Platform and Mission
The Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club of San Francisco was the first registered Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (LGBTQ) Democratic Club in the nation. Forming only two years after the Stonewall riots in the infancy of the LGBTQ civil rights movement, Alice grew to become a vibrant organization that has made a profound impact on San Francisco, California and American politics.
Alice made its impact by training activists over the last four decades to become political professionals and by electing candidates that fight for the issues important to the LGBTQ community. The club has been instrumental in growing new leaders who would rise to the highest levels of government in the nation, such as Dianne Feinstein, an early friend of the club. Alice has been critical to the fight for LGBTQ leaders to win office, such as Mark Leno, the first gay man elected to the California State Senate. These leaders have helped make San Francisco the epicenter of the LGBTQ political movement, advancing causes such as equal benefits, domestic partnership, transgender health care, and marriage equality. Alice continues to be a major player in local, state and national politics and remains an inspiring and effective organization to this day.
Our Mission
The Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club is dedicated to advocating within the Democratic Party for human rights, social and economic justice, and equality for all persons, foremost the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. We strive to ensure that all persons are valued and represented, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Our mission is to improve the lives of all San Franciscans by identifying and electing candidates who fight for inclusivity, integrity, diversity, and fairness, and by placing the needs of people above politics. We believe in holding elected and appointed officials accountable for their actions and insisting that they maintain the highest ethical standards. Our endorsed candidates must work toward making local and statewide policies responsive to the needs of all, and to ensuring that LGBTQ and other traditionally marginalized communities are able to live safely, with dignity and equality, to the fullest extent possible. We work to empower the community by providing an open forum for debate and education, voter registration and mobilization, and encouraging participation in the political process.
Our Platform
Adopted by the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club on July 10, 2017 and December 11, 2017. Additions to the platforms were approved by the Board on August 9, 2021*.
Healthy Communities
We believe that good health and access to health services should not just be reserved for those who can afford it. Access to nutritious food, healthcare, and behavioral health services are all necessary for a healthy community, especially for the LGBTQ community, which has historically had disproportionately poorer health outcomes.
It is the position of Alice that:
California should implement a “Single Payer” health care system, which would eliminate health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for medical care and medicine, thereby guaranteeing universal access to health care. Alice believes health care is a right, not a privilege, and any system that favors those who can afford to pay for health care over those who cannot is unjust and contrary to our values. Alice supports measures to provide adequate and feasible funding for a single payer system.
San Francisco should establish safe injection sites in high-need areas, which provide an alternative to injecting drugs unsupervised – and possibly overdosing – and reduce the risk of needle sharing and spreading diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitis C, in the process. Injection sites should also provide, though not require, individuals access to treatment and social services to address their needs.
San Francisco and California should continue to support efforts at getting to zero new HIV infections, zero HIV deaths, zero HIV stigma, and efforts toward a cure by supporting existing programs, as well as continued PrEP expansion, RAPID ART, and retention in HIV care. In 2015, San Francisco had 15,995 individuals living with HIV, but also saw 255 new HIV infections and 197 HIV-related deaths. Existing programs have been successful in preventing and treating HIV. However, more work must be done to get to zero.
San Francisco should continue to operate and expand the Pit Stop Program to provide 24/7 public toilets, sinks, showers, used-needle receptacles, and dog waste stations. San Francisco has implemented and operated this program since 2014. This program ensures individuals are able to use the bathroom and have access to other hygiene services in a more dignified and safe manner.
San Francisco should provide enough psychiatric bed space for those who are severely mentally ill living in the city and who require hospitalization. Alice believes it is our responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves, which includes those struggling with severe mental illness. The city currently has only about 400 beds available in hospital settings, but thousands of people living on the streets who likely require hospitalization or acute care stays of varying length. People identified at hospitals needing mental health treatment often wait two to seven days for a hospital bed. Approximately half of those who are chronically homeless in San Francisco have a history of mental illnesses, and a third of those admitted to hospitals for mental illness are homeless. Hospitals within the city, including existing and future medical centers with inpatient care, should be required to accommodate mental health bed space as determined by the city to meet the need.
California and San Francisco should provide enough transitional housing beds outside of the hospital setting for individuals living with mental illness who need supportive services to remain safely in the community. There is a dearth of resources for individuals who do not require hospitalization but who need transitional housing tailored to individuals living with mental illness.
