Friends --
The next few months are a critical moment for what kind of City San Francisco will become.
Over the last week, we had overwhelming response from over 4,000 of your neighbors who signed a petition to stop Pay to Play inside San Francisco City Hall. Many agreed, it is time to address the growing inequality and cost of living being driven by luxury housing, deep pocketed tech, venture capital, speculator and other lobby interests who are consolidating their money to influence San Francisco City Hall and public opinion.
To help educate the public about the growing number of egregious findings, a press conference at the steps of San Francisco City Hall is being held Tuesday, September 8th at Noon, to demand the independent investigation.
Help us Continue to Spread the Word – Join us for a Press Conference Tuesday September 8th and Share this petition online.
Since launching our Petition, friends and allies have informed us that there is a real and relevant case for an investigation in how "Pay-to-Play" politics is influencing City Hall. 15 years ago, over 82% of voters approved Prop J, a ballot measure seeking to ban elected officials from accepting campaign donations or gifts from corporations or individuals who have received city contracts or “special benefits.” Since this time, there have been numerous amendments to make Prop J irrelevant- an effort led by the Ethics Commission.
Two Civil Grand Jury Reports (one in 2011 and one last year, 2014) listed shortcomings with the Ethics Commission and recommendations for significant reform. The 2014 report even noted that “The Ethics Commission proposed repealing Proposition J at their April 2003 meeting.” (1)
Join us for a Press Conference Tuesday September 8th and Share this petition online.
In the last week, new revelations around how Pay to Play is impacting our collective work have been shared:
- Last week power broker Oz Erickson’s letter to the luxury housing development community was published in SF Magazine. His appeal to his luxury developer friends compared his plight, as one of the wealthiest developers in the City, to the plight of nazi victims and plea to invest in Realtor Lobbiest Mary Jung’s DCCC slate card and help Stop Prop I – Pause for a Plan for Affordable Housing, not luxury condos, in the Mission. (2)
- The who’s who of wealthy developer, real estate, appointed and elected officials are part of a plan to relocate 40 families on Yerba Buena Island so nearly 300 luxury units can be built on public land. (3)
- The SF Weekly reported that “AirBnB wrote a $10,000 check to the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC), the collection of elected officials, city employees, and activists who decide what the local Democratic Party is "officially" about. A few weeks later, the DCCC voted against endorsing Proposition F, a ballot measure that would outlaw listing a San Francisco housing unit on Airbnb or similar "home-sharing" websites more than 75 nights per year.(4)
Thank you for continuing to grow support for this important campaign to make sure all San Franciscans have a voice, not just the wealthy and well connected few. We hope we see you this Tuesday!
Sincerely
Vivian Richardson
San Francisco ACCE Action
(1) http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2014/06/30/civil-grand-jury-report-highlights-gifts-made-mayors-behalf
(2) http://www.48hills.org/2015/08/25/the-developers-are-nervous-about-the-mission-moratorium/
(3) http://www.antievictionmap.com/#/ybi-ti-1/
(4) http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/sf-democratic-party-airbnb-home-sharing-prop-f-politics-mayor-ed-lee-conflict-of-interest-dccc-ethics/Content?oid=3981419
|
