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.  

So today, I received the latest volley of Steve Francis mailers (it’s been an average of two a day for the last two weeks).  Today, there was the regular Francis stuff, but also another one that would seem to be clearly targeted at people who think (for a change).  This one only mentions Steve Francis in the return address.

It has a big picture of Mayor Jerry Sanders standing next to George H.W. Bush, with the caption “Why has the Republican Party endorsed Jerry Sanders for Mayor?”  It goe on to answer with statements such as “Because Sanders has no plan to protect the environment . . . Because Sanders gives favors to fat cat developers . . .” and so on.

This is really funny to me, because as I understand it, Francis is a Republican too (we do have a rather pathetic set of options this time – but I can’t blame anyone for not wanting the job anyway).  You really would think the Democratic Party, or a labor union made up this mailer.

At this point, I am inclined to think that Steve Francis really does not have any ambition beyond Mayor, because I can’t think that clowns like Ron Nehring will ever forgive him for something like this.

In any case, it is the first time I’ve actually seen proof of a Republican (and yes, I know that it’s a nonpartisan office – LOL) actively running against GWB in this way.  I frankly have been skeptical that any Republican would actually violate St. Ronnie’s commandment about speaking ill of another GOPer, but there it is.

Is it really a trend?  Has anyone else seen something like this?  This really is a remarkable election year.

Well, it looks like the totals are now in this a.m.  This was an excellent day to be a Democrat in the Coachella Valley!!!  Democrats easily won the race for Mayor in Palm Springs, one of two City Council races in Palm Springs, one of two City Council races in Desert Hot Springs, and one of two seats on the Desert Water Agency.  In addition, No on C easily won as well.

What these wins mean is that progressive Democrats have gained control of Palm Springs City Council and now have a presence on both the Desert Hot Springs City Council and on the Desert Water Agency.  This is evidence of the continuing surge of progressive Democratic leadership in the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley!  Next step?  Solidify the wins and take over the CA 80th Assembly District where Democrats now outnumber Republicans by 13,000 voters!  Congratulations to all candidates, volunteers, and their supporters for fighting the good fight!

Regarding irregularities, a poll watcher reported that in some instances, the chain of custody was not completed with at least four vans arriving at the central location with only one occupant.  Less serious concerns involved the ‘packaging’ of some of the cartridges as they were not in clear plastic bags as apparently required. 

Concerning campaigning and mudslinging, Republican candidates and/or their backers issued a mailing over the weekend that was a smear campaign clearly aimed at either suppressing or redistributing the vote.  Republican candidates had also been consistently attacking Pougnet, Hutcheson, Williams, and Mahlowitz as minions of ‘Ma Foat,’ hardly an effective approach to winning.  (Ginny Foat is a City Councilwoman who during the 2005 election received the largest vote totals for any Councilperson ever and remains highly popular in Palm Springs).  Republican candidates and their lackey, The Desert Sun also engaged in subliminal homophobic attacks against the above candidates, calling for a ‘balanced’ City Council.  Most recently, City Council included three openly-gay members including Mayor Ron Oden, Foat, and Pougnet.  If Pougnet, Hutcheson, and Williams all won, then four of five councilmembers would be openly-gay.  (Presently, three of five Councilmembers in Cathedral City are also gay, though only two openly).  ‘Balanced’ is now the code word amongst the Republicans in the Coachella Valley for electing White Republican heterosexuals.  Another concern is the developing story involving the alleged ‘illegal activities’ of the General Manager and CBS affiliate Channel 2.

As expected, Steve Pougnet (D) won handily.  In its editorial endorsement, the Desert Sun predicted him to win about 75% of the vote, and he almost met that estimate with 71.07%.  Arlene Battishill, a resident who divides her time between Palm Springs and Los Angeles, garnered 17.73%.  It is clear that Pougnet has a mandate for his first term.  With this election, Palm Springs now has a Democratic mayor who will actually vote according to Democratic principles.  Congratulations, Steve!!!

I’ll have to check these total versus totals from prior year elections in a future post to shed further light on these amazing wins.

More below the flip…

Palm Springs Mayor (NP – Non-Partisan)
36/36 100.00%

Vote Count Percent
NP – BILL FERRA 458 4.93%
NP – JOHN TYMON 210 2.26%
NP – ARLENE BATTISHILL 1,647 17.73%
NP – STEVE POUGNET (D) 6,601 71.07%
NP – DON COOK 372 4.01%
Total 9,288 100.00%

The overall numbers for Democrats in the races for Palm Springs City Council are impressive.  Of the 18,056 votes, 11,506 or 63.72% were given to Democrats (Hutcheson, Williams, Mahlowitz, and Gainer).  Unfortunately, at least thus far, the votes were diffused between the four Democrats, and as a result, we did not thump as clearly.  Rick Hutcheson (D) is a clear winner with 25.23% of the vote.  John Williams is a close second with 20.08% of the vote, but trails Lee Weigel by 104 votes!  Although these votes mimic the Vote By Mail totals that I cited earlier today, they may not include the late Vote By Mail or the provisional ballots.

