Angel Mason
4.10.11 @ 4:58pm.

All my Beautiful flowers
Flowers such as these light up the world and keep the world moving
Such lovely flowers must be loved
“Rose”, Street Sheet (Hahahahaha),
I said Street Sheet.

All my homeless brothers and sisters who are soldiers
everyday while fighting just to sit down somewhere for a minute

God Bless you wonderful Flowers. The late Dr. Bey who gave me my first job in Oakland and who gave me shelter (years ago, hahaha). Kathy, Sherylynn, all my friends, it’s meditative to talk & feed off eachother’s positivity.
Why shouldn’t flowers bloom togeather? (Hahaha)
I must say, San Franscisco is a giant Flower
because they have all these people but they’re all different, and we still manage to all get along.

Dr. Huey P. Newton (Hahahaha)
need I say more?
Dr. Adams, you da man! (haaa)

Oakland (Wesssssssssside)
hahahahahahah
God.

When we are righteous
We are all flowrs
because we are all 1 (Yessssssssss)
hahahahaha

Honest debate is the cornerstone of democracy;
Dishonest debate is a sinkhole

The Fair Shelter Initiative, to appear on the November 2011 ballot, would clarify that shelter beds are not considered housing under the 2002 Proposition N. This change would both maintain housing and services for homeless recipients, yet create equity in the shelter system. As this is a politically charged issue, there is a whole lot of dishonest discourse out there. Read on to find to find out the truth.

Myth:  Fair Shelter would dismantle Care Not Cash because shelter is a stepping-stone to housing.
Fact: Shelter does not have to be a stepping stone to housing – SF has a policy where people are housed right off the streets called “Housing First.” and it is done successfully by city programs like HOT team.  Under Care Not Cash, people are offered housing if it is available at their monthly appointment, not inside the shelter.

Myth: Individuals could turn down housing and choose to languish in the shelters just to collects their full welfare check.
Fact: Those who turn down offer of actual housing would continue to get their grants reduced under this proposal- just not if it is shelter.

Myth: People will come in from out of town to take advantage of the cash benefits.
Fact: The argument that people will come in from out of town has never been proven.   None of the city’s official reports support that argument.  In fact, a city study found that less then 1.3% came for services.

Myth: Money for housing will go to welfare checks instead, housing funding will siphoned off and people who are housed now will be evicted.
Fact: Funding for housing is protected in the measure. According to the Controller’s Office, the fund is set between $12 million and has reached the cap of $14 million. It can go no higher or lower. Currently it is maxed out, so very little of the money charged to homeless people for shelter goes into the fund.

Myth: Shelters will lose funding because they will no longer get funding from peoples welfare check.
Fact: No money from the welfare checks has ever gone to shelter providers.

On June 21st, Supervisor Jane Kim introduced the “Fair Shelter Initiative” which makes a simple change to Newsom’s Care not Cash program by removing shelter beds from the definition of housing. With the response from the city’s most powerful, you would have thought she was drowning a kitten, or lighting the Musuem of Modern Art on fire, or, I don’t know, refusing to say the pledge of allegiance. They completely freaked out, pulled out their peeners (whoops, I mean guns) and declared war.
The allegations went flying and included, among many:

• Progressive Supervisors secretly plotted to put this on the ballot (funny, they introduced legislation at a public meeting–isn’t that always the way it goes?)
• Progressive Supervisors put this on the ballot as a wedge issue (hmm, to draw more progressives to the polls? Is there a progressive in town that doesn’t vote in every election?)
• The initiative will dismantle Care not Cash (I thought Care not Cash was about housing. So now they are saying the entirety of the program is shelter?)

The allegations are so long, in fact, that we have included a list of myths and facts here in the Street Sheet just to clear the air. However, I think it is worth talking about why the Coalition on Homelessness decided to pitch the initiative to Supervisors and bring it forward to voters. Why?

You see, the Coalition on Homelessness is just so misunderstood. We are not ideologues–our structure prevents that. We do outreach to homeless people, find out what they want us to fight for, and then we fight for them. This may come as a surprise to some, but our job is to actually represent poor and homeless people: the most hated, disenfranchised, patronized, and demonized group of folks in the city. You see, homelessness is where all forms of oppression intersect–racism, homophobia, fear of disability, all of that. But since it is a diverse group of people who only have in common being too poor to afford a place to live, it is somehow OK to hate them.

We have no political aspirations, we are not political appointees, and we are not seeking to increase any Poverty Pimp contracts held with the City. We simply sacrifice and work hard because we truly believe that every human being has the right to housing, the right to food and economic security, and will thrive if given the opportunity.

Now that the hidden agenda and mischevious motives have been dispensed with, you are probably wondering what this “disturbing the peace in city hall” initiative is all about.

We have been doing extensive outreach to shelter residents and shelter seekers for years and the same issue comes up over and over. There is mass inequity in the shelter system where 7% of the homeless population (adults on county assistance) get 41% of the beds. The rest of the folks–people with disabilities, seniors, working people, undocumented folks, individuals collecting unemployment–must compete for the remaining beds. They start at 3:00 am and go on until 10:00 at night, perhaps (if they’re “lucky”) getting a bed for one night and having to start the process all over again the next day.

Let me break it down for you. Let’s take Sue ZeeQue. She became homeless after losing work. Like most of us, she was “just a paycheck away” from being homeless. She didn’t have any family or a trust fund to fall back on and when her unemployment ran out she went to the city for some help and signed up for public assistance. As she was homeless, the welfare office offered her a shelter bed. It would not have mattered if she took it or not–once it was offered, her cash assistance was reduced by 85%. She may languish in the shelter for months or years before they offer her any real housing, trying humbly to feed herself on two dollars a day without cooking facilities or a fridge.

Meanwhile, Laura Jean has been seeking shelter, starting early each day–pushing her walker across town, trying not to stop and cry. After 8 grueling days, she finally gets a shelter bed, and to her dismay she notices a bunch of empty beds. She asks some questions and discovers Care not Cash is to blame–the inequity locks elders like her out–the empty beds are due to the fact that when county welfare recipients don’t use the bed it is not released but for one night, and late at night. The drill is go to Glide in the Tenderloin at 3:00 am, go to MSC-South at 5th and Bryant at 9:00. Get a wristband at 11:00 am. Come back at 5:00. Wait some more until beds are released at 7:00 pm. Wait some more until 10:00 when the last of the beds are released. Laura Jean was tired.

If the Fair Shelter Initiative passes, Sue ZeeQue would get her full grant until she was offered real housing. Sue ZeeQue could still get shelter, but she would be on equal footing with Laura Jean. With the full grant, her hunger will be alleviated, and the city would be pressured to offer her some housing more quickly. Laura Jean will more likely get a long term bed until housing is available, given that she is elderly and at risk.

The beauty of all of this is that the housing funding under Care Not Cash would be protected. The fund is set at the 2002 expenditure level (what they were spending on cash assistance to homeless people at the time.) It is paying for the housing and will continue to pay for the housing if Fair Shelter passes.

In the end, fair shelter will protect the housing funds, while creating equity in the shelter system.