California should mandate all state and local forms that require a gender or sex designation include a third gender option. Transgender and intersex Californians who identify as a gender other than either male or female should not be forced to choose one in required government documents. All state, county, and municipal governments should be required to have a third gender or non-binary option.
*As work across the city continues to ensure our streets are cleaner, we urge public officials to invest in more public toilets, giving respite to those who need bathroom access
*As vaccinations for COVID-19 are ongoing at the time of the adoption of this plank, we urge city leaders to ensure adequate access to vaccinations, resources, and healthcare in general. This includes addressing the disproportionate levels of heart disease, STIs, as well as infant and maternal mortality in communities of color. We also urge that these communities have access to the most up-to-date, culturally competent, and language inclusive information on COVID-19 vaccines as well as information on other health needs.
Homelessness
We believe in a ‘Housing First’ approach to homelessness. While there are often many needs that homeless individuals must address in the long term, we believe that housing is a prerequisite to being able to address almost all others needs. Everybody deserves safe, decent, and affordable housing. Families and individuals currently or at risk of experiencing homelessness also need access to resources and support. The continuum of resources and services available to homeless populations ought to be accessible, easy to navigate, and responsive to individual and local needs.
It is the position of Alice that:
San Francisco should not enact laws that function to criminalize or penalize behavior or conduct engaged in by individuals as a result of living without a home. Individuals who are without a place to live must conduct daily living activities outside, such as eating and sleeping. Increasingly these activities are being penalized by communities across the country. Homeless individuals are also unable to pay tickets received for quality of life offenses. These tickets then become warrants, which can result in arrest and incarceration, hindering someone’s ability to obtain housing or become employed. Criminal convictions, even for minor nonviolent offenses, can create long-lasting barriers to social integration and economic security. Even in cases where there is no criminal prosecution, the penalty for noncompliance with laws outlawing their behavior is punitive and inconsistent with Alice’s values.
San Francisco should increase programs that help homeless individuals transition to housing, including increasing available shelter beds, and creating navigation centers in every supervisorial district. Currently, there are over 1,000 people on the 90-day shelter waitlist, which is not an adequate supply for the need. Not providing emergency assistance to those in crisis is inconsistent with Alice’s values. One way to ensure more availability of shelter beds is to increase the availability of transitional housing for those presently in a shelter.
San Francisco and California should fund supportive services to persons living without a home, including food, financial assistance, medical and mental health services, and employment and vocational opportunities. However, participation in these services shall not be a prerequisite for receiving housing assistance. While getting people into housing should be primary policy objective, supportive services aimed at helping individuals are necessary to address issues that can impair the ability to stay housed.
San Francisco and California should provide homeless individuals and families with housing subsidies, including rental assistance, rental subsidies, utility payments, and housing relocation. It is more cost effective to provide homeless prevention to families and individuals currently housed but at risk of homelessness than it is to provide homeless assistance and eventually medical and other services to families and individuals who become homeless. Programs like Direct Access to Housing (DAH), which supports over 1,700 formerly homeless people in the city with rental subsidies, has not been adequately funded for over 3 years. Like in DAH, individuals should have access to voluntary on-site services and case management, which prevent a relapse into homelessness. Participation in other supportive services, such as mental health or substance abuse programs, should not be a prerequisite to having access to housing assistance.
San Francisco should increase the number of youth-appropriate housing available to meet the need for transitional age LGBTQ youth, including emergency, transitional, and permanent supportive housing. Emergency shelter is an important first step off the street for homeless youth and provides for initial stabilization. However a lack of longer-term housing options often results in a cycle of homelessness and shelter stays as youth try to find stable housing. One way to decrease the over-reliance on shelters is to increase the availability of transitional housing. Transitional housing programs are appropriate for youth as it provides for longer stays in housing coupled with support services to address issues that are barriers to independence and self-sufficiency.
Criminal Justice
The criminal justice system should focus on reducing crime and factors known to increase crime. The system should also prioritize enforcement of crimes that unfairly exploit and target marginalized communities, instead of selectively enforcing laws against marginalized communities. The criminal justice system should work to connect individuals to aspects of society that support them in expanding lawful opportunities and freedom once their sentence is served. The justice system should be free of racial, religious, national origin, gender (including identity and expression), socioeconomic, and LGBTQ bias.
*We also would urge city leaders, especially those overseeing institutions of law enforcement and the courts, to shift from a punitive lens to a transformative lens.
