Wearing a black bow tie, shirt and worn leather jacket, Ben Barnes regularly greets commuters at BART Station 16th and Mission with his rousing fiddle tunes.

“I’m a performer,” said the 52-year-old musician. “What brings me here is playing in front of crowds, in front of people.”

Over the course of his decade-long career, Barnes has played rock festivals, written hundreds of songs and toured the city. Despite his struggles with bipolar disorder, he continues to create new art and music. Just this week, he received a $20,000 grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to host a series of concerts this fall.

And now he’s even throwing his hat in the ring for the 2024 mayoral election.

“I’m not expecting a win,” Barnes said. “Now just seems like the right time to try it.” He hopes to advocate for a platform to promote the arts and destigmatize mental illness.

“My vision for San Francisco is to create an unparalleled arts and business mecca that showcases the best our city has to offer,” reads a campaign statement on its website. “Imagine a city with sparkling clean streets and a stunning skyline, where every pothole is filled and where the Golden Gate Bridge is a majestic backdrop to everything we do.”

“Together we can create a city that is not only beautiful, but also welcoming and inclusive for all.”

Barnes chooses a backing track for his performance.

Music has been the driving force in Barnes’ life since he was five, when he began traveling the West Coast with his parents to play concerts. His father David played guitar for Gasoline. His mother, Lillian, was an artist who sold her paintings on the street.

“We lived on a big blue school bus,” Barnes said. “My father furnished it with bunk beds and a wood stove. It was like the partridge family.”

But their nomadic life was anything but idyllic. His mother suffered from schizophrenia and the family’s travels were marked by “a lot of struggles,” Barnes said. When he was 10 years old, a court order separated Barnes and his younger brother from their mother.

“I had a really traumatic childhood,” Barnes said. “So I started playing the violin. And it was kind of something that kept me going.”

After playing in the orchestra at Corvallis High School in Oregon — “Go Spartans!” — Barnes studied violin at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he was tutored by renowned musician Sherry Kloss. Kloss was a student of Jascha Heifetz, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century.

A portrait of Bach tattooed on Barnes’ left forearm.

At the conservatory, Barnes fell in love with composers such as Bartók, Brahms and Berg. Bach and Beethoven were among his favorites, so much so that he ended up having their portraits tattooed on his forearms.

“I didn’t feel like I could get my Bach tattoo until I earned it,” Barnes said. “So I learned all the cello suites and all the sonatas, all the partitas. I memorized them all for a while.”

Barnes is an omnivorous music lover who plays jazz and rock as well as classical concerts: “I listen or play anything. I’m a bitch,” Barnes laughed. “It depends on the day.”

He formed the alternative rock band Deadweight with a few friends in the early 1990s. Sam Bass played electric cello, Paulo Baldi played drums and Barnes was the group’s charismatic frontman on electric violin and vocals. One reviewer, writing for SF Weekly, compared the band’s sound to Eastern European songs “sung in the back of a big truck being driven through tornado country by the ghost of the Marlboro man.”

“We toured a lot and went to the Fuji Rock Festival,” Barnes said. “We played with George Clinton, we played with DJ Disc, Dead Prez, The Coup.”

Barnes plays a haunting tune from his Bach catalogue.

Mental illness has been a struggle for Barnes throughout his life. He had his first bipolar episode in 1996: “I ended up on the streets for a couple of months. I had to sort it all out again.” Even while playing big gigs and “living like a rock star,” Barnes went through cycles of homelessness and money problems, he said.

Barnes hit rock bottom in 2007. A manic episode led him to believe he was an undercover cop and that his family was in danger from gangsters. Seized with paranoia, he said, he threw himself in front of a train at the Balboa Park station.

Remarkably, he survived and recovered from his injuries – including a badly damaged skull – thanks to slow and painful physical therapy.

These days, Barnes pays his bills with violin lessons and busking. On a good day, he said, he could make a hundred dollars playing street games. Combined with a disability check, he earns enough for his rent-controlled apartment in Ashbury Heights, where he has lived with a roommate since 2019.

Until his mayoral campaign gets underway and his city-sponsored concerts begin in September, Barnes plans to continue making music at some of his favorite spots around town: in front of the Atlas Cafe on 20th Street, at Arizmendi Bakery on Sunset – and on 16th Street .and mission station.

Barnes performs the habanera, an aria from Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen.

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San Francisco supervisor Ahsha Safaiwho is also the 2024 mayoral candidate proposed a ban on new marijuana dispensaries in the city.

Citing safety concerns and an unregulated market, Safaí’s controversial move has sparked heated debate in the city.

According to The SF Standard, the city’s cannabis landscape has received both praise and scrutiny since recreational use was legalized in 2016. However, Safaí says it is time to reassess the situation.

