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Posts Tagged ‘California’

Prop 8 is Winning, Gay Couples Losing in California

5 Nov 2008

It’s 11 a.m. in Barcelona, and 2 a.m. in San Francisco, my home city. And after waking up to the news of the Obama win, celebrating it with people here, feeling overjoyed at the fact that 8 years of Republican reign is finally over and the impact that will have on the world, and that a person of color is in the White House…I got a sinking feeling. I climbed down off my cloud and back to reality to have a look at the voting returns on California’s Proposition 8.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Prop 8, it is a state ballot measure which would amend the California constitution to limit marriage to unions between a man and a woman, effectively making gay marriage illegal. You might remember that a few months back the California Supreme Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. Marriages followed, among them that of TV star Ellen DeGeneres and her partner actress Portia De Rossi.

With 80% of precincts reporting, it looks like my fellow Californians have spoken, and their words are not what I expected. Prop 8 is winning by 4 percent, and the trend is likely to remain the same once all the votes are counted.

Schwarzenegger Won’t Blame Immigrants for Economic Woes

1:43 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Immigration| Money · Comments Off

3 Apr 2008

We may watch to much tv, but California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t point the finger at immigration for his state’s budget woes.Gov.

Arnold Schwarzenegger called it a “big mistake” Wednesday to blame illegal immigrants for the state’s looming $8 billion budget gap, just as Republican lawmakers have proposed a rollback of benefits for illegal immigrants to save money…”There is, you know, always a time like this where you start pointing the finger at various different elements of what creates the budget mess, and, you know, some may point the finger at illegal immigrants,” Schwarzenegger said. “I can guarantee you, I have been now four years in office in Sacramento, I don’t think that illegal immigration has created the mess that we are in.”..

I guess we gotta give credit where credit is due.

Via / Immigration Talk with a Mexican

Super Tuesday: California Voters Faced with Problems

6:36 pm By Maegan La Mala · California| Politics| US Presidential Race 2008 · 2 Comments

5 Feb 2008

Here in California, it appears that not is all going smoothly at the polls. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that in L.A many voters were met with problems ranging from having to cast provisional ballots to being asked to show identification:

Silver Lake voter Pedro Mas Mayor was upset when he was asked to show identification at his polling place. Mayor, 69, a naturalized citizen who has lived in the United States since 1966, said this was the first time he’d ever been asked to show identification when voting.

“I told them it’s the law that you aren’t supposed to ask,” Mayor said. “I said, ‘Are you sure?’ She said, ‘Yes, you have to.’ She insisted. So I showed my ID and said, ‘I need a ballot.’ ”

Mayor said poll workers at the Sunset Boulevard Free Clinic were also asking white voters for their IDs. “They were asking everybody. I was a little upset, but I was able to vote,” he said.

Interesting that the L.A. Times notes that the voter was a naturalized citizen. Why is that relevant?

The Times also reports that many had to wait for polling places that did not open on time, and didn’t begin taking voters in until 5 hours after the scheduled time.

Are you having trouble voting? Let us know in the comments below!

Via / L.A. Times

After elections, California city has all Latino council

5:02 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Politics · 1 Comment

9 Nov 2006

Santa%20Ana%20City%20Logo%20copy.gif After the successful election bids of a couple of local Latino politicians, Santa Ana, California (Orange County) is now the largest U.S. city to have an all-Latino City Council, reports the LA Times:

On Tuesday, three Latino candidates won seats on the city’s seven-member council, joining four other Latino incumbents.

According to the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, no other city with a population over 300,000 holds that distinction. Santa Ana is the 51st-largest city in the nation, and the ninth largest in the state, with a population of nearly 350,000.

According to the LA Times, Latinos gained majority of the Council in 2002.

Santa Ana has also been declared the “most Spanish-speaking city in the U.S.”, and boasts the “Nation’s #1 Neighborhood”.

Via / LA Times and Hispanic Tips

Arnie’s our governor…again

11:57 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Politics · 4 Comments

8 Nov 2006

The Governator just won’t go away. After hitting the polls last night, the only thing I had a really sinking feeling about was my state’s gubernatorial race. Arnold’s opponent — a man who makes John Kerry seem edgy — milktoast Phil Angelides, didn’t stand a chance in hell. He didn’t have the charisma, that was clear, but apparently he also didn’t have Arnie’s money. Reports say Angelides blew most of his bank in the primaries and didn’t have much to spend closer to election day. No wonder I can’t remember even seeing one ad for him, but I guess he figured that the San Francisco Bay area was a given for him. He was wrong, as the Bay ended up pretty much split between him and Arnie, though (not surprisingly) the city and county of San Francisco voted 63% in favor of Angelides.