As for the opposition…why are they freaking out so much? Well, beyond it being viewed as an absolute sin for poor homeless folks to have a little income, it is shaking the tree of absolute truth that has been created in the media: that everything is being done for homeless people, and that those who are still homeless have simply chosen to be homeless, and that Care not Cash is an amazing cure all for anyone who ever wants to get elected.

Back here at the Coalition, well, we are just trying to improve the lives of destitute San Franciscans, and nobody seems to like that. Oh yeah, except the formerly homeless who now have a shot at not dying in the street.

Causa Justa::Just Cause
Solidarity Statement and call to action!
May 12, 2011: Protests Launch National Prison Industry Divestment Campaign

Today we stand in solidarity with community and labor groups that are taking to the streets to protest the private prison industry’s business model of pushing for harsher immigrant incarceration policies. Such policies drive up prison populations and put added strains on state and federal budgets.

On May 3rd, CJJC along with ACCE, SEIU, PICO and many more ally organizations took to the streets for the big Wells Fargo Shareholder meeting protest. We had a delegation of people inside and hundreds outside demanding that Wells Fargo puts a moratorium on foreclosures, divests from the prison industry and stops the criminal lending practices targeting communities of color as well as pay its fair share of local, state and federal taxes.

Today in LA groups are demanding that Wells Fargo divest its holdings in the GEO Group, a private prison company that runs immigrant detention centers and the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp for the U.S. government.

Detentions of immigrants are set to cost taxpayers over $10 billion a year while profiting Manhattan-based hedge fund managers and other finance industry magnates like Wells Fargo who have significant investments in the private prison industry. Wells Fargo’s prison stock is valued at $88 million.

The private prison industry, in league with major investors, is working to increase the criminalization of our communities to further overpopulate our prisons. This industry has a long and shameful record of targeting and incarcerating African American communities, and is now seeking further profit through lobbying efforts to accelerate the detention of immigrants through laws such as SB 1070 in Arizona and its copycat bill in Georgia.

“Now they’re conspiring to get states to put more people in jail for longer periods of time, costing tax-payers millions for no justifiable reason which undermines the credibility of our justice system. We can’t let this happen,” said Peter Cervantes-Gautschi of Enlace, an alliance of low-wage labor groups in the U.S. and Mexico.
This group, in partnership with community groups and unions across the US, is calling on all public and private institutions to divest their holdings in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group, America’s largest private prison corporations who profited a combined $3 billion.

The major investors in the private prison industry include Pershing Square Capital Management, Wellington Management Company, Wells Fargo Bank, General Electric and others. The protests coincide with the annual shareholders meeting of CCA in Nashville, TN where one of the protests will be taking place that day.

This is the first action and the beginning of the National Prison Industry Divestment Campaign. We are calling on all people of conscience to divest from Wells Fargo and demand that they stop profiteering off the suffering of our communities. Join us today and in all future actions that will be occurring all over the country.

Look for information for another action coming up on July 3rd.

Earlier this month, interim Mayor Lee introduced his city budget.  He was blissfully understated, and earnestly presented his ideas with the assistance of some adorable public school aged children.  The children smoothly presented his three “s’s” which include safety, solvency and success, and the word principle was used with surprising frequency.  The Mayor was so, well, plain and unpolished, it was downright refreshing after suffering through years of high glamour and flash from Gavin Newsom.

Much has been made of his choice of presentation space inside the Board chambers, which Newsom famously avoided, even after a ballot measure directed him inside.  Newsom was all about conflict, made to play into the hardcore sports fan lust for victory.  Right or wrong never seemed to matter under him – it was always about winning.  He and his staff would try their best to put down the legislative body, tease it like a schoolyard bully, therebye boosting his own political career higher and gaining popularity with the rulers of the school yard.  It was one strategy, but an awful tiring one.  (He was never a consensus builder, so would we categorize him as a desensus deconstructor?)

During the budget season, this style was particularly striking. Former Mayor Newsom would slash and burn the budget, taking care to cut everything important from the more left leaning members of the Board, then hold hostage a pool of money.  The Board was then forced to take away things the Mayor cared about and boom boom pow the game was on!  Firemen would be pitted against children.  Civil service workers pitted against community workers.  Unions pitted against unions.  Things would get ugly, masses would protest, hundreds turning up for hearings to testify, graveyards built in Civic Center Plaza, seniors showing up with safety hats, children begging the board to save their recreation program, folks screaming in the hallways, and just sheer chaos.  The Mayor would hold hostage critical funding for health care and homeless people until the Board put all the patronage positions that help him get elected back in, or his pet projects like the Community Justice Center.  In the end, the Mayor got what he wanted, so I guess you could say he won.  Unfortunately, the losers were poor folks who have seen health care slashed by over $33 million under Newsom, and mentally ill people who have had treatment slashed, and elders with Alzhiemers whose day programs have closed, and rape victims who have lost trauma services, and homeless people who have had six resource centers closed and lost a third of their shelter beds and now have to wait half the night for a bed and….

Fast forward to today. Our interim Mayor, Ed Lee, said from the start that he wanted a collaborative process. He reached out to community members, and talked to the members of the Board.  He held a series of meetings with community groups individually, and collectively pulled together community with department heads.  Most importantly, he actually listened.  Stunning.  He had a very real challenge – he had to close an over $400 million deficit and very little means to raise short term revenue.  The department heads apparently did not get the message at the beginning.  They did the same old thing they would have under Newsom: they proposed slashing pretty much only those programs that left leaning board members would support (you know, the poor people stuff) the stuff that serves communities of color and lifts folks out of poverty.  It took a while, but they eventually got the message, and the budget was updated, even, one could say, radically changed.  Police and fire willingly gave up their raises, it looks like pension reform will move forward without opposition, creative solutions were embraced and the lives of the poorest San Franciscans held some value.

The deepest part, however, was the way the larger community organizations responded.  They didn’t just dissolve into “hold hands and sing Kumbaya” mode, but took it to a whole new level. After having been rejected from the table for so long, they were thrilled to have a place at the table, and so they behaved like perfect plebiscites.  Here they have direct access to power, an opportunity rarely glimpsed and they never bothered to stand up for the people they serve.  Instead, they spoke only in long-winded platitudes and gushing gratitudes.  They felt that by agreeing to sit at the table there was an implicit agreement that they would not make any waves (at all…as in not even a little tiny ripple). This could have been an incredibly dangerous gamble, as poor people could have been seriously played. After all, these very same people have been involved in multiple community processes where after spending hours coming up with recommendations, the report  is shelved with no real outcomes.  Luckily, the needs of the poorest San Franciscans was communicated in alternative vehicles and in the end, Mayor Lee came through with a very thoughtful budget.

The budget Mayor Lee presented to the Board was framed as a work in progress.  It still has about $10,000,000 in reductions to poverty abatement programs.  From one perspective, that seems like a whole lot, but compared to previous years, we would have had almost four times that to fight for.  However, on top of the devastation of the Newsom years, it would not be an overstatement to say an additional $10 million in reductions is catastrophic.  As a community, people will have to stand up and fight – perhaps fight alongside the Mayor instead of against him – but fight nonetheless to get that funding for poor people.  We cannot accept, for example, losing hours at the only resource center in the Tenderloin, or losing doctors at psychiatric crisis.