Noting the abundance of existing cannabis retail outlets, Safaí expressed concern at the alarming rise in burglaries and public safety issues.

“To be clear, we have no shortage of cannabis retail outlets and many suffer from brazen burglaries, public safety concerns and an unregulated market lacking proper enforcement.”

His proposal puts a temporary moratorium on new applications for pharmacies and asks City Hall to prioritize processing existing applications for equity.

San Francisco already has about 30 dispensaries and 30 medical cannabis stores.

Critics argue that the proposed ban could hamper industry growth and stifle competition.

According to manager Rafael Mandelman“Cannabis companies create good jobs for San Francisco residents and provide safe, regulated products to their customers.”

The first hearing of the proposal is on May 25 before the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, leaving the future of cannabis expansion in the city uncertain.

Photo: Courtesy of Tim Foster on Unsplash

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Click here for a complete list of our election recommendations.

San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago hold their mayoral elections during non-presidential election years. So do Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

The idea is to give voters a better opportunity to focus on local issues, rather than having a mayoral race compete for attention with the political bombardment that takes place during presidential election years. Or had you forgot that Joe Biden and Donald Trump spent a total of $6.6 billion in 2020 trying to win voter support?

It would take a huge outlay of money to get your voice heard in San Jose through advertisements and news coverage in 2024 amid what is projected to be one of most heated presidential races in US history. Yet, a coalition of labor and other special interest groups are pushing Measure B on the June 7 ballot, which would move San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential election years.

The winner of the 2022 mayor race would serve for two years, rather than the usual four, and then the city would hold mayoral elections again in 2024. Measure B would also allow the winner of the 2022 election to potentially serve 10 years rather than the usual limit of eight.

Voters should reject Measure B.

Shifting San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential years and forcing candidates to raise more money to have their voices heard would give an edge to mayoral candidates backed by big-money interests and force candidates with limited financial resources out of the race.

Supporters of Measure B, including the South Bay Labor Council, Asian Law Alliance and Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium, say that moving the election would increase voter turnout. But supporters of higher voter turnout — and that should include everyone — should put their efforts behind getting higher voter turnout in all elections — and ensuring voters are also well-informed.

Vote no on Measure B.

The post San Jose voters ought to reject transferring mayoral election appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Click here for a complete list of our election recommendations.

San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago hold their mayoral elections during non-presidential election years. So do Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

The idea is to give voters a better opportunity to focus on local issues, rather than having a mayoral race compete for attention with the political bombardment that takes place during presidential election years. Or had you forgot that Joe Biden and Donald Trump spent a total of $6.6 billion in 2020 trying to win voter support?

It would take a huge outlay of money to get your voice heard in San Jose through advertisements and news coverage in 2024 amid what is projected to be one of most heated presidential races in US history. Yet, a coalition of labor and other special interest groups are pushing Measure B on the June 7 ballot, which would move San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential election years.

The winner of the 2022 mayor race would serve for two years, rather than the usual four, and then the city would hold mayoral elections again in 2024. Measure B would also allow the winner of the 2022 election to potentially serve 10 years rather than the usual limit of eight.

Voters should reject Measure B.

Shifting San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential years and forcing candidates to raise more money to have their voices heard would give an edge to mayoral candidates backed by big-money interests and force candidates with limited financial resources out of the race.

Supporters of Measure B, including the South Bay Labor Council, Asian Law Alliance and Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium, say that moving the election would increase voter turnout. But supporters of higher voter turnout — and that should include everyone — should put their efforts behind getting higher voter turnout in all elections — and ensuring voters are also well-informed.

Vote no on Measure B.

The post San Jose voters ought to reject transferring mayoral election appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By the end of 2022, San Jose voters could postpone the city’s future mayoral elections to presidential years and potentially give non-citizens living in the city the right to vote in upcoming elections.

By a 10-to-1 vote Tuesday night, the San Jose City Council voted to move forward with a measure in the June 7, 2022 vote asking voters to move the city’s mayoral elections from mid-election years to presidential election years beginning in 2024. The move, which has been in the works for years, will help increase voter turnout and improve representation in the city’s mayoral elections, according to supporters.

“It was a long time coming,” said City Councilor Maya Esparza. “Our current system was designed to suppress votes – it was designed to suppress certain types of votes and allow other votes.”

City leaders also agreed to explore possible additional voting measures for November’s election, including a controversial proposal that the city extend voting rights for local races to non-citizens, such as B. Undocumented immigrants and legal non-citizens who are green card holders or have the right to study or work in the United States

Councilwoman Dev Davis voted against both postponing the mayoral election and considering extending voting rights to non-citizens, saying she didn’t think it was “fair or right.”

