League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Francisco County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Proposition D Consolidating Odd-Year Municipal Elections San Francisco County Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required Pass: 263642 / 83.2% Yes votes ...... 53252 / 16.8% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition D

Arguments Against Proposition D

Vote yes on Prop D to save taxpayer money and to increase voter participation in the elections for City Attorney and Treasurer, two elected positions that play a critical role in our city government. Prop D will ensure the City Attorney and Treasurer will be elected in a higher turnout election, on the same ballot as the Mayor, as opposed to a separate lowturnout election. Voter turnout in a mayoral election is usually around 40% or 50%, which is significantly higher than for a City Attorney/Treasurer election. Prop D will save millions by combining elections. Each time we don't have a separate low-turnout election for City Attorney and Treasurer - i.e., once every four years - the City's general fund will save approximately $4.2 million. We currently elect our City Attorney and Treasurer in an off-year election, where they are the only two offices on the ballot. This off-year election is often very low turnout, 30% or lower. In addition, each time we hold this low-turnout election, the City spends millions of scarce tax dollars that could be used for other needs such as parks, police, roads, and health care. Prop D saves money and improves voter turnout for these important elected offices. It's a win-win for San Francisco. Vote Yes on D! Supervisor Scott Wiener Supervisor John Avalos Supervisor Sean Elsbernd Supervisor David Chiu Supervisor David Campos Supervisor Carmen Chu Supervisor Jane Kim Supervisor Mark Farrell Supervisor Malia Cohen Supervisor Eric Mar Supervisor Christina Olague Rebuttal to Arguments For LOTS OF ELECTIONS LEAD TO HONEST GOVERNMENT: Sociological studies of unions indicate that skilled professions produce the best labor organizations. They've got active members, carefully watching union business and officers. Small New England cities, with townhall meetings and concerned citizens, have little corruption. Reducing the number of San Francisco elections won't save taxpayers' money. The change will lower public attention to City Hall business +always an invitation to contractor and developer misconduct. The Peloponnesian War historian Thucydides presented the soon to die Pericles delivering his funeral oration [circa 430 BCE]: "Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people...everyone is equal before the law..." Pericles made strong demands on Athenians: "Here each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but the affairs of state as well.... [W]e do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all....[T]he man who can most truly be accounted brave is he who knows the meaning of what is sweet in life and what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come." Vote "AGAINST" Proposition D. Dr. Terence Faulkner* United States President's Federal Executive Awards Committeeman (1988) Patrick C. Fitzgerald* Former San Francisco Democratic Party Secretary George Vazhappally* San Francisco College Board Candidate

CONSOLIDATING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS WILL LEAD TO LONGER BALLOTS AND LESS ATTENTION BEING PAID TO THE INDIVIDUAL OFFICES TO BE ELECTED: About 507 BCE [or B.C.], the Athenian statesman Cleisthenes introduced a new form of government into ancient Athens. All free male citizens of the city were allowed to appear, speak, and vote in the governing Ecclesia [or Assembly] which met outdoors some 40 times per year on the hill of Pnyx across from the Acropolis. Democracy was born--admittedly with many flaws and limits. Democracy works best when the people are paying very careful attention. This proposed amendment to the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco would further consolidate local elections. It would create longer ballots and a situation in which less attention would given by the voting public to the individual candidates to be elected and the offices to be filled. This Charter amendment is not political reform, nor is it good government. If the Fathers of the Athenian Democracy--the law reformer Solon--the voting reformer Cleisthenes--and the great Pericles who rebuilt the beautiful temples of the Acropolis--were to return to San Francisco, I think they would all vote "NO!" on misguided Proposition D. Dr. Terence Faulkner* County Central Committeeman Rebuttal to Arguments Against Prop D increases democratic participation in electing our City Attorney and Treasurer. By improving turnout to elect these important officials, democratic values will be served and enhanced. The current off-year election for City Attorney and Treasurer leads to very low voter turnout. By contrast, passing Prop D - and electing these offices in the high turnout mayoral election - will significantly increase the number of voters who elect our City Attorney and Treasurer. Democracy will be wellserved as a result, not to mention saving millions of taxpayer dollars. Vote Yes on Prop D! Supervisor Scott Wiener