Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Photo by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
July 5, 2010
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today he will deliver Tuesday the required number of petition signatures needed to qualify a controversial pension reform ballot measure for the November ballot.
The measure, dubbed “SF Smart Reform,” aims to rein in unsustainable pension and healthcare costs projected to exceed $1 billion by 2016.
“I am confident that we have the 46,000 signatures needed today to qualify for the November ballot,” Adachi said in a statement released to FCJ. “The voters of San Francisco have overwhelmingly responded to the need for sustainable pension reform by signing these petitions. Now the Department of Elections has up to 30 days to confirm our effort to take this critical budgetary issue to the entire electorate.”
Adachi will submit the petitions for qualification to the San Francisco Department of Elections, room 48, City Hall, tomorrow at 4:00 pm.
The qualification process involves verifying the submitted petition signatures against voter registration rolls.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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The Hunger Site
July 14, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Hi Matt, Hi Jeff- I just graduated at the top of my class from law school. I have $200,000 debt to pay. I am civic minded and want to work to help people that are facing criminal charges get a fair trial and I always thought San Francisco would be a great place to start. But wait, Mr Adachi wants to cut my medical benefits for my family. Wow- why doesn’t put his efforts into fighting Blue Cross and their ridiculous premimum hikes (heard of those?) Oh and he thinks our pension is too generous. Why not go after Wall Street. They’ve taken all our money while getting golden parachutes. Wait. These are the venture capitalists that ripped off our pension and they’re financing this. Wow! I think I’ll take a job working for Wall Street. Jeff and Matt. Wake up! You are playing the old politicals of jealousy. Slowly chip away at workers benefits in private sector which used to be better than public sector. Then wait a few years (many) and then turn around and tell them someone has it too good. Meanwhile the gap between rich and poor widens. Work on that. You’ve lost your way