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July 4th: Register voters at the Mime Troupe
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Issue: #54
June 24, 2013
Greetings!

As usual, PHDC will skip our regular July meeting and instead do our patriotic duty on July 4th: work to increase the number of registered voters in California; have a picnic; watch a play.

Note to Supreme Court: Please do the wise thing tomorrow on Prop 8 and DOMA.

Joni Eisen, President  

Potrero Hill Democratic Club  

 

Next meeting: Field trip!
oilandwaterposter
Register voters in Dolores Park before the Mime Troupe's opening, then picnic and enjoy the show  

 

Spend July 4th, Independence Day, being super-patriotic: Register voters! (Note that we are NOT meeting on our normal first Tuesday of the month, which would be July 2nd. July 4th is Thursday.)

 

Then stick around Dolores Park to picnic, while  taking in the Tony Award-winning SF Mime Troupe's opening of its 54th season: the premiere of Oil & Water, which is actually two shorter plays. (Sound eerily familiar? Maybe because we just happened to call the program at our last meeting "Oil & Waterfront," and it too was presented in two separate parts.) Please reply to this email to volunteer for registration, just to join us for a picnic, or both. 

 

WHEN: Thursday (NOT Tuesday!), July 4, 2013 at noon (show begins at 2) 

WHERE: Dolores Park, meet near 19th St, exact location TBD

 

June 4th meeting followup
OIL & WATERFRONT
Carbon Fee & Dividend + Warriors Waterfront Arena = an engaging energy-filled evening at the Nabe
Citizens Climate Lobby 6-4-13
OIL: The upper safety limit for atmospheric CO2 is 350 parts per million; our planet has recently hit 400 ppm. Dave Massen and Jeff Whittington of Citizens Climate Lobby  presented their solution: carbon fee and dividend legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote transition to a green energy economy. All taxes on carbon pollution from fossil fuels would be paid to the citizens. PHDC members voted to sign on to a letter urging Congress to enact this revenue-neutral legislation.
Art Agnos, Rick Welts 6-4-13
WATERFRONT: The proposed Golden State Warriors Arena development project for Piers 30-32 was debated by former Mayor Art Agnos of the San Francisco Waterfront Alliance and Golden State Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts. Many questions, much passion, a great meeting. We even had media coverage on KCBS radio the next morning.

Further note: There's been quite a recent brouhaha around AB 1273 (summary & analysis here), Assemblyman Phil Ting's bill to speed up the review process for the development of Piers 30-32. AB 1273 cedes authority to the SF Port Commission, rather than the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and the State Lands Commission, to determine whether the proposed development upholds the public trust doctrine. It has sailed through the Assembly despite being opposed by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, in whose district Piers 30-32 lie.

On June 20, the BCDC voted 12 - 6 to ask the state Senate to make AB 1273 a two-year bill, allowing more time for project details to be revealed and for amendments to be made. If the bill is not made two-year, BCDC opposes it in its current form.
Senator Fran Pavley (916-651-4027) is Chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, which will hear the bill tomorrow morning. If you have an opinion pro or con, please let her know now. If you agree with the BCDC that the legislature should have more time to study the details of the bill, here is a petition to the Senate that you might like to sign.

Updates on past PHDC meeting topics
Health care, voter registration, exposing dark money, City College, guns...
 
Affordable Care Act. California continues to lead the way in the nation as we head towards fullimplementation on January 1, 2014. For the latest news on how you may be affected, check out Covered California's web site.

PHDC had a table in Dogpatch during the June 9th Sunday Streets event to register voters. Increasing voter turnout is key to success in the 2014 midterm elections. - and we'll be at it again July 4th  in Dolores Park. DISCLOSE at Pride 2012

SB 52, the CA DISCLOSE Act, mandating clear and obvious disclosure of who is really paying for every political ad, has passed the State Senate floor vote with a 2/3 majority! Congrats to author Senator Mark Leno and good luck as it heads to the Assembly next month. Are you enraged at the corrupting influence of big money on democracy and politics? Your chance to vent that rage in a very public - and humorous - manner comes this Sunday June 30. March with the SF Working Group for Clean & Fair Elections in the Pride Parade (which we hope will be a real celebration after the Supreme Court's decisions this week!). Distribute info on DISCLOSE to the adoring crowds as you march by. More photos here from last year's contingent. Call me at 648-6740 to join the fray.

Saving City College. One of the demands of CCSF's faculty union and its SaveCCSF coalition has just been met: the U S Department of Education has begun an investigation of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) itself. Meanwhile, the ACCJC, which has threatened CCSF with ultimate closure, will go public with its ruling on the college's accreditation status by July 8. In response to that announcement, there is a march to the Dept of Education scheduled for 4pm July 9th.

As always, you can stay informed on gun safety legislation by going to the web site of the excellent Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, whose executive director spoke to us in January.