Updates from the Campaign Trail
Getting on the March 5 Ballot
On November 6, 2023, I turned in 17 sheets of petitions in lieu of filing fee to the San Francisco Department of Elections (DoE). I got the results of the first batch when I went back two days later with another two sheets.
I promised that if I got 101 nomination signatures, I would pay the rest of the required filing fee. A team of eleven wonderful volunteers came together to collect nominations from an incredible 125 people. There were many different creative ways that were tried and tested. Some worked better than others, and we had ideas on how it could be done more effectively next time. Had a celebration dinner too.
The statesmen that ought to be in office are, from what I see, not the type of people who want to “get into politics.” When you create a Trust, you ask someone you know and trust to be the Trustee. Trustor selects Trustee. The people who want a certain person in office have to get that person in office. Especially with positions, like school boards and transport boards, that are paid only a small stipend.1 Which means helping them with all aspects of their campaign process, including the paperwork.2 Altogether, getting on the ballot is quite low-effort, requiring a very small amount of time and effort. If several people commit to running, the process can be made into a mutually beneficial fun competition.
After department review, 88 of the signatures were approved to count towards the requirement of 40. Each approved signature reduced the $1,226 filing fee by 0.1%.
A total of 60 raw signatures is enough with a 70.4% acceptance rate.
The Competition
My first media appearance was a mention at the bottom of an SF Standard article introducing David Lee, also running for Assembly in District 19. His website is here.
The article included statements from the opposing Stefani campaign targeting David’s lack of experience and calling him a “political novice.” Such a friendly game, innit? Catherine Stefani, now the City’s District 2 Supervisor, has her campaign website up here.
I join David Lee in being a political novice because I too have no experience within government. I see that as an advantage because that makes me an outsider. Someone who has grown up in politics knows how to play the game, by the established rules. I don’t know the rules, so I’ll just do what makes sense and seems best. I’m an engineer by training; for every problem, there is a solution. So no problem.3
We have probably several hundred thousand people around here that have no experience within government. 👀
The third candidate for this race is Nadia Flamenco, from San Mateo, also running as a Republican. Her Instagram is here.
Out of all the other candidates, I have the most detail on what I would do if elected to Assembly and my platform. Doesn’t really matter though, because only a select few people read websites, and the number of people who have said I should shave my beard to be more likeable and “look more like a politician” is still much too high. I get the point and do declare it moot. These people are basically telling me how to grift them more effectively.
The beard will be shaved at a certain film project milestone.
Imagine someone saying, “Well, I like Arjun’s ideas, but that beard… man, I can’t vote for that. I guess I’ll vote for clean shaven Catherine Stefani instead.” I suppose that’s how the likes of Bill Clinton get elected over and over and over and over. Then again, what was the other choice served again?
In order to keep the Republic, its Citizens must be well educated and informed of all matters affecting their lives and futures a/k/a not retarded —Benjamin Franklin
That’s not a direct quote from Franklin, but it sums up his thoughts on the matter.
My real competition is not the other candidates, but apathy and ignorance. It appears, from what I can tell from the limited information I have, that any of the other candidates winning will mean more of the same; business as usual; nothing much will change. Many people did not know who Phil Ting is. He’s been in the position since I was in middle school.
Survey Appointment
I am flabbergasted to report that, according to a Bay Area Resident Survey on ViewPointPoll.com, I am San Francisco Republican Party Chair.
Quite an honor. Thank you very much.
I was also able to participate in one Photo Opportunity. As I have learned, Photo Ops are an important part of campaigning.
Camera was Manuel Noris-Barrera, candidate for the neighboring Assembly district 17. His website is here.
My Commitment
Can I Donate?
Yes. Please donate your time to reading fully and carefully
Thank you for reading
-Arjun
PS: You are invited to a nomination celebration dinner on Thursday, January 11, 2024. If you’d like to join, RSVP to TOPS_SF@PM.ME and include number of +1s.
Event is 6-10pm at a private dining room in a restaurant in downtown San Francisco. Location provided on RSVP.
People have said that school board is a jumping board for other government elected and appointed positions, which pay handsomely. The expected future payout has it make sense to invest in winning that position for the person with that mindset.
People have said that the founding fathers intended for people to serve in government a few years here and there in between personal private business and endeavors; career politicians were not the idea.
After re-reading this I felt like deleting it because it’s common sense. Yea, you need a team to run an office, duh. Though I’ve experienced some interesting things through the campaign that show it’s not all really so common sense.
Also, as an Engineer, I’m learning to discriminate between people who actually want to solve the problem and those who like to complain about the problems.
Congrats, Arjun!