*We support uplifting alternatives to policing including the Crisis Response Team, Compassionate Alternative Response Team, etc. as well as additional efforts around Juvenile Hall. We also urge city leaders to explore creating a program that offers vacant buildings and/or storefronts to community based organizations as a way to expand this work and community services in general.
*We support the expansion of funding, resources, and accountability for community-based organizations working on violence prevention and reentry services.
It is the position of Alice that:
Agencies involved in any aspect of the criminal justice system should improve the gathering, maintaining, and sharing of accurate demographic data, including gender, race, and sexual orientation data. Presently, not all such agencies keep or share statistics that track demographic information of individuals in contact with law enforcement agencies, referred for criminal charges by law enforcement agencies, or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system. Relatedly, the information gathered by local law enforcement agencies is limited and therefore restricts the ability of stakeholders to evaluate whether disparities in charging decisions based on race, gender, or sexual orientation exist.
California peace officer training must train officers to work with, and in, the community in a manner that prioritizes community outreach and policing, including foot patrols, and halts increased militarization. Militarized training programs result in officers viewing community members as the enemy and does not foster positive relationships. Police training should focus on de-escalation and developing positive relationships with the community.
Local law enforcement agencies should not collaborate with federal immigration authorities by deputizing local officers to carry out federal immigration enforcement. Such forms of collaboration jeopardize communities’ trust with local law enforcement, making it less likely immigrants and their families will report crimes.
California should prohibit introducing an individual’s immigration status at a preliminary hearing or trial unless, after an off the record hearing, a court determines it is admissible. It has been reported that actors within the criminal justice system seek to use the immigration status of defendants and victims for a variety of reasons, including discouraging witnesses from coming forward to testify and strengthening the government’s case against an individual defendant. Alice believes that a person’s immigration status should not be publicly disclosed in the context of the prosecution or defense in a criminal case, unless already deemed admissible by the court.
California should end the use of money bail. Community safety and flight risk, as determined by an immediate risk assessment, should be the factors that determines if someone stays incarcerated. In many jurisdictions people who are arrested for crimes have two options: pay a posted bail amount based on the charges, or wait up to several days to see a judge to ask for a lower bail. There is no assessment of risk. In many jurisdictions bail bond companies charge 10% of the bail amount for a bond – meaning even if you are innocent, you forfeit the 10%. Even though many defendants get a bail hearing, bail often remains set at unaffordable levels. If you cannot afford to pay, you wait in jail until trial, which, in some cases could take months or years. Using ability to pay, rather than community risk as the determining factor, disproportionately impacts low-income individuals and families, communities of color, and the LGBTQ community.
California should reform the criminal codes by reclassifying felonies that are not considered violent or serious to misdemeanors or infractions (e.g., possession of schedule I narcotics). People convicted of felony crimes are denied employment and housing opportunities that most people take for granted. Ensuring that only the most serious and violent crimes come with such grave consequences will allow for better integration into society by those charged with such crimes by addressing the root of the offending behavior and preventing a loss of employment and social integration.
California should reform the criminal codes by reclassifying thousands of low-level misdemeanors to infractions. Too many forms of conduct have been deemed to be misdemeanors, which presently exposes individuals to the risk of incarceration. People convicted of crimes, even low-level misdemeanors, such as public intoxication, are denied employment and housing opportunities that most people take for granted.
California should divert individuals charged with misdemeanors from the criminal justice system, and instead assess their needs and provide them services and training which will prevent a repeat of the behavior. (Services may include mental health treatment, drug and alcohol treatment, anger management, community service, restorative justice, and other alternatives to incarceration and prosecution.) The criminal justice system overemphasizes costly and ineffective means of punishing individuals instead of promoting interventions that will reduce recidivism. This will allow for better integration into society by those charged with such crimes by addressing the root of the offending behavior and preventing a loss of employment and social integration.
California should mandate that local jails only be for people whom, after a risk assessment, could not safely be released and are awaiting trial or have been convicted and sentenced. Jails have to be reserved for individuals who are unable to be released because of a risk assessment that deems them too risky to public safety or too much of a flight risk.
