Polls?

Hmm, I didn't know there was a poll out. Can anyone point me to it?

Is this internal polling?  Is the Sweet campaign going to share their data? Or will we only be told that she's leading in 'the polls' and nothing more?  Just because you say you're leading in a poll doesn't make it true, nor does it make the poll itself real. Please show us the numbers! Let's see if my request for more information about this from the Sweet campaign is answered.

My Big Idea of the Day!

Piggybacking off a comment made yesterday, maybe I should have a somewhat daily post of residents' and readers' "Big Ideas of the Day". Let's give it a try - send me your Big Idea of the Day and I'll post it here (with full credit, of course!).

OK, here's my not-quite-as-well-thought-out-as-it-ought-to-be-for-prime-time Big Idea of the Day! I just read about AB1871 being signed into law at SF.Streetblog

Read the article ar SF Streetblog first before commenting!

My idea: Neighborhoods comprising a certain number of households could buy a car or two for the program. Those cars would then get city-designated parking spaces on the street on condition that a certain percentage of the households on the block agree to give up one of their personal cars. Those cars could be new or (preferably) existing vehicles (no older than 10 years) that are currently owned by local residents that would be sold to be used in the program.

As an added incentive to get rid of those extra cars, the city could begin to levy additional taxes on residents who have more than two personal vehicles registered to their address. The added taxes could help neighborhoods fund the purchase of vehicles for the car share program.

OK, let me have it (be nice!).

SF Examiner today

A very good read in today's Examiner that covers basics on many of the candidates.

Transforming neighborhood draws crowded supes race
By: Joshua Sabatini

Whoever prevails in the race to represent The City’s southeastern neighborhoods will play a large part in San Francisco’s economic development for years to come.

Read more...

SFUSD Local Schools Plan - SFGate

SF School Board OKs plan to offer more choices - Jill Tucker, Chronicle

The San Francisco school board put the finishing touches on a new and long-awaited student assignment system Tuesday night, giving children a better shot at getting a seat at the school down the street while still offering families a choice if they want a different site.

Read more...

How does this help D10? Hopefully, one of the things that it does is that it gets kids off their long MUNI commute and puts them into quality local classrooms. Of course, we have to get higher quality local schools for that to happen. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction, though.

I'm sure this will be a topic of conversation this Saturday, 3PM, at the "Family-Friendly D10 Candidates Forum" at St Gregory's Church:

View Larger Map

Co-hosted by Saint Gregory's Church and Daniel Webster School PTA.

This is a non-partisan, unbiased, completely independent, unsponsored forum. The focus is on District 10 families and children. All candidates for Dist. 10 Supervisor, regardless of party or other affiliation(s), have been invited to participate.

RSVPs have been received from:

James Calloway
Malia Cohen
Teresa Duque
Kristine Enea
MJ Marie Franklin
Rodney Hampton
Chris Jackson
Tony Kelly
DeWitt Lacy
Geoffrea Morris
Steve Moss
Eric Smith
Lynette Sweet
Stephen Weber
Diane Wesley-Smith

A Google map with SF's Schools shown:

View Larger Map

Skeletons begone!!

I just received an email from Ms Cohen, assuring me that she's lived in D10 for the past four years, and that the Silliman address, the one that is outside D10 and that I mentioned in a previous post is the home she grew up in and where she still has family. Evidently, it takes more that four years away from a home to purge yourself from the phone book listing you as being a resident there. I take her at her word, and thank her for getting back to me and for clearing this up.

Grist for The Rumor Mill

Funny how rumors get started. Take this one: Chris Waddling is a Steve Moss supporter. What, hadn't heard that one? Well, a commenter at a recent SFBG article certainly thinks its true, and wants others to believe it too, apparently. I have tamped that down quickly and unequivocally over there.