So, here in California we’re preparing for a full term of bad pronunciation, xenophobic/racist comments and feet in mouths as we assimilate the sad fact that we’ll begin another year with a rich washed up actor as our leader.

Image via San Francisco Chronicle (Carlos Avila Gonzalez)

“I voted” in pictures + a plea

6:48 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics · 1 Comment

7 Nov 2006

Picture%201.png Here in wacky San Francisco — where we’re voting on a measure proposed by my local politicians to make calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney city policy — I’m off to the polls. To echo Mala, have you voted? Tons of people withhold their vote year after year because they are jaded. I used to do that. I don’t anymore. Like Mala says, it’s a weapon at our disposal. I’m still jaded, but not as dumb.

Other not-so-dumb people have been documenting their adventures in voting today in photos on my favorite website, Flickr. Check out this blog post about all the happy voters on the site, and have a look at some photos to get psyched up.

Get out and vote. Don’t make excuses. There’s still time — polls don’t close for hours. And I guarantee you it will make you feel better.

To the polls I go!

Via / Flickr Blog

Villaraigosa and Bustamante threatened

9:24 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Controversia| Immigration| Politics · 1 Comment

25 Apr 2006

Hate rears its ugly head again in the immigration debate, with two prominent Latino politicians en la mira of anti-immigrant elements who threaten their lives. LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Lt. Governor (California) Cruz Bustamente have both been on the receiving end of threatening correspondence. Governor Schwarzenegger announced this news, but the two Latino politicians are playing down the incidents, according to Reuters:

Villaraigosa, son of a Mexican immigrant, said threats “come with the turf” and has also not increased his security.

“There is nothing to worry about. … You can see by my face that I’m not concerned about that,” Villaraigosa told reporters.

The threats have taken on various forms, with Reuters pointing one out in particular that read “The only good Mexican is dead Mexican”. Not very original, I must say.

Via / CNN.com

Photo via USA Today (Dan MacMedan)

6 out of 10 Californians say ‘yes’ to legalization

4:33 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Immigration · Comments Off

3 Apr 2006

From the San Jose Mercury News, a new San Jose State University poll has found that 6 out of 10 California residents favor legalization for undocumented immigrants currently residing in the country:

Nearly six out of 10 Californians support allowing illegal immigrants to become legal residents and continue living and working in the state, according to a new poll released Sunday by a San Jose State University research center.

With the issue of illegal immigration roiling the nation and Congress, a broad spectrum of California residents backs legal status for undocumented workers — 59 percent of all adults polled support the controversial idea, the Survey and Policy Research Institute found. Registered voters also support allowing illegal immigrants to become legal, 54 percent to 36 percent.

According to the Mercury News, the strong opposition to legalization was found on the part of Republican voters, which is no surprise. Meanwhile, in the “real world” (as George Clooney puts it) or the rest of the country, nationwide polls showed:

…support across the country for the narrower — but equally explosive — proposal to give undocumented workers temporary legal status to remain in the United States. But that Associated Press poll also found Americans divided over whether illegal immigrants help or hurt the country.

Via / MercuryNews.com

A “sanctuary” in the city of angels

8:05 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration| Los Angeles · 1 Comment

24 Mar 2006

In response to recent proposed legislation which would require local law enforcement to act on illegal immigration, a 97% Latino suburb of L.A. has declared their town a “sanctuary” for immigrants:

…attracting fierce criticism from opponents who say it is encouraging lawlessness.

Maywood, a tiny urban pocket of Los Angeles county, has abolished its traffic police because of complaints that they were unfairly picking on Latino drivers.

Previously drivers without licences – almost all illegal immigrants – had their cars impounded. The city council has also passed a resolution opposing some of the toughest government measures against illegal immigration in recent times.

Guest worker programs debated

12:04 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Immigration| Labor| Politics · 1 Comment

2 Mar 2006

The San Francisco Chronicle talks today about California senator Dianne Feinstein’s beef with the current guest worker bill:

“I do not believe you can have a guest worker come for three years, renew it for another three years, bring their family, settle in, put children in schools, and then they’re going to turn around and go back at the end of six years,” Feinstein said. “It doesn’t happen. They disappear. And that’s the problem. That’s the rub. That’s the magnet.”

So Feinstein is splitting with her party, and wants immigrants to truly be “guests”…meaning they’ll leave forever at some point.

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