In an early assessment, it looks like the major contributing factor is the fact that the major Democratic Clubs in Palm Springs did not coallesce on two candidates.  The Riverside County Democratic Central Committee cited this as the deciding factor in its decision not to endorse for Palm Springs City Council.  Other factors also probably include the negative campaigning conducted by Republican candidates and the sandbagging of Williams by the Desert Sun once again on a non-issue for most of Palm Springs residents (i.e., that so-called pornography had been filmed at his Warm Sands hotel.  When last we looked, pornography was legal and protected by the U.S. Constitution as an expression of Freedom of Speech).

Nevertheless, Hutcheson and Williams both need to be proud of their positive and issue-based campaigns, and Congratulations to Rick! and hopefully to John as well!!

Palm Springs City Council

36/36 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
NP – ROXANN PLOSS 1,128 6.25%
NP – RICK HUTCHESON 4,555 25.23%
NP – LEE WEIGEL 3,729 20.65%
NP – JOHN WILLIAMS 3,625 20.08%
NP – SHEILA GRATTAN 1,442 7.99%
NP – ELOISE GARCIA-MOHSIN 251 1.39%
NP – VIC GAINER 880 4.87%
NP – BOB MAHLOWITZ 2,446 13.55%
Total 18,056 100.00%

In the race for Desert Water Agency, Craig Ewing (D), unseated a Republican incumbant and came in second with 32.31% of the vote.

Dir, Desert Water Agency
94/94 100.00%
  Vote Count Percent
NP – TOM KIELEY, III 7,469 38.63%
NP – CRAIG A. EWING 6,247 32.31%
NP – WILLIAM ”BILL” BYRNE 5,619 29.06%
Total 19,335 100.00%

Regarding Measure C, an attempt to open up the Chino Cone for more unrestricted development, No on C won 60.03% of the vote.  Proponents of Measure C spent $750,000 in a failed attempt to change development code.  Congratulations to activists involved in furthering reasonable and measured development on and near the Chino Cone!!!

Measure C – City of Palm Springs

36/36 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Yes 3,822 39.97%
No 5,741 60.03%
Total 9,563 100.00%

In Desert Hot Springs, Adam Sanchez (D), barely lost to Yvonne Parks by 113 votes!

Desert Hot Springs Mayor

14/14 100.00%
  Vote Count Percent
NP – ROBERT ”BOBBY” BENTLEY 266 14.89%
NP – ALEX BIAS 252 14.10%
NP – ADAM SANCHEZ 578 32.34%
NP – YVONNE PARKS 691 38.67%
Total 1,787 100.00%

On another positive note, Karl Baker rebounded from his earlier loss in the election for the City Council seat of the late, great Gary Bosworth by winning his first term as Desert Hot Springs City Councilman with 17.87% of the vote.  Congratulations to Karl!!!

14/14 100.00%

Vote Count Percent
NP – RUSSELL BETTS 906 26.80%
NP – KARL BAKER, JR. 604 17.87%
NP – MARY K. STEPHENS 359 10.62%
NP – SHARON SANDISON 344 10.18%
NP – TERRY SCHEURER 395 11.69%
NP – AL SCHMIDT 400 11.83%
NP – HENRY J. ”HANK” HOHENSTEIN 372 11.01%
Total 3,380 100.00%

Elections results have been painfully slow in coming in.  Thus far, as of 1:44 a.m., apparently only the Vote By Mail ballots have been counted and released to the news media.  The tallies are as follows:

Mayor of Palm Springs:  Steve Pougnet (D) leads with 71.61% of the vote.

Council of Palm Springs (Two Seats Open):  Rick Hutcheson (D) leads with 26.26% of the vote counted thus far; John Williams (D) is in third place with 19.86%; Bob Mahlowitz (D) is in fourth place with 12.68%.

Desert Water Agency (Two Seats Open): Craig Ewing (D) is in second place with 32.70% of the vote

Proposition C:  No on C votes lead with 62.02% of the total vote

Re full disclosure, BBBz is a supporter of Pougnet, Hutcheson, Williams, Ewing, Sanchez, Baker, and No on C and is a member of Desert Stonewall Democrats.

More details below the flip…

Palm Springs Mayor
6/36 16.67%

Vote Count Percent
NP – BILL FERRA 279 5.59%
NP – JOHN TYMON 102 2.04%
NP – ARLENE BATTISHILL 824 16.50%
NP – STEVE POUGNET 3,577 71.61%
NP – DON COOK 213 4.26%
Total 4,995 100.00%

Pougnet was endorsed by the Desert Stonewall Democrats and the Palm Springs Democrats.  BlueBeaumontBoyz wonders about the Democrats of the Desert Democratic Club decision to not endorse for mayor and to only endorse for City Council.  BBB would like to be a fly on the wall when Pougnet meets next with the leaders of the DoD.

