League of Women Voters of San Francisco

Someone we'll miss

2008-05-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's rare to have a media figure who remains in place year after year and can be counted on to give a sensible account of the day's news. Dennis Richmond has been just such a figure for 40 years at KTVU. Many of us cannot remember a time when he didn't appear on the evening news to keep us up to date on happenings around the Bay Area. Sometimes the news was bad--accidents, fires, even earthquakes--more rarely it was news that brought joy--a daring rescue, troops coming home, or yesterday's Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage. Through it all many listeners took comfort in Richmond's steady delivery and reliable presence. We will miss him and we wish him well in his retirement!

Lawn or car?

2008-05-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

The Bay Area is facing another water shortage this summer and that is already forcing hard choices on some neighborhoods. Although San Franciscans haven't yet been asked officially to cut back on water use, our neighbors in the East Bay Municipal Utility District have been. Perhaps its time for all of us to start thinking about where we would cut. Watering lawns, especially if you can do it easily with a sprinkler system, is hard to give up, but then, would you be content to drive around in a dirty car? A casual scan of city streets suggests that lots of people don't mind that at all, although as a general rule the newer the car, the cleaner it is kept. Now is the time when homeowners who have invested in climate-friendly lawn planting are reaping the benefits of not having to pour water on grasses more at home in soggy Seattle than in California. We all benefit from water conservation and one thing we know for certain is that water will always be precious and rare in California. Instead of reacting to dry spells by temporary reductions of use, perhaps we should plan to keep our water use low every day and every year--it's the price we pay for living in one of the best climates in the world and well worth the trouble.

End of plastic

2008-05-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Now that San Franciscans have adjusted to grocery stores without plastic bags, they have to make the next change to drugstores without plastic. This next step shouldn't be too difficult, and may mark a further shift of many people to cloth bags instead of paper. That can't be too difficult. Still, we do wonder what will happen as the final plastic bags disappear from the city landscape. How will morning newspapers be delivered in the foggy reaches of the Sunset or during the rainy season without their jackets of plastic? And what will substitute for plastic for lining waste baskets or--even worse--picking up after our dogs? Is the Board of Supervisors thinking about these problems in a city without plastic? Perhaps they had better do that before a black market in plastic bags from less enlightened communities develops.

Good news for CA

2008-05-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

These days it isn't often that we get good news about education, but today a new report has come out on the increase in new nurses graduated in the state. Thanks to sensible government action, sparked by Governor Schwarzenegger, there have been 23 nursing education programs created and an increase of almost 25% in nursing students. Once again the importance of government aid for students who want to get training for important jobs has been demonstrated. Community colleges play a vital part in preparing California students for nursing and other vital jobs in the community. Let's hope that taxpayers appreciate their importance and make sure they receive enough support to grow and flourish.

Voter ID causes problems

2008-05-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

The national League of Women Voters objections to the Supreme Court decision that upheld Voter ID laws appeared to be at least partially justified in Indiana yesterday when some nuns who had been voting for many years were denied ballots. According to a news story these elderly nuns no longer had drivers' licenses and despite having voted from the same convent for many years, the poll workers informed them they would have to cast provisional ballots. Also denied a ballot was an 18-year-old California student who attends college in Indiana. She had a California driver's license, but that is not considered acceptable ID in Indiana, so she too had to vote provisionally. Is this any way to prevent voter fraud? Over-zealous lawmakers should not be allowed to deny legitimate citizens their right to vote.

Another voice for veterans

2008-05-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

More media reports are calling attention to the debt we owe veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bob Herbert in the NY Times describes the bill, sponsored by Senators Webb and Lugar (both veterans of other wars) which expands the opportunities offered to veterans. It is a renewal of the kind of G.I. Bill that served this country so well after World War II and Korea. The bill has not received much publicity, but perhaps it's time for ordinary citizens to let legislators know how we want them to vote on this issue.

What do we owe the troops?

2008-05-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Although candidates and ordinary citizens complain about how the high price of gasoline and food is affecting Americans, most people go about their daily lives without much sacrificing many comforts. There is one group that does suffer and that is the men and women who are fighting, or have fought, in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are returning to a country that is more difficult and expensive to live in than it was when they left, and the benefits they get don't help a great deal. In today's S.F. Chronicle, veteran Patrick Campbell describes how the weakened G.I. Bill is failing to follow through on the promises made to people who enlisted in the services. Sixty years ago, when veterans were returning from World War II, society was transformed by the rush to education. A whole generation of new leaders were formed in the technical schools and universities that opened paths to new careers and a secure place in society. Now veterans, many of them from low-income families, are unable to get the college educations they have been promised because of the stingy benefits being offered. While the country concentrates on cutting taxes for the well-to-do, we are sacrificing our futures by not educating these young people for their proper roles as leaders in tomorrow's America. For every dollar spent on veteran's education, the economy benefits and society benefits. It's about time for taxpayers to demand that Congress bring the G.I. Bill back to somewhere close to where it was half a century ago. We owe our veterans that much!

