RSVP on Facebook and be among the first to get the new Avalos 2012 t-shirt by helping us collect signatures to put John on the ballot. Ten valid Disrict 11 resident signatures gets you a t-shirt so please bring in any signatures you may have already collected this Saturday!

We were joined by a coalition of community organizations, like Occupy Bernal, the Tenants Union, and ACCE, to demand the suspension of foreclosure activities in the City and County of San Francisco until state and federal measures are in place to protect homeowners from unfair and unlawful actions by banks and mortgage companies.

At the Board meeting, I introduced resolution co-sponsored by Supervisors Campos, Chiu, Kim, Mar, and Olague to:

• Support the California Homeowners Bill of Rights measures at the state level
• Promote principal reduction and tenant rights at the Federal level
• Urge City officials and departments to protect homeowners and tenants from unlawful foreclosure fast-tracking practices
• Call on banks, especially Wells Fargo, to suspend foreclosure activities until protections from illegal foreclosures are in place for our residents.

I look forward to working with all of you to support our struggling families and to demand accountability from the banks and mortgage companies.

In the news…..
Bay Guardian coverage of foreclosure resolution

This month, we will have a special night out to help raise money for the Geneva Car Barn & Powerhouse. Henry’s Hunan Restaurant has prepared a unique dinner menu for the occasion – $20 for adults and $12 for youth. You can find out more about this amazing program at www.genevacarbarn.org.  

With the voices of the 99% still alive and strong, 2012 promises to be an exciting year in politics at the national, state and local levels. Here in San Francisco, I am up for re-election and, even after campaigning for seven months last year, I am excited to hit the streets again.

I am very proud of the work we have been able to do together to fight for opportunities for working people including immigrants and people of color. Together, we have fought to create jobs in the public and private sector; to maintain essential services for children, youth, families and seniors; to make our parks and streets clean and safe; to win $56M in new revenue to lessen our budget deficit and to build greater infrastructure for efficient transit in our neighborhoods.

This year’s campaign is an important opportunity to reconnect with my neighbors and all of you who want and deserve the best this city has to offer.

We’re in it together and the top 1% need to pay their fair share so that all can have access to opportunity, education, housing and health care. In 2010, I sponsored a ballot measure to raise the real estate transfer tax on the highest end properties. That year, community and labor groups in SF came together to the measure’s passage and just last week we learned that the measure has already raised $56M dollars! This new revenue has already helped protect after-school programs, senior services, and health access for those most in need in our City.

Now Californians have our sights on the taxing the wealthy statewide. This Thursday, I will be taking part in several local events in support of the March 1st Day of Action to kick off a 99 mile march for from SF to Sacramento for Education and Social Justice.

Come join us at Civic Center Plaza this Thursday, March 1st anytime between 3 to 6pm, where we will be rallying in support of statewide ballot measures like the millionaires tax that would ensure that the wealthiest Californians make equitable contributions to education and public services which must provide the opportunity that many of us expect of this great state of California. A united labor and community can win again this November.

Last week, I held a second hearing on the workforce development plan for the America’s Cup and while we were successful in getting America’s Cup Event Authority to agree to prevailing wage for all work, we still have some work to do to ensure we are able to get the maximum amount of jobs for local residents.

This week, in the Budget and Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors, I will be holding a second hearing on Municipal Banking and to pass a resolution on our efforts underway to include social responsibility and community reinvestment measures in the Treasurer’s Request for Proposals for the City’s banking and cash management services.

This month is also the critical month for the campaign for Free MUNI for Kids, an effort spearheaded by Supervisor Campos along with my office and a broad coalition of community stakeholders. Please support our efforts to ensure that all school age kids are able to get to school, work, internships, and afterschool programs.

Sign the petition below TODAY, and pass it on to your friends and networks.

“If Avalos knows one thing, it’s how to work a sympathetic crowd. Ringing up one applause line after another, the candidate hammered easy targets like the Wall Street bailout and tax cuts for the wealthy.

But one line in particular stood out. “San Francisco needs to look into starting its own municipal bank,” he said. “We need to stop doing banking with the very people who wrecked the economy.”