Housing
San Francisco is facing a monumental crisis of affordable housing availability. Alice believes that reasonable access to safe, stable, and affordable housing is a basic human right, as well as a critical component to a truly livable, equitable, and sustainable twenty-first century city. Our city’s policies must work flexibly and smartly to balance support of housing market forces with the protection of our residents, to ensure that not only the LGBTQ community, but all San Franciscans, have access to affordable housing. Alice’s positions on housing attempt to balance the immediate crisis with long-term problem solving, and existing residents’ stability with future residents’ housing affordability. We believe a balanced approach not only will genuinely move San Francisco forward on this monumental challenge, but is morally required.
It is the position of Alice that:
San Francisco must preserve and protect its rent-controlled housing units. Rent-controlled housing is the bulk of our existing affordable housing, making it essential to retaining residents in stable housing. We support the expansion of programs like the Small Site Acquisition Program as well as eviction prevention services; the public purchase of SRO buildings; legislative efforts to curb fraudulent owner move-ins, renter intimidation, and reforming the Ellis Act; the enforcement of short-term rental regulations; and, an extension on the moratorium on condo conversion and the strengthening of regulations regarding the elimination of rent-controlled units. These efforts, both locally and at the state level, help to stabilize our affordable housing stock by preventing the removal of these critical units.
California should expand rent control across the state. Given that the affordable housing crisis has now spread throughout the state, rent control can no longer be seen as a luxury. It must be expanded to all California cities and cover more units, without delineating between units built before or after a certain date. Alice believes San Francisco must continue to be a refuge, in particular for the LGBTQ community, and therefore supports efforts to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and efforts locally to work within existing regulations to produce additional rent-controlled units.
San Francisco must prioritize the production of affordable housing units. Alice believes that the production of market-rate housing units is critical to long-term affordability of the city and a vital source of affordable units, but that we must balance this approach by prioritizing affordable housing production. Alice supports financially feasible expansion to the city’s inclusionary program as well creative expansions of non-profit affordable housing production; the removal of barriers to entitlement specifically for affordable and middle-income housing; and, the use of underutilized public land for the production of affordable and middle-income units. Alice also strongly supports the citywide distribution of increased density paired with neighborhood infrastructure (e.g., transit, open space) improvements; and, the creative use of smart urban planning to deliver affordable housing units (i.e., BMR and rent-controlled units), such as the city’s work with accessory dwelling units (i.e., legalization, Home-SF) or alterations to existing zoning/codes to deliver additional units. Alice believes we can not build our way out of our immediate crisis, but we must also build for a future to meet the escalating population demand. We must build in a way that balances these intentions.
California should expand the availability of funding for affordable housing development, improvements to existing affordable housing, and housing subsidies. Specifically, tax expenditures related to housing or real property that disproportionately benefit high income individuals and families should be eliminated and the resultant savings diverted to the development of affordable housing and rental subsidies.The State of California must investigate means to increase revenue, as well as backfill potential federal budget cuts aimed at eliminating the Housing Trust Fund. These sources are vital at the local level to deliver affordable housing units.
San Francisco must prioritize housing its most vulnerable populations in stable and adequate housing. San Francisco has a responsibility to house its most vulnerable, including the elderly and families, HIV-positive and disabled residents, and the lowest-income and homeless San Franciscans. Alice supports projects like 55 Laguna, efforts such as HOPE-SF and RAD, efforts aimed at homeless navigation to services and transitional housing, and down-payment assistance programs allowing low income families to purchase a home. Stable housing has long been proven to be not only a means of elevation but critical to survival.
San Francisco must build for its missing (and shrinking) middle. Alice supports efforts to build middle-income housing, so long as that production is not at the expense of low and very low-income residents. Alice supports efforts to house our city’s teachers; additional requirements for middle-income housing on development where financially feasible; adjustments to zoning that would produce middle-income targeted (i.e., non-luxury) housing unit production; and, state and federal efforts to fund middle income housing production. Our workers and families are the heart of our city and should be able to live here; we must build for them too.
San Francisco must reach beyond its borders to solve this crisis. San Francisco’s housing affordability crisis is part of a larger statewide and regional crisis, and we must work with our neighboring cities, counties, and state leaders to invest (e.g., political will) in the idea of true regional planning with the weight of law. Often many Bay Area cities operate with such extreme housing-jobs imbalances (i.e., RHNA) that desirable locations like San Francisco are crushed with new residents. Currently there is little recourse for the city to advance solutions at the regional scale to solve this. This is something Alice believes must change.