Palm Springs City Council
6/36 16.67%

Vote Count Percent
NP – ROXANN PLOSS 670 6.89%
NP – RICK HUTCHESON* 2,554 26.26%
NP – LEE WEIGEL 2,063 21.21%
NP – JOHN WILLIAMS** 1,931 19.86%
NP – SHEILA GRATTAN 692 7.12%
NP – ELOISE GARCIA-MOHSIN 124 1.28%
NP – VIC GAINER 458 4.71%
NP – BOB MAHLOWITZ*** 1,233 12.68%
Total 9,725 100.00%

*Endorsed by the Desert Stonewall Democrats, the Palm Springs Democrats, and the Democrats of the Desert.
**Endorsed by the Desert Stonewall Democrats and the Palm Springs Democrats.
***Endorsed by the Democrats of the Desert.

Hmmmm.  Again, DoD seems out of step not only with the other Democratic Clubs but also with the results thus far.  It will be interesting to see how voters split their ballots.  If Mahlowitz siphoned votes from Williams, then one could argue that DoD cost the Democrats the election.  (As a reminder, DoD leadership endorsed Mahlowitz and Gainer for Palm Springs City Council, but the membership voted to endorse Hutcheson and Mahlowitz.  In addition, the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee declined to endorse in these races since the DoD endorsements did not correspond to the DSD and PSD endorsements.)

Dir, Desert Water Agency
60/94 63.83%
  Vote Count Percent
NP – TOM KIELEY, III 4,584 37.64%
NP – CRAIG A. EWING 3,982 32.70%
NP – WILLIAM ”BILL” BYRNE 3,613 29.67%
Total 12,179 100.00%

Ewing (D) was endorsed by the Desert Stonewall Democrats

Measure C – City of Palm Springs
6/36 16.67%

Vote Count Percent
Yes 1,952 37.98%
No 3,188 62.02%
Total 5,140 100.00%

Proposition C:  No votes lead with 62.02% thus far.  Yes on C spent approximately $750,000 while No on C spent about $50,000 on the respective campaigns.  Desert Stonewall Democrats voted to endorse No on C.

Desert Hot Springs Mayor
13/14 92.86%

Vote Count Percent
NP – ROBERT ”BOBBY” BENTLEY 263 14.79%
NP – ALEX BIAS 252 14.17%
NP – ADAM SANCHEZ 574 32.28%
NP – YVONNE PARKS 689 38.75%
Total 1,778 100.00%

Sanchez was endorsed by the Desert Stonewall Democrats for Mayor of Desert Hot Springs.

Desert Hot Springs City Council
13/14 92.86%

Vote Count Percent
NP – RUSSELL BETTS 901 26.78%
NP – KARL BAKER, JR. 600 17.83%
NP – MARY K. STEPHENS 357 10.61%
NP – SHARON SANDISON 343 10.19%
NP – TERRY SCHEURER 394 11.71%
NP – AL SCHMIDT 398 11.83%
NP – HENRY J. ”HANK” HOHENSTEIN 372 11.05%
Total 3,365 100.00%

Baker was endorsed by the Desert Stonewall Democrats for Desert Hot Springs City Council.

October 7, 2007 – Palm Springs, CA

The Desert Sun in its editoral page today endorsed Steven Pougnet for Mayor of Palm Springs.

“Steven Pougnet captured Palm Springs’ attention in 2003 when he was elected to City Council and through hard work and strategic thinking, he has held it ever since.

Four years later, he is mayor pro tem and wants to be mayor in an election bid characterized as one in which one man stands out from the rest. That man is Steve Pougnet.“

Steve Pougnet was endorsed by the three Palm Springs Democratic Clubs including the Desert Stonewall Democrats, the Democrats of the Desert, and the Palm Springs Democrats.

If Steve is elected, he would be the second consecutive openly-gay Mayor of Palm Springs and the first who is Caucasian.  With respect to full disclosure, BlueBeaumontBoyz is a member of Desert Stonewall Democrats, the GLBT Democratic Club or the Coachella Valley, and actively support Steve’s election campaign for Mayor of Palm Springs.

For your information, the race for Mayor of Palm Springs is a non-partisan race.  However, since Palm Springs is now a pre-dominantly Democratic city (refer to my earlier posts re voter registration in Palm Springs), and has the support of all three Democratic Clubs in Palm Springs, has been highly successful in raising campaign funds, and has great name recognition, Steve is generally perceived to be a heavy favorite in the Mayor’s race this year.

More below the flip…

The Desert Sun continued its endorsement by saying: