Our Chapter is proud to announce our endorsement for our member Dean Preston’s 2024 re-election campaign for District 5 Supervisor. For decades, Dean has been a tireless champion for workers, tenants, the unhoused, and everyone left behind by our city’s corporate-serving governance. In office, Dean has won major gains for San Francisco’s working class, including raising hundreds of millions for affordable and social housing, taxing vacant homes, and fighting against transit cuts and fare hikes.
With Dean’s strong record in office, it is not surprising he has come under attack by billionaires and right wing groups. In 2020, oligarch-funded PACs spent over a million to unseat Dean, but were rejected by District 5 voters. As reactionary movements gain momentum, we are more committed than ever to defending Dean as the only open democratic socialist currently in elected office in San Francisco.
In considering the endorsement, our Chapter conducted a careful and strategic process that we aim to carry forward to future endorsement decisions. Our chapter-elected Electoral Board, in addition to the traditional policy questionnaire, held several meetings with Dean and his staff in which we agreed upon a set of shared values both on the campaign trail and in office. This helps us to ensure that there is accountability, mutual trust, and open communication between the Dean campaign and our Chapter as we engage in this shared struggle.
As we begin to move into campaign season, we are excited to engage and mobilize all Chapter members to organize in this crucial campaign. Since we are up against tremendous opposition from organized capital, the only way to win is for ordinary people to get out in the District, talk to voters, and share our vision for a better future. The Electoral Board will be sharing opportunities in the coming weeks and months to get involved in the campaign. Join DSA San Francisco to help build a City that works for the people, not the rich and powerful!
🌹Sunday, 9/24 (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.): Sunday Streets Western Addition (In person at Golden Gate and Webster)
🌹Monday, 9/25 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group Dinner Service (In person; location TBD – check the calendar and the Weekly Roundup for updates)
The Homelessness Working Group (HWG) will be collecting the following items in both the office AND at the October chapter meeting on October 11th:
hygiene products (wipes are really popular, as well as pads and tampons)
hand sanitizer
toiletries
unused, unopened toothpaste/ toothbrushes
N95 masks
unopened snacks & drinks
Please do NOT include canned goods.
Our goal is to grab things from places that give items out for free to distribute to the homeless, so gather up all those complimentary hotel shampoos and soaps, free tech perk snacks, and anything else you can find!
Thanks and reach out to anyone in the Homelessness Working Group or on the #homelessness channel on Slack if you have any questions!
Socializing for Socialism
Leftist Queer Mixer on 9/27 at 6 p.m. at El Rio!
Come meet your local socialist sweeties, amorous anarchists, and commie cuties for a queer mixer on Wednesday, September 27th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at El Rio at 3158 Mission Street, hosted by San Francisco and East Bay DSA!
We’ll be out on the patio. There will be DJing and dancing all night 💃
Reportbacks
September Chapter Meeting Recap
At last Wednesday’s chapter meeting, despite some technical difficulties, we heard updates from across the chapter:
Emily presented a treasurer update
Julian presented a Homelessness Working Group update and announced a new mutual aid project (see below)
Hazel presented an update from California DSA
Allyson presented an update on teacher organizing
Faye presented an update from the Mutual Aid priority and a new oral history project
Later, the chapter heard from candidates for delegate California DSA. Matt and Sean were elected, with Alyssa and Ryan serving as alternates. Additionally, Dan and Julian were elected as co-chairs to the newly chartered Tenant Organizing Working Group. Finally, the chapter voted unanimously to endorse EXTREME DEAN for District 5 supervisor.
Our next chapter meeting will be Wednesday, October 11th at 6:45 p.m. Stay tuned for more details.
Labor Board Update
In the past few months, DSA SF Labor group has hit the ground running, building organizing capacity within the chapter and building solidarity with unions in varied industries across the city. Here are some highlights of the work we’ve been doing:
Established a local SF Emergency Worker Organizing Committee (SF EWOC) in collaboration with EWOC national and East Bay EWOC. We have our first EWOC trained organizers leading and shadowing worker organizing campaigns at several companies in SF and the wider East Bay.
Our Labor Education Subcommittee has been formed! They are planning long-term strategy for outward-facing labor education in the chapter, and for September they are facilitating a group of DSA SF members to participate in EB DSA’s new labor education series and get direct organizing experience.