Now we return to lessons learned for the next Mayor, and there are quite a few. Formerly nasty spitting Mayoral aides frequently witnessed hissing bile into Supervisor Aide’s faces can be seen skipping and smiling down the palace hallways.  Decisions can be based on reason as opposed to political expediency.  Politics do not need to be based on blood sports.  Simply smile and invite your processor’s opponents to the table and they will be putty in your hands.

In the end, Mayor Lee is far more popular then Newsom ever was, is much more respected, and the decisions made (at least in the budget process) are the right ones for the people of San Francisco.  The main lesson: working together actually works.

By Marlon Crump (previously published by Poor News Network)

I awake every day, even up here, to watch, listen, and secure you. I don’t care what day you are due up here with me, Mom, for I’ve always heard you cry, before and after they took me. I’m never leaving you, as we are bonded for eternity.

Before I decided to chronicle the “Idriss Stelley Foundation” series, last year, Idriss’ spirit channeled through my soul and communicated with me to his mom, Mesha Monge-Irizarry through this poem (the poem continues throughout this story.) I called it: IDRISS’S ADDRESS. For everyone that reads this series conclusion chronicled by POOR, you all will see why.

On the morning of June 13th, 2001 at 7:45 am, Mesha worked literally 25 hours due to the shortage of staff. An hour later, she received a phone call that will forever haunt her:

“Mom, I need $2,000 or I am a dead man tonight!” This would also be the last time she would ever hear her son’s voice again. Mesha was stunned by these terrifying words, and very afraid. Her son seldom asked her for any money, given the fact that he was a marble union worker. Idriss wouldn’t go into further details over the phone, and promised her that he would explain everything when she got home from work.

“Me and Mama Dee left out of this theater (Sony Metreon Theater) about a half hour before Idriss was killed,” POOR Magazine/POOR News Network, Co-Founder “Tiny” Lisa Gray-Garcia would later tell me.

Ma, I heard and saw you cry internally, even today, I can see your very tears plague your heart. God called me home ten years ago, and I’ve hovered over you since.

I’m sure that his girlfriend, Summer Galbreath, will never forget those awful words by Idriss Stelley: “Summer, you know that I am going to die tonight!” With that, Idriss was in a somber mood for the rest of the day. While inside one of the movie theaters at the Sony Metreon Theater located at Mission and 4th Street. He and Summer went to watch a movie called “Swordfish,” starring John Travolta. In the movie, there was a scene where Travolta lights up a cigarette. Seconds later, Idriss did exactly the same. A security guard approached Idriss and instructed him to put out his cigarette.

In the “Darkened Theater” (which was titled by the San Francisco Chronicle during its “Use of Force” series that published its own “version” of Idriss’s death) Idriss Stelley stood up and faced the audience. “If you have families or loved ones, leave now. Something bad could happen!” Idriss exclaimed.

Almost immediately, the movie patrons stampeded out of the theater like a wild herd in heeding his words…all but one, a man of African descent, who was asleep in the theater, unaware of the commotion. Summer had gone to use the restroom and was also unaware of what was going on, which is what she asked Idriss after seeing that everyone had cleared out.

“Baby, go home, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Idriss said “Go home to your family.” Summer left, but did not go home and was outside with everyone that left the theater. At this point, Idriss is all alone in the theater, shy of the gentleman who was still asleep. He then dialed 911 on his cell phone.

“Mesha, there are cops everywhere!” Summer said frantically over the phone. “They say that he has a gun, but he ain’t got no gun! I told them not to hurt him!” The call dropped. Mesha called Summer back immediately. It was 11:09pm.

I got called from heaven on that deep dark day, 7 years, 5 and a half months today. Though my life was abruptly cut short, Ma, I heard you cry. Before and after the hail of gunfire tore my body, I heard you on the phone to attempt to save me, but didn’t even get to see me, as you heard me die.

The moment that Mesha Monge-Irizarry called Summer back, she heard the shots ring out in the background that killed her only child, Idriss Scott Stelley. A barrage total of 48 shots is what it took for numerous officers of three San Francisco Police Department precinct stations to calm down a young man who was clearly suffering from a total mental breakdown. Use of Deadly Force.

Those very shots from June 13th, 2001 at 11:09 pm still ring out to this very day in Mesha’s mind. “Why wasn’t I there to shield his body with mine?” she often asks herself.

The three SFPD precincts that “responded” to the 911 call by Idriss and Summer harshly evacuated everyone from the Sony Metreon Theater “with shotguns” according to witnesses, employees, movie patrons, and spectators to the chaotic scene. The precincts that responded were the Tenderloin Task Force, the Bayview and the Mission District Station.

During the evacuation, the black gentleman who was asleep in the theater was seen by a witness led out in handcuffs through a back entrance. “What the f!@#$ is wrong with y’all!” the man was heard yelling to the cops as he was being taken away. “He didn’t have a gun, but you all had weapons!” In fact, the only “weapon” that was discovered on Idriss was a Thumbelina-sized carving tool (hooked to a thin pager chain) that the officers would later claim he tried to cut one of them with.

Summer saw the man from the theatre an hour later as he awaited interrogation by one of the homicide investigators at the SF Hall of “Justice.” The man later “mysteriously disappeared.” The unidentified man was later regarded as an “unreliable source” due to alleged intoxication.

Mesha was hastily driven to San Francisco General Hospital by a friend, grasping onto an ounce of hope that Idriss was still alive. Upon her arrival, she saw two officers at the Emergency Room entrance.

Mesha approached a triage nurse to find out if Idriss had been admitted. Like so many mothers, she received the words that no mother ever wants to hear.

“Your son died at the scene,” said one of the police officers. “You need to come with us to the Homicide Division.” Mesha was so shaken up, in a state of shock, that she doesn’t even remember ever riding in the patrol car.

My demise remerged your very soul, giving velocity to your courage and commitment to save others. My departure from the clutches of the wickedness that’s plagued you and everyone, will never be in vain.

At 5:30am Mesha called Summer to give her the terrible news. “Baby, your man is dead.” Once the word “dead” registered in Summer’s ears, she started screaming at the top of her lungs. All along, while she was being interrogated, she kept asking the officers “How is E (Idriss’s nickname)? Tell me how is E?!”  “Don’t worry, darling, he’s fine. He’s going to be just fine,” kept contending the investigators.

“It is internal policy that when there is a shootout, everyone must empty their gun” Holly Pera, from the SFPD Homicide Detail Division replied, when she was asked by Mesha three days after Idriss’s death, “Why so many bullets?” There was never any real “shootout” because of the blatant fact that Idriss didn’t carry a gun. Or is it possible that the officers emptied their firearms to mislead investigators as to which officer fired first, during the ballistics investigation?

After the officers killed Idriss, they allegedly tried to perform CPR on him for 45 minutes.