Does caring work?

2008-05-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

San Francisco's Care Not Cash program for the homeless was one of the most innovative programs introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom. Now, four years after it began, a city audit indicates the program has been successful. According to a story in the S.F. Chronicle, the number of homeless people in the city receiving cash payments has dropped from 2,632 to 642. Instead of cash the recipients now receive housing and services. There is still controversy, of course, about whether the money the city now spends on housing provides as much help as the previous cash payments did, and the question of whether all homeless people in the city can be helped by housing and services is still open. Many of the homeless people on our streets have multiple problems and require intensive services which are not easy to provide. It appears that Care Not Cash has been a step in the right direction, but concerned citizens will still have to be watchful.

Learning from a neighbor

2008-04-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

Our friendly neighbor across the bay--Berkeley--has been more of an innovator than many of us realized. An exhibit at the Berkeley History Center showcases some of Berkeley's firsts--

first bicycle patrols by police officers, started in 1910;
first radios in police cars, 1911;
first city to use lie detectors for police investigations 1923;
first city to ban Styrofoam in 1989;
first to use biofuels in city cars in 2003.

Not all of Berkeley's experiments have worked out well or been accepted either locally or nationally, but it's good to know that some city governments are will to try new things. That's the only way the rest of the country will move ahead. And it's well worth a trip across the Bay to visit this new exhibit.

How long will it take?

2008-04-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

As everyone who shops downtown on Market Street knows, something changes as you walk past Sixth Street toward Seventh. Suddenly there are vacant stores and graffiti. C.W. Nevius in his column today points out how long it is taking for a comprehensive plan for the area to be put into motion. As the good economic times are fading away, we need to encourage, not discourage more viable business opportunities in the center of the city. Although there has been an advisory committee studying issues in the area for more than ten years, agreement is hard to reach. Conflicting forces of business developers and housing advocates have created gridlock. It's time for ordinary citizens to put more pressure on city government to insist that something be done to revitalize the "dead zone" as Nevius calls it and insist that all parties compromise to develop a feasible plan.

Young people voting

2008-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Despite all the media coverage of young voters flocking out to support candidates for the presidential election, an article in today's SF Chronicle points out that people over 60 are still far more likely to vote than those under 30. In June's presidential primary in California, 43% of eligible voters over 60 cast their ballots, while only 17% of those under 30 did. That's no way to change the world! It's true that older voters tend to be more settled, not changing residences as frequently as younger people and therefore not needing to re-register to vote, but that doesn't seem to explain all of the difference. Campaign workers speculate that young potential voters are more easily turned off from voting because they become disillusioned with the process. Older people know that elections are never perfect and that the whole system of democracy is built on a shaky structure in which private interests war against public good. Still, democracy is the best way we've found to allow people to participate in running their government. Stepping out of the fray is no solution, so veteran voters must keep up the effort to persuade young people to vote and participate. Change will come slowly, but it can come if people are willing to fight for it step by weary step.

Is anyone dreaming?

2008-04-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Pictures of young Californians protesting against increasing costs of a college education are prominent in newspapers and TV today, but the problems of education are even deeper than these protests show. Not seen in the pictures are the thousands of students who haven't a hope of going to any post-secondary school because they haven't even finished high school. The U.S. has one of the highest drop-out rates among all developing countries. Bob Herbert's column in today's New York Times lays out some of the issues involved. Many of the people who will be voting to determine the next president are woefully ignorant of American history. Fewer than half of the respondents in a survey knew that the Civil War was fought between 1850 and 1900; many are not aware that the Bill of Rights guarantees free speech. This country was founded on the faith that educated citizenry would be able to determine the future of the country. If we fail to give people the knowledge they need, not only will they be unable to compete for jobs, they will be unfit to exercise the basic rights of citizens. The Founding Fathers were dreamers who believed individuals could choose their own future. We must honor them by providing all of our children with an education that will prepare them to make good choices and determine the future of the country and the world.

Why not bother?

