campos party at the El Rio, my first time there, and glad I schmoozed with everyone. Campos got my vote and at one point told me he was glad I ran against the incumbent and I thanked him for saying that.

Here are photos of me with friends and folks who gave me their votes.

Vid: If You're Pissed Off, #VotePetrelis!
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

One-week from today, the 2014 election will be over and we hope our DIY Democracy campaign will rack up decent numbers of protest votes from District 8 residents who support what we stand for and also cast ballots for us to send a message of dissatisfaction with the incumbent Supervisor.

We shot this video today to reinforce our campaign slogan, "If you're pissed, vote Petrelis!"

What better way to do this than in a men's room standing near urinals? Needless to say, the candidate gave full permission to be videotaped making good use of the restroom and proudly wore his SF Giants' apparel.

All District 8 voters are asked to vote three times for Petrelis. Mark all three ranked-choice columns, with Petrelis' name at the top of each, and let the incumbent, Mayor Ed Lee, their wealthy tech friends, the real estate and construction industries and power-brokers such as Willie Brown know you're pissed off.

As Election Day draws closer, we again express deep gratitude to everyone who has donated or taped up posters or worn a button or shared campaign info via social media (do more of that, please!) and already voted for Petrelis. Thank you.

 

Which Supes Got Airbnb Executives' Donations?
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Following the money of Airbnb executives for the current election season as listed at the San Francisco Ethics Commission web site led us to some unsurprising info. All of these contributions from the executives were made in 2014.

Varsha Rao gave Supervisor Mark Farrell $500; Stephen Conley donated $500 to Assessor Carmen Chu, $500 to Supervisor Katy Tang, $500 to Supervisor Malia Cohen; Jeffrey Nanney contributed $500 to Supervisor Scott Wiener; and David Owen gave $100 to Chu.

Airbnb Inc contributed $2,500 to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, which is the home club for Wiener.

All of the Supervisors who received donations from the Airbnb leaders voted in the majority last week legalizing short-term stays in private homes and apartments, and absolving Airbnb of having to pay about $25 million in back taxes.

The legislation was signed by Mayor Ed Lee yesterday, as affordable housing advocates built an alter honoring all the displaced and evicted renters and small businesses over the past few years of the tech boom disfiguring San Francisco.

We're just saying it's rather curious four of the Supervisors who voted for legislation with very favorable terms for this tech firm also received the maximum amount allowed by local law for donations from individuals.

Pissed off about this sort of stuff? Then #VotePetrelis!

#VotePetrelis Posters Now Up on District 8 Streets
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Our fabulous DIY Democracy campaign posters went up on October 10th on select utility poles around District 8 and we're hoping they attract the eyeballs of voters.

Several posters were taped up near pedestrian crosswalks, where people may spend a few extra moments reading the posters before crossing the street.

If you wish to donate money to increase the number of posters we can display with just over three-weeks left before Election Day, please do so using PayPal or sending a check to our post office box.

Thanks, to all our donors who made this signage possible!

Early Voting Happening Now at City Hall
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

This video was made recently to educate District 8 and all San Francisco voters that early voting started on Monday, October 6th down at the Department of Elections inside City Hall.

Everyone on the #VotePetrelis team urges you to vote early, make sure you're registered to vote and if you haven't signed up to vote yet or you've moved, you have until October 20th to register.

For more information about everything to do with this year's election, please visit the department's web site: http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=599.

Like every other SF Giants fan, we're very happy our team won its long game the other night in Washington, DC, against the Nationals. After 18 innings of play, it now enters the history books as the longest postseason game on record.

Check out the colorful video which includes a shoutout to the Giants.

Our Campaign Signs Look Fab in Home Windows 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

The heatwave San Francisco is suffering through is not stopping #VotePetrelis voters and donors in District 8 from showing their support in their home windows.

Our friend Paul Isaacs requested a few of our union-made window signs and buttons last week, and he's now displaying three of the signs facing the street for voters to see.

