Mark Simon

Last night's election left us, both locally, and nationally, awash in uncertainty. Tonight, the first in a two-part series, looks at the election.In Part One, we will examine the uncertainty and anxiety. In national elections, how did we get to where the pundits so inaccurately predict with such confidence? In local elections, how do such practices as ranked-choice voting both potentially delay the result and alter the outcome?In Part Two, we will look at specific issues, the legislative agenda, access to voting, and again, just where we are.For both broadcasts, we welcome your input. Please call, toll free, at (866) 798-8255.

Two weeks ago, we began a program on criminal justice reform. In our first installment, just two weeks after bay area communities held local primary elections – where San Francisco voters overwhelmingly endorsed proposition h, recalling progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and at the same time, in two neighboring counties, voters turned away from relatively liberal sheriff’s, in favor of a candidate touting progressive reforms, and in two counties, contested races for district attorney resulted in reelection of incumbents with differing policies toward criminal justice – we discussed the implications of the election for bay area politics and the local face of law enforcementTonight, we discuss the mood of the electorate, and implications of the election for criminal justice reform statewide. To discuss the implications of the election for criminal justice reform statewide and for Bay Area politics, YLR Host Jeff Hayden is joined by Eugene Hyman, retired judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, San Francisco Attorney Randall Knox, political pundit Mark Simon, Jay Boyarsky, Chief Assistant District Attorney of Santa Clara County, and San Francisco Attorney and Criminal Justice Activist DamoneHale.Questions for Jeff and his amazing panel of guests? Please call, toll free, at (866) 798-8255.

Two weeks ago, Bay Area communities held local primary elections. San Francisco voters overwhelmingly endorsed Proposition H, recalling progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. At the same time, in two neighboring counties, voters turned away from relatively liberal sheriffs, each in favor of a candidate touting progressive reforms, and, in two counties, contested races for district attorney resulted in reelection of incumbents with differing policies toward criminal justice.Tonight, to discuss the implications of the election for criminal justice reform statewide and for Bay Area politics, YLR Host Jeff Hayden, and tonight’s co-host Dean Johnson are joined by Eugene Hyman, retired judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, San Francisco Attorney Randall Knox, political pundit Mark Simon, Jay Boyarsky, Chief Assistant District Attorney of Santa Clara County, and Oakland-based civil rights attorney John Burris.Questions for Jeff, Dean and their amazing panel of guests? Please call, toll free, at (866) 798-8255.

Tonight’s episode is the finale of our series: Are The Guardrails Coming Off?In our first episode, U.C. Berkeley sociologist Andy Barlow and Amherst political scientist Lawrence Douglas told us that people no longer believe in the rule of law; you told us that you wanted to hear from the people with boots on the ground, the powers that be.so, in our second episode, we spoke with community activists and county prosecutors who talked about the need for a revival of the institutions that hold the guardrails in place: family, church, school, the courts and the community;and last week we continued the conversation with political writer Mark Simon, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and Councilmember Charles Stone.This week, we wrap up our discussion with guests who are intimately familiar with the inner workings of politics both locally and nationally.

Two weeks ago, we asked “Are The Guardrails Coming Off?”We got a lot of feedback from listeners who were concerned, frustrated, angry or just plain fed up with such things as “flash mob” retail theft, Random violence, so called “smash and grab” robberies, amongst what is perceived as an atmosphere of rising crime in the Bay Area; they wanted to hear from people on the front lines, with boots on the ground.In our final episode in the series, we want to flip the narrative and talk about solutions more than problems, and where there might be emerging light at the end of the tunnel.Tonight YLR Host, Jeff Hayden and co-host NBC legal and political analyst Dean Johnson, are joined by guests District Attorney Jeff Rosen of Santa Clara County, and Attorney Charles Stone, currently the Mayor of the City of Belmont and a Candidate for the Board of Supervisors of San Mateo County, and political writer Mark Simon, who has reported the behind the scenes of Bay Area goings on for three decades.Who better to discuss such troubling developments? Why that would be you, of course.Questions for Jeff, Dean or their guests? Please call, toll free, at (866) 798-8255.