Like my rebuttal, rumors about the candidates need to be rebutted quickly and unequivocally, especially if the candidates want us to be convinced that they're false. Do none of them remember John Kerry getting 'Swift-Boated' in 2004 and the damage that did to him in the campaign? These rumors divert our attention from the issues, and keep the candidates from having to provide answers to questions about what they'd do when in office, but they also plant seeds of doubt that are tough to kill once they've taken root.

I hope that what I have written here has been unbiased and doesn't sound like I support one candidate over another. The candidate whom I do personally support is upset with me for not devoting more space here to their campaign. Honestly, I would love to, and maybe I should have a separate blog for that. But here, I'm trying to simply provide links to information that's out there so that readers don't have to go searching for it. That's it. Yes, I have opinions about ranked choice, voter apathy, the effect of money on the campaigns, etc., and I'll write about those things. If a candidate has what I think is a good idea, I'll give it a shout-out. But that's the extent of it. I also have my opinions on who would be the best supervisor for D10, but can't say that here and keep this site unbiased.

Visitacion Valley Forum Tomorrow

San Francisco D10 Board of Supervisor Candidate Forum
Focus on Visitacion Valley

Where: Visitacion Valley Community Center
66 Raymond Ave 94134

View Larger Map

When: Thursday, September 30, 2010
6pm-8pm

Moderated By:
Kevin Weston (NAM) with Kwok Shu Leung (KTSF)
Kenneth Johnson (VVCC)

Sponsored by:
Visitacion Valley Community Center (VVCC)
New America Media (NAM)
Chinese American Voter Education Committee (CAVEC)

For more information contact Kevin Weston at
Kweston@newamericamedia.org or 415-503-4170

Confirmed are:
Malia Cohen
Teresa Duqué
Kristine Enea
Rodney Hampton
Tony Kelly
Chris Jackson
Geoffrea Morris
Steve Moss
Eric Smith
Lynette Sweet
Marlene Tran
Steve Weber
Diane Wesley-Smith

Steve Moss Responds to Latest SFBG Article

Most of the candidates in this election are newbies, and I'm not sure that they appreciated when getting into the race just how much media attention and investigation could or would be heaped upon them. It really makes one think twice about choosing to serve the public by running for office.

In response to recent articles in the SF Bay Guardian, I received this yesterday from Mr. Moss, who asked me to post it here on his behalf. These are his words, not mine, but because of the importance of this issue to the election, I felt it important to allow him to express his side of the story here. Please leave comments below if you feel so inclined, and please continue to be respectful in your language used toward the candidates and one another.

Steve Moss writes:
"M.Cubed, a policy consulting firm in which I'm a partner, submitted the original $1.5 million funding proposal to the San Francisco Department of the Environment to start SF Power in 2001. SF Environment awarded the contract to M.Cubed. After this contracted ended in 2004 M.Cubed and SF Power continued to collaborate together, under the auspices of SF Power's board, as a means to address a number of organizational issues. First, M.Cubed staff -- almost entirely me -- served as development directors for SF Power on a performance basis. That is, M.Cubed wasn't paid unless it actually secured project funding, which we did, quite successfully. Many of these projects resulted from regulatory interventions at the California Public Utility Commission, a time-intensive endeavor that requires a specific skill set that I've developed over the years.

"Second, SF Power wasn't creditworthy, and, even after it started to secure contracts in its own name in its fourth year of existence, did not have adequate cash flow to support staff or purchase the energy efficient equipment it was distributing. In that respect M.Cubed served as SF Power's bank, and was repaid for the labor and equipment it supported. Third, M.Cubed provided insurance coverage, workers compensation and health care benefits to its staff, something SF Power developed over time. In that respect M.Cubed acted as an employment agent for SF Power, including for energy auditors and installers.

"This arrangement put M.Cubed at some financial risk, but the partnership was ultimately paid back for staff time and materials. I have never drawn a salary to serve as SF Power's executive director, but instead have always been paid on an hourly basis. This enabled SF Power to avoid overhead, and provided me with flexibility to pursue other work opportunities. This model, while not ubiquitous, has been employed by other nonprofit organizations, particularly in the energy policy arena. Likewise, in every case the funds invested were used to accomplish a specific outcome, with results evaluated or audited by the funder.

