You’ll have your ballot in about a week. Are you ready?
It’s almost here! California’s one and only primary election this year starts in about a week.
Right now, if you haven’t already, you should check your voter registration to make sure your voter registration is active, your party affiliation is correct, and your address is current.
It’s also time to start reading up on your choices so you’re ready when your ballot arrives in the mail in early February. The California and San Francisco voter guides are available for online reading.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be adding more information to the Vote page on casting your ballot. Feel free to share it with friends and family members who are eager to vote in the Democratic primary election.
Read our new Deep Dive on the police staffing ballot measure
We hear a lot of debate, especially over social media, about how many police officers the City needs versus how many it has.
Currently, the Board of Supervisors controls how many officers SFPD can employ. They wield the power of the purse, so they can add or remove budgeted positions at any time, subject only to political will and budget limitations.
(Speaking of which, we’re entering a period of steep budget deficits. Increasing anything in the budget is either going to be entirely infeasible or require deep cuts to other services. The Mayor has asked for no new openings and the closure of existing vacancies.)
There’s a new measure, Proposition B, on next month’s ballot that would impose a new Charter mandate on police staffing levels. But there are some wrinkles and fine print.
Our new Deep Dive explores what Prop B would actually do, what it wouldn’t, and the harms it might do.
Bidenomics: Student Loan Relief
President Biden recognized student debt relief as a key component of Bidenomics from his first day in office when he directed the Acting Secretary of Education to extend the pause on federal student loan payments and collections and keep the interest rate at 0 percent.
Since then, the Biden Administration continued offering student loan relief for more Americans year after year, creatively working around the right-wing Supreme Court and other obstacles.
This year is no different: on January 19, 2024, the Biden Administration announced debt cancellation for another 74,000 student loan borrowers enrolled in the Biden Administration’s updated SAVE repayment plan. So far, they have gotten student debt canceled for over 3.7 million Americans.
Learn more about this new debt cancellation, and the others, in our blog.
Volunteers welcome: We’re looking for an Editor and a Social Media Person!
This year is going to be a busy time, and we’d love a few more volunteers on board to help with editing our weekly newsletter and publishing ongoing social media posts.
Our newsletter team meets every Tuesday night, and our editor helps us make sure everything looks professional, all the links work, and all the commas are in the right places.
Several members of our team post on various social media websites (Twitter, Mastodon, Instagram, etc.). This is more of an ad-hoc role. We especially would like someone to help us create, schedule, and monitor posts on the Meta Suite (Facebook and Instagram) and Threads. No prior knowledge required—we can train you!
If you’re interested in volunteering, let us know at contact@indivisiblesf.org.
TODAY: Meet the Candidate: Derek Tran, CA-45: Wednesday, Jan 31, 7–8:30 PM. The road to the House majority runs through California. Hosted by the California Grassroots Alliance, there will be a 45-minute candidate interview, followed by a facilitated discussion. RSVP here.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on social media, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue. Today’s graphic is a photo of a San Francisco ballot dropbox at City Hall, taken by one of our members.
Keep Fighting,