If the June 2022 voting measure is approved, the next San Jose mayor elected this year would serve an initial two-year term and then have the option to serve two additional four-year terms in 2024 and 2028 to run for a potential of up to 10 years in office.

Tuesday night’s City Council decisions follow months of work and protracted public meetings by the city’s Charter Review Commission, which was made up of a group of 23 residents appointed by City Council to make recommendations on potential changes to the city’s charter. The commission was formed after Mayor Sam Liccardo endorsed — and then abruptly gave up — a “strong mayor” measure that could potentially have given him significantly more power and an extra two years in office.

The commission’s final report, released Tuesday night, made 17 recommendations, ranging from increasing the number of city council seats from 10 to 14 wards to removing citizenship requirements for board and commission members and public safety reforms such as creating a police rich commission and gave the city’s independent police examiner subpoena powers and full access to unedited records.

The commission did not recommend that the city adopt a “strong mayor” style of government. They did not discuss the proposal to extend voting rights to non-citizens living in San Jose.

The council will hold two study sessions in the coming months to narrow down what recommendations any future election action will make. One meeting will focus on the Charter Review Commission’s recommendations, and another will focus on extending voting rights to non-citizens – a proposal put forward by councilors Magdalena Carrasco and Sylvia Arenas after the commission’s work was completed.

In the United States, more than a dozen municipalities currently allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections. New York City earlier this month became the nation’s largest municipality allowing legal noncitizen residents to vote in all local elections, provided they are green card holders or have the right to work in the United States. San Francisco voters approved a measure in 2016 that would give parents without citizenship the right to vote in school board elections.

Councilors Carrasco and Arenas, who are campaigning for San Jose to join these other cities, say it would give a voice to those who have long been excluded from participating in the democratic process but play an important role in the community, including business owners, essential workers and consumers.

“Some of these people have been here longer than our own council members,” Carrasco said. “… It is a fantastic thing to give our citizens the opportunity to have a say in their democratic process.”

Santa Clara County is home to nearly 366,600 non-citizens, most of whom are lawful residents but not citizens such as

Dozens of residents who called in support of expanding the city’s voting rights Tuesday night said it would create a “more democratic,” “more inclusive,” and “racially just” city, arguing it was unfair for immigrants to have to pay taxes but local politics could not falter.

“Immigrants here have helped build our city’s infrastructure and prosperity, but we’ve left so many of them without the right to vote in local decisions that directly affect their lives,” said resident Nicholas Hurley.

However, other residents strongly opposed the last-minute proposal, calling it “ridiculous” and arguing that immigrants should be required to go through the relevant citizenship process before acquiring the right to vote.

“I think it’s an attempt to let foreigners take over our city,” said a resident named Brenda. “This is America — if you become a citizen, you get the right to vote.”

During their discussion, several council members expressed that the article “brought out the worst in people” and noted that their inboxes were flooded with “appalling” and racist emails about immigrants.

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After four years overseeing the country’s first urban transgender office and advising three mayors on various concerns for the LGBTQ community of San Francisco, Clair Farley leaves to pursue other opportunities outside of the city. During the course of this month, for example, she will start advising a trans-own telemedicine provider.

38-year-old Farley didn’t rule out running for an elected office in the future during an interview with the Bay Area Reporter on Dec. 2 on her official last day with the city. A trans woman and resident of the city of Alameda, East Bay, she found that no transgender person has been elected to any state or federal legislature in California.

“I’m still open to seeing what this will be like in the future,” Farley said. “California still doesn’t have a trans elected representative. We should really be on the front lines. We’re seeing so many trans people elected across the country.”

Farley has headed the Office of Transgender Initiatives in San Francisco since 2017. Founded in June 2016 by the late Mayor Ed Lee, it hired Farley after the office’s inaugural director Theresa Sparks, a trans woman and longtime community leader, retired. Farley had worked on economic issues for the city’s LGBTQ community center.

During her tenure with the Trans Bureau, Farley has seen various city departments collect demographics on the sexual orientation and gender identity of the people they serve, campaigned for millions of dollars in city funds for numerous LGBTQ programs and at the opening the country’s first transition project helped housing trans adults. The program opened in a rented building near Chinatown last January and has since moved to a rented three-story building south of Market and is home to 14 people.

It is part of the city’s Our Trans Home Initiative, which has also provided subsidies to accommodate trans people in their apartments or houses in the city. The program is one of Farley’s proudest accomplishments as Executive Director of the Trans Office.

“The office’s vision and mission is to advance the rights of trans and LGBT people and make San Francisco a role model for the rest of the country,” Farley said. “It’s hard to do that if we can’t stay here, live here, and thrive here.”

The trans bureau has also formed an advisory group of people from the city’s trans community to make sure they are seated at the table in the town hall. Every year the office hosts a trans-advocacy week for community members to lobby various city leaders.