"Lost in all of this is that the M.Cubed/SF Power collaboration has resulted in significant benefits to the community. Although I haven't done the math, the collaboration resulted in upwards of $8 million of energy and water conservation investments in Southeast San Francisco, in the form of energy and water-saving devices and cash payments to program participants, which leveraged millions more in energy and water utility bill reductions for working families and small businesses. We've distributed or installed tens of thousands of water saving toilets and energy efficient lighting, refrigerators, thermostats, heaters, and other devices, and trained and employed dozens of community members. M.Cubed staff dedicated to this effort, including me, were paid for our time, but I don't think anyone was unduely rewarded.

"Other models could have been employed, but the collaboration was successful in what it set out to do: close power plants, employ community members, and provide significant energy and water conservation services to a hard-pressed community."

Skeletons in Every Closet!?!

Steve Moss is getting a lot of attention at the SF Bay Guardian as allegations fly surrounding improprieties in residency, money diversion, ties to a group that promotes condo conversions and rails against tenant protections, etc. in articles in their paper:

Steve Moss, carpetbagger - 09/10/10
Steve Moss Responds - 09/13/10
Five Things You Should Know about Steve Moss - 09/14/10
Plan C Endorses Sweet and Moss - 09/21/10
The Real Steve Moss - 09/23/10

No other candidate has gotten this kind of scrutiny besides Lynette Sweet:

Lynette Sweet and IRS Strange Story - 09/02/10
Lynett Sweet, the "no-comment" candidate - 09/20/10
Plan C Endorses Sweet and Moss - 09/21/10
Lynette Sweet's Finances: Curiouser and Curiouser - 09/27/10

Why is it that SFBG and other local news outlets aren't pressing the other candidates on the skeletons in their own closets that are perhaps just as bad, or, at the very least, simply raise questions about these candidates' willingness to disclose information to voters or help us figure out how they'd operate as our supervisor?

Has Ms Sweet's tax evasion "mix-up" simply faded and become a non-issue? Maybe not, as SFBG has a piece on it today and BeyondChron mentions it as a reason Ms Sweet has dropped out of the lead pack. An allegation by a commenter here on D10CanWatch regarding a large unpaid tax bill for Tony Kelly's "Thick Description" theater company may raise eyebrows, and questions like these need to be answered directly by the candidates so as to tamp down the rumor-mill. As Mr. Kelly responds to voters, in part,

"Like so many small theatre companies in this economy, the one I ran - Thick Description - has had its share of tough times.

"Thick Description has a significant tax debt to the IRS. The company has a proposed repayment plan for that debt, based on the proceeds of Thick Description's contract with another company to help them run their new theater, opening in the summer of 2011. While the IRS considers that repayment plan, and even during that repayment, the agency will hold liens on the company to protect its claim; those liens will be released as the debts are paid off over the coming five years."

Read Mr. Kelly's full response here.

I've heard a couple of times as-yet-unfounded allegations regarding Ms Sweet and Ms Cohen actually living in the district. Of course, these latter allegations could be completely bogus, but since no one in the main stream media seems to be looking into these things and asking (and finding answers to) the truly tough questions of the candidates, we may never actually know.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Ms Sweet and Ms Cohen on these questions, but, in one case, a quick look in the phone book lists Malia J Cohen as living on Silliman Ave in 94134, which is indeed outside D10. Is this our candidate Malia Cohen's actual home? Her candidate filing papers all list a 94134 ZIP, but since the actual address is redacted in the publicly available version of those papers, it's not possible to tell anything more. If this is her, why is she listed in the phone book as living outside D10, and when did she purchase her home in D10 as she claims on her website to have done?

