California March 2024 Propositions

Only one state-wide proposition this time, two for Alameda County, seven for San Francisco, and a couple for Oakland & Berkeley. No doubt there will be more in November.

Election Day is Tuesday, March 5^th. You can also vote before then at Early Voting locations. Check your ballot package, or ask your county's Registrar of Voters to find out where. For instance, in Alameda County you can vote at the Registrar's office in downtown Oakland, among other places.

Every California voter now gets a ballot in the mail. You can mail it back, return it by hand to a drop box or voting location, or ignore it and vote in person. However if you do decide to vote in person, it's important to bring your mail ballot along. The poll worker will invalidate it and give you a new one. If you forget to bring your mail ballot, you will be given a provisional ballot which may or may not be counted.

State-wide:	[1]
Regional:	[A] [B]
San Francisco:	[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G]
Oakland:	[D]
Berkeley:	[H]

State-wide

1: Bonds for Mental Health Treatment Centers: This would take a bunch of funding from city and county mental health treatment programs, transfer it to the state level, and then transfer it again to private contractors. How about NO.

Regional

A: Civil Service: Makes a minor change in county hiring practices with the goal of speeding it up. Shouldn't be on the ballot, but whatever.

B: Recall: Revises the county's recall procedures to conform to the state's. May help discourage more nonsense recalls by right-wingers.

San Francisco

A: Affordable Housing Bonds: $300 million in bonds to build the affordable housing that San Francisco is required to build. Needs 2/3^rds to pass.

B: Police Officer Staffing Levels E: Police Department Policies and Procedures: These two pro-cop measures are both bad. San Francisco cops have been on an unannounced strike since their fee-fees got hurt by the George Floyd demonstrations in 2020. We don't need more cops, or less oversight of cops. We need the cops to go back to work.

C: Real Estate Transfer Tax Exemption: Exempts office to residential conversions from the transfer tax. But I like the transfer tax, and wish it was enforced more.

D: Changes to Local Ethics Laws: Tightens up the city's ethics laws. I'm guessing this was prompted by the ongoing multi-agency bribery prosecutions. It seems like the tiniest possible gesture towards fixing that huge problem, but sure.

F: Illegal Substance Dependence Screening: This measure would condition welfare benefits on taking drug tests. This has been tried many times and always results in more ODs and more deaths. NO.

G: Offering Algebra 1 to Eighth Graders: Non-binding resolution that encourages the School Board to offer Algebra to eighth graders instead of waiting until ninth grade. I think this one has been mooted, on February 14^th the School Board voted to do it anyway.

Oakland

D: Appropriations Limit: California has a stupid law that requires cities to get voter authorization to spend tax money that voters already approved.

Berkeley

H: School Parcel Tax: Renews an existing parcel tax to fund schools.

California's Voter Information Guide for propositions.
Alameda County measures.
San Francisco Measures.
Oakland Measures.
Berkeley Measures.
Ballotpedia's information page.
Pete Rates the Propositions.
SPUR Voter Guide.
SF's League of Pissed Off Voters.
My recommendations for the 2022, 2020, November 2018, June 2018, November 2016, June 2016, 2014, November 2012, June 2012, November 2010, June 2010, 2008, 2006, 2005, and 2004 propositions.
Back to Jef's page.