Constant Readers,
As I sit in my apartment on this cold and dreary Sunday, recovering from Beth Spotswood's (wonderfully fun) birthday party, it seems to me that the laziness required to wear flannel pjs well into the afternoon can only be properly be tempered by writing something for y'all. So, today I'm beginning a voter guide for the Feb. 5 election. Enjoy!
Proposition A
What: A proposal for the issuance of "general obligation" bonds in the amount of $185 million dollars to fix up old parks and create some new parks in the City. (Charter Sec. 9.106.) Note that this proposition requires a 2/3 majority vote to pass. (Cal. Constitution, Art. 16, sec. 18(a).)
Why: Because the dozen or so children who still live in this City need nice places to play. Places that don't look like this: 
A Little History: Back in 2005, the City added Sections 3.20 and 3.21 to the Administrative Code. Those provisions require that the City create and maintain a 10-year capital expenditure plan "which shall include an assessment of the City's capital infrastructure needs, investments required to meet the needs identified through this assessment, and a plan of finance to fund these investments." As part of that plan, in 2007 the Rec and Parks Department retained an engineering firm called 3DI to do a full assessment of all park properties and facilities. The 3DI report identified $1.7 billion in needed repairs. Since there was no way Rec and Parks was going to be able to come up with all that money right away, the Department solicited input from the general public and the Open Space Advisory Committee as to which projects should be addressed first. Folks apparently agreed that the most busted up neighborhood parks should be the priority.
The Proposal: The $185 million from bonds is set to be allocated to seven different programs. 
FUN GAME: Why isn't the Willie "Woo Woo" Wong Playground getting any love out of this proposal? In order to address the most needy neighborhood parks first, Rec and Park rated all City parks on a Crapitude Scale. Go to page 53 of this report to see where your local park stacks up.
Pro: According to the Department of Elections guide, the cost of the bonds would be paid with money from property taxes that are currently used to pay other debts that we are retiring, so there will be no increase in taxes for the bonds. Also, because the requirements for expenditures are carefully spelled out, we can know specifically where the money will go - which reduces the chances of mismanagement.
Con: This is like paying off one credit card and then going out and buying more stuff just because you are used to having that monthly minimum payment each month. Why not just allow property taxes to decrease? Also, while expenditures for the Neighborhood Parks and Repairs part of the proposal are identified, the specifics for the other 6 categories of spending have not been worked out - so $60 million of this is earmarked for vaguely-defined mystery projects.
AWARD: The award for the "least appetizing way to serve your community" goes to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Restroom Task Force whose job it is to survey all the restrooms at City parks and create a Restroom Program Report (p. 21). That report will identify needed repairs and rank which bathrooms are in most need of help. Heheh. "Rank", get it? Okay, I'll stop now.
Vote FOR this if: you want homeless people to have nicer places to live and drug addicts to have nicer places to shoot up. Also, if you understand that "temporary" property tax increases never are.
Vote AGAINST this if: you hate children. And puppies. And sunshine. What's wrong with you?
--Melissa
FUN FACT: Get used to these bond votes, Ess Effers. Here's the full schedule of bond obligations envisioned by the 10 year capital expenditure plan:
I was so excited to meet you! But we need solo-drinking time. Let's go to Balboa and cause trouble...
Posted by: Beth Spotswood | January 28, 2008 at 10:01
Hey, Melissa, no way are you and Spotswood going to the Balboa and getting trashed! It is an unwritten rule that the Balboa is one of the last pick up joints for guys over 40. If the two of you show up there, the whole balance of the universe will be screwed up for creepy old guys like me.
Posted by: el Greco | January 28, 2008 at 14:10
one of the things I like about your blog is that you save me the trouble of writing this stuff myself...although I will be doing a short primary guide in the spirit of my old LA site soon for laffs.
Posted by: Greg | January 31, 2008 at 09:58