THE SAN FRANCISCO REPUBLICAN PARTY

The San Francisco Republican Party (SFRP) stands for equal opportunity, individual liberty, and equal justice for all persons.

The core Republican Values of the SFRP are: individual liberty, responsibility and accountability; private property rights; free enterprise; law and order; public health and safety; leaner efficient government and fiscal responsibility; and strong cohesive families and communities.

The platform of the SFRP represents principled positions relevant to issues facing the City and County of San Francisco.

State issues are the responsibility of the California Republican Party. National issues are the responsibility of the Republican National Committee. The SFRP takes positions on State and National issues on a case-by-case basis.

The SFRP cannot foresee new issues that may arise. Therefore this platform may be amended with resolutions and policy statements in accordance with the official by-laws of the SFRP.

Executive Committee:

Party Planks:

» Chain Stores
» Education
» Faith-Based Initiatives
» Homeownership
» Infrastructure
» Non-Citizen Voting
» Private Property
» Rent Control Ordinance
» Seniors and Adults with Disabilities

The SFRP treasures the uniqueness of San Francisco's neighborhoods. The San Francisco Planning Commission has the responsibility to make decisions on the appearance of buildings to retain the character of neighborhoods.

The SFRP opposes legislation that restricts formula retail businesses. Further, the Party believes that the residents of the neighborhood, through their free market choice, will determine the viability of any business - including formula retail. All business in San Francisco, small and large, local and national, creates jobs and produces tax revenue to fund vital services and quality of life.

The San Francisco Republican Party believes every student has the right to an education that will prepare him or her to function effectively in the international information age of the 21st century.

The SFRP calls on the San Francisco Unified School District to comply with the 2003 Bipartisan, Federal "No Child Left Behind Act", which holds all schools accountable for academic results.

The SFRP believes every student should be required to take and pass basic courses in English, Mathematics, History, Geography, Literature, Social Studies, Civics, Language, and Science.

The SFRP supports and encourages that all students should be advanced to the next grade level based solely on academic performance, and no student should receive a diploma certifying their graduation without meeting all academic requirements.

The SFRP believes parental involvement is essential to good education and encourages parental participation in conferences and school activities. The SFRP opposes the use of "diversity indexes" and other means to assign students to schools out side their immediate neighborhood.

The SFRP believes all parents should have options to address individual needs, interests, and talents of students, including, but not limited too, tutorial support and choice where a student is placed in an underperforming school. The SFRP supports Home Schooling, Charter, Magnet and Dream Schools, and, vouchers should be made available for students to attend a qualified private secular or religious school.

The SFRP believes in full funding and implementation of Proposition 227 and English-Immersion techniques should be used in every school to teach the English Language to non English speaking students.

Since colonial days Americans have looked to Faith-Based groups to help address social needs. The City and County of San Francisco has been contracting with Faith-Based organizations for years which provide vital social services more cost effectively than the municipality. Faith-Based groups do what governmental agencies and bureaucracies cannot do; they get cost effective results with accountability. For every dollar the City expends on a contract with a Faith-Based organization, it receives $1.50 in services because Faith-Based groups attract trained and committed volunteers, and financial support from individuals, corporations and foundations.

The SFRP calls for the City and County of San Francisco to adopt President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative in contract competitions for human services. This will help improve the lives of thousands of needy persons, including infants, children, adolescents, adults and seniors of every race, creed, ethnicity, and orientation.

Faith-Based organizations have inspired millions of citizens and have led every expansion of justice in American history, including the struggle against slavery and segregation. Federal contracts will not breech the 'wall of separation' between church and state and will not compromise the independence of religious agencies, or burden them with undue regulations. The executive order will give Faith-Based agencies and equal opportunity to compete with secular groups. It will not replace the responsibility of government. No religious group will take over Federal programs and the government will not give tax dollars to establish or promote religion. No Faith-Based agencies will be required to change their charters and no contracts will permit agencies to require conversion.

