By Joel P. Engardio -- Thanks to California’s system of direct democracy, get enough signatures and voters can decide anything. But why bother electing representatives if we’re going to determine everything by popular vote?
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By Joel P. Engardio -- My favorite Muppets are Statler and Waldorf, the cantankerous yet lovable old men shouting wisecracks and hard truths from the balcony. I get to see them regularly because I go to a lot of neighborhood meetings in San Francisco, where there’s never a lack of Statlers and Waldorfs in the audience.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- A transportation system that serves the public well doesn’t greet riders with the stench of urine or ask them to climb broken escalators short-circuited by human feces. And it doesn’t paralyze an entire region by going on strike. Will voters hold BART accountable? Meet the two BART board candidates in an epic battle to represent riders.
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Joel Engardio speech on why moderates are the true progressives in San Francisco. Engardio was the guest speaker at the Golden Gate Breakfast Club in August 2014.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- The short walk from Twitter's headquarters to Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu's office might as well be light years. Consider the 204,562 paper files that represent San Francisco's 204,562 properties. Keeping track of that many physical files means Chu never knows if the day will end in comedy, frustration or disaster.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- There must be others like me in San Francisco who embrace liberal values but also crave a city that runs on common sense. Forward-thinkers who believe in progress and aren’t afraid of change. True progressives.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Supervisor Katy Tang's approach to San Francisco's housing crisis is very different from her colleagues who are focused on stricter tenant protections without addressing the underlying supply problem. "I don't need to introduce quick-fix legislation five times a week," she said. "I'm trying to offer a different solution that addresses root causes."
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Supervisor Scott Wiener and I agree that Americans drink too much high-calorie soda, which contributes to our obesity epidemic and rising health care costs. So what’s the debate? We differ on how to persuade people to drink less.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Few people live to see a section of interstate freeway named after them, so Quentin Kopp doesn’t need to be reminded that he’s a San Francisco legend. But I wanted to know what battles remain for the 85-year-old, why he keeps going to his office every day and how he feels when the Chronicle dismisses him as “everybody’s favorite crank.”
“I’m old school and I’m going to articulate old-school criteria,” Kopp said in a raised voice as he banged his fist on the desk for effect. “It might just be in 20 years that people will agree with me.”
Yet Kopp admitted he's out of touch with younger generations, saying his 14-year-old granddaughter is “going to do things differently.”
“I do need to keep up, otherwise I’m totally mystified by what I see,” he said. “Don’t ask me what Justin Bieber does or why he’s successful.”
By Joel P. Engardio -- While city voters yawned through this month's low-turnout election, Supervisor Mark Farrell managed to do something unthinkable in San Francisco: He got a proposition approved with the support of both the Republican Party and those on the firebrand left. Farrell's initiative won big with nearly 70 percent of the vote and the support of every labor union -- except one. Why did activists from SEIU Local 1021 follow Farrell across a parking lot, screaming at him every step of the way?
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By Joel P. Engardio -- When you see the words "unfunded liability" please think of cat videos, sex or any other Internet obsession. Don't click away because "unfunded liability" is boring. The future of San Francisco needs you to crave this topic like it's a cronut.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- You know it's a slow election year when a vote on a condo development along The Embarcadero becomes a referendum on all that is good and evil in San Francisco.
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Joel Engardio interviewed on ABC 7 News San Francisco on eve of Supreme Court ruling against Proposition 8 to make same-sex marriage legal in California. June 25, 2013.
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Joel Engardio appears on the "Face-to-Face with Stu Smith" show. San Francisco cable TV. Engardio discusses San Francisco politics, his background and his run for supervisor. September 2012.
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