They then dragged his dead body through an emergency exit of the Sony Metreon into a dark alley away from public view and scrutiny. Idriss’ body was riddled with bullets that ranged from his skull, exploding his brain, his neck, chest, arms, abdomen, thighs, calves, etc. Idriss’s body was practically covered from head-to-toe with bullets holes and blood.

It was also reported that there were bullet holes in the walls by an exit door of the theater. Was Idriss actually trying to flee despite the hail of bullets that ultimately took his life? This is mind shattering, given the fact that Idriss’s entire body was now literally shattered to shreds, yet now there was an attempt from Idriss’s killers to “revive him?” By performing CPR? On a man whose brain matter is splattered on the theater seats? What was really taking place in that dark alley from alongside the “Darkened Theater” may always remain a mystery.

“Idriss Stelley’s case is at the root of the 40 hour mandatory mental health training,” said SF Public Defender, Jeff Adachi in 2002, a year after Idriss’s death. These sentiments by Adachi were somewhat ironic because Mesha, herself, conducted comprehensive, “de-escalating” police intervention training series at the SFPD Academy and for the SF Sheriff’s Department until 2000, while she was successively the program manager of La Casa de las Madres, Woman, Inc., SHANTI, and Hayward Emergency Shelters.

In the past, Mesha has repeatedly offered her technical assistance to prior SF Police Chiefs: Fred Lau, Earl Sanders, and Heather Fong. In addition, she offered the same to SF Sheriff’s Department. “All, but to no avail,” Mesha stated, disappointedly, but not the least bit surprised by their overall lack of response.

They may have taken my life, but my soul and spirit will continue to inhabit, comfort, and cloud you. I’ve sent you many loved ones, shielders, and protectors, for you are always right as rain.

In 2003, Mesha won an out of court settlement (after she sued the City of San Francisco over the unjustified use of deadly force against Idriss) for the sum of $500,000. After her lawyer, Andy Schwartz, collected 35% of the money, she entered a business partnership with the remaining $250,000 with Willie Ratcliff’s Liberty Builders, Bayview, Inc., while keeping $25,000 to open the Idriss Stelley Foundation and keep a (clients and services) rolling fund. “I did this in the hope to strengthen Black and Brown ownership in the SF Bayview District,” Mesha said during the interview.

A day after the SF “Fajitagate” scandal exploded in 2002 (which involved the indictment of 12 top brass officers), Mesha was issued an apology – at her mediation in front of a retired judge, pointing toward a possible settlement from Heather Fong, who had just been nominated Deputy Chief that very day, before being appointed to head the SFPD by SF Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004.

Fong’s words in front of the City Attorney: “On behalf of our department and the City of San Francisco, I apologize for what happened to Idriss. It was wrong, and we want to make sure such thing never happens again.” Mesha’s attorney was gasping, ecstatic…but she immediately knew that such a contention, occurring during a confidential mediation process was inconsequential in terms of the outcome of her case.

Ma, I heard, and please stop crying, for I’m no longer dying, anymore. You were reborn and revitalized to save others like me, tell people like me, and given a heart like jewel to forgive anyone, even the killers of me.

Mesha publicly forgave the police officers for their execution of Idriss, something most moms or fathers rarely, if ever, do. She decided to use the rest of the money to create the grassroots, nonprofit organization that would hold law enforcement accountable for unethical conduct during the course of their duties: the Idriss Stelley Foundation. “I could not entertain the thought of spending a penny of Idriss’s blood money on myself!” Mesha exclaimed.

You may have not got my justice the way it should’ve been served, on the other hand I placed it on your shoulder, and assured you I’m always there, never past tense.

In September of 2004, Mesha took the SFPD Citizen’s Academy Training 15-week course in order to get a better understanding of the organizational culture of the entire department. While Mesha was attending, she learned the fundamental basics that a police officer would need in order to “serve” and “protect” the public. She learned tackling techniques, applications of containment through pain-inflicting physical measures and weapons. Mesha–understandably–could not bear to participate in target practice. Just a couple of years ago, Mesha showed me a picture of herself, between Lieutenant Flores and Chief Heather Fong while holding her graduating certificate.

Don’t ever think for a second, Mama, that evil will prevail, for my supreme father has toured me through the gates of Heaven and Hell. Many get so discouraged, despite how hard they fight, but little do they know of the glory that is yet to come. That day is coming, they shall all see.

As I prepared to wrap up the interview, Mesha concluded with her final thoughts of hope and commitment to keeping the soul and legacy of Idriss Stelley alive to help others who’ve experienced her pain. “Two nights ago, I dreamt of a storm raging through my bedroom. Idriss was sitting on my bed while dead leaves accumulated around us on the bed sheets. Then without transition, we held each other, looking down the Sphinx River and seeing the bodies of our ancestors drifting down the dark waters. Some of them were rotting, others chipping bones, while others were mere transparent shadows. I felt that Idriss is calling me.”

Before I packed up my paper and pen, Mesha gently tapped my hand. “But it ain’t over until the fat lady sings. I will not rest until we make substantial strides against illegal racial biased policing and lethal force against our Sisters and Brothers. Let’s keep going safe and strong in serving and protecting each other.” As I hugged her goodnight, she quietly told me to “keep a stiff upper lip” and not to take any “wooden nickels.”

“In Pro Per Power!” she said, giving reference to my civil suit against the City of San Francisco over SFPD misconduct last year, when I represented myself with no one to help me. Though I was unsuccessful, I will never misrepresent myself in heeding those very powerful words because they forever echo in my heart.

The Idriss Stelley Foundation (ISF) is a nonprofit organization created through the wrongful death settlement of the Irizarry vs. SF City & County and SFPD case, and its allocation to his mother Mesha Monge-Irizarry. Her only child, a 23 year old African American honor student, was killed by SFPD at the SF Sony Metreon Complex on June 12, 2001. Forty-eight shots were fired by nine officers, as “Brother E” stood alone, in an emptied movie theater, while experiencing a mental health crisis. Idriss Stelley’s case is at the root of the 40-hour mandatory SFPD Mental Health Training, ratified in SF in March 2002, and of the SF Police reform (Prop H, restructuring of the SF Police Commission), that won by a substantial margin on the November SF ballot of 2004, in spite of the SF Police Officer’s Association opposition and their exhorbitant financial backing to defeat the proposition.

Mesha opened the Idriss Stelley Action Resource Center in May of 2008. It is located in the heart of the SF Mission district, in Suite #209 of the Redstone Building at 2940 16th Street (corner of Capp Street, half a block east from 16th Street BART Station). ISF provides free, confidential services to biological and extended families whose loved ones have been disabled or killed by law enforcement, to survivors of police misconduct, and to social/racial justice activists, both locally and nationwide. For an appointment, please call (415) 595-8251.

ISF has published regular social and racial justice articles in the SF Bay View National Black Newspaper–at no cost to the editor–since 2001. ISF hosted its own radio station in Bayview, “SF Village Voice,” until February 2008, as well as hosting weekly shows on BVHP Community Radio and Enemy Combatant Radio at Indybay. Among other social justice events, ISF has hosted “Shape Up or Ship Out SFPD” in the SF Bayview District and “Bang4Change Civil Rights Revival 2006 Fest” in front of SF City Hall that drew over 1000 attendees.

