The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
January - February 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Vote environment Tuesday, February 5
Ballot measures endorsed by the Sierra Club for the primary election
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California: Yes on Proposition 93Sierra Club California has endorsed Proposition 93, the Term Limits and Legislative Reform Act, on the Tue., Feb. 5, ballot. Prop 93 would allow a legislator to serve up to 12 years in the Senate, the Assembly, or a combination of both. California's current term limit allows 14 years, but these must be divided into a maximum of six years in the Assembly and eight in the Senate. Experience. Legislators need time in Sacramento to learn about environmental issues and the legislature's sometimes arcane rules. Today, in the Assembly especially, even committee chairs and top leadership have limited experience. Often they are appointed after only two years in Sacramento; sometimes even brand-new legislators are appointed. Prop 93 will give them more time to gain experience and expertise - essential for dealing with complicated environmental issues with long-term consequences. Lobbyists. With less turnover of members, there will be fewer of the novice legislators most vulnerable to industry lobbyists' false arguments and lies. Consider the history of global-warming legislation. In 2002, first-term Assemblymember Fran Pavley authored California's first important global-warming law, the clean-cars bill (AB 1493). In 2006, in her final term, Pavley authored her landmark AB 32, but only a small minority of the assemblymembers serving then had been in the legislature in 2002. This year, when Assemblymember Ruskin's clean-car-discount bill (AB 493) lost on the floor, not a single member had been in the Assembly in 2002, and many members bought some of the same bogus arguments the auto industry had made in 2002. Oversight. Committees chaired by experienced lawmakers will be better able to oversee state agencies and bureaucrats. With more time to serve in one house, legislators can gain knowledge of the inner workings of agencies. We need lawmakers with the institutional memory to follow the implementation of environmental laws by state agencies. Consider again AB 32. Like many bills, this requires state agencies to undertake a complex process of decisions on how to carry it out. Largely due to today's term limits, Fran Pavley is no longer in the legislature to help watch over the implementation of her landmark bill. Money. Under the current limits, once members are elected to the Assembly and come to Sacramento, they immediately start to eye their next elective office. With the possibility of 12-year careers in the Assembly, they will feel less need to raise money - and therefore less reliance on special interests. They will be able to devote more time to governing and policy-making. Prop 93 could also slow the revolving door that sends many former members into lobbying jobs_usually for industry, since public-interest jobs mean a big pay cut. The Sierra Club urges you to vote yes on Prop 93 - so that we can have a more experienced legislature in Sacramento. |
San Francisco: Yes on AThe Sierra Club urges San Franciscans to vote yes on Tue. Feb. 5, for San Francisco Measure A, a $185 million Recreation and Park Department (RPD) bond measure. The measure brings hope of a resurgence of care and restoration for the city's natural habitats. Further, thanks to the efforts of the environmental community, including the Sierra Club, a good measure has been made even better. Originally this measure was designed to provide funds solely to improve neighborhood park facilities and recreation fields, and to repair park restrooms (all good things in themselves). The Sierra Club and other environmental groups urged the Recreation and Park Department to also allocate money for its Natural Areas Program. RPD director Yomi Agunbiade, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd (who chaired the Bond Committee), and the Bond Committee itself graciously accepted our recommendations - so that $5 million of the bond measure will now go to improving trails in the city's natural areas and to restoring the natural habitat surrounding those trails. $33.5 million of the bond money will go to the Port of San Francisco to create parks along our Bay waterfront. Thanks, again, to the efforts of Sierra Club volunteers, the Port added language to the bond measure to ensure that nature restoration will play a part in the creation of many of these parks. The measure also contains $4 million to maintain and restore trees in our city park's. Why should we care? Is there really nature in San Francisco? You bet! Hundreds of species of birds live in or migrate through San Francisco every year. Coyotes, raccoons, and other small mammals share our peninsula. Many species of native plants, some now rare, that inhabited our city long before it was a city still persist in many parts of our parks, sustaining many species of butterflies and other creatures. Frogs, lizards, amphibians, etc. can all still be found in San Francisco's natural areas. These historic natural habitats and critters are constantly in peril due to invasive weeds and erosion. If not maintained by RPD staff and volunteers these habitats will disappear and with them the creatures that depend on them. Measure A will provide essential funds for preserving our natural heritage as well as providing trails so that we can experience nature in the city. Five million dollars goes a long way to restoring and preserving these habitats. This bond measure is essential for the environmental health of San Francisco. Vote yes on Measure A.
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© 2008 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler