Just a few minutes ago, the California Nurses Association (CNA) endorsed my campaign for Mayor of San Francisco!

The endorsement from CNA, which has over 5,000 members in San Francisco, follows major endorsements in the last few weeks from the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)and Communication Workers of America Local 9410.

I am deeply honored to have their support.

Will you help us build on the momentum by joining our 20/20 advisory group today and donation $20 or volunteering 20 hours of your time to the campaign?  Donate.  Volunteer.

I will continue to work to ensure San Franciscan has affordable health care.  Our city has led the nation with important health reforms.  As insurance companies across California continue to raise rates and limit care – it’s essential that we do more, especially for our children and families.

To make these policy goals a reality, we need your support.

I’m inviting you to join our 20/20 advisory group.  Here’s how it works:

We are asking supporters to volunteer 20 hours of their time or donate $20 to help build a clear vision for San Francisco’s future.  Donate. Volunteer.

You’ll be invited to a small coffee conversation with me to discuss issues we all face as San Franciscans.  How do we improve our schools?  Make it easier for people to raise a family in the city.  What are the best ways to grow our economy?  How do we improve Muni?

Will you help us build on the momentum of the last few weeks and join our 20/20 advisory group?  Donate. Volunteer.

Thanks for your time and support.  I hope to see you on the campaign train for a cup of coffee!

Sincerely,

Leland Yee

Yes, you read that subject line correctly.

We’re huge Giants fans.  We want to connect with other Giants fans.  That’s why the Leland Yee for Mayor campaign is giving away three pairs of tickets to the Giants opening weekend games on April 9th and 10th.

Diehard fans can stop reading here and enter to win Giants tickets on Leland’s Facebook page.

I can still vividly remember the joy of the World Series parade last fall.  People from all walks of life, of every age, from every corner of the city came out to celebrate the Giants victory and civic pride.

It was a great moment to be a San Franciscan.  Now, it’s time to show your pride again.

Enter to win tickets for a Giants opening weekend game on Leland’s Facebook page.

It’s clear we still face a tough economy and difficult choices in the upcoming city budget.  We need to improve our schools, fix Muni, make it easier for people to raise a family in the city and have a more civil political conversation.

But you only get so many opportunities to celebrate civic pride as an entire city.  That’s important too!

So go on…you never know when we’ll get another change.

Enter to win tickets for Giants opening weekend game on Leland’s Facebook page.

It’s been a strong few months since Leland announced his exploratory campaign for Mayor and I just wanted to give you a quick update on our progress. (Share this note on Facebook)

First Major Endorsement in the Mayoral Race

Last week, Leland received the first major endorsement in the race for Mayor – The San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council. The Council is made up of over 28 construction unions representing more than 60,000 workers. Press Release. SF Weekly Story.

5,000 Fans on Facebook

This week, we passed 5,000 fans on our Facebook page. Thanks to everyone who has joined and participated in our community. Keep an eye out for some fun promotions here in the near future…

Thousands Rally to Boycott Rush Limbaugh

4,494 people signed our petition to boycott Rush Limbaugh for his bigoted remarks. We appreciate you standing with us against this type of intolerance. Petition.

Fundraising Success

We are also pleased to report that in just seven weeks the campaign was able to raise an impressive $166,000. We are most proud that voters from every neighborhood and 26 of the 28 San Francisco zip codes donated to our campaign. Over half gave $100 or less. Thank you for your help and support. Press Release. Donate.

Meet Leland in Your Neighborhood

Leland is out in neighborhoods across the city holding small conversations over a cup of coffee hearing about the issues you deal with in your community and that we all face as San Franciscans. Join us for coffee. We’re in the Richmond this week – Check out the event schedule.

We’re scheduling more coffees right now all over the city. We’d love to have your help setting these up or hosting a house party in your neighborhood. Lend a hand.

Thank you for your time, your help and your ideas. We hope to see you on the campaign trail.

If you have a moment, please share this note on Facebook with your friends.