ISF gave a presentation at the Oakland Peoples’ Tribunal earlier this year (for the second year in a row) and presented two seminars at the last Critical Resistance National Conference in Oakland, as well as at the first National Copwatch Conference in 2009, also in Oakland. For 3 years while still based in the SF Bayview District, ISF hosted the African American Community Policing Relations Executive Board, and the Bayview Campaign to End the Death Penalty.Since ISF opened its doors in August 2002, the agency has provided services to over 6,000 individuals and families in the Greater Bay Area, and across the nation. ISF is a work ally of the Copwatch national movement, of the Bay Area Police Accountability Coalition, and of Black Cops Against Police Brutality. Recently, ISF helped organize the “End Police Terror against the Disabled” in San Francisco on MLK Day 2011. ISF is also actively involved in the movements to repeal San Francisco’s Sit/Lie Ordinance, and is on the task force opposing a Taser contract for SFPD.

ISF moderates over 160 yahoogroups for individuals and families impacted by police violence to grow their support and help organize and host their grassroots justice rallies and protests.

Low cost professional Spanish-French-English translation services are offered on a sliding scale, which is often ISF’s only source of income to cover office rent and client services. Sliding scale interpersonal relations mediation is also available, as well as peer couples’ counseling, one on one and family counseling, harm reduction counseling, a Victory Over Violence support group, Targeted Individuals Empowering Collective for victims and survivors of electronic torture and gang stalking, Know Your Rights interactive workshops, and seminars on cultural awareness, grassroots organizational behaviors, and strategical planning, Private mediations between police captains and city residents (when they do not wish for a lengthy legal process) can be facilitated until apologies or a satifactory compromise is reached and staff are available to accompany family members to court proceedings for emotional support. These services are free or low cost, depending on the agencies or individuals respective budgets (ISF conducted such 2-day seminars for Code Pink, Global Exchange, Labor Against The War, and Third Baptist Church.) ISF also set up the organizational structure of FORWARD (and serves on its advisory board) direct services for Fanilies of Parolees, which has met monthly since October 2008 at ISF office.

ISF’s founder, Mesha Monge-Irizarry, has been a City Commissioner since September 2008 on  the Marijuana Offenses Overview Committee (monitoring and enforcing the Lowest Priority Ordinance on cannabis offenses), and the Co-Chair of Black & Brown Just Drug Policies Coalition with Greg Ledbetter of Axis of Love. Mesha is also the Co-Director of SF Education Not Incarceration with Jeremy Miller, sister agency of ISF, which shares their office space. Mesha serves as a member of the Speaker Bureau of the SF Mental Health Association, which offers keynote speakers to educate professionals and community groups on the day to day realities of mental illness, and the road to recovery within competent cultural norms.

In time of a crunch, on short notice, ISF can accommodate other task forces for their meetings in the afternom ot evening, at no cost, for a maximum capacity 20 people, with refreshments and snacks provided. Pro bono civil rights attorney referrals and high school internships are available. Mesha is even willing to give basic internet training and resume writing assistance.

In Mama Mesha’s own words: “This is what my son Idriss would like me to do…He has not died in vain. Although it is not about him any longer per se, it is about the struggle to End the War against the Poor, Black & Brown! I am not anti-cop, but pro law enforcement transparency and accountability, and community safekeeping, through Serving and Protecting EACH OTHER…NO MORE STOLEN LIVES! Ain’t No Power like DA Power of the People cuz the Power of the People won’t stop!”

Groups March and Rally Across the State to End Mass Incarceration and 40-Year “War On Drugs”

Contact: Emily Harris
Statewide Coordinator, Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Cell: 510-435-1176

Beginning on Friday June 17th, the 40th anniversary of the “war on drugs,” hundreds will come together to hold “Communities Rising” actions and rallies in communities across California. Over 40 organizations working with the Californians United for a Responsible Budget, or “CURB,” alliance will send a strong message from different parts of the state to Governor Brown and the state legislature, calling for the State to take active steps to end its participation in the 40-year-old “war on drugs”, and to prioritize vital social services over prison spending.

“Spending on prisons has grown from five percent to ten percent of our General Fund spending, doubling in the past decade,” said Lisa Marie Alatorre of Critical Resistance, a CURB member organization. “Locking up too many people for too long does not contribute to public safety and is draining essential resources from education and health care – programs that make a real difference to Californians.”  California remains billions of dollars in debt.

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a lower court rulings in Brown v. Plata, California has been ordered to reduce its lethally crowded prison system in the next two years. The Governor’s plan is to shift tens of thousands of prisoners to county jails, building tens of thousands more jail cells and thousands more high-security prison cells.  “It looks like Governor Brown wants to do nothing but repeat the mistakes of the last 30 years,” said Debbie Reyes of California Prison Moratorium Project, another CURB member organization. “We built 23 massive prisons and that didn’t solve overcrowding. Now he wants to extend that failed effort by expanding county jail systems. Like the Supreme Court said, you can’t build your way out of this problem.”

Organizations and residents across the state are frustrated by the impacts of the State’s economic and social priorities.  “For years we’ve been cutting back on state programs that save lives and build decent futures for the next generation,” said Amanda Vela of Madera Citizens for Better Community and Schools, “Now Gov. Brown is asking voters to raise state revenues to pay for more jail cells? We have to stop the cuts and re-channel funds away from prisons and jails and back into programs that make a difference for us and our kids.”

The various rallies, marches, speak-outs, and other actions across the state fall on the forty year anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s declaration of a “war on drugs”, a policy that many experts have shown to wreak havoc in low income communities and communities of color. “The Plata decision is a real opportunity for our state to reverse decades of racist ‘tough-on-crime’ policies,” says Rodrigo “Froggy” Vasquez of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “We are tired of being politically ignored. We need leadership in Sacramento with the guts to get smart, end the war on drugs, and decriminalize drug possession.”

Texas, New York, and Michigan, among other states have successfully reduced their prison budgets and populations while increasing public safety. CURB argues that California could do the same by implementing parole and sentencing reforms such as amending or repealing three strikes laws.

Communities Rising Actions are planned for June 17th and 18th in cities across California, including Los Angeles, Fresno, Bakersfield, Madera, and Visalia. San Francisco’s action will kick off with a press conference on June 17th at noon on the steps of City Hall, followed by a march led by the Brass Liberation Orchestra. Activities will include puppets and other art, as well as a community speak out and a free delicious lunch served by Food Not Bombs.

Sponsoring organizations across the State include: A New Path – LA, A New Way of Life, All of Us or None, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, American Friends Service Committee, Berkeley Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution, Blacksmith Records Inc., California Coalition for Women Prisoners, California Partnership, California Prison Moratorium Project, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, Center for Non-Violence, Community Justice Network for Youth, Cop Watch – LA, Critical Resistance, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Drug Policy Alliance, Enlace, Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes, Fresno Brown Berets, Harm Reduction Coalition, Hip Hop Not Bombs, Homies Unidos, Justice by Uniting Creative Energy, Justice Now, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Leadership through Empowerment Action and Dialogue, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Madera Citizens for Better Community and Schools, October 22nd Coalition – LA, Oasis Clinic, Pico Youth and Family Center, SF Drug Users Union, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, TGI-Justice Project, These Cuts Wont’ Heal, United for Drug Policy Reform and Youth Justice Coalition.