San Francisco must be the visionary leader in housing affordability. Alice supports ideas such as the formation of a San Francisco municipal bank able to fund non-profit housing development, neighborhood-based development and anti-gentrification planning, and an increased role of government in housing broadly as ways to begin making progress on this crisis through addressing long-standing structural challenges. Alice also supports a penalty on units withheld from the housing market beyond a reasonable amount of time. Many of the challenges to delivering affordable housing units and equity are tied up in broadly-reaching economic trends; work aimed at facing those trends is the most sustainable approach to solving this crisis in the long-term.
*We urge city leaders and planners to explore identifying and supporting opportunities for more social housing in San Francisco and encourage city leaders to center the voices and feedback of the most marginalized in the planning and implementation of these types of developments.
Economic Justice
We believe in an economically healthy LGBTQ communities that can generate, protect, benefit from, and invest in their own resources. This includes the right and ability of all workers to organize to improve the terms and conditions under which they perform their work. We should support growth and business practices that will promote diversity and benefit all members of our communities. We recognize the role that sexual harassment and assault plays in keeping people, especially women and LGBTQ people from working at their highest capacity in the workplace. San Francisco should also prioritize economic planning for all ages and income levels.
It is the position of Alice that:
California and San Francisco should formally explore innovative ways to improve economic conditions for all LGBTQ people. LGBTQ Credit Union, a public bank, and a universal basic income are examples of innovative ways to improve economic justice.
San Francisco should foster programs that promote financial literacy and stability. The affordability crisis and income inequality affect all members of the LGBTQ community. Programs about budgeting and saving, managing debt, credit repair, purchasing or renting a home, and workers rights, should be available year round.
San Francisco should develop and manage non-profit hubs. Many members of the LGBTQ community access services through, and work for, non-profit organizations, which provide food, healthcare, and legal assistance. Due to the high commercial rents in the City, many nonprofits have been forced to leave San Francisco. The retention of non-profits needs to be a priority for our policy makers.
San Francisco should ensure that affordable early childhood education and childcare are accessible to all families, including LGBTQ families. Child care is expensive, even for two-parent households. For working women who still earn less overall than men, childcare is even less affordable.
San Francisco and California should support the development and sustainability of worker cooperatives or worker self-directed enterprises (“WSDEs”). Corporate business entities generally transfer the profits generated by workers’ labor to owners, shareholders, and executives. WSDEs are owned and operated by member workers, who make business decisions, including how to maximize and invest profits. WSDEs can promote economic development, stable employment, and healthy communities.
Proposition 13 should be reformed to protect homeowners and tenants while ensuring commercial property owners pay their fair share of property taxes. Proposition 13 froze property taxes, forcing state and local governments to disproportionately rely on income and sales taxes, the latter of which are regressive. This shifted the tax burden to income earnings and consumer spending, skewing taxes more toward middle class and lower income Californians. The revenue lost as a result of Proposition 13 negatively affects funding for schools and public services. Requiring commercial property owners to pay more in property taxes will result in more resources for schools, parks, libraries, and other public services.
All workers, including those directly providing services to consumers of on-demand platforms, should have the right to organize and form unions. The employment status of individuals working for on-demand platforms is largely undetermined and inconsistent. This results in the inability of these workers to form unions or engage in concerted activity to improve the terms, conditions, and benefits of their workplace.
*Alice urges City leaders to ensure that there is equitable and intentional engagement with communities of color when discussing the potential for a public bank in San Francisco, especially as these communities have been historically shut out by private banking practices and stand to benefit significantly from a potential public bank.
Racial Equity
We harmonize with our Brothers and Sisters from communities of color as we know that people are marginalized and discriminated against because of their skin color and national origin. In the LGBTQ community, racism is also present but often times overlooked. As a diverse club, we stand in solidarity with communities of color and stand against racism, in all its forms. We demand a society where the liberty of people of color does not vary depending on the state, city, or neighborhood they live in. To achieve this, we must all do better as individuals, institutions, and families to recognize that we live in a racist society that has transmitted racist ideas and views to all of us. We must be aware of this reality and challenge our own racist beliefs and thoughts when they arise.
It is the position of Alice that:
Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action in employment, government benefits, admissions in state educational institutions, and government contracts, based on race, gender, or ethnicity, should be repealed. Race-conscious policies and practices are necessary to remediate intentional and structural racism that negatively impact LGBTQ individuals of color. For LGBTQ individuals of color to fully benefit from broader acceptance of LGBTQ individuals generally, it is critical that racial equity is actively and intentionally pursued.
