MB For Justice's 2020 Voter Guide
Welcome to our 2020 voter guide, where we're highlighting local candidates and issues we're passionate about! Read to learn more about down–ballot issues where we have the opportunity to enact real change this November.
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If you have additional questions about the candidates or the issues, please contact the relevant campaigns directly—we'll include contact information and links to more information wherever we can.
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Join us on Instagram (@justiceformb) to follow along as we delve into candidates and ballot measures in greater depth.
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PLEASE NOTE: None of the campaigns or candidates we endorsed sought endorsements from MB For Justice, nor did we coordinate endorsements with any of the campaigns. We do not work with or for any candidates or campaigns; the endorsements below simply reflect our best recommendations for which candidates would create positive change in Manhattan Beach.
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Our full detailed guide with explanations is below. We also have these summaries that you can use as a reference or share on social media. (Click on the images to view in full screen and to save—the full image may not appear in the preview as the images are deliberately different sizes.)
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Endorsements
Phoebe Lyons for MB City Council
We need Phoebe's voice on City Council. Phoebe is running on a platform of anti-racism, believes in investing our tax dollars in community services, and is an advocate for increased police transparency and accountability.
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Learn more at: phoebeformb.com
Grettel Fournell for MB City Council
Grettel is an advocate of government accountability and transparency, strong environmental policies, and quality public education for all. Manhattan Beach needs her principled leadership.​
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Learn more at: grettelfournell.com
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*Update: we're aware that approximately one month after we issued this endorsement, Grettel sent an email to supporters promising to fully fund the MBPD and voicing her opposition to reparations. We're disappointed by these positions and reviewed our endorsement in light of them. Ultimately, however, we remain concerned about harm reduction in this election, and we're confident that we can work with Grettel to bring about necessary changes to our community. Grettel does support the city's task force on Bruce's Beach, intends to address systemic racism in MB, and has expressed support for community services that make us all safer. Should she win this November, we're committed to working to hold her accountable and to push for progress in our community.
Jason Boxer for MBUSD School Board
Jason supports the MB Panel for Equity, a community organization we strongly support. They also have an extensive background in both grassroots activism and early childhood education, and will bring a necessary focus on diversity to the district. They're offering a much-needed bold, forward-thinking vision of what MBUSD can be.
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Learn more at: jasonformbusd.com
Al Murasutchi for CA State Assembly
Al has a mixed record on key issues—in particular, he has a background in law enforcement and has not backed critical state assembly bills this year, such as SB 731, which would have created a process to decertify police officers with records of misconduct and abuse. However, we feel we can work to hold Al accountable and push him to adopt new positions.
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His opponent, Arthur Schaper, is truly horrifying. He runs a far-right white supremacist blog that regularly targets and attacks citizens. He is virulently anti-immigrant. He called Rep. Maxine Waters "the crazy Black lady." He's so extreme that the L.A. County Republican party felt the need to denounce him and revoke the charter of the Beach Cities Republicans.
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He also lacks basic reasoning and empathy: "Schaper is currently unemployed and uninsured, and was exempt from paying a fine for failing to sign up for coverage because his income was so low, he said. Yet, at [a town hall held by Rep. Waters] he shouted about the Affordable Care Act: 'I can afford my own healthcare! I don’t want to live off Mommy!'"
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Do not let a white supremacist troll represent us in the CA State Assembly. Vote for Al.
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Ted Lieu for U.S. House of Representatives
Lieu is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has sponsored several critical bills, including one to ban the cruel practice of conversion therapy and another to address the reality of climate change. He also supports universal healthcare and the Green New Deal.
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We are wary of some aspects of his voting record and of the ways in which his job history influences his work in Congress—Lieu started his career as a prosecutor. However, he is undoubtedly a better representative for our district than his opponent, James Bradley, who wants to expand broken, inhumane systems of border control to "protect" our country from "threats known and unknown," implement voter ID laws that are proven to disenfranchise minority voters without doing anything to increase election safety, and has an entire section of his platform dedicated to peddling conspiracy theories under the banner of "deep state investigations." Vote for Ted—vote for a reasonable representative for our district.
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Additional Information
Chaz Flemmings for City Council
We have no recommendation regarding this candidacy.
Other Candidates for City Council
We are firmly opposed to the other four candidates for City Council: Steve Napolitano, Richard Montgomery, Joe Franklin, and Mark Burton. All support maintaining or increasing current funding for the MBPD.
Ballot Measures
Prop 15: YES
Requires commercial and industrial properties to be taxed based on market value and dedicates revenue.
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Why we support it: "Prop 15 is a fair and balanced reform that:​
1. Closes property tax loopholes benefiting wealthy corporations.​
2. Cuts small business taxes.​
3. Reclaims billions every year to invest in our schools and local communities.
4. Exempts homeowners, renters, small businesses and agricultural land so they continue to be protected by Prop 13.
5. Prioritizes transparency and accountability by requiring public disclosure of all new revenues and how they are spent.​
Just 10% of California’s most expensive nonresidential commercial properties account for 92% of Prop 15’s loophole-closing revenues." (source)
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Learn more: yes15.org
Prop 16: YES
Repeals Proposition 209 (1996), which says that the state cannot discriminate or grant preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, education, or contracting.
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Why we support it: "Current law prevents our elected leaders from taking targeted action to fight discrimination based on race and gender. Voting 'Yes' on Proposition 16 would reverse the ban on equal opportunity policies like affirmative action so that elected leaders can design programs that provide good jobs, better wages, and access to great schools for all Californians." (source)
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Learn more: voteyesonprop16.org
Prop 17: YES
Restores the right to vote to people convicted of felonies who are on parole.
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Why we support it: "As the rate of mass incarceration in the U.S. has exploded in recent decades, the ban on voting for people with past convictions has only intensified voter suppression. The California Constitution currently prohibits people with felony convictions from voting while they are in prison or on parole. As a result, nearly 50,000 Californians living in and contributing to their communities who have completed their prison sentence are denied the opportunity to help choose the representatives and shape the policies that impact their daily lives. Californians who have completed their prison sentence should not be punished.
They should be encouraged to reenter society and have a stake in their community, not have their voting rights denied. Prop 17 will ensure that everyone who has completed their prison term can have their voice heard in our democracy." (source)
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Learn more: yeson17.vote/what-is-prop-17
Prop 18: YES
Allows 17 year olds to vote in primary and special elections if they will turn 18 before the next general election.
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Why we support it: "One of the persistent weaknesses in our democracy is lack of civic engagement and participation in elections, particularly among younger voters... What relatively little research that has been done — and some of it measures effects in other countries — suggests that minors who are allowed to vote in elections before age 18 tend to develop more reliable voting habits as they grow older....In California we have an added reason to let some 17-year-olds vote — our top-two primary system. Except for presidential elections, voters in California primaries don’t select which candidates will represent the various political parties on the November ballot, but rather they select from all the candidates which two will face off in November. (In some races, there won’t even be a runoff if a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the primary.) It makes sense that the teens who will be eligible to vote in a general election should also help decide whose names will be on that ballot." (source)
Learn more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-09-24/proposition-18-yes-voting-elections-california​
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Prop 20: NO
Makes changes to policies related to criminal sentencing charges, prison release, and DNA collection.
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Why we oppose it: "When we're considering ... a proposal that would increase penalties for low-level offenses, in a system that's already profoundly biased against Black, indigenous and Latino Californians, I think it's clear that it would only extend the harm of our criminal justice system." —Maureen Washburn, a policy analyst for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (source)
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Prop 21: YES
Expands local governments' power to use rent control.
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Why we support it: "Proposition 21 helps keep our communities stable by allowing local communities to enact or expand rent control policies that limit how much rental prices can increase each year. With low and stable rent increases, tenants have more disposable income to put back into the community. They can work less and spend more time with their families. Proposition 21 helps our neighbors stay in their homes and off the streets." (source)
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Learn more: yeson21ca.org
Prop 22: NO
Considers app-based drivers to be independent contractors and enacts several labor policies related to app-based companies.
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Why we oppose it: "Uber, Lyft, Instacart and Doordash wrote Proposition 22 to create a special exemption for themselves from California law that requires app-based companies to provide basic protections to their workers. Now they’re spending more than $100 million on Prop 22 to boost their profits by denying their drivers’ right to a minimum wage, paid sick leave and safety protections." (source)
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Learn more: nooncaprop22.com
Measure J: YES
LA County charter amendment would require that 10% of the unrestricted general funds from the LA County budget, to be appropriated to community investment and alternatives to incarceration.
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Why we support it: "Right now, L.A. County spends 42% of taxpayer money on law enforcement and the legal system, including the Sheriff’s $3.4 Billion budget. It’s time to reduce spending on systems of violence and invest in the things that actually keep us safe: mental health services, youth development programs, small businesses, jobs-creation, and affordable housing." (source)
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Learn more: reimagine.la