How I voted in Nov 2013 San Francisco Election

Usually I like to post summaries of my views on ballot measured, etc, before elections. After all, if we just vote in silence then we get just one, barely significant vote, but it is in discussion of the issues that voters have their real power. However, this election I slacked off, and I post this after I already voted and the polls have closed.

This was the smallest election I remember, certainly in San Francisco, maybe anywhere. There were no contested races, 4 city ballot measures, and nothing at the state level. Turn-out will be extremely small.

Here's how I voted on the ballot measures:

  1. Prop A: Yes. This is a restriction against tapping into city employee health care accounts for other purposes. Actually I didn't look at the nitty gritty details, and honestly I'm not sure how effective it will be, but it has a lot of support and seems like a good idea.
  2. Prop B: No. A condo development along the waterfront wants an extension of the normal height restriction. I'm a fan of dense development, but I can understand why you'd want to limit heights along the bay, since the waterfront is a popular pedestrian area, and large buildings block views and the sun. The real clincher on this one is the process: I don't want every developer going to the voters to get exemptions from city requirements. Additionally I didn't like the way this measure was marketed: "parks, not parking lots". In addition to their giant condo building they're putting in some grass on land which is presently a parking lot. However, they make it sound like they're turning the whole thing into a park. That's misleading. And this obviously isn't the only development option for the lot.
  3. Prop C: No. Related to B.
  4. Prop D: Yes. This is a popularist "position statement" that San Francisco wants governments to reduce the cost of prescription medications. It's an important issue, so I support this. But it has no power.

That was that. And looking at preliminary results, it looks like my votes mirrored the popular vote. I don't think that's ever happened before.

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