San Francisco should maintain a city sanctuary policy for immigrants and refugees without regard to threats of removal or withholding of federal funding. In order for all LGBTQ individuals to feel safe in their communities, it is essential that local police focus on fighting crime, not enforce federal immigration law. The city should also continue to provide services to individuals who qualify regardless of immigration status. Immigrants help form the backbone of our communities and contribute in countless ways and we stand in harmony with them as a community.
San Francisco should formally extend certificates of preference to descendants of original recipients and conduct extensive outreach to identify and notify them of their rights. Certificates of preference were granted to victims of redevelopment policy from the 60s and 70s. We must implement and expand restorative racial equity initiatives to redress policies and practices that have resulted in significantly depressed and declining demographic representations of historically vibrant racial and ethnic communities in San Francisco, especially the African-American and Latinx communities. Past state and local government policies and practices relating to education, affordable and public housing, economic development, employment and job training opportunities, justice reform, and other critical areas which led to economic and cultural vitality as well as a diverse city reversely resulted in long-term, widely reported, and alarmingly disproportionate displacement and decline in communities of color, especially the African American and Latinx populations. The city’s African American population alone declined over the past two decades, from 13% of the City’s population to under 4% in 2017. Restorative and reparation policies, such as extending certificates of preference, could redress the losses of such impacted communities, and would further elevate San Francisco’s aspirations to be a truly diverse, inclusive force for innovation and global impact.
San Francisco should fully implement the Language Access Ordinance and ensure funding for organizations that make up the San Francisco Language Access Network. In order for LGBTQ individuals who are not proficient in English to fully benefit from city services, it is necessary for city agencies to fully ensure they are able to provide services in a variety of languages. It is also necessary to support organizations who provide support to LGBTQ individuals who are not proficient in English.
*With the passing of Commissions for All (Prop C, 2020), we urge city leaders to appoint more Black and Indigenous Peoples of Color to Boards, Commissions , Task Forces, and Public Office whenever possible.
*We urge city leaders to continue efforts to reinvest from law enforcement and replace as much of their duties as possible with civilian staff/local nonprofit services
*We urge city leaders to ensure that communities who have been most impacted by the War on Drugs gain access to and benefit from the cannabis industry in an equitable way, and with as much ownership as possible to ensure that they need not rely on private investment.
*We urge city leaders to continue to push for a reimagining of our justice system that not only centers the transfer of funding away from law enforcement agencies, but also prioritizes the transformation of those who are justice-involved through restorative practices, radical healing, and trauma-informed care.
Transportation
San Francisco must invest in a well-built and reliable public transportation system to address the needs of workers, residents and visitors. This includes strong investments into necessary public infrastructure, dependable services, well-maintained vehicles, and innovative solutions to new and ongoing transportation problems. In order for our residents to fully participate in our city, especially those who have been historically excluded from our economy, we must ensure that safe, functioning, and affordable transportation is available throughout all areas of the City. San Francisco must also work with other public agencies in the Bay Area to enhance these options both within the City and throughout the region. Additionally, San Francisco must look beyond the historic model of private car ownership versus public transportation, and address issues related to emerging technologies, bicycle, walking, and other modes of transportation, so that these options are developed in an equitable and safe manner.
It is the position of Alice that:
We must invest in transportation. We must support efforts to make raising funds for local and regional public transportation projects easier. Currently to raise funds for a project, two-thirds of the electorate is necessary to pass a measure placed on the ballot by the legislature. Lowering that threshold to fifty-five percent will promote the development of projects supported by majority of area residents. We support new revenue measures for transportation including local and statewide bonds, a Vehicle License Fee, and the recently-enacted statewide fuel tax increase.
The San Francisco Bay Area should have equitable fares that make regional transit affordable and easier to navigate. We also support regional fare pricing and transfer policies. There should be subsidized and affordable fares for seniors, low-income individuals, and youth, across the entire Bay Area, and transfer fees between transit agencies should be reduced or eliminated.
San Francisco should invest in new routes and systems in areas of the City, such as Bayview, Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley, the avenues, and the Ingleside district, and other underserved neighborhoods that do not allow efficient and reliable transportation to downtown and other areas. This should be done while supporting a fair and transparent method for the community to have meaningful input on improving citywide service.