Paul is such a sweetie. Not only has he made a generous donation to our DIY Democracy effort, publicly shown his backing from his home on 14th Street, he's also posted a few photos here: http://tinyurl.com/PaulIsaacs-FB-page.

We extend a hearty thank you to him, and also wish to point out how well our campaign signs accentuate the lavender color scheme of his home's exterior!

425K Voter Guides Snail-Mailed by Elections Department
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Now that paper version of the voter guide has been sent via the U.S. Postal Service by the Department of Elections, it truly feels like election season here. Early voting begins on Monday, October 6th at City Hall.

We're quite curious how many of the 425,000 pamphlets the department stated were sent this week, will be read by voters and what influence candidate statements have on how ballots are cast.

Needless to say, we hope our statement swings a robust number of ballots in our direction.

In the Merrigan-Petrelis household, we generally read the guide together one morning over breakfast and try not to get into too heavy a political discussion. Merrigan looks at it again when he fills out his mail-in ballot.

On the other hand, Petrelis clips the pages of most interest about ballot measures and takes them with him on election day when he votes at his polling station.

You can read the full 209-page voter information pamphlet here:http://tinyurl.com/SF-2014-voter-guide. And remember to #VotePetrelis!

'Your Chest Needs a #VotePetrelis Button!' 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

On the campaign trail this afternoon, we ran into our pal and supporter Derrick who was doing his best to keep cool in the heatwave saturating San Francisco today.

Derrick inquired as to how our DIY Democracy candidacy was going and we couldn't resist telling him, "Your chest needs a #VotePetrelis button!"

He quickly donned his new gay accoutrement, took a sip of his iced coffee and struck a few poses for our camera before he took a selfie of us together showing off our buttons.

Ah, the pleasures of pressing the flesh and interacting with the voters is just one more reason we're enjoying ourselves so immensely on the campaign trail.

Be sure to stop us when you see us out and about in District 8 or around the city and get one the buttons.

Wiener Blows Off The Living Wage Coalition
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

The incumbent District 8 Supervisor has a campaign team of handsomely compensated political consultants and a key task for them is answering the many questionnaires that flood all candidates.

Our DIY Democracy team behind #VotePetrelis would welcome the resources to respond to all groups, political blogs and newspapers seeking our views on various concerns, but we believe we chose wisely which questionnaires to address or not.

The San Francisco Living Wage Coalition is one group we very much support and we made sure to get them a response by their deadline, and stick to their word-limit.

Yesterday, their voter guide arrived on paper via snail mail and we're proud to say ours was the only campaign to fully address all ten of the coalition's questions. The overwhelmingly number of replies were simple yes or no answers.

But the most surprising aspect was seeing that Scott Wiener just blew off the coalition's concerns and didn't respond. What does that say about his agenda to pay working folks a wage they can live on?

If you're pissed off, #VotePetrelis!

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.

SF Chronicle's D8 Supervisor Forum on Sept 25th
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

(We got ahead of ourselves with the post a few days ago about the D8 incumbent waffling on joining this forum. Here's the post about the invitation from the paper.)

John Diaz is one of the top editors for the San Francisco Chronicle and today we received this invitation for him, which we quickly replied to and stated our willingness to participate in the democratic process with the paper:

"Hello Candidates:

"As part of its endorsement process, the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board is inviting District 8 candidates to a 1-hour forum at our offices, 901 Mission Street, on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 11 a.m.

"Each candidate will be allowed a 60-second opening statement, and then we will go with several rounds of questions, to be followed by a 60-second closing statement.

"We would appreciate your participation. Please RSVP via email to Jillian Sullivan of our staff, [addy deleted].

"John Diaz, editorial page editor

"P.S. We also will be sending you a questionnaire (12 question) by the end of this week. We intend to post your responses online for the benefit of voters."

We were especially pleased with those last four words: for the benefit voters.

San Francisco democracy will be tremendously enhanced with this forum and of huge value to District 8 voters. The #ILikeMikeSF team is pleased with this invitation, needless to say.

While the Chronicle's forum is not open to the public and, as far as we know won't be streamed on the web, it's still the only debate any entity in this town is organizing before the election.

In our response, we explained that a stay-away order is in place and Judge Sam Feng has modified exactly for purposes of such newspaper-sponsored group interviews and asked for a few details to present to the judge beforehand, at his request. The paper has agreed to provide us with those details (layout of the room, seating arrangement, etc) tomorrow.

Thank you, Chronicle editors, for this opportunity to bring all of the District 8 candidates together for the September 25th forum.

Wiener Waffles on SF Chron Endorsement Forum
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis
(Cross-posted at our campaign site.)

The San Francisco Chronicle on Aug. 28th called out Gov. Jerry Brown for long refusing then finally relenting to debate his GOP challenger Neel Kashkari, and issued a few grand pronouncements about democracy and incumbents (tinyurl.com/Chron-Democracy-Needs-Debates):

"Face-to-face debates between candidates are central to a healthy democracy. Politicians may want to avoid them - especially incumbents with big leads and hefty war chests - but voters deserve to see a side-by-side comparison between candidates who want to attain or retain key public offices. [...] Voters should be wary of candidates who are reluctant to subject themselves to real scrutiny."

On Monday, we accepted the Chronicle's invitation to participate in an editorial board forum scheduled for Sept. 25th with the District 8 Supervisor and all of his challengers, and we told the paper about a stay-away order that a judge has modified allowing for the incumbent to appear at debates with Michael. The Chronicle didn't keep its promise to provide us with layout and seating details by Tuesday, to present to the judge.

The Bay Area Reporter tonight notes the incumbent's stand on joining the Chronicle's forum (tinyurl.com/BAR-Wiener-Debates):

"Wiener has repeatedly said he will not participate in any forums that include Petrelis. But when asked this week by the B.A.R. if he would skip the Chronicle endorsement meeting should the judge allow Petrelis to attend, Wiener was noncommittal. 'It's too soon to say,' he said. 'The Chronicle is aware of the situation.'"

Yes, we agree with the Supervisor that the paper is aware of the sticky situation and may now be trying to wiggle out of the invitation to us and the editorial board forum, which is why the Chronicle has broken its promise to get back to us yesterday.

Could it be that the Chronicle was ignorant of their favorite Supervisor's adamant refusal to engage in the democratic process of debates with all of his electoral opponents?

Permit us to state we also concur with the paper's contention that voters should be skeptical of politicians unwilling to debate and be scrutinized. It will be very interesting, to say the least, to hear what the Chronicle has to say about the incumbent's reluctance to join a forum with Michael at the table.

Why Am I in California Lawyer Magazine this Month?

Former actress and longtime lesbian Democrat Sheila Kuehl was profiled in the May edition of California Lawyer magazine, as she campaigned in the June primary for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in the Third District.

This passage positively screamed out for a reaction:

A relentless fund-raiser, Kuehl regularly sends out email solicitations, mining seemingly any occasion as a rallying cry. 'Help me scare away the competition with a donation before Halloween, read one typical plea last fall.

What is in the water some politicians drink that leads them to fear democracy and competition at the ballot box, and giving voters more than one person to consider voting for on election day?

The August issue of California Lawyer is now online (http://tinyurl.com/pp3g3mc), and my letter about Kuehl made it into print:

Terrific and balanced piece on this liberal Democrat, who seems to have a problem with political competition. Glad the article is well-rounded and factual. Very glad she's got challengers in her race and in her effort to scare away competitors. Her kind of thinking is bad for that little thing we call democracy! Here in San Francisco, in the November 2013 elections, there were three citywide offices on the ballot: city attorney, assessor-recorder, and treasurer. And none of the incumbents faced any serious or protest candidates. Can we please get career politicians to drop their Soviet-style desires when vying for public office?

Illustration for California Lawyer by Jon Berkeley.