Questionnaire and answers:
San Francisco Green Party

[Note: This is my response to the questionnaire -- my answers are in bold -- sent out to candidates by the San Francisco Green Party. Interestingly, I had to send the questionnaire to the SFGP a total of three times -- I sent it long before the original deadline that they asked for it, after the deadline where someone said they hadn't received it (and it had to be sent to another e-mail address) and a third time when I was asked the question by a San Francisco county council member regarding my position on Single Payer Health Care (which, incidentally, was included twice in the two copies of the questionnaire that I had originally sent them). Add to this a so-called candidates forum where the only significant question that was asked of me was about an organization in which I don't have much involvement and did I "condone their behavior" (what am I, their Mom?), it comes as no surprise that the San Francisco Green Party did not endorse me. I am also including correspondence regarding my having to send the questionnaire a third time below as well.]

SF Green Party Candidate Questionnaire, June 2006 elections

Candidate name: Larry Cafiero (larry4inscomm@earthlink.net)

Office sought: Insurance Commissioner

Election date: Primary: June 6, 2006; General Election: Nov. 7, 2006

Campaign manager: Tod Landis (landis@got.net)

other paid staff: None

# of volunteers: 2, so far

$ raised to date: $290

Have you ever sought office before? Yes.

if yes, when, what office and what party were you registered with? It was for the Green Party County Council in Santa Cruz County in 2004. I was elected.

How long have you been registered with the Green Party? I changed my registration from Peace & Freedom to Green in 1995, but didn't become active in the party in 2002.

In one paragraph, describe the recruitment efforts for your candidacy (max 150 words)

I'm not sure what you mean by "recruitment efforts." How was I recruited? I had originally planned to run for a statewide office to augment my travels around the state as liaison to the Secretary of State's office for the Green Party of California, and I ended up as candidate for Insurance Commissioner because that office had no candidate. As far as recruiting people to my candidacy, I believe I have a great core of supporters and volunteers around the state, but there's always room for more, and I am sure I will have more people drawn to my campaign as time goes on.

What have you accomplished as a Green that brings you the stature to run for the Green nomination for the office you seek?

I became active in the party on various levels beginning in 2002. Between then and now I have served as the press secretary for the Green Party of California, as a co-editor for "Green Focus (a position I recently had to give up to run for office), as the liaison to the Secretary of State's office for the Green Party of California (a position which I currently hold), and as a county council member for the Green Party of Santa Cruz County.

What is your favorite of the 10 key values (list below)

Hmmm. My favorite? That's the hardest question on the questionnaire. They're all great and I value them all, but since Social Justice embraces many of the others, I'd have to go with Social Justice. I'm also a big, big fan of Sustainability and Community-Based Economics.

What are the major issues you will raise through your campaign- list

I plan to raise as many issues as possible, but primarily these are the issues that I am planning to center the campaign around:

-- True Workers' Compensation Reform: Repealing the governor's so-called "reform" -- approved by the Democratic-led legislature -- to make Workers' Compensation truly work for injured workers instead of lining the pockets of the insurance companies.

-- Providing health care as if people -- not profits -- matter: Single payer health care is on the horizon, and I stand with the Green Party and Health Care for All in ushering in Senate Bill 840 as a first -- and giant -- step toward universal health care.

-- End the insurance industry's "representation without taxation": The insurance industry rakes in $90 billion a year, but they don't pay their fair share of taxes; in fact, some insurance companies, like HealthNet, pay no taxes at all. Why this artesian font of funding is not being tapped by the two major parties is, at the least, a mystery; at the most, it's criminal.

-- Insurance Commissioner as consumer advocate in Sacramento: The Department of Insurance should be an advocate for the people, not the "rubber stamp" for the insurance industry that it has become.

-- Expanding public financing for auto insurance for low-income drivers: As it stands now, only a handful of counties participate in a state program that provides low-cost auto insurance to low-income drivers. This should be expanded to all counties in California.

-- Expanding the scope of the California Organized Investment Network (COIN): As it stands now, COIN primarily finances low-income housing. COIN can be expanded to include economic development for depressed areas.

What are your campaign's goals (win, increase Green voter registration, raise key issues, spoil, etc.)

I think I am the most capable candidate for Insurance Commissioner in 2006, and with what limited resources I have available, convincing the electorate would be an overwhelmingly Herculean effort.

So working under the assumption that I might not win, the theme of my campaign is to bring back the principles of democracy that we learned in junior high school -- primarily that elected officials advocate for and answer to all the people, not just to the monied interests financing their campaigns.

Having said that, I will be campaigning by tying this theme to the issues mentioned in the previous question, because they would not be raised by the two major parties without a Green presence.

Along the way I hope to tie my campaign to Green Party meetings around the state and get more voters to register (or re-register) Green.

Diversity- please check all that apply:
Non white
LGBT
Female
Youth (under 35)
Other- please explain: None of the above apply. I am a straight white male near 50 with a wife (Japanese peace activist Kyoko Kawashima) and we have a daughter. I am the sole breadwinner in a single-income household.

What strategies will your campaign use to get your message out?

