On Wednesday, October 7, city and labor leaders — including San Francisco Mayor Dan Laurie, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford, California Professional Firefighters President Darrell Roberts, and Evolve California Executive Director Ben Grieff — gathered in front of San Francisco Fire Department Station 5 to let the public know they are voting NO on Prop 43. 

Prop 43 would limit the power of voters to fund the local services we all care about. Right now, when local voters gather signatures to put a tax for a specific purpose on the ballot, it needs a simple majority to pass, the same as when we elect our local leaders. That’s the democratic process at work. Prop 43 would raise that bar to two-thirds. A measure would then need two “yes” votes for every “no” vote to pass, which means a “no” vote would count twice as much as a “yes” vote.

The services at stake are the ones our communities count on most: staffing fire stations and 911 dispatch centers, preparing neighborhoods for wildfire, repairing roads, and keeping schools, parks, libraries and local hospitals open.

When funding is blocked, help arrives slower, classrooms grow more crowded, and communities are left less safe.

SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford said, “We fight every day for working people in the Bay Area. I’m here today to let you know that Prop 43 is a gimmick – backed by big corporations that don’t want to pay their fair share. We cannot fall for it. Prop 43 would prevent everyday people from having a say. It protects the powerful few at the expense of everyone else.”