2008-04-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Earth Day weekend has brought a torrent of articles in local and national newspapers as well as stories on TV and the Internet about the threats of global warming and a worldwide food crisis. As Michael Pollan writes in a thoughtful article in the New York Times Magazine, many people are asking themselves, "Why should I bother changing a light bulb or separating my garbage into categories when nothing I do can really stop this?" It certainly will take legislation and technology to solve all of the global issues raised by our use of fossil fuels and our high-energy lifestyles, but just making a choice to move in the right direction may help nudge legislators and corporations into action. People throughout the country laugh at San Franciscans for being so so imbued with ecological fervor that they even pass ordinances banning plastic bags in grocery stores, but as you look around the city, you'll see our ecological halo is slipping. Although every supermarket now makes available inexpensive reusable shopping bags, nine out of ten shoppers still use a large paper bag for even the smallest purchase. Perhaps we should follow Pollan's lead and do the little things we can manage. He suggests starting a garden, which is difficult for many city renters, but almost anyone can slip a reusable bag into their car or handbag, cut down on the amount of meat they eat, and skip some imported delicacies. It can't hurt the planet and to nudge the world ahead even a millimeter is better than doing nothing.

Is the Net Neutral?

2008-04-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

The issue of net neutrality never seems to go away, perhaps it never will as constantly changing technology brings new challenges every year. The issue is whether providers of Internet service should limit certain uses of the net, especially those that take up large amounts of bandwidth. At an FCC public hearing in Stanford yesterday, the arguments on both sides were aired. If you don't download videos, you may think this issue doesn't affect you, but nonprofit organizations like the League have a stake in this discussion. So far, the government has required net providers to give the same service to all users, if this changes, Internet providers could determine which materials will be available at the fastest speeds. The suspicion among some defenders of Net Neutrality is that commercial interests will be favored over nonprofit public providers. There are good arguments on both sides and making decisions will be difficult, but those of us who are committed to serving the public through the Internet ought to at least keep up with decisions as they are made. Being a good citizen isn't always easy.

Giving up the car

2008-04-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

A generation ago Drivers' Ed was an important part of the high school curriculum in California and most 16-year-olds looked forward to getting a driver's license more than they looked forward to graduation. As school budgets declined, schools dropped the at-the-wheel part of the training and gradually they are dropping the whole course. In larger cities driving is no longer considered a necessary social skill for teenagers, although rural teens still feel they need access to a car to have any social life at all. This change has crept up on us without many grown-ups even noticing, but it has an impact on all of us. Teenagers are more often killed or seriously injured in automobile accidents than other age groups. At a time when scientists are learning more about adolescent brains and how much training is needed for kids to learn not to take dangerous chances, it's not a time to give up on drivers' ed. A car is the most dangerous piece of equipment most people handle in their lifetime. Let's give our children the education they need to learn how to handle them safely.

New neighbors moving in

2008-04-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

High housing prices don't mean San Francisco isn't attracting new neighbors to the area. According to C.W. Nevius in the Chronicle today, a whole new breed of city dwellers have arrived--coyotes. Golden Gate Park has attracted the largest number and more and more people are getting glimpses of them as they run across the roads at night or lurk in the bushes near picnic areas. Smaller parks are also attracting some of the animals, which are probably pushed out of Marin by the spreading population taking up almost all of the wild spaces available. Inevitably there are some people who cannot resist feeding the animals, despite warning signs, and this encouragement will attract more and more coyotes. Almost certainly the sightings will spread to the streets and backyards of people near the parks. Will the pampered local dogs be ready to protect their yards from their wild cousins? Sooner or later they'll be put to the test.

Another S.F. first

2008-04-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

If legislation introduced by Supervisor Mirkarimi is approved on April 15 as expected, San Francisco will become the first city in the country to stream live audio and video coverage of city government meetings. This will be an enhancement of the sunshine ordinance requirements and will allow citizens to find out what is going on in city government and how issues are being handled. An archive will be created to hold the records for two years and make them accessible. The process will not be without cost, but anything that makes our government more open and accountable is something to cheer. Once again San Franciscans can be proud of being leaders.

Carrying a torch

2008-04-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

The big day has finally come when the Olympic torch has come to San Francisco and will be carried through part of the city this afternoon. People in other parts of the country, even other parts of California, seem a bit amused that San Franciscans can be so agitated about an event that is supposed to be a Journey of Harmony to celebrate an athletic event. Those of us who live here are not surprised and many of us are proud that people here care so much about a symbolic event. There are disagreements about whether we should support the Olympics, and what our attitudes toward China and Tibet should be, but as long as the demonstrations and counter-demonstrations are peaceful, as long as our city government and the police maintain order, there's a lot to celebrate in being part of a city that cares deeply about issues. Long live civilized disagreements! And for those outside the city who can't understand the value of expressing beliefs, there is always the scheduled nude protest that will give them a chance to shakes their heads about the strangeness of San Francisco. They'll never understand.