Our Tech Workers Circle has continued organizing their successful monthly outward-facing trainings and discussions, giving tech workers a place to grow class consciousness and train their labor organizing skills.
We’re planning UPS Teamsters strike ready debrief and celebration in collaboration with the UPS Teamsters, as well as to review DSA SF’s work and create a guide for future use on similar campaigns.
We are gearing up to support solidarity work with UAW in their negotiations with the Big 3 and considering how labor resources can best be leveraged in support of rank and file UAW workers.
We’ve continued our work supporting our local Starbucks Workers United workers and organizers, including organizing a poster canvass to support the second union store in SF on Irving ahead of their winning union vote back in August.
We’ve also been growing our relationship with rank and file SF Teachers and have biweekly meetings with them and the larger community members and organizations to discuss how DSA SF can support them in ongoing negotiations and if it comes to it, during a potential strike if no agreement is reached, including early planning discussions about how we could get an SF Bread for Ed campaign off the ground.
Formed an education subcommittee, hosted its first meeting, and began to develop a course called Mutual Aid in the Socialist Struggle. We’re looking for folks to lead the courses as instructors starting in October. No experience needed, just interest! We’ll train you, and this is a great opportunity for skill development. Drop a line in #priority-mutual-aid or send Stephen A a DM.
Explored a Bread 4 Ed mutual aid project in partnership with the Labor Board
Continued development on a mutual aid project to complement the Extreme Dean Priority work, with a planned focus around the Buchanan Street Mall and the surrounding community, based on community input. Join us for a strategic analysis working session in the office and on zoom on Saturday, September 30th at 10 a.m. (date is tentative and to be confirmed); see DSA SF internal calendar for updates.
Teamed up with the Fundraising Provisional Working Group (PWG) to table at Sunday Streets in the Western Addition on September 24th. Come through Sunday, September 24th, and/or drop a line in #fundraising-pwg or #priority-mutual-aid channels on Slack, or DM Edna K to help with planning!
Hosted our first potluck at the office, which included comrades from across the chapter, and yielded some really generative conversation. We will continue to alternate our bi-monthly meetings with an in-person potluck. Our next potluck will be on September 28th or September 29th (to be confirmed); see the DSA SF Internal calendar for updates.
Reviewed our challenges. So far one of our biggest challenges in the work has been spreading the workload out. This priority resolution has a very broad and far reaching scope, and tons of exciting potential. That is awesome, and it can easily become overwhelming. If you want to plug in and/or if you have thoughts/critique on our work so far, or moving forward, we’d love to chat with you!
The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among different chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and newsletter, etc.
We are always looking for feedback to help us improve the newsletter and make it work better for the whole chapter!
If you have feedback or questions for the newsletter team, drop your comments in the Newsletter Q&A thread in the forum, or reach out to the Chapter Coordination Committee, Serena M., or Ryan V. on Slack.
The DSA SF Orcas are looking for players! The Orcas play in a friendly, recreational soccer league in Mission Bay. The upcoming 7-week fall season begins on September 22nd, with a match every Friday. It’s a great way to connect with comrades.
The last day to register to be on the fall Orcas roster is this Thursday, September 14th! If you’re interested in playing, even for just a few games, join the #orca-comrades Slack channel or message Katya on Slack.
Leftist Queer Mixer on 9/27 at 5 p.m. at El Rio!
Come meet your local socialist sweeties, amorous anarchists, and commie cuties for a queer mixer on Wednesday, September 27th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at El Rio at 3158 Mission Street, hosted by San Francisco and East Bay DSA!
We’ll be out on the patio. There will be DJing and dancing all night 💃
Chapter Coordination Committee Rotations
The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among different chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and newsletter, etc.
On August 27th, members of the chapter came together to give the office a deep clean, getting the space tidied after many months of everything from day-to-day chapter business to film screenings, book clubs, and worker meetups. These comrades helped bring some order to the happy chaos that will help keep the office a pleasant, inviting space to organize and socialize in.
Thank you to the members who spent their Sunday working to keep this valuable shared space clean!
Chapter Coordination Committee Rotations
The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among different chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and newsletter, etc.