For more information about actions, prisons, the budget crisis and realignment, surf to www.curbprisonspending.org

Gentle Reader, allow me to entertain you with a story:

Once upon a time, a child was hired to tend to a flock of sheep in the dell outside a bucolic village. As the cock crowed each morning, she drove the sheep out of their pen, down the hamlet’s main street, across the bridge, through the grove, over the hill, and into the dell. But as she passed through the village gate every morning, she counted the townsfolk’s flock: One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep, five sheep, six sheep, seven sheep… sleep.

And so she would slumber until the dairymaids stirred to tend to their herds, and the beerwenches rose to open the tavern for the security guards coming off graveyard shift, the code monkeys who kept odd Mountain Dew-fueled hours, and the chronic inebriates who were rumored to be many and costly to the village’s Europinko healthcare system. Then, the little child would run across the bridge, through the grove, over the hill, and into the dell to catch up with her flock.
And the same would happen on her return every evening as the sky blushed and the green grove greyed: One sheep, two sheep, three sheep… sleep. Until she was awakened by the cling-clang of the milchherd’s approaching bells, and she scurried up the hill, through the grove, and across the bridge to catch up with her flock.

Until one morning, upon reaching the dell, she surveyed her flock and found one sheep to be missing. “Alas! O, woe! What ever shall I do?” And so she thought for five seconds before deciding. “A wolf!” she cried. “A wolf has come and seized one of our flock!” Her little exclamation echoed through the chamber of the dell, over the hill, through the grove, across the bridge, down the main street, and into the ear of the snarky gossip columnist who called himself the town crier. “A wolf!” he cried! “A wolf!” he hued. “Our wee hamlet’s flock is being devoured by a wolf!”

And so the townspeople gathered pitchfork and torch and hurried off to put down the beast: Across the bridge they ran, through the grove (slowly, keeping an eye to the ground for the dirty needles that were rumored to litter the forest floor), over the hill, and into the dell, where the lachrymose lass jumped to her feet (not wishing to be caught violating the townsfolk’s strict prohibition on sitting) and waved her crook in the air. “Alas! O, woe! A wolf has come and devoured one of the flock! This is pretty obviously not my fault!”

“Was it red or grey?” asked the townsfolk. “Yes!” cried the little girl. “Did it run east or west?” they asked. “Probably!” she cried. “Did it eat the sheep here or run off with it, still bleating and alive?” they asked her. “Don’t you think that Ed Lee should run for burghermeister?” she replied. “Oh, yes!” concurred an anonymous townsperson.

At this point, a little boy stepped forward. “Pardon me, little girl, but are you certain it was a wolf?” “A wolf!” cried the little girl, looking intently at the snarky gossip columnist who called himself the town crier. “Wolf wolf wolf! Wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf!” “I only ask,” continued the little boy, “because we live on the coast, and no wolves have been seen in this state since approximately 1900, and that was in the Sierras.” “Wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf!” cried the shepherdess to the snarky gossip columnist who called himself the town crier, and the townsfolk nodded in agreement.

The snarky gossip columnist who called himself the town crier turned to the lad with a contemptuous scowl. “If it wasn’t a wolf, little boy, how do you explain the disappearance of the sheep?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” the little boy replied. “But the current explanation seems statistically and ecosystemically improbable, and the story doesn’t quite add up. Perhaps a little more thorough consideration would behoove us.” “Wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf wolf!” cried the little shepherdess. The snarky gossip columnist who called himself the town crier sneered at the little lad and turned to Bo Peep. “This is a far more interesting story,” he concluded, and all the townsfolk agreed.

And that, gentle reader, is why we’re not going to tell you that the 2011 Biennial Homeless Count is statistically fatally flawed and demographically meaningless, and that we are doomed *never* to have a decent count until being homeless ceases to be a crime and the City government actively and humanly engages homeless people as equal and worthy neighbors in our city. We’ve been telling that story for almost two decades, and it seems that San Francisco media just doesn’t want to hear it. (Not *you*, Gentle Reader: You have always inspected our graphs and appreciated our statistical analyses with the utmost attentiveness and grace.)

So, instead, we’re telling you the stories that the snarky gossip-columnists who pretend to be journalists *could* have told you instead, using the exact same data.
[END SIDEBAR]

Every two years, the Federal governments Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires each geographical region that receives Federal funding for homeless services to conduct a point-in-time count of its outdoor and institutional homeless populations. Every two years, the mainstream press reports roughly the same story: (Now former) Mayor Gavin Newsom’s approach to solving homelessness would be working, if it weren’t for all those pesky outsiders coming into San Francisco! This narrative, in fact, could never be substantiated by the Count itself, and has actually been contradicted by the last three Counts. While we have always had extreme doubts about the validity of the Count (see side bar), this year we’re going to highlight seven important stories that the mainstream press is ignoring from the exact same data:

FAMILY STREET HOMELESSNESS QUADRUPLES IN TWO YEARS
According to the 2011 Homeless Count, street homelessness among families has increased by 280%, nearly quadrupling since 2009. Family homeless shelters confirm that waitlists for shelter access have increased severalfold since the beginning of the Great Recession and its concomitant increase in joblessness.

While homeless families comprised about 8.4% of the overall homeless population in 2009, they are 9.8% of the homeless population in 2011 (including both people living on the street and people living in homeless shelters and other institutions). While the overall homeless population has declined by 0.9%, the population of homeless families has increased by 15.7%. “This puts to lie the canard that homeless people are by and large bushy-bearded single men with shopping carts,” said homeless advocate Miguel Carrera. “We are in fact many communities, and we represent all the diversity of the population at large, from bushy-bearded seniors to toddlers in diapers.”

BLACK PEOPLE SIX TIMES AS LIKELY TO BE HOMELESS
According to recent enumerations, Black people now comprise 38.5% of the total homeless population of San Francisco, while they only comprise 5.8% of the city’s population as a whole. While homelessness has decreased by a little under 1% according to the 2011 Homeless Count, and the Black population of San Francisco has decreased by 22.6% according to the 2010 Census, the Black homeless population has grown by 10% in absolute terms, and by over 11% as a portion of the homeless population.
“This puts to lie the canard that we live in a post-racial society,” said activist Mesha Monge Irizarry. “Homelessness is very much a racial justice issue.”

80% OF SAN FRANCISCANS CAN’T GET SHELTER WHEN THEY NEED IT
The latest Homeless Count has found that the great majority of homeless San Franciscans seeking shelter are unable to actually obtain a shelter bed. Advocates say that difficulty in obtaining a shelter bed increased under the Newsom mayoral administration, when San Francisco lost nearly a third of its City-funded shelter beds to budget cuts. “This puts to lie the canard that the 85 to 100 shelter beds left empty every night were an indication of lack of demand,” said Shelter Advocate LJ Cirilo. “The demand was there, but the beds were apparently unavailable.”

THREE QUARTERS OF HOMELESS SAN FRANCISCANS WERE HOUSED SAN FRANCISCANS, FIRST
Most Had Lived Here for More than Five Years
According to the latest official count of homeless people in San Francisco, the great majority of homeless people in San Francisco were not homeless when they arrived here. In fact, 40.3% had been San Francisco residents for a decade or more before becoming homeless, while an additional 15.8% had lived here for five years or more before losing their housing. In comparison, 61.1% of all San Franciscans immigrated here from outside of California. “This puts to lie the canard that homeless people are outsiders who come here for our amazing array of social services,” said homeless advocate Jenise Standfield. “Most people in our community were San Franciscans long before they became homeless. Those who do come here come here for the same reasons that everyone else does: For employment, for tolerance, for relationships, and for all the aspects of our city that make San Francisco the amazing, beautiful, diverse city that it is. We’re San Franciscans: Not parasites.”

ONLY 2% OF HOMELESS PEOPLE COME TO SAN FRANCISCO FOR SERVICES
Most Don’t Access Emergency Room Services
According to the latest count of homeless people in San Francisco, only 2.3% of homeless people in San Francisco came here for homeless services. 76.9% of homeless people do not engage in County-administered government assistance, 53.4% do not access City-funded shelters, and 52.4% have never been to the emergency room in the past year; 61% usually do not use the emergency room for healthcare. “This puts to lie the canard that all homeless people are a great drain on the public coffers,” said homeless advocate Jesus Perez. “The great majority of homeless people don’t even access City-funded services.”

HALF OF ALL PANHANDLERS MAKE LESS THAN $50 PER MONTH
According to the 2011 Homeless Count, 50.6% of all panhandlers in San Francisco make $50 per month or less. Only 7.7% make $10 per day or more.
“This puts to lie the canard that panhandling is a stupendously lucrative scam,” said homeless advocate Bob Offer-Westort. “The urban legend that panhandlers make hundreds of dollars per day through alms-begging is just that: a legend. It’s got as much truth as the notion that Alka-Seltzer makes seagulls explode or that witches can’t sink.” We contacted Bayer AG for confirmation of Alka-Seltzer’s gull non-incendiary properties, but have received no comment at press time. Members of the San Francisco Wiccan Meetup confirm that witches are similarly buoyant to everyone else.

MAJORITY OF HOMELESS PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ADDICTIVE DISORDERS OR MENTAL ILLNESSES
The 2011 Homeless Count reports that 69% of homeless people do not abuse addictive substances, while 72.4% of homeless people have no mental illness. According to National Institute of Mental Health statistics, 26.2% of US adults have a mental illness in any given year: a number comparable to the 27.6% of homeless people who have a mental illness.
“This puts to lie the canard that mental illness and homelessness are somehow one and the same,” said homeless advocate Jennifer Friedenbach. “Mental illness is especially difficult for homeless people, who do not have the stability that housed people can depend on, and who are disproportionately criminalized for mental illness. However, the real cause of homelessness is poverty.”

The City of San Francisco released a five-year budget plan as now required by voters. It was more than a bit disturbing. Here I was thinking that the recession is over, city coffers would become flush again. The heart break and travesty our community has endured with multiple years of budget blood spatter, the closure of so many shelters, drop-in centers, treatment programs, cuts to disability, In-Home-Support Services, supportive housing has certainly caused a whole lot of pain. Literally. Whether it is longer waits for a disabled elder to get off the streets, or disease caused by lack of access to water, or back pains from sleeping on the cold concrete. Painful as in losing an after school program or a childcare slot for your child while you work, or having to leave your job to care for a parent who has Alzheimer’s and whose day treatment program shut down. It is pain. Painful as in losing your good city job.

What makes it most painful is that it never had to be this way. There are a myriad of ways the budget could be solved. At the state level, many of us remember when Proposition 13 passed – sports almost immediately disappeared from public schools. It has plagued the state ever since, as the major beneficiary has not been little old ladies as advertised by the tax Jarvis creeps, but corporations with large properties – properties that get taxed on the original value even after they merge with other large companies.

Here we have two plans we are presenting – one to solve the state budget crisis and the other to solve the local budget problem.

The State Budget Crisis:
Presented by California Tax Reform Association

The following summarizes 10 measures, which will spread the burden in a way, which arguably have a minimal impact on economic growth and recovery. These include eliminating new loopholes recently opened, taxing untaxed windfalls, ending tax breaks with no benefits, imposing taxes on the very rich, and increasing sin taxes. In addition, without adding to the current burden of taxes for the general public, the state could maintain some part of the previous increases for broader-based taxes, such as keeping the vehicle license fee increase and lowering the sales tax only 1⁄2 cent, rather than the expected 1 cent. Taken together, these continued taxes could avoid cuts, which are damaging to the recovery and to our future, and arguably would have little negative impact on economic recovery. Note: The revenues are not the same in every year, since some do not take effect until fiscal year 2011-12. The Legislative Analyst’s Office calls for a long-term workout, and these revenues would provide that. For a more complete explanation of tax options, surf to http://caltaxreform.org/?p=101.

PROPOSALS

1. Enact an Oil Severance Tax at 9.9% ($1.2 billion)
California is the only state, and the only place in the world, that does not tax oil production. 9.9% is the rate proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Contrary to oil industry claims, California has the lowest tax on oil in the nation—about 60 cents per barrel—when other states are at $6-$7 per barrel or more at current prices. This tax will have no effect on the price of gasoline or on oil production.
2. Eliminate Secret Corporate Tax Loopholes ($1.7 -2 billion)
Enacted in Recent Budget Agreements The Legislature passed new permanent corporate loopholes in secret—loss carry-backs, credit sharing, and an elective single-sales factor, that will all take effect in 2011. These are de-stabilizing and costly, and repealing them now would not increase any taxes. They are also egregious, giving multinational corporations the ability to manipulate the system to lower their tax burden.
3. Broaden Sales Tax Base to Include Untaxed Commodities ($2 billion or more)
There is virtually unanimous agreement that our sales tax base is too narrow. The Governor has supported broadening it, and the first steps should include taxes on entertainment, admissions, parking, golf and skiing, hotels (i.e., the temporary rental of space), and digital products—all of which are commodities easily subject to tax and would result in $2 billion. Beyond that, sales taxes on telecommunications, cable and satellite would generate an additional $2 billion. And beyond those, there are many services, which arguably should be taxed, for billions more.
4. Reinstate Top Income Tax Brackets to 11% ($4 billion)
The top 1% of earners earns an unprecedented 25% of income in California. While that may decrease due to the recession, the recovery of the stock market means capital gains for the wealthy are likely to recover, while ordinary incomes in a slow economy are not. State income taxes have no impact on the location of the wealthy or investment in California, and this revenue will grow faster than economic recovery.
5. Close Corporate Property Tax Loopholes ($2 billion)
Statutory definitions of change of ownership are thoroughly loophole-ridden. CTRA research has identified numerous cases where properties have not been reassessed at market value following a change in ownership. We estimate that tightening corporate property tax loopholes would raise $2 billion. The Legislature can act by statute to close this loophole.
6. Maintain Vehicle License Fee (VLF) at 1% ($1.3 billion)
The VLF is supposed to be an in-lieu property tax, but was cut from 2% to .6%, then raised temporarily to the current rate of 1.15%. A long-term resolution of this issue would put the VLF at the Proposition 13 rate, 1%, beginning in FY 2011-12.