Thinking deep thoughts

2008-04-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

Despite having been raised on a diet of loud music and dazzling high speed video games, it seems that a number of today's college students are opting for the ancient, thoughtful discipline of philosophy. According to an article in the N.Y. Times the philosophy departments in many colleges are growing as students seek more education in rigorous thinking and ethical decision making. It seems there is not a great demand for reading the traditional dense texts of philosophy, but discussions about current events in the light of philosophical issues is popular. It's an interesting change as students switch from the vocationally oriented business and technology classes to the broader humanities. It will take time to see how well this current crop of students fare when they hit the job market. But even if earning power is not dramatically increased by philosophy, a growing interest in the life of ideas should be good for the civic health of the community, which depends so much on thoughtful discussion of issues by local citizens.

Learning something new

2008-04-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that following a political campaign would lead to learning all sorts of new facts about typography? Barak Obama's campaign publicity has led to much discussion about his effective use of a typeface on all of his communications. Most of us are unaware of the subtleties of typeface design and what the look of a set of letters can convey, but the New York Times article this morning shows how different a simple word like "Change" can look in different styles of type. Being reminded of the effects of design on the impact of information and advertising may make us all more aware of how corporations and other institutions use type and design elements to convey their messages. It's surprising how a simple interest in keeping abreast of current events can make us smarter in so many areas of our lives.

Learning new math

2008-03-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

As many of us read in the morning paper, parking fines are going up in San Francisco. Matier and Ross give comparisons with other California cities like San Jose, Los Angeles and Walnut Creek, none of which charge as much for S.F. does for overstaying time at a parking meter. The new $60 fine for parking too long without feeding the meter will annoy lots of people, but it may help us time our life's tasks better. Ever since the parking meters started charging by ten-minute intervals, drivers in neighborhoods have had to figure exactly how long it takes them to mail a package or return library books. "I can pick up my dry cleaning within ten minutes, but what if there's a line? Should I drop an extra quarter in the meter?" These are the kind of vexing questions San Franciscans are faced with. Perhaps some kind social scientist will do a study to advise us on how many meter bites it takes to navigate everyday life in the city. A little booklet of the average time required for a visit to the post office would be handy, or perhaps a website we could call up on our Blackberries. There is room for a new breed of time management consultants to handle this whole parking issue as life in the city gets ever more complex.

Finding a new sister

2008-03-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

According to the New York Times, San Francisco--or the whole Bay Area--has a new sister city in Brooklyn, New York. Trendy creative types have taken to moving back and forth between the two areas because they can earn money on either coast. The natural affinity comes, according to this report, because both Brooklyn and the San Francisco area are regions where individuality and creativity are applauded. Several shops, such as the Mollusk Surf Shop in the Sunset district, that are successful in one area are opening a branch in the other, so the cross-fertilization between the two is growing. San Franciscans are used to thinking of themselves as the most forward-looking city in the country. It's nice to think we have a similar outpost on the East Coast. And who would ever have thought it would be Brooklyn? It's a long way from "dem bums" and Nathan's hot dogs.

Carrying the torch

2008-03-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

The Olympics are often viewed as a way of bringing countries and people together to celebrate sports achievements. This year they are causing more anger than they have in any recent year. It is good to read that Mayor Newsom and the city government are trying to work out a solution to allow protesters to voice their concerns publicly in a peaceful way. America has a proud tradition of allowing people to voice their opinions about public issues and it is important that this freedom not be unduly restricted. It's never easy to satisfy everyone, but San Franciscans can be proud that this city is setting a tone that should make all of us proud--allowing diverse opinions to be expressed but showing respect for people on all sides of the issue.

Making streets safer

2008-03-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

For anyone who is a frequent pedestrian on San Francisco's streets, the sight of an approaching driver clutching the wheel with one hand and a cell phone with the other can be a frightening sight. Will the driver see the stop sign? Will he or she notice the pedestrian trying to cross in a crosswalk and refrain from making a turn? Starting July 1, drivers will not be allowed to use cell phones unless they have a hands-free system, either a headset or speaker. This may inconvenience some drivers who have become far too accustomed to treating their cars as an extension of their homes, but it will mke the city safer for the rest of us. Three cheers for sensible government regulation!

Required Reading

2008-03-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

The League prides itself on being knowledgeable about voting systems and voting problems. For many years League members have kept watch on local and national elections to be sure they are honest and well-managed. Now a new book has been published which offers background information on how campaign managers can manipulate voting systems to ensure their candidate wins an election. According to a N.Y. Times review William Poundstone's Gaming the Vote gives us far more background than was available previously. It is a book that will be well worth reading in this year of vigorous campaigning and important elections.