That’s right folks. The Yes on Prop L folks had a press conference on Saturday at the FTC skateboard shop on Haight Street. And yes, believe it or not, they were sitting on the sidewalk. The whole thing might be hilarious if the law that they’re pushing for weren’t so horrible.
The Uptown Almanac picked up the absurd story.
Matthew and his crew in the Haight hung this awesome banner over the top of the Yes on Prop L press conference, which was attended by the Mayor and Chief Gascon. Great work!
Meanwhile, as the mayor and chief were posing for cameras and spreading fear and nonsense in their media interviews, we had more than 50 volunteers strong in the streets today delivering our awesome tabloid newsletter door to door so that voters could know what’s really up with Prop L(ame).
Fantastic day everyone!
“Since I am a resident and retail business owner in the Haight, you might think that this article is yet another complaint about the homeless and that I am going to implore you to vote in favor of proposition L, also known as the civil sidewalks law or the sit/ lie law. Many of my customers, friends, and neighbors have been rallying for the sit/lie law for months. If the law passes at the ballot in the November elections, my retail business might benefit and there would be fewer hassles to deal with in my daily life. If I had stopped thinking at this point, I would have simply gone along with the overwhelming public opinion and voted for the sit/ lie law. But I couldn’t stop thinking because something was wrong with the story that was being told to justify the sit/ lie law. When I asked a few questions, I got a confusing barrage of claims and counter-claims but not enough facts. To satisfy my curiosity, I decided to do a little research. One thing led to another, and before I realized it, I had embarked on a one-man mission to dig up obtuse legal documents, seek out experts from around the country, and research the topic more deeply than it has been covered by any media outlet so far. What I discovered is that the arguments for the sit/ lie law don’t really add up”… read more at the Bay Citizen.
http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/citizen/whats-wrong-sit-lie-campaigns-story/
Wow! The San Francisco Bay Guardian has just released its endorsements, among which was a resounding NO, NO, NO against Prop L—the sit/lie law. Check out the paper’s reasons here.
As you’ve probably seen in the mainstream press, we’re going to have lemonade stands all over San Francisco on Saturday, September 15. Sweet! (And slightly sour…)
If you plan on running a lemonade stand, but need materials, you’ve come to the right place! Attached to this blog post are:
See you tomorrow!
We also have window signs at three locations around town, and are more than happy to print out flyers if you need them. Drop an e-mail to the letter Bee Oh Bee (the name: as in Newhart or Dylan or Marley) @pathawi.net tonight, and we’ll hook you up!
Our endorsements keep rolling in! The latest additions to our ever-growing list of organizations and community leaders opposing Prop L include:
San Francisco Young Democrats
Potrero Hill Democratic Club
Add these to the list that includes: The San Francisco Democratic Party, The ACLU, San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco Board of Supevisors and many, many more.
If your organization is not listed and should be contact andyblue415 at gmail dot com. Thanks!
A great editorial on Prop L ran in yesterday’s The Guardsman—the newspaper of San Francisco City College.
But it is wrong for us, as a city, to allow a few scared people to push ill-conceived, destructive laws—laws that have already failed in practice—on an issue that affects the lives and freedom of us all.
Any law that makes it illegal for a child to shoot marbles, draw with chalk or otherwise play on the sidewalk is a bad law. The fact that sit-lie will do just that unless it is selectively enforced, points to the lack of thoughtful planning on the part of those who have revived this simplistic and overreaching law.
This isn’t about public safety, this is about setting a precedent and taking a stand.
The business and property owners who value their own prosperity over the freedom of the general public are digging in their heels, and claiming the sidewalks for themselves and their commercial endeavors. We as citizens, renters and average San Franciscans must also take a stand and defend our claim to the sidewalks and all other public spaces.
The future of our freedom depends on it.
Video courtesy Bill Carpenter.
Video courtesy Bill Carpenter.