San Francisco should invest in improving the capacity of its public transportation system. This includes increasing the use of rapid transit zones, such as those being built on Van Ness and soon to be built upon Geary, to encourage use of public transportation. This also includes dramatically increasingly the subway network and securing the funding mechanisms to pay for it. These measures will reduce congestion and hazards on our streets and accommodate growth.
San Francisco and the Bay Area should provide reliable, predictable, and interconnected all night transportation. Many of the people most reliant on public transportation work in the evening, overnight, and early morning hours. These riders need safe, inexpensive, and quick transportation as much as day workers do. All regional transit providers should provide interconnected all-night transportation to reach neighborhoods whose residents rely on public transit the most. San Francisco’s nightlife community (including those who enjoy it and those who make a living working in it) also deserves reliable safe transportation.
Public transportation must include safe streets, spaces and vehicles so that all can feel comfortable using the system. Support efforts to install Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) on streets that have been documented as having high collision rates due to speed, to protect pedestrians and cyclists. Prioritize visible timed crossing signals for both pedestrians and bikes, and separate spaces where possible for pedestrians, bikes, and autos. Innovative technologies and smart engineering can account for human error to improve safety for all.
Our public transportation system must be reliable. Too often users of MUNI and BART are left stranded, without reliable data or service. The public transportation systems must not only make commitments to consistent schedules and headways, but meet those commitments or be held accountable. Vehicle “switchbacks” should be limited and well-publicized, fleets must be properly maintained, and the public should have an easy to access way to determine real-time schedule for every stop. Information should be publicized and current technology should be improved and better utilized to provide broad information on service changes.
San Francisco should improve safety and cleanliness by increasing maintenance staff, culturally competent policing practices, and ensuring adequate lighting on our streets and at our transportation nodes. Many people do not feel safe using public transportation in San Francisco. If people feel safe on public transportation, they will use it more. These measures will increase our sense of safety.
All types of transportation must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Pedestrian paths must include adequate time for crossing streets, and accessible pathways to and from transportation nodes. MUNI and BART must improve the quality and cleanliness of systems (elevators and lifts) that allow individuals with disabilities to access transportation – too often they are not working, or are filthy and unfit for use. All transportation modes, includes TNCs, must provide for accessible transportation.
California and San Francisco must improve regional inter-connection. This includes promoting public and financial support for moving the Caltrain terminus to the new Transbay terminal for better regional connections, creating a second bay tunnel for BART, developing High Speed Rail for access to other areas of the state, and identifying and supporting public transportation projects that work to connect San Francisco to the Bay Area and beyond. Transportation is a local, regional, and statewide issue. In order to improve people’s ability to get around, it is important that policymakers develop a broad array of solutions.
*We urge city leaders to promote and expand efforts centering the safety of pedestrians and bikers in San Francisco. Those efforts could include, but are not limited to, the Vision Zero initiative and Slow Streets program.
*We urge city leaders and transit leaders to prioritize addressing racial inequities in public transportation including, but not limited to, expanding access to public transportation, especially in communities of color, as well as expanding programs to make public transportation free where feasible.
*We urge city leaders to explore and expand private and public electrification of transportation
Education
Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club is dedicated to the improvement, accessibility, inclusivity, and prioritization of a safe and rewarding public education from PreK-12 and higher education in San Francisco and across the country. We are especially committed to improving experiences for underserved students, such as LGBTQ students, female students, low-income students, and students and students i African-American, Latinx, and immigrant communities,who are especially vulnerable within the public education system.
It is the position of Alice that:
School districts should serve and empower LGBTQ students through the academic curriculum, health and counseling services, and family engagement strategies. Needs of LGBTQ students must be explicitly understood and intentionally addressed by the schools, including issues around homelessness and substance abuse. Interests of transgender and nonbinary students must be supported through policies and practices. Schools should also help prepare students to enter the workforce by providing education on workers rights, financial planning, and tenants rights.
School districts and the broader community must prioritize efforts to close educational achievement and opportunity gaps disproportionately affecting students of color and other vulnerable communities such as (female, LGBTQ, and students with disabilities). Persistent gaps in educational outcomes negatively affect, and in turn are negatively affected by, opportunities in employment, economic stability, health care, and housing. School districts must deepen and broaden strategies and investments specifically aimed at achieving more equitable outcomes across race/ethnicity including grade-level mastery of academic content, social-emotional well being, attendance, graduation, and family engagement. Local communities and policymakers must also engage in these efforts. We support the effort to provide additional resources to encourage vulnerable students to succeed in STEM education efforts.
