mandydale

Election day is here and I am in complete awe of the amount of choices we have this election. We have the potential to completely change the balance of power in the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years. The California governor and state senator seats are both up. And little known offices such as BART Director and Community College Board are also being voted on. I hate voting without being educated about where my vote is going, so I spent a little time reviewing all the ballots, propositions and measures this afternoon so I could fill out my massive absentee ballot. A few random observations:

• San Francisco has a measure (J) to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, if passed. Wow. I wonder how that one will play out.
• Another San Francisco measure (B) would allow members of City boards and commissions to participate in meetings by teleconference if they are on pregnancy or parental leave. I wonder what the backstory is behind this one? Seems pretty logical, and not sure why we have to burden voters with this kind of measure.
• Oakland mayor and former presidential candidate Jerry Brown is up for Attorney General. He is definitely a serial politician
• Formerly up against Schwarzenegger during the last gubernatorial election, Cruz Bustamante is up for Insurance Commmissioner
• For Board of Supervisors in my local district, Dave Kiddoo is encouraging a write-in campaign.

I usually consult the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Chronicle to determine how I should vote on ballot measures and propositions, as well as to inform myself on candidates who are running. Much to my surprise, when I reviewed judical appointments for California, neither had any endorsements. I know this is a huge election year, but even these appointments should have some sort of endorsements. Judicial appointments do play quite significantly in how laws are created in my state, and I don’t want to simply vote without knowing who to vote for.

After doing some digging, I found the Los Angeles Times partial endorsements for Supreme Court Justices as well as an article on the reason for their picks for the Judicial Races. I also found an guide written by the League of Women Voters that explains how the judges are selected, that includes the breakdown of gender and racial representation in California Court System.

It will be interesting to see how the election results unfold tomorrow.

Last night I was standing outside The Mezzanine with a friend, when I suddenly saw a homeless woman in a wheelchair pinned under the wheel of a giant garbage truck. We started screaming to the driver to stop the truck, and he did just in the nick of time. The wheelchair was completely totalled, and the driver had to drive in reverse to unpin the wheelchair from the tire. But the woman, while definitely injured, was conscious. While waiting for the ambulance and police to arrive, the woman kept screaming, “my baby, my baby.” Feeling a deep pit in my stomach I noticed a little hooded swaddling in her arms.

At this point, I’m completely disturbed by the situation, and walk over to her so I can get a closer look at the baby. It turns out that the “baby” was simply a pile of blankets. The woman had sores all over her body from what looked like a flesh-eating bacteria. Finally the police and the ambulance arrive. After talking with everyone at the scene, one of the police officers mutters under his breath that this is not the first time this woman has apparently thrown herself in front of a truck. What a tragic scenario for everyone, and especially for the woman in the wheelchair.