Poor people scored a huge victory by defeating last November’s Prop N — the so-called Care Not Cash initiative — which was finally voted down six to five at the Board of Supervisors on September 16th. The real victory was over 160 people who showed up at the hearing to demand an end to Care Not Cash. Over the past year and a half thousands of people have volunteered their time and what little resources they have to fight for justice in San Francisco. And some people told us they thought it couldn’t be done.

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Proposition M, an anti-panhandling ordinance put on the November 2003 ballot by Supervisor Gavin Newsom’, will outlaw most forms of panhandling in San Francisco. Prop M’s proponents are selling the measure to voters as a way to cut eliminate “aggressive” panhandling and connect homeless people with services. However, the proposition is structured in a way that will force San Francisco to spend thousands of dollars on prosecution, deprive poor people of their right to free speech, and relies on services that do not exist.

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Several politicians and most of the mainstream media tend to blame our community’s polarized approach to addressing homelessness on providers, advocates, and homeless people, but an analysis of the past 15 years reveals a much different reality.

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The mayoral election in November finds San Francisco at a crossroads: is Willie Brown (pro-business, no-homeless strategy) to be succeeded by Gavin Newsom (pro probusiness, tough on homelessness) or a more leftleaning candidate like Tom Ammiano, Angela Alioto, or Mat Gonzalez? So far, Newsom is leading in the polls, mostly because of two (partly overlapping) campaign promises: 1) He will invigorate the City’s economy. 2) He will alleviate the City’s homeless problem.

Newsom understands that the key to the mayor’s office lies in presenting a silver bullet for homelessness. As for how effectively “Mayor Newsom” would tackle the problem, voters should closely examine the solutions he has so far proposed. For at the end of the day, things will hardly get better than the promises of the campaign.

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I was one among many of an unknown group here in the States: The Homeless Voter. While I struggled with life on the street, I still read the paper, still followed the issues, still voted.

Repeatedly. So when poor folks say they can’t take the time to vote, to me it’s a bunch of baloney. The reason they don’t vote is that most folks believe politicians wish to improve their own bank accounts above all others, so why bother voting?

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La Proposición M, es una ordenanza municipal presentada por el Supervisor Gavin Newsom para las elecciones de Noviembre que haría ilegal la mayoría de las formas de pedir dinero en las calles de San Francisco. Según los que la apoyan, es una forma de eliminar la mendicidad “agresiva” y conectar a la gente sin vivienda con los servicios públicos. Sin embargo esta medida está estructurada de tal manera que obligará a la ciudad a gastar miles de dólares en la persecución legal, impedirá a la gente pobre ejercer su derecho a la libertad de expresión y requiere el uso de servicios inexistentes.

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Fueron las llamadas Independencias Patrias auténticos logros que redundaron en el bienestar económico, educativo, social y político de la gente de nuestros pueblos? Septiembre es un mes que por tradición refleja la celebración de la independencia de los diferentes países CentroAméricanos, así como de algunos otros. En un ambiente contradictorio a la semántica de la palabra Independencia se celebra durante este mes, más por tradición que por fervor y patriotismo diferentes actos conmemorativos, a lo que la historia de muchos países se a empecinado en llamar de una forma equivocada, Mes de la Independencia Patria.

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El día 20 de septiembre miles de personas marcharon por la ciudad de San Francisco para dar su apoyo a la Caravana de la Libertad por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes.

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Six San Francisco mayoral hopefuls faced off with several dozen homeless families and other community members at the State building’s auditorium on September 23rd. Seven candidates were invited, but poll leader Gavin Newsom had scheduling issues, perhaps correctly reasoning his homeless reforms play better with citizens who can pony up campaign donations for face time than with some decidedly cranky homeless moms.

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Anytime homelessness is discussed, the needs of homeless families must be inserted into the debate. With homelessness being a high-profile issue in mayoral races, single adults seem to be the only ones discussed, while homeless families are completely ignored.

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