Prop 1
Constitutional amendment to allow women the right to chose to have an abortion.

PASSED

The so called 'right to choose' should not be added to the California state or federal constitution until such time as the definition of 'life' is written in the law.  The right to life is a primary constitutional guarantee. A woman should not have the right to take a life. Once the definition of life is established, a woman should have the right to choose, so long as the choice does not take a life.  I would support laws to protect women should they choose to have an abortion... but it should not be a constitution right... at this time.     

Prop 26
Broaden Indian Casino sports gambling options.

FAILED

If people want to gamble, so should they have the right... with protections. And this proposition provides some protections by limiting defined gambling to physical locations where age restrictions can be enforced.  Whether they will be is another conversation. Hopefully from this broadening of access to gambling we will see age restrictions better monitored and enforced. I remember years ago being thrown out of just about every casino in Reno, NV. They turned a blind eye to underage gamblers until such time as they had to pay out... then it was adios muchacho.

Prop 27
Broaden online sports gambling

FAILED

Really? Do we want to deal with escalating the myriad issues of gambling addiction and watch 90% of the profits go to out of state corporations? We don't. This will ultimately cost the California taxpayers big bucks and the promise of helping the homeless seems largely unreal. Gambling is a pipe dream of easy riches and while most people can manage to control their gambling habits... too many cannot. Making questionably regulated, easy access to gambling on all manner of phones, tablets and computers... not advised. If you want to gamle on sports, go to Vegas or one of our local Indian casinos where there is more likely to be better adherence to the rules of age restriction.

Prop 28
Arts and music funding guarantee for public schools

PASSED

Public schools, including charter schools, want additional funding for music and arts programs guaranteed. There seems to be sufficient research to show that schools and students clearly benefit from arts and music programs and this proposal will make such dollars more equitable across the state where many schools have little or no budget for such programs and the staff to support them. California needs more tuba players and ballerinas.

Prop 29
Tighter Requirements for Dialysis Centers.

FAILED

Back in 1973, fresh out of the Navy, I worked as a dialysis technician for 6 years while I went to college for my nursing degree. I can tell you that having a 'physician' on-site at all times while dialysis is underway is a big waste of money. Nothing in this provision says the 'physician' has to do anything, just be present on site. There is no way the cost can justify the benefit. Dialysis clinics are already heavily regulated and ridiculously expensive, for profit and non-profits alike. This provision may very well cause some clinics to close because of the added and unnecessary expenses. Most of the rhetoric in this provision about providing patients with more information so they can make better choices is of little value. Dialysis patients go for their regular treatments or they die.

Prop 30
Reduction and Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions

FAILED

Nice try. Seems dubious to me that the Lyft ride share company is the major sponsor of this imitative spending many millions of dollars in support. Lyft has been mandated to upgrade 90% of their fleet of cars to electric vehicles by 2030. This bill,  which includes new taxes at a time when the state has a significant surplus, will do little for the environment and 'firefighters' and a lot more for Lyft and their corporate cronies. The thought may be good but the plan is not worthy.

Prop 31
Flavored tobacco products ban

PASSED

While the notion of getting more people to quit smoking may be desirable from a public health perception, banning flavored tobacco products is another restriction on freedom. California should be the state of education and not legislation. Major no smoking campaigns over health issues and the burgeoning stigma of a filthy habit have significantly reduced the number of tobacco smokers. Educate the menthol loving populations, the children and their parents but don't pass another law that says 'you cannot'.

Measure A
New Taxes on Cannabis Businesses in Unincorporated SD County

PASSED

No New Taxes. SD County has a surplus of tax dollars - they don't need more. Cannabis businesses are regulated and monitored, even in the unincorporated areas. Were the county to restrict the use of the proposed tax dollars to build up and support the unincorporated areas this might be a different issue but the plan is to take these new dollars and put them in the general fund.
If the county needs new tax revenue then perhaps they should establish the ground work for an unhealthy food tax and let McDonald's, Jack In The Box and the like, who make huge profits selling unhealthy food to careless consumers, pay a bigger share.

Measure B
Garbage Tax on Single Family homeowners.

PASSED?

Don't you just love it when proponents of a new tax or fee start by talking about fairness? Seems to me that the 'Peoples Ordinance' of 1918, reaffirmed  in 1981 and 1986, directs the city to earmark a portion of existing property tax revenue for 'solid waste', aka Garbage services. Now San Diego wants voters to approve the city's right to levy a new garbage fee on single family homes without disclosing the costs... assuring us that it won't be more than necessary. The city's' recurring fiscal failures (101 Ash Street , escalating homeless populations, et al) should not add burden to single family homeowners.         

Measure C
Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Area 30 ft limit.

PASSED

Considering that the area in question, that neighboring the current sports arena in the Midway district, is an eyesore and fails to meet the needs of the people - and while it is doubtful that 'affordable housing' will spring from this new development, the current plan certainly sounds like a better way forward. I agree with the naysayers however; that this could set a precedent toward coastal high rise construction up and down our coast. Voters beware!

Measure D
Use of project labor agreements on City of San Diego construction projects.

PASSED

There seems to be a lot of discussion about what passing this proposition will actually do. That is bad news for me right from the start. Measures that are vague and misleading should generally be rejected by the voters. The city claims that we can loose a lot of state and federal funding if we don't use PLAs (which we haven't for 10 years), a claim that is highly contested.
In this case it seems that the city leadership wants to have the option to use big building and development companies (with PLAs) over local unionized workers from multiple trades. Equal opportunity seems to be vague in this proposal if they chose to favor PLAs over union workers. If they can't make the proposed measures crystal clear... I generally vote NO. Mayor Todd Gloria, one of the original perps behind the 101 Ash Street disaster, endorses Measure D... not me. Over site committees and transparency are well and good BUT... they occur after the backroom deals.

Measure H
Childcare in our parks and rec centers.

PASSED

Current law prohibits establishing child care centers in San Diego public parks and recreational buildings. This measure would allow the city manager to provide such child care facility options to licensed day care providers at a time when quality day care services are hard to find for many San Diego families. While this sounds good the measure does not provide any real details about access restrictions to and around those park and rec facilities by others while day care classes are in session and liability for loss or damages encountered by licensed providers using those facilities. Considering all the creepy people that hang out in our parks... I hope this is a good idea.

Measure U
San Diego Unified School 3.2 billion Bond

PASSED

I am sorry, but first they want to tax hundreds of dollars per year to single family homeowners for a garbage tax with measure B and now another 3.2 Billion liability for San Diego schools. NO. Seems there is pork in this bond measure and I for one do not feel I should have to pay for teachers affordable housing. If they paid teachers based on performance and paid them livable wages we would not be asked to subsidize affordable housing for them. Perhaps they should teach high school students how to do basic plumbing, electrical work and patching and painting. We could save $$$$$ and see kids graduate high school with some measurable skills. I don't think billions more for security will really make our kids any safer. It goes far beyond what fancy cameras, early warning systems and overweight security guards can bring to the table.