The assembled crowd, a motley assortment of union workers, mask-wearing anarchists and everyday people feeling trapped by high unemployment and a dour economy, erupted in a rapturous roar of support.

For the creation of a local government commission.

To study an obscure form of banking.”

Read the full article here: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/municipal-bank-san-francisco_n_1074600

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Monday, November 7th — Mayoral candidate John Avalos will be joined today by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, SF Bike Coalition’s Leah Shahum, SEIU’s Gabriel Haaland, SF Rising Action Fund’s Steve Williams and Emily Lee, and other community leaders, in a rally representing Avalos’ broad spectrum of support

The multi-lingual press conference and rally will highlight the Avalos campaign’s “early victory” of uniting a diverse array of communities in the City on the eve of the mayoral election. The press conference will be conducted in Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and Arabic, like most of the Avalos’ campaign’s voter outreach.

“In just 6 months, our campaign has brought together groups that do not usually roll together: environmentalists, LGBT people, dog-lovers, immigrants, biker riders, homeowners and renters.” Supervisor Avalos said. “We have forged a new movement – an inclusive one that brings together old activists, new voters, and a new generation of socially-conscious citizens who have been activated by the events of the past few months.”

Despite spending half of what some other candidates have done so far, the Avalos campaign has surged in both the polls and on the streets, and is now positioned as the main challenger to the incumbent, Interim Mayor Ed Lee. It has distinguished itself as a campaign fueled by everyday San Franciscans. “Ninety percent of our donors are San Franciscans, and unlike other candidates, who are supported by out-of-towners and corporate-funded IEs, 90% of our campaign is volunteer run,” added Avalos.

Unlike other campaigns challenging Ed Lee for the top post who have relied on negative character attacks, hit pieces, television commercials, and big-dollar unregulated independent expenditure committees, the Avalos campaign has focused on the issues, even building support for progressive revenue, free Muni for kids, and municipal banking.

“Part of why this campaign has been so successful is that it’s never been about electing one man, but rather building a strong and long lasting force to make City Hall serve all of San Francisco,” said Rosi Reyes, campaign spokeswoman. “This campaign is about building unity, building connections within the community of people who have been left out of the political process. We have been proud and inspired to see people from the Tenants Union working side-by-side with people from the Bike Coalition, to see members of DogPAC working with community members from the BayView,” said Rosi Reyes, campaign spokeswoman. “These connections are integral to ensuring a new era of progressive policymaking in San Francisco, and we believe it is just a glimmer of what is to come with an Avalos administration.”

WHO: John Avalos, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Emily Lee, Leah Shahum, Gabriel Haaland, Karen Zapata, Edgar Molina

VISUALS: The candidate, dozens of supporters in Avalos T-shirts holding signs, decorated bicycles, 5 cars decorated with Avalos signs and banners, streamers, one truck covered in Avalos signs with loud speakers and Luchadores.

WHAT: A press conference celebrating the campaign’s successes and kicking off the last day of the campaign.

WHERE: McCoppin and Valencia, the McCoppin hub

WHEN: Monday, November 7 at 3:30 pm.

The Press Conference will kick-off the “Caravana Politica,” a decorated car caravan through the Mission and the Excelsior reminding voters the polls open in the morning, and celebrating their candidate.

The Avalos campaign also boasts the following coveted list of endorsements, among many more, showing the breadth and depth of support for John across San Francisco:

The San Francisco Democratic Party
The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
The San Francisco Bike Coalition
The San Francisco Bay Guardian
SEIU Local 1021
Coleman Action Fund for Children
United Educators of San Francisco
California Nurses Association
The Sierra Club
DogPAC of San Francisco
San Francisco Rising Action Fund
The League of Young Voters

Thaer AlHasnawi, 26, said he decided to join the Avalos campaign after seeing the supervisor reach out to the Arab community. “I’ve seen Avalos at events that AYO and AROC have organized,” he said. “Just the way he talked, the way he is involved in the Arab community… It encouraged me and inspired me.”

Read the entire article here: www.newamericamedia.org/2011/11/avalos-campaign-sparking-more-civic-engagement-from-arab-community-in-sf