My point is, sure, some skeletons are less important than others, but are all the other candidates so squeaky-clean that the media isn't even going to do more investigation on them? Why aren't the candidates themselves publicly asking these tough questions of one another? Have they all taken a vow of silence on these issues, and if so, would that be the backroom kind of political dealings that we would want from our next supervisor?

Portola Festival today

See you on San Bruno Ave today, 10AM - 4PM.

http://www.portolafestival.org/

Just got back from the festival on San Bruno, with a couple of observations... Teresa Duqué, Tony Kelly, DeWitt Lacy, Steve Moss, Lynette Sweet, Marlene Tran, Steven Weber, and Diane Wesley-Smith all had booths, while Eric Smith, Chris Jackson and Kristine Enea were there pressing the flesh. Malia Cohen was the only majorly endorsed candidate whom I didn't see there.

In talking to the candidates and voters today, one overarching theme made itself plainly clear - the candidates have GOT to show up on doorsteps and at street fairs if they want votes. Steve Weber told me that he went and knocked on a voter's door the other day, and was told that the last candidate to do so was Dan White. Dan Frickin' White, people!! A couple of voters remarked how, not only was Steve Moss at the Portola Garden Tour yesterday, but that he is at ALL the Portola and Visitacion Valley vigils and events, and really seems to get it when it comes to voter communication and engagement. Furthermore, they said that this, over everything else they're reading in the papers about him, is the most important thing to them. You get to know the people of the district by talking to them, not by sitting in a bubble thinking that you understand them or by waiting for them to come to you. This is why Tony Kelly was at the coast clean-up yesterday, to show engagement with the community. Like his politics or not, he gets out there, and that is important to voters. Like her or not, this is why Sophie Maxwell shows up to so many events, even if just to show face.

Marlene Tran, whom a couple of candidates seemed to be wooing at the League of Women Voters forum last week, made some hugely obvious points to me that only she seems to get - namely that, if you're coming to a street fair, whether you're a candidate, the SF voting commission, or a local group, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! A large percentage of the people in the Portola, Silver Terrace, and Vis Valley sections of D10 speak a Chinese language as their first language, and for many of them (60% according to Marlene), as their only language. Why did the city have two non-Chinese-language-speakers sitting in its booth trying to get people to register to vote? Ms Tran likely signed up more voters in ten minutes than the city did all day, because she knows her audience and can provide someone, herself in this case, to talk to the voters in a language they understand.

Candidates, the job of Supervisor is more than a full-time job. From the moment you filed papers to run, you gave up your personal lives. The jobs of candidate and supervisor are an every day affair, and what this election is showing us more than anything is who's up to the task. Showing up and answering a few questions at a forum is one thing, but what we need to see is you, the candidates, at every event, whether it be picking up trash, at a street fair, or just talking to people and telling them what you are about as you walk through their favorite park or down their favorite street with them.

If you chose not to come to one event because you have another to attend, that's fine, but instead of just blowing off a community-building street fair like the one today, you need to organize a crack team to work the events you can't so as to make sure you're represented. But if 80% of your competition is showing up to an event, you'd better do the same, and all the endorsements in the world won't keep you from being toast come election day. And those who do show up had better have a person with them who can cross a language barrier when it arises.

Cleaning up Islais Creek

A fun time cleaning up our district!!

Islais Creek Clean-up

Great to see Sophie Maxwell and Tony Kelly out today. I'm sure others were at other sites - candidates, if you have a minute, send me pics of your clean-up day!

Tony Kelly:


Eric Smith:

D10 Endorsement Interviews - SFBG (Updated)

Over at San Francisco Bay Guardian, they've been talking to the candidates to see whom they like:

DeWitt Lacy

Steve Moss

Tony Kelly

Lynette Sweet - the story on her is more a re-hashing of the Matier and Ross piece from a few days ago, with a couple of sensible explanations for what happened to the cashier's check. However, at the bottom of the piece in SFBG, Tim Redmond writes:

"By the way, I also invited Sweet to come down to the Guardian for an endorsement interview, and she had her campaign manager call to say she'd declined to talk to us. That's pretty unusual behavior, esp. for an elected official. Even Gavin Newsom came to talk to us when he was running for re-election for mayor and we'd been blasting him for four years. Pretty weak."

