If we ever needed indisputable proof as to why poor people’s survival needs should never be ballot measures, Proposition N has supplied it. By the time we cast our votes on November 5th, Gavin Newsom and company will spend over $900,000!

A review of financial disclosure forms as of 10/19/02 confirms that three quarters of all money raised by the so-called “Care Not Cash” campaign will come from business and development related interests:

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Someone captured the current situation facing San Francisco’s grassroots social justice organizations with an after-hours comment at the Coalition on Homelessness this week: “You have to remember that from Labor Day until after the election you can forget about whatever spiritual or ideological motivations you have for doing this work — because in the final weeks local politics turn into a fucking dogfight.”

Humbled champions of the Bay Area’s economy, the hospitality, real estate and travel industries are still staggered by the devastating combination punches of the dot.com implosion, the aftermath of last September 11th, ongoing scandals in corporate accountability, and the cumulative effects of all this on the national economic picture.

Ever-anxious to protect the exorbitant profit margins that made San Francisco into one of the most fabulously expensive locations in the world to live in or to visit, corporate special interests — particularly the tourist and real estate industries — are now employing more direct forms of political combat through negative public relations attack campaigns.

Their targets this election season? Organizations and candidates representing the interests of homeless and low-income San Franciscans.

The ultimate victims? Homeless people and low-income renters.

Why?

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To the editor of the STREET SHEET,

As a longtime reader and supporter of the STREET SHEET, I would like to make four crucial points about Proposition D for those of us who live and work in the shadow of two of the most poisonous private power plants in the country:

1. If the city had its own public power authority as mandated by federal law and if PG&E did not control City Hall all these years (which it still does to some extent, alas), there would most likely be no power plants at Hunters Point and Potrero Hill.

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There’s a lot of flak lately about the “homeless problem.” Now, the fact that many people are “homeless” is indeed a “problem.” It’s downright unfortunate! Tragic, in most cases. But most of the people who talk, or write in the newspapers, about the “homeless problem” aren’t using the above definition. What they mean is that the homeless ARE the problem! And they want the problem to go away! As Supervisor Tony “the Wedding Singer” Hall said, “give ‘em a one way ticket outta town!”

That’s really showin’ the love, Tony-babe. Your church should bless you for that. The “homeless problem” discussion has become scapegoating. Like the Third Reich’s “Jewish problem.” Or Zimbabwe’s “white farmer problem.” Or, as one LA band sarcastically named themselves, “The Negro Problem.”

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Homeless people are commonly accused of being nothing more than lazy bums. Stereotyping has led to the general idea that homeless people are nothing but addicts riddled with mental illness. The truth of the matter is that they are people just like everyone else who happened to fall on hard times.

Let’s take a look at an average single homeless person, we’ll call him John Doe Homeless. Mr. Homeless has been on the streets for a number of years. How he got there doesn’t really matter. Mr. Homeless is moderately educated; he dropped out of high school in the 11th grade and got his GED, but he never went to college. No one would be able to call him stupid, but he had more than his fair share of bad luck and hasn’t always made the right choices in life.

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Get a job! Get a life! — comments often heard from the haves to the have-nots. But the reality of what it takes to get off the streets is not as easy as going out and putting in a job application. There are multitudes of obstacles that must be overcome before a homeless person can join the workforce and live a so-called “productive life.”

First, a person has to have the appropriate education and the skills required for the job. If not, education and job training would have to be accessed before they could even consider applying. Hopefully they have no substance abuse or mental health issues that would have to be addressed. The process of getting into a treatment program can be extremely long and discouraging.

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Suenan los tambores de guerra, las noticias hablan de tiranos asesinos, de guerreros fanáticos nucleares, de armas químicas y bacteriológicas. El presidente Bush afirmó recientemente, que no está dispuesto a arriesgar una tan sola vida de los estadounidenses, y que Irak debe de ser el próximo objetivo, en esta afamada guerra contra el terrorismo.

¿Qué hay detras de todo esto?

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Esta proposició fue introducida por un cochino supervisor llamado Gavin Newson que sólo representa a los ricos de la área de la marina. Por lo tanto él sólo quiere usarnos a los desamparados de San Francisco para sus fines políticos, ya que él quiere ser alcalde de esta ciudad. Esta cochina propuesta que solo va a crear más muertos y más desamparados. En su propuesta él quiere cortar los cheques que recibimos la gente desamparada. Actualmente recibimos la cantidad de $395 al mes y él solo quiere darnos $59 al mes. Nosotros, los desamparados, no podemos sobrevivir con $395 al mes mucho menos con $59 al mes. El ha dicho que el resto del dinero es para proveer una cama en un refugio y otros servicios pero la verdad es que eso es una mentira porque no hay ahorita en la actualidad suficientes refugios, ni servicios que los desamparados necesitamos.

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Como comunidad Latina, compartimos una cultura que valora nuestras raices obreras campesinas, y una historia llena de lucha por nuestra dignidad. Este espiritu nuestro se refleja en compasion hacia el projimo y en la politica que promueve la justicia social, no que niega los derechos humanos.

Por estas razones, y otras, es indispensable que la comunidad Latina se oponga a la Propuesta N en las elecciones del 5 de Noviembre.

La Propuesta N es una propuesta de ley que castiga a la gente pobre simplemente por ser pobre. Esta propuesta cortaria la asistencia monetaria a la gente que lo nececita, incluyendo a la gente anciana y las mamas solteras, de $350 a $59 al mes. A la vez, no garantiza absolutamente nada en forma de vivienda o servicios a la gente que no tendra suficiente ni para comer.

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American Bus Stop
Essay and Poems on Hope and Homelessness
By Richard Edmondson

Librad Press San Francisco Liberation Radio co-founder Richard Edmondson’s second book is a revelation. His first, Rising Up — Class Warfare In America from the Streets to the Airwaves showcased his first-class reporting and commentary skills, relating the long and strange local saga of SFPD, City Hall, and grassroots homeless service providers Food Not Bombs; but it was just a little too strange reading about a shared history many of us still remember all too well. In American Bus Stop - Essays and Poems on Hope and Homelessness, Richard Edmondson reveals his heart and humanity, and the simple passion for justice that first placed his feet on the path he still strolls.

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