I plan to use both the regular media channels to get the word out, as well as utilizing guerilla media tactics. What do I mean by guerilla tactics? Well, rest assured that I'm not going to blow up buildings or take hostages. But what I plan to do is utilize unconventional means of media access -- unconventional in a political sense. This includes using independent media, access to regular webcasts and podcasts of events in audio and video formats, postering high traffic areas, etc.

STATEWIDE RACES and ASSEMBLY

What should be done to reform Prop 13, if anything?

Proposition 13 should be radically overhauled to provide that all pay their fair share of taxes.

What other forms of tax reform will you support and promote?

Not only would I work to have the tax burden more equitably distributed so the rich pay their fair share, I would advocate for the insurance industry to pay more taxes (as mentioned earlier).

Pick a few of the following issues and briefly explain your position and/or proposed solutions: please be brief- no more than one page total for this section

Campaign Finance Reform/Corruption: Reform is sorely needed, and corruption needs to be fought. Would advocate for public campaign finance, stringent caps for corporate contributions and substantial penalties for violations.

Choice/abortion: Unequivocally for.

Corporations: Corporations must pay their share of taxes.

Death Penalty: Unequivocally against.

Education:

Energy: Unequivocally for renewable energy

Environment:

Healthcare: I'm an unequivocal advocate for universal health care, and I strongly support SB840 (Single Payer Health Care), which is a huge leap toward universal health care. A Green Insurance Commissioner would help usher this program into place better than a Democrat or Republican.

Housing

LGBT++

Prisons/3 Strikes:

Taxation

Transportation: Until the use of automobiles becomes obsolete, the issue of insurance for drivers is something I will need to address. The state has a program for some of the counties to provide low-cost auto insurance for low-income drivers. I believe this program should be expanded to include all counties. Also, some states have no-fault auto insurance which sells at a much lower premium -- California should consider this as well.

NOTE: On April 13, I receive this e-mail from Susan King of the Green Party of San Francisco:

Hi Larry,

The SF Green Party will be concluding our endorsement process at our next General Meeting on April 19.

We are still considering your candidacy, and several folks wanted some further information about your qualifications.

The most pressing issue mentioned was your position on SB 840, Universal Health Care legislation.

Can you please send us a brief statement of your qualifications and platform ideas around universal health care by Weds, April 19?

thank you,

peace,

susan

To which I replied on April 15 as follows (and I've taken off the copy of the answers to the questionnaire, which are identical to the answers above):

Hi, Susan --

Below I have pasted my answers to the SFGP questionnaire I sent to you and others prior to the party's endorsement forum in March. By all means, please forward this to whomever needs to see it, because the first copy may not have gone through to everyone (incidentally, I had sent a copy to you, to a SFGP mailing list, and to John-Marc, who asked for one specifically when the mailing list message didn't go through).

My platform ideas have been outlined in the questionnaire below under the heading "What are the major issues you will raise through your campaign- list."

Specifically on single-payer health care, I have come out strongly in favor of SB840, and it is one of the main components of my campaign. You'll notice in the questionnaire below, I address it twice. If I recall correctly, I even mentioned this during the forum.

Now that I have the opportunity to answer this question again, allow me to add to my answers.

I am a strong proponent of SB840. I believe that, barring any unforeseen legislative hurdles (like withdrawal or stalling) the single-payer health care bill will pass in the legislature and then faces the walls of gubernatorial veto and insurance industry legal action. Assuming it clears these detours (and it's my sincerest hope that it does), the new law will need an Insurance Commissioner that is not beholden to corporate (read "insurance") interests to facilitate and oversee its implementation. Cruz Bustamante has already taken more than $120,000 in insurance contributions (and there was just $10,000 more yesterday, according to a running tally of campaign contributions at aroundthecapitol.com), and despite the fact that Steve Poizner has self-financed his campaign to the tune of around $4 million so far, he recently has also started taking campaign contributions from insurance companies. I haven't taken any contributions from any corporations, obviously, and thus would be the best person to facilitate the process of ushering in this legislation by virtue of the fact that I don't have the onus of campaign contributors to answer to.

Regarding my qualifications for the office: When the state made the Insurance Commissioner's office an elected one, it did a wise thing by barring those who work in the insurance industry from being elected to the top post overseeing the insurance industry. Having said this, a non-industry person elected to head the California Department of Insurance should (and that's the key word here -- should) serve the public interest rather than be a rubber stamp for the insurance industry; at least in theory. My personal experience with insurance may be limited to having it (and on a rare occasion, using it), but as a consumer who knows through both experience and research the shortcomings of both the insurance industry and the DOI, I believe I have the knowledge and wisdom to carry out specific goals in this office based on the party's platform and the 10 Key Values. Further, as a journalist and editor for nearly three decades -- covering state news in California since 2001 in my current position as a news desk editor at the Santa Cruz Sentinel -- I have the working knowledge of state government that can achieve both party and personal goals. I bring to the office organizational skills as well: During my tenure as liaison to the Secretary of State's office, I have brought into the party two new county organizations -- Kern and San Benito -- with the possibility in the near future of the reactivation of Lake and Mono counties, where interest has been shown to rejoin the GPCA.

If you're still awake, thanks for reading this. Needless to say I value the endorsement of the SFGP, and hope it is forthcoming.

Larry Cafiero

Green for Insurance Commissioner 2006

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