RPA 2020 Voter Guide

Richmond City Council Endorsements

District 1: Melvin Willis

District 5: Gayle McLaughlin

District 6: Claudia Jimenez

WCCUSD Board Endorsements

Area 1: Jamela Smith-Folds

Area 2: Otheree Christian

Area 4: Demetrio Gonzales-Hoy

Area 5: Leslie Reckler

Other Endorsements for Local Races

AC Transit Board Ward 1: Jovanka Beckles

Contra Costa Board of Education Area 1: Consuelo Lara

East Bay Regional Parks District Ward 1: Norman La Force

City of Richmond Ballot Initiatives

Measure U: Vote Yes

If this passes, Richmond will increase business tax revenue by calculating tax based on gross receipts rather than the number of people on payroll. This would ensure that large industrial facilities that don’t employ many people and rely heavily on city services pay their fair share.

Contra Costa County Ballot Initiatives

Measure X: Vote Yes

This would impose a half-cent sales tax across Contra Costa for 20 years, raising about $81 million per year for public health, emergency response and safety net programs that are more critical than ever due to COVID-19. Sales taxes are not progressive, but this was the best the Board of Supervisors would do to support these vital services. (They at least exempted food sales from the final version.) Vote yes, with reservations, on Measure X.

State Ballot Initiatives

Proposition 14: Stem Cell Research - No recommendation

This measure would authorize $5.5 billion in bonds for stem cell research. The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, created in 2004 when the Bush administration refused to provide federal funds for stem cell research, has yielded valuable cutting-edge research on cancer and other diseases. However, with federal restrictions now lifted, it’s not clear that California taxpayers should continue to bear that cost.

Proposition 15: Schools & Communities First - Vote Yes

Prop 15 is one of the most important measures on the ballot this year. By closing corporate loopholes in Prop 13, it will ensure that wealthy corporations such as Chevron finally pay property tax based on the value of their property, instead of having their taxes frozen in time at 1970’s levels. Protections for homes, small businesses and farms would remain in place. This simple change would yield an estimated $86 million for Contra Costa County, $21 million for the city of Richmond and $19 million for WCCUSD. 

Proposition 16: Affirmative Action - Vote Yes

By repealing 1996’s Proposition 209, this measure would once again allow the use of affirmative action in state functions. That’s an important step toward overcoming gender and racial inequities at state institutions such as the UC system.

Proposition 17: Voting Rights for Parolees - Vote Yes

This measure would extend voting rights to people who are on parole for felony convictions, rather than making them wait until they complete parole. Nineteen other states already allow people to vote while on parole for felonies. California should too.

Proposition 18: Voting Rights for 17 Year Olds - Vote Yes

This measure would allow 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the next general election to vote in primaries and special elections. This could only make it easier to engage young voters. Vote yes and help California join nearly 20 other states that already offer this privilege.

Proposition 19: Property Taxes for Seniors - Vote Yes

This measure would tweak Prop 13 to allow homeowners who are disabled or 55+ years old to carry the taxable value of their home to a new home. It would also close a loophole that allows people to keep the taxable value of vacation homes, rental properties and homes worth more than $1 million that they inherit. It doesn't go as far as is needed to overhaul Prop 13, but on balance, the measure is expected to increase tax revenue and make property tax rules work better for seniors, so we support it.

Proposition 20: Increased Sentencing - Vote No

This typical “tough on crime” measure would increase penalties for an array of offenses, swelling prison populations at a time when COVID-19 makes that a worse idea than ever. The measure is funded by police interests and supermarket chains such as Albertsons and Safeway, which see it as a way to fight shoplifting. Fight the prison-industrial complex and vote no.

Proposition 21: Rent Control - Vote Yes

By replacing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, this measure would allow rent control on buildings that were first occupied after 1995, as long as they have been occupied for more than 15 years. Vote yes to lift an unfair state restriction on the power of local governments and allow progressive municipalities such as Richmond to expand rent control.

Proposition 22: Gig Economy - Vote No

California lawmakers tried to help gig economy workers by passing AB 5 in 2019, but Uber, Lyft and DoorDash fought the law tooth and nail, arguing that making drivers employees would prevent them from offering flexible work. They’re planning to spend $100 million to pass Prop 22 and that must be rejected on principle. Corporations should not be allowed to spend unlimited sums of money to overturn democratically enacted laws. That is not how democracy works.

Proposition 23: Dialysis Regulations - Vote Yes

This measure would impose new regulations on dialysis clinics, such as requiring a doctor on site and requiring consent from state health regulators before a clinic can be closed. It’s backed by SEIU, which has worked for years to organize workers at the two largest dialysis providers, DaVita and Fresenius, and says that workers support the changes.

Proposition 24: Online Privacy - Vote No 

This measure would tweak the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) with the goal of strengthening online privacy. Privacy advocates are divided, and ultimately this just isn’t a good use of the ballot initiative process. Data privacy is a complex technical issue that should be handled through a legislative body with committee hearings and testimony from experts, or through rulemaking by expert regulators -- not through a simple up-or-down vote by the public. 

Proposition 25: Ending Cash Bail - No recommendation

Voting yes on Prop 25 would uphold SB 10, a 2019 law that replaced cash bail with a risk assessment for people awaiting trial. Democrats mostly favored the bill and Republicans mostly opposed it, but progressive criminal justice advocates were split on the final version because of concerns about racial bias in risk assessments. Cash bail is deeply unjust and it needs to end, but we aren’t confident that voting yes on Prop 25 to keep SB 10 is the right solution.