7. Close Useless Corporate Tax Loopholes ($1 billion)
Enterprise zones have been demonstrated to have no impact on jobs ($500 million). Avoidance of capital gains on commercial property sales—so-called like-kind exchanges—are driven by federal, not state considerations ($350 million). Placing offshore tax havens in the water’s edge stops blatant tax manipulation ($150 million). Impact on economic decisions: zero.
8. Increase Tobacco and Alcohol Taxes ($2.4 billion)
Taxing products with negative impacts on society has positive effects. Enacting a tax at 10 cents per alcoholic drink would generate $1.4 billion. Proposals to increase tobacco taxes have been estimated to generate $1 billion.
9. Improve Tax Collections ($1.5 billion initially, less ongoing)
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation which would have provided an initial $1.5 in improvements in collections, including withholding on independent contractors, tightening nexus (Amazon issue), and proposing a bank records match. That amount would fall as others, above, phase up.
10. Lower Current Sales Tax by 1⁄2 Cent ($2.5 billion)
The temporary 1-cent sales tax increase will expire July 2011. Extending—but lowering—the sales tax to 1⁄2 cent would grow revenues to $3 billion, particularly with a broader base. This could phase down by 1⁄4 cent/year as the state’s fiscal condition recovers. Many of these tax changes would have little or no negative economic impact, particularly when contrasted to a state unable to finance infrastructure, that allows its higher education system and schools to deteriorate, that forces cutbacks in local government, and that shreds its safety net for its poorest citizens.

San Francisco’s Budget Crisis
The popular rhetoric is that the pensions are bankrupting the city – the reality is that the city is paying more into the pensions because the banks screwed the working man – and the pensions stopped making money. Nonetheless the workers are giving back year after year, and the poorest of the poor are paying with their lives. Isn’t it time for everyone to share the pain?

In the City’s five year budget plan, by year 2015/16, they are planning on bringing in $100 million in unidentified additional revenue – but saving twice that, $200 million, on employment and pension costs. While it is difficult to imagine what else they would cut – the deficit, and the ensuing cuts to social services, don’t get any better over the next five years. For example, public documents demonstrate that public health has cut $33 million from health care over the past four years, and $32 million from mental health, substance abuse and homeless programs. We have lost 1/3 of our shelter beds and over ½ of our resource centers. The savings through budget cuts to city services range each year from $63 million to $87 million over the next five years according to the plan – for a total of $311 million in savings from reductions over the five year period. Ouch!

Platform For An Equitable City Budget

I.  Steps to Take Right Now:

~Change of Ownership- Collection on Existing Mergers/Acquisitions
Under Proposition 13, when a property changes hands, the property is reassessed and the taxes are based on the new purchase price. In addition, when property changes hands, the city collects a property transfer tax from the buyer – it is just tacked onto the purchase prices and folded into the loan. SEIU and the Revenue Coalition has been working to make sure that recent mergers have property reassessed – so far, we have forwarded names to the Assessors office that have led to new revenue for the city. These have included the JP Morgan/Chase merger, and the Blackton purchase of Hilton. Most recently, the Assessor has gotten lost revenue back from Jiffy Lube change of ownership as well. This work must continue as there are at least 25 more properties where change of ownership has occurred from which the city did not reassess or get transfer tax.

To stop this tax evasion from occurring in the future, we are recommending that a penalty be applied to companies who fail to report on a change of ownership or merge. This could be passed by legislation.

~Foreclosure Registry
Lots of folks don’t think foreclosures are a big problem in San Francisco. They are wrong, we have had a couple thousand and many are long time homeowners who put out seconds on their homes. Once the home is foreclosed upon, the deed passes to the bank. Unfortunately foreclosures are not being registered with the city, and we have no means to collect both the transfer tax and to reassess the property value.

One idea is to have a registry. Banks would have to register on every foreclosure and they would have to register again when the deed is passed onto another bank, and another. This will allow us to collect reassessed property taxes and transfer taxes EACH time the property changed hands. We also could include in this legislation rights for property owners who are losing their homes – rights that could protect them from the foreclosure.

~Property Tax Appeal Reform
Big corporations have no reason not to appeal their property tax assessments – it only costs them $60! The city is losing right now over $20 million in appeals to lower taxes. Bank of America just requested $4 million on 555 California properties and 1 Market requested $8 million. Appeals are almost always granted at least in part.

Legislation could be passed to create criteria for appeals on commercial property, and the city could assert fines and penalties for frivolous appeals. This could save the City and County of San Francisco millions.

~ Blight Ordinance Lots of big property owners simply leave their properties vacant instead of reducing rents on commercial properties. The result is boarded up buildings and public safety issues. The City could expand the blight ordinance fines to include boarded up $1,000 a day. Here at the Coalition on Homelessness, we are aware of quite a few empty large apartment and residential hotels that are sitting vacant. The fines would generate revenue, and hopefully bring rents down.

II.  For November 2011
~ Vacancy Parcel Tax
Vacant lots are often the result of land speculation, and ironically cause decreased property values and other problems for neighborhoods. One way to bring in revenue and to address this situation is to have a parcel tax specific to vacant lots. South of Market Community Action Network is pushing this proposal for the South of Market area.

~ Merger Transfer Tax
As Proposition 13 doesn’t count change of ownership on mergers, so localities miss out on a whole lot of income from property reassessments and transfer taxes. Our above proposal of a fine on not registering mergers would go a long ways in ensuring San Francisco gets all those transfer taxes, however a new idea is to pass a “merger” tax specific to mergers to capture some of that lost revenue. This could go on the November ballot and would not hurt everyday San Franciscans.

~Revenue Impact and Maximization Report
We need to know if San Francisco is collecting what is should be in revenue, and who is paying that bill. This initiative would force the city to look at disparities in tax burdens and where there is lost revenue. This could help all of us move forward for a more equitable budget.

III.  For November 2012
~Gross Receipts
San Francisco used to collect both gross receipts taxes (or profit tax) and payroll taxes. A lawsuit from 7 of the more powerful downtown interests changed that, and we ended up with a payroll tax. This is a regressive tax that hurts small business. If we changed to a gross receipts tax, that business that is pulling in the insane bucks would have to pay more. This would require voter approval and bring in an additional $30 to $60 million a year.

Conclusion:

Well there you have it. We don’t present a federal plan – just slash the military budget bring every impoverished American out of poverty, into decent housing with full stomachs to boot.

We can move forward with the vision of a thriving and just San Francisco, where all our citizenry is treated fairly and basic human rights to healthcare, housing and freedom from hunger are embraced.