Our Platform

Corporate Financing of Elections: We believe this is the biggest reason there are so many things wrong with our political system, from the national level all the way down to local politics. Our political offices should not be for sale. Yet, it looks very clearly like they are. With the Citizens United ruling, corporate interests can dump untold amounts of money into elections with little to no transparency.

The pernicious influence of corporate money at the federal and state level is unfortunately, very obvious. At the local level, real estate interests (i.e. large property owners, developers, construction companies, landlords (often owned by hedge funds and publicly traded companies)) are some of the largest corporate donors to local elections. This isn’t surprising because the decisions made by local elected officials affect their bottom lines.

We believe that only candidates who have pledged not to take money from corporate interests or political action committees (PACs) have the right to use the progressive label.

Affordable Housing /Tenant’s Rights: Arguably, the largest issue that local elected officials in California can address is affordable housing. In California, we have an oversupply of market rate housing, but a severe undersupply of affordable housing (i.e. housing that is affordable to the vast number of residents who do not earn multiple six figure salaries). The result is skyrocketing rents and the dream of home ownership unattainable for many young people. State and local officials need to abandon the idea that building more and more market rate homes will somehow trickle down to those who truly need housing the most. We need leadership that will prioritize providing affordable housing.

The many unhoused people in our communities demonstrate a failure to provide the basic need of housing to many residents. While adequate mental health and drug treatment facilities are needed to help this problem, the biggest cause of homelessness is simply that people can’t afford a decent place to live.

Renters deserve protection from unjust evictions and unfair rent increases. Our local elected officials need to make sure these protections are in place for renters in their community.

We believe elected officials who are unwilling to consider basic protections for renters do not deserve to call themselves progressive.

Climate Change: We believe climate change is a real and existential threat to humankind. Elected officials at all levels need to urgently address this. At the local level, cities and municipalities should be doing what the can to encourage alternative modes of transportation. New developments should be planned to encourage multi-modal transportation. Laws should be in place to encourage the use of renewable energy sources.

We believe that politicians that do not prioritize these measures to address the existential threat of climate change do not deserve to call themselves progressive.

Medicare For All: We believe that health care is a right, not a privilege. We support a national, single payer healthcare system, where every person’s basic needs are covered. We support ‘Cal Care’, a plan to implement such a system throughout California.

The belief in the universal right to health care is a hallmark of a progressive.

Social Justice and Equality: We strive for racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice, and equal rights for all. We work toward a future where all people are equal before the law and within society. Continuing our legacy of mass incarceration will only exacerbate social inequality.

We stand with the LGBTQ+ community’s fight for equality. We condemn anti-LGBTQ+ violence, bullying and discrimination. The hateful laws against transgender people going on in many parts of the country should be strongly opposed.

We believe that politicians that are unwilling to put themselves on the line to fight for equality do not earn the right to call themselves progressive.

Labor Rights: Human beings deserve to receive fair compensation for their labor companies must value front line workers as much as (if not more than) fat cat investors and C suite executives. Workers must have an unfettered right to organize and collectively bargain.

We believe that politicians that claim to support labor but do not show up in the trenches when their livelihoods and human dignity are on the line do not deserve to call themselves progressive.