Sincerely,

Jim Stearns

Campaign Manager

Dear Friend,

We had a great week. If you missed the news, Leland opened an exploratory committee to run for Mayor of San Francisco. The turnout at city hall was amazing.

Check out this short video we put together of Leland from Wednesday.(And the throng of reporters huddled around him)

There are also some great photos here, not to mention the press coverage in the Chronicle, LA Times, Sacramento Bee and on ABC 7 News.

Many of you have asked what you can do to help. Here are a few options:

1) Donate right now. Every dollar counts and we have a short window before the end of the year fundraising deadline to show financial strength.

2) Send out an email to your friends asking them to make a small contribution of $5, $10, or $20.

3) Invite your friends to join our Facebook page or sign up for our email list. We promise to have a real conversation, ask questions, not over email or post and we won’t give their names to anyone else.

Last but certainly not least, we are looking for folks in San Francisco to host house parties – if you want to host one, please let us know. You can call the office at 415-522-7304 or sign up here.

Thanks again for all your support.

Sincerely,

Jim Stearns

Campaign Manager

Leland Yee for Mayor

Dear Friend,

A few minutes ago, I walked into City Hall and opened an exploratory committee for Mayor.

I’m proud to be a San Franciscan and excited to start a conversation about how we can move our city forward in these difficult economic times.

I hope you will take a minute and join the conversation at LelandYee.com or on our Facebook page.

Everything I am today, I owe to San Francisco.

I came here as an immigrant at the age of 3. I grew up in the City. I went to local public schools and was fortunate enough to get a chance to go to college. I raised my family here – sending my four children to public schools – and served the people of San Francisco as a School Board member, a Supervisor, a State Assemblyman and now as State Senator.

When I walked into City Hall today, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at the opportunity to give back to the City and people who have done so much for me.

I hope you will join the conversation about how we move San Francisco forward.

It’s a conversation we desperately need to have – and have in a more respectful and civil manner than we have had recently.

We all understand the big challenges we face – making it easier to raise a family in San Francisco and investing in education, balancing the city budget and creating good jobs in a tough economy.

Unfortunately, polarization and political backbiting have often prevented us from working together to solve these important and difficult problems.

I hope you will participate in this conversation about our home, our city and our shared future.

We’d love to have you join our email list and come to house parties and events we will hold across the city as part of this dialogue.

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Sincerely,

Leland Yee

PS – You can join the conversation with thousands of other San Franciscans on LelandYee.com, Facebook or Twitter.  

Dear Friend,

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a disaster for California and we should expect nothing less than Schwarzenegger’s third term with Meg Whitman.  

We know what electing a naïve political “outsider” who will “run California like a business” means for our future.

But late Thursday night – the reality could not have been made clearer.

After all the TV cameras and journalists had gone home, Schwarzenegger took an axe to several important bills that would enhance transparency at our public universities, combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic and fund critical domestic violence shelters.

Schwarzenegger sided with Sarah Palin and well-heeled donors by vetoing SB 330, which would have subject all aspects of our public universities to the state’s public records act – despite strong bipartisan support and endorsement from California’s major newspapers.

Schwarzenegger, like George W. Bush, ignored public health experts by vetoing legislation to allow pharmacies to sell sterile needles to adults without a prescription. 47 states have amended their laws in light of overwhelming evidence that criminalizing access to sterile syringes led drug users to share used ones, and that sharing syringes spread HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases.

Schwarzenegger continued a disturbing trend on women’s issues, vetoing legislation to allow local communities to raise a fee to fund domestic violence shelters.  After eliminating all funding for domestic violence shelters two years in a row, he has now forced battered women and their children into a choice between homelessness and returning to their abuser. These victims literally cannot survive another year with this Governor.

Friends, we’ve seen this movie before. The “political outsider” who chooses to listen to the “powerful Sacramento interests” he promised to ignore over and over again. Meg Whitman will be Arnold’s third term – and she is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy this election.

Jerry Brown needs our help — Will you join me in supporting Jerry Brown today?

With your help, we can finally elect a governor who will do right by the people he was elected to serve.

Sincerely,

Senator Leland Yee

Dear Friend,

Some things in life simply aren’t negotiable – like a high quality public education for our children.

My parents emigrated from China to San Francisco when I was three years old. San Francisco public schools gave me the foundation and opportunity to succeed in America. They did the same for all four of my children.

That’s why it’s so important that we stop the budget cuts to education being proposed in Sacramento right now. They will hurt our children, our families and our community.

Check out our first TV commercial of the campaign  – on our Facebook page or at LelandYee.com – and join with me and teachers from across California to put a stop to these unconscionable cuts to education.

In today’s tough economy, middle class families depend on high quality public education. It’s the backbone that has driven California’s economy to become one of the most dynamic in the world and made our state a land of opportunity.

Join our campaign and send a message today that some things aren’t negotiable – even in Sacramento. Our children, our families, our teachers and our communities deserve better. Join the fight to protect public education.

Sincerely,

Senator Leland Yee

Today, we launched the brand new LelandYee.com

There’s a lot at stake right now. Right wing extremists and their special interests want to balance the budget on the backs of our schools and our children. Simply put, I need your help to stop them.

I’m asking for you to visit our new site and sign up for our action alerts. Help us put a stop to these awful budget cuts.

The Governor’s budget proposal would be disastrous for our local schools – cutting over $12 million in direct classroom support. Coupled with other cuts, that’s nearly a $20 million loss for our local schools. That means larger classes, fewer books, older computers, fewer after school programs and less opportunity for our children.

Time is running out – with a potential budget vote likely to come later this week, we have only a few days to stop this.

On the new LelandYee.com, you can join thousands of teachers and parents in signing our petition to the Governor to stop these cuts.

I will not allow right wing extremists to cut public education funding to balance the budget.

I’ve always been a budget hawk. While on the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco, I established the largest “Rainy Day” fund in the city’s history. In Sacramento, I have called for more transparency in our arcane budgeting process.

However, I can’t in good conscience let these cuts happen.

I hope you will sign up and use the tools to help me stop these cuts that balance our budget on the backs of our children and our schools.

Sincerely,

Senator Leland Yee

PS – Make sure to visit the new LelandYee.com and tell us what you think on our Facebook page.

First, I want to extend my sincere condolences to all of the San Bruno and Bay Area families that have suffered unbelievable heartbreak from the recent tragedy.

I also want to express my tremendous appreciation for all of the firefighters, medical personnel, rescue workers and emergency teams that have been working non-stop to help our neighbors in this horrific situation. Their actions here on Thursday night saved countless lives.  I also want to thank the thousands of Californians who have step up and helped our community in this time of great need.  The response has been overwhelming and shows the true character of the Bay Area and our state.

I have been in San Bruno every day since the explosion and have been working with local, state and federal agencies to make sure our district residents get the help they need.

Many of you have been contacting my office asking how you can help. Here are three things you can do:

1. Donate: You can make a donation to the Red Cross Bay Area at redcrossbayarea.org or the Salvation Army at salvationarmyusa.org. You can also donate materials – visit RedCross.org and type in your zip code to get the location nearest you.

2. Give blood: Blood centers need the universal Type O negative blood in the days ahead.  For more information, visit Blood Centers of the Pacific at bloodcenters.org or call 1-800-393-GIVE.

3. Volunteer: While we have plenty of volunteers for this tragedy, trained volunteers are needed for inevitable events in the future.  You can get trained for future disasters by visiting redcrossbayarea.org and click on “Get Trained.”

Yesterday, to help a community in need, Governor Schwarzenegger agreed to my request that he ask President Obama to declare the San Bruno tragedy a federal disaster – triggering federal money and support for the community.

In the days ahead, I will introduce legislation in Sacramento to provide disaster relief for the affected families of the San Bruno fires and to assist the County of San Mateo and our local schools. The legislation will be introduced during a special session this fall.

Finally, our senate district website has additional resources – for victims, if you are looking for a loved one or need help in dealing with insurance companies. You can also call my local district office at (415) 557-7857.

Sincerely,

Senator Leland Yee