School districts should prepare students for a wide range of colleges, career-themed pathways, apprenticeships, and other vocational programs. Instruction should be relevant and connected to practical and understandable applications. Students and families should receive information and counseling regarding post-secondary options including specific colleges and universities, dual enrollment (earning college credit during high school), technical education, and financial aid.
Public education must be supported through adequate funding to ensure schools are well-funded and teachers are paid as the professionals they are. Proposition 13 has significantly reduced funding for public schools. It is unacceptable that California ranks in the bottom ten states in per-pupil funding for K-12 education. The state and local communities must do more to provide adequate resources for districts and schools and districts to better recruit and retain teachers and other staff, maintain reasonable class sizes, deliver high-quality instruction and other education-related services, and encourage the broader community to invest in the public school system.
San Francisco should re-evaluate the current school lottery system to ensure schools are racially integrated and providing quality education to all students. The school lottery system in San Francisco still has resulted in some schools being racially segregated. Educational outcomes also vary by school and neighborhoods. We need to evaluate what can be done to improve public education in all schools.
San Francisco should work to help teachers find housing in the city. By nature, teachers in San Francisco often face issues finding housing as many teachers do not make the salary necessary to afford to stay in the city. Although we do not believe that the school district could make it easier through salary increases only, we do believe the city needs to work with the school district to provide housing for teachers.
Students, faculty, and staff in the SFUSD, City College, and other educational facilities in San Francisco should be protected and listened to if they have sexual violence and harassment claims and we also the curriculum should include sexual harassment and assault. We believe that systems where students, faculty, and staff could make claims against those who have sexually assaulted or harassed them should be expanded where those systems exist and created where they do not exist. We feel that educational institutions should, if not already in place, have a central unit/division or system where students, staff, and faculty can report sexual harassment We also believe that educational institutions should expand or create/ curriculum to students around sexual harassment and assault (what it looks like, how to report it, etc.). With this, people can be held accountable for these actions and a generation can be raised being educated on this important issue.
California and San Francisco should invest in, promote, and prioritize public education. Public education is a bedrock of a functioning democracy. We must have a thriving public education system that provides an enriching education to all students.
*We urge the SFUSD and education stakeholders in San Francisco to engage parent advisory groups and ensure that LGBTQ parents have representation in the school district.
*We urge the school district to hire, train, and place more culturally-competent social workers and other support staff, especially those of color, in schools, to help our youth navigate their needs.
*We urge the San Francisco Unified School District to re-establish a district-wide environmental service learning initiative in schools in order to educate students at all levels about environmental justice and its impacts on our communities, especially communities of color.
*Environmental Justice
We believe that as our worsening environmental crisis has created more volatile, unpredictable, and dangerous weather patterns across the world, it is crucial that governments at all levels take immediate steps to protect our environment and the lives of those affected by climate disasters. We believe that racial equity must be at the center of these efforts especially as low-income and communities of color have faced grave and disproportionate impacts of climate change. Local, state, and federal leaders must work to reverse and lessen the environmental impact and inefficiencies of all aspects of the built environment, including residential and commercial buildings, transportation, infrastructure, and all future developments. Environmentalism is critical to our future, and to that end we support broad educational and transformational efforts to prioritize it in daily life.
We urge the San Francisco Port and the Port Commission to continue to expand efforts to create cleaner infrastructure around our ports, especially cruise ships and encourage state officials to expand efforts around ensuring cleaner operations for any cargo ships entering the Bay.
We urge city leaders to explore creating expanded and specific protections for areas with higher levels of pollution risks, beyond those already offered through CEQA and SFDPH, as well as new zoning requirements that take into consideration environmental inequities both historic and current in communities of color.
We urge city leaders to provide financial support and resources to communities that have been subject to environmental injustice and are threatened by ongoing disasters and climate changes.
We urge city leaders to investigate amending existing SF Air Pollutant Exposure Zones (APEZ) legislation in order to create environmental offsets and higher clean construction equipment requirements for APEZ areas.
We urge city leaders to continue and expand efforts leading to the decarbonization of public, commercial, and residential buildings across San Francisco.