“It was really an honor to do this job for the city,” Farley said, adding that the departure is “really bittersweet.” But the ongoing attacks on transsexuals’ rights, especially trans teenagers, have fueled Farley’s interest in tackling tran issues on a national level.

“I look forward to stretching new muscles and continuing to grow and be inspired,” she said. “I am honored and grateful to be working with the mayor and the city to advance the efforts here on the ground.”

Serving San Francisco has been a lifetime honor!

Thank you to the Mayor of the Parish @LondonBreed and the entire SF Office of Transgender Initiatives team for the opportunity to advance trans and LGBTQ rights and services in the city and beyond.

Thanks very much! https://t.co/Vo9CV1raY7 – Clair Farley (@ClairJoyFarley) December 2, 2021

In a statement, Mayor of London called Breed Farley “a passionate advocate for San Franciscans of all backgrounds, and especially for our transgender residents. Your work has kept San Francisco at the forefront of expanding LGBTQ rights and policies. I would like to sincerely thank Clair for her commitment and guidance. She is greatly missed, but I know she will continue to be a staunch advocate for those in need. “

Gay District 8 supervisor Rafael Mandelman praised Farley as “a fantastic advocate for trans- and non-binary San Franciscans. It was a pleasure to work with her on Our Trans Home SF, the expansion of the city’s SOGI data collection, and other efforts in support of the.” LGBTQ + community. “

Interim manager named
The office is the responsibility of the mayor and the city administrator, who will employ a permanent manager. The office’s executive director will be Pau Crego, 34, a transgender and non-binary Spanish immigrant who was hired by Sparks as the office’s director of politics.

Most recently, he was Associate Director and Director of Policy and Programs. Crego, who joined Farley during the phone interview with the BAR, said he was interested in holding the position on a permanent basis.

“July next year will be our fifth year,” noted Crego. “I would be very honored to continue my full-time job as director and really advance the lessons I have gained in the office for so long.”

He has lived in San Francisco since 2008 after moving from Barcelona, ​​Spain to study Queer Studies at the City College of San Francisco on a student visa. He was later given a green card and then became a US citizen during the Trump administration.

“I was very proud to be a trans-immigrant who got my citizenship during the Trump era. I believe it was 2019,” said Crego.

Farley told the BAR that she “strongly recommends” hiring Crego as her successor. He was “a strong leader,” she added, who worked behind the scenes on much of the bureau’s programs and political work.

“He’s such a compassionate and strategic leader,” she said. “I know he will continue to stabilize the office while we get through COVID and make sure we come out of a community location. I am very happy that you can continue the work we started together and I think that Pau goes really well with Pau. “It.”

In the coming weeks, Crego plans to meet with various LGBTQ community leaders, city officials, and agency heads who work directly in the local transgender community. The trans office currently has two other employees, Pax Ahimsa Gethen, the communications and operations manager, and Shane Zaldivar, the training and education manager. A new community engagement manager will be brought on board early next year.

Right at the top of his agenda for 2022 will be the collaboration with the municipal housing and homeless office not only on the reopening of the LGBTQ-specific Jazzie’s Place shelter, but also on plans to upgrade the space. It has been closed since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and is not expected to reopen until next year.

As the office’s point of contact for the city’s SOGI data collection efforts, Crego is also working to improve the collection of information by city authorities, particularly the health department, which has lagged behind other departments in collecting LGBTQ demographic information. He expects to work with Mandelman’s office to set up a city-wide task force focused on SOGI data to be expanded to include that of city employees and job applicants.

“City government and large institutions are slow and difficult to change,” noted Crego. “I’ve been very encouraged by some of the changes we’ve seen over the past four years and I think that will continue.”

Farley was on medical leave in September due to several long-term chronic health issues that had worsened and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. She told the BAR the situation made her “reconsider work, life, stress” and made the decision to quit her city job in order to find a better balance for all three.

“It’s so hard to do, so I’m trying to lead by example in my departure,” Farley said. “One thing I’m really looking forward to is the new opportunities I’m exploring.”

One is advising with TransClinique, a trans owned and operated company that provides telemedicine services that are trans affirmation and provides on-demand hormone replacement therapies, Farley noted. She is also looking for other jobs in the private sector and national policy work.

“As I was mastering my own healthcare challenges, I found it difficult to find trans-affirmative care. I feel inspired to keep working to move this forward, ”she said. “It’s a national service. I’ll be on the ground floor of this organization, expanding it and helping other people get better access to health care.”

Farley added, “I’m very excited to continue what we did in San Francisco and to make sure it is accessible to other communities outside of the Bay Area.”

Help keep the Bay Area Reporter going through these troubled times. To support local, independent LGBTQ journalism, you should become a BAR member.

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