Under the leadership of President Bush, homeownership is at its highest percentage in United States history, most notably among America's minority communities. However, San Francisco has one of the lowest homeownership rates of any urban center in the United States, largely because of the City's long-standing anti-home ownership policies.

The SFRP supports fiscally responsible policies to facilitate the purchase of homes, especially by current renters. To many people, homeownership is the fulfillment of the American Dream and a key to the accumulation of wealth. In the long term, homeownership is the most affordable form of tenancy. Home ownership tends to foster involvement in community affairs.

The SFRP encourages the elimination of bureaucratic red-tape and the streamlining of processes for new construction and conversions of multi-unit buildings. Therefore, the SFRP supports public policies that facilitate homeownership.

After the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906, Republican Mayors, from 1912-1964, provided the vision and leadership to rebuild the City and create an infrastructure that has made San Francisco a "World Class" City, and an economic and cultural center of the western United States.

Since 1964, the City's infrastructure has deteriorated because routine maintenance was deferred. Also, surpluses from the Hetch Hetchy system were diverted to the City's general fund and spent on personnel and programs, instead of maintenance.

The SFRP will support ballot measures to rebuild San Francisco's infrastructure which meet the following criteria: 1) The tax burden will be shared by residential and commercial renters, as nowell as property owners, 2) The tax revenues are designated specifically for the City's infrastructure. 3) There is adequate oversight and accountability for all revenues and expenditures.

The SFRP favors retention of current State law requiring 66% majority to pass General Obligation bonds, and calls upon the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors to dedicate sufficient tax dollars in the General Fund for maintenance of the City's infrastructure.

The SFRP welcomes all legal immigrants and encourages them to become citizens so that they can fully participate in the benefits of a democratic government. The diverse immigrant communities of San Francisco contribute to the economic and cultural vitality the City.

The Constitution of the State of California requires all voters to be US citizens and 18 years of age. Permitting non-citizens to vote undermines the value of citizenship. The SFRP opposes non-citizen voting in any election.

A cornerstone of freedom is the right to private property embodied in the Bill of Rights, and 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution.

Over the years, legislative, administrative, and judicial actions have eroded these basic rights. They include the Supreme Court decision which ruled that governmental agencies can impose the power of eminent domain to benefit private interests. Additionally, the government has over -used environmental regulations to restrict the use or sale of private property.

The San Francisco Republican Party supports efforts at the Federal, State, County, or Municipal level to reaffirm the right to private property, and to limit the power of eminent domain to reflect original intent.

The SFRP calls upon the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and San Francisco Redevelopment Agency to limit the use of eminent domain for public purposes only.

The Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration (Rent Control) Ordinance exceeds 100 pages consisting of more than 28,000 words that require expensive legal assistance to navigate for both landlord and renter alike. The SFRP believes that a market economy, which allocates housing resources through supply and demand, is the most just, efficient and productive system known. Capricious regulations that support arbitrary bureaucracies are a burden to every landlord and renter in San Francisco. Rent Control destroys market incentives and opportunities, as well as inhibits innovation. Government mandates reduce both the quantity and quality of rental housing. The SFRP calls for simplification and modification of the Rent Control Ordinance.

Seniors (60 years and older) and adults with disabilities (18-59 years) make up almost 30 percent of San Francisco's population. San Francisco has excellent models of homecare and community-based services for seniors and adults with disabilities. The San Francisco Republican Party calls for a comprehensive strategic plan that connects all services into a system of care and support that is accountable, efficient, unduplicated and cost effective.

The SFRP recommends that replacement plans for Laguna Honda Hospital (LHH) be reframed as part of a larger system for long-term care services for seniors only. Long term care planning should not be driven by LHH. SFRP also supports the "Presentation Community" model, which consists of accessible, affordable housing and on-site adult day health care that expands the number of people served without increasing care or construction dollars. The SFRP recommends that a competitive bidding process be used to provide the highest quality care with the most economic outcomes.

The San Francisco Republican Party affirms that San Francisco should be a place where seniors and adults with disabilities can live affordably, accessibly and safely.

PO Box 475520, San Francisco, CA 94147 Phone: (415) 989-1259 Email: