The "Props" Party

So, we San Francisco voters have a lot of decisions to make this November 8th.  We have the presidential race, a US Senate race and all that.  But we have some 40+ ballot propositions and initiatives to vote on.

A neighborhood friend has,  for many years, hosted a get together where friends/acquaintances learn about the issues and then as a group vote on whether or not we will support a proposition or initiative.

This year, it was in his backyard.  Spread out on the green tarp is one voters display of all the mailings she has received up until this point.

My friend John (in the rear) keeps time.  Since we had so many things to discuss, we tried to limit our discussion to 3 minutes for each proposition or initiative.  His former roommate, Jenn, who now lives in Seattle, starts by summarizing the issue and then stating what a YES vote would do.

Then we vote.....

Here's the summary of the San Francisco City/County Propositions.  You'll see that Jen has color coded things.  Green are taxes.  Red is any "earmark" or set aside of the General Fund.  Orange is any proposition that is essentially trying to redistribute power between the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor.  Blue is just anything else.

After a break, it was time to get back to the voting and talk about the state propositions.  These actually were easier!

You'll see that the majority of state initiatives were unanimous.

Post game wrapup!