Eric Smith

Malia Cohen

Chris Jackson

Chinese voters in D10 - SF Bay Citizen

My thoughts on today's post online in the SF Bay Citizen:

Asians make up over a third of the population of D10, so while the candidate forums so far have skewed heavily toward the concerns of the African-American community, Blacks make up a smaller 28% of the population in the district. Fifteen candidates in the D10 race are African-American, with only Duqué and Tran holding down the Asian fort and Moss, Enea, Weber, and Kelly the only Caucasians. It'd be nice in future elections to see greater representation from the Chinese-American community, and if anything, greater engagement of this growing population needs to be done by our next supervisor to encourage our next generation of Chinese-American leaders. One thing that comes to mind here is that the Chinese community tends to skew a little more conservative, so Progressives may need to watch their backs - Jackson's move to engage this community is a smart one.

It's a shame, really, that I haven't seen more Asian voters attending the forums, and although campaign materials are often printed in other languages, including Chinese, I worry that candidates are not reaching out to the Chinese community as much as they ought to. Hopefully the candidates will all be in attendance at next week's Visitacion Valley Community Center forum, cosponsored by the Chinese American Voter Education Committee, and will make a showing at Sunday's Portola Festival - No Folsom St Fair for any of you, I'm afraid!!

The "Me Too" Forum - Polly want a pragmatist?

The Candidates at Last Night's D10 Forum

Last night's D10 League of Women Voters forum was OK, but holy cow, if one more candidate had said, "yeah, I agree with so-and-so," I was going to lose it.

This model of 'debate' works once in a while, but there are just too many candidates for this type of forum to give people a chance to say anything substantive or to drill down into how they'd govern. The candidates are starting to all sound the same to me. Chris Jackson used "human capital", and then it was the official buzz-word for a while. Geoffrea Morris talked about looking at things on a "macro scale" and suddenly Dewitt Lacy is Mr. Macro! Kristine Enea had some creative and well thought out ideas on many issues, only to have Lacy and others down the line say that they agreed with what she'd said in the time-honored tradition of stealing other people's ideas and making them your own. Enea wasn't off the hook, either, co-congratulating Marlene Tran after Malia Cohen had just done so. How many pragmatists were there at that table last night? I think at least five used that word to describe themselves in a five minute span.

These forums are supposed to help us decide whom to vote for and what differences there are among the candidates, but everyone is just sounding more and more the same as one another for fear of saying something that the voters don't want to hear. Personally, I'd like to see a series of two-to-four candidate, full-on debates, around the issues that candidates DON'T have in common - but it won't happen.

Candidates have to start going after one another on the issues that differentiate them from one another, but in a forum setting where everyone is admonished beforehand to play nice, this will never happen. The lefties in the group need to embrace their leftiness and tell us why we should vote them in over 1) the other lefties and 2) over the more 'pragmatic' (read conservative). OK, that's my rant...

A few notable things from last night:

Ms. Cohen was better at this forum than at the 1800 Oakdale one where she stumbled a bit. Her vision seems to be shared by several of the "pragmatists", so I'd like to see some differentiation in forums from you and the others. I like the idea of an artisan food district around Pier 70. Mmmmm...

Ms. Enea came out with some good ideas, particularly around quality of life issues like a lack of trees and truck idling causing pollution in D10. Many of her ideas were co-opted by other candidates down the line.

Mr. Jackson, you've done good stuff at CCSF, and I think they'd be losing a really good board member if you won the D10 Supervisor race. As the youngest candidate in the field, you've done a lot. Heck, you even moved into Ms. Sweet's neighborhood without her noticing! Easier to check up on the competition from across the street, I guess.

Mr. Kelly, the self described "most progressive" of the candidates, needs a firmer handshake. Just saying. And taking down I-280, making MUNI free, and putting a permanent Burning Man site down in Little Hollywood... well, those are definitely outside the box ideas, so kudos for setting yourself apart. Promoting arts and speeding up rebuilding of the housing projects, were worthwhile ideas that were picked up along the line by others.

I think DeWitt Lacy doesn't like me. I'll have to work on him. Although he was the first to mention Friends of Alemany Farms, Mr. Lacy picked up on a lot of other candidates' ideas during the night. He tried to play both sides of the 'progressive' and 'pragmatist' card, touting his diverse endorsements.

Ms. Morris held her own quite well and has an optimism that it truly refreshing. Sorry you stumbled a bit on the tourism in D10 question, but you came through with the historical tour answer. "Geoffrea in #1, #2, and #3" still makes me pause, but I hope you can point you grandmother to the quick tutorial I have up here to show her how easy ranked choice voting is. Your mother-in-law was a delight to sit next to, by the way.

Mr. Moss was zinged again with the 'moving back to D10 to run' and the 'commitment to D10 and not yourself' issue, which I'm not sure can be ignored any longer. It probably should be addressed along with reference material to back up your side if you want it to go away. With the most money raised of all the candidates, this issue is going to overwhelm your message of why people should vote for you.

Eric Smith was heavy on the co-op model of doing things, and has a lot of really good environmental stuff to his credit. I'm all for using goats, too. I realize the importance of unions and the union vote to SF politicians, but does everyone have to be unionized?

Ms. Sweet did better at this forum, too. She has many accomplishments that she claims as her own, but has to address her absences from BART Board meetings and the fear in many residents minds that she'll be absent from BoS meetings much in the way current supervisor Sophie Maxwell is perceived to be - note, I didn't say you ARE, just that you're perceived to be absent. Good on you, Ms Sweet, for getting those 50 kids jobs this summer, though.

Ms Wesley-Smith, I know you're angry at the way things are done in the city and are here to end the status quo, but really, whatever ideas you may have to fix things are truly lost in your overwhelming anger. Trying to tease out from the diatribes what you'd do is truly impossible, but your voice is important in this election, if only it were a little more focused, forward-looking, and idea driven.

OK, on to the next one. Street Fairs this weekend and cleaning up the coast, if you're up to it! See where the candidates show up to know where their hearts really lie.

Who is Joe Potrero of "The Real Steve Moss"?

Just curious who "Joe Potrero" is of The Real Steve Moss website, and find it ironic that there's a huge privacy barrier between this person and D10 voters who may want to better know his agenda in this matter. I'm no shill for Moss, and am happy to have information like this be presented in an accurate way so as to ask some tough questions and demand that they be answered, but don't you think it would be more appropriate when asking Moss to come clean, to yourself be open and forthcoming regarding your own identity and affiliation?

Redevelopment throws Arc Ecology under the bus - SFBG

No one was really surprised when the Redevelopment Commission voted 4-0 not to renew Arc Ecology’s contract to provide environmental information services regarding remediation plans at Hunters Point Shipyard and award it to Circle Point.

Read more...

Online report card shows S.F. health disparities - SFGate

San Franciscans who live in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood can expect to live 14 fewer years on average than people who live on Russian Hill.

Click to view the Community Vital Signs report card.

Read more at SFGate...

League of Women Voters Debate - Recap

Tom Sinkovitz (NBC Bay Area) moderated the debate
In attendance: Malia Cohen; Kristine Enea; Chris Jackson; Tony Kelly; DeWitt Lacy; Geoffrea Morris; Steve Moss; Eric Smith; Lynette Sweet; Diane Wesley-Smith

Questions from the audience were submitted beforehand and at the event, and candidates were given one minute to respond to each. The forum lasted two hours.

The questions included:

1. Many residents have to travel miles to get to a grocery store. What is your plan to bring fresh food to D10.

2. The D10 Supervisor must represent three growing, distinct neighborhoods. How do you balance your attention to their varying needs?

3. In D10, we have unacceptably high rates of asthma and overall have the worst health in the city - what do you propose we do? - See article in today's SFGate

4. The new D10 Supervisor could determine the balance of power between left and right on the BOS - whose side are you on?

5. Do you support more housing or more business in D10 development?

6. How can you bring tourism to D10?

7. Whom would you support for position two or three on the ranked choice ballot?

8. A recent SFGate article article mentioned the city was adopting not just a transit-first policy, but a 'cars last' policy - do you agree with this?

9. What as supervisor can you do to preserve public housing?


1. Many residents have to travel miles to get to a grocery store. What is your plan to bring fresh food to D10.

Cohen: nearest grocery miles away. - Cow Palace farmers’ market and shops on Leland Ave an example of what she wants to bring; partner with developers to ensure grocery stores included in development
Enea: open the Fresh and Easy on Third St; ensure the Schlage lock redevelopment has grocery; use city funds to help remodel SuperSave in Bayview; use India basin for urban farming
Jackson: prioritize D10 to grow healthy food; liquor store reform to ensure dedicated floor space for fresh produce; SLUG (SF League of Urban Gardeners); use local school as hosts to farmers markets
Kelly: this is where land use gets real; need to improve education; support Fresh and Easy; D10 has lost most of greenhouses it once housed – needs to reverse that
Lacy: introduce more local farmers markets and create local farms; more support for Friends of Alemany Farms; have public housing development residents grow fresh food on-site
Morris: Bayview has tried a farmers market that didn't work due to lack of participation; improve the FoodCo and support Fresh and Easy; Cala needs to be accountable
Moss: lack of grocery indicative of larger community needs; SF Community Power worked with SuperSave to provide refrigeration; Jerrold Ave produce mart an asset we should use; use school lunch monies to buy locally produced food
Smith: Fresh and Easy - first, make them union; SF Bay Railroad already uses goats at Alemany Farms; Schlage Lock redevelopment must include grocery
Sweet: FoodCo inadequate for residents; expand into a Progress Market; Fresh and Easy would be a good compliment; utilize and expand community gardens
Wesley-Smith: we don't have enough; partner with large business to create, for example, a mini-Safeway in each area

2. The D10 Supervisor must represent three growing, distinct neighborhoods. How do you balance your attention to their varying needs?

Enea: create functioning network with deputies in each neighborhood who report to her; D10 has the most children, so invest in schools;
Jackson: there are parallel issues, such as safe neighborhoods, jobs; need to have a cohesive district vision; he would maintain a district office, attend meetings of various citizens groups
Kelly: examples in past decades - was involved in effort during redistricting to keep D10 together instead of dividing it at Islais Creek; has created alliances in various neighborhoods
Lacy: create alliances; create blue ribbon community council made up of local residents and business owners; make quarterly appearances at neighborhood meetings
Morris: utilizing community Yahoo groups (Better Bayview; Potrero Neighbors; The Portola; and Valley Eye) has helped her to know what's going on in the community; open door policy and office in community; enhanced virtual communication
Moss: is the only candidate to collect 1000 signatures; San Francisco is a city of neighborhoods that feel distinct; best to honor characteristic differences while finding commonalities and common solutions
Smith: find a common thread and use outcome-based social services for schools and housing; we want services we pay for
Sweet: her BART district covers nine cities and three counties, so she has dealt with diverse populations and their needs before with an open door policy; not possible to prioritize, so must find commonalities within a diverse population and address those issues
Wesley-Smith: grew up across D10; old leadership has failed us; homeowners issues in Portola not same as other issues elsewhere; need to meet individually with neighborhoods, then come together
Malia Cohen: many faces of D10 in the audience; this is what the district looks like; use 21st cent technology to reach out; she is a unifying candidate getting endorsements from many communities; cannot look at things in terms of 'left' and 'right' politics


3. In D10, we have unacceptably high rates of asthma and overall have the worst health in the city - what do you propose we do? - See article in today's SFGate

Jackson: closing power plants led by Sophie Maxwell an important start; new UCSF hospital at 3rd and 16th must provide low income care; Healthy SF must continue to be funded
Kelly: keep D10 together when redistricting comes up again; freeways in D10 are known to be a big problem - take down 280 and have it end at Cesar Chavez, creating a boulevard like that on Octavia; get people out of cars
Lacy: transportation issues need to be explored; what are particulates and where are they coming from?; ensure smart development; encourage reduction in car use
Morris: as a social worker, sees this problem first-hand; it's not only asthma, but other health problems and access to care; need mobile outreach, especially in housing projects
Moss: SF Community Power; helped Sophie Maxwell close power plants; pollutants have been identified as from freeways; new development includes provisions that residents must be protected, but existing residents don't have similar controls in place to help them
Smith: in 2007 worked with the Federal Environment Department to convert buses to bio-diesel; any vehicles used for construction for longer than a certain amount of time on a project must have certain level of emissions
Sweet: Asthma has been here for years; shipyard workers brought diseases one with them; many in her family died from mesothelioma; dirty industry must not be allowed
Wesley-Smith: growing up, at least once a week in the projects, they took someone to the hospital for asthma-related illness; objective body needs to get involved; partnerships with Lennar and others
Cohen: Sunnydale, young girl had asthma attack, and the look of fear brought this home; need smart, comprehensive approach, access to quality health care; Healthy SF; need HERC in Sunnydale housing project
Enea: air traffic an issue - supported the anti-helipad effort for new UCSF mission Bay hospital; planes at SFO seem to be taking off lower over D10, rise in pollutants; trucks need to stay out of residential areas except when necessary; truck idling needs to be dealt with through education and enforcement; need a Southeast health center; more trees


4. The new D10 Supervisor could determine the balance of power between left and right on the BOS - whose side are you on?

Kelly: is a progressive; looking to solutions such as municipal banks
Lacy: skews progressive, but has consensus ability, as seen in his endorsements from the DCCC and firefighters
Morris: kitchen table politics not left and right, but community-based; whoever has a good idea to make D10 better should be listened to; we're too hung up on titles, so she's not categorized as progressive or conservative
Moss: supports both 'community' and 'city'; helped working class families; just wants to do better for the city; labels block us from making progress; get beyond labels
Smith: pragmatic progressive; do something based in reality and best for D10 and rest of SF
Sweet: common sense public servant, which is what people need and want; build consensus with common sense; conservative endorsements make her appear conservative, and media and others will always label
Wesley-Smith: community in decline; current leadership not working; why do we keep electing them?; no one is happy
Cohen: stake claim on a label or it'll be staked for you; pockets of progressive communities in D10, but also ethnic communities with reservations about progressives; need to be pragmatic; SEIU and Peskin endorsements show both sides support her
Enea: solidly fiscally responsible and socially liberal; would consider herself a swing vote
Jackson: as chair of CCSF budget committee, created a balanced budget with no layoffs; working class progressive; has obtained support from labor; need to stop out-migration


5. Do you support more housing or more business in D10 development?

Lacy: must have both; development in BVHP with affordable housing; give businesses funds to grow
Morris: more business; also need safety to encourage patronization of businesses; more housing, but need more affordable housing
Moss: housing is easy, but need business to support it; utilize the wholesale produce mart, Schlage Lock site, and use shipyard as a jobs center; leadership needs to pick up the phone and tell employers to come to SF
Smith: need both, but have many boarded-up homes; use a co-op model - people own property and businesses; currently not sustainable; need both
Sweet: at a recent youth conference found that kids needed jobs and she went out and got fifty jobs for kids; jobs will bring D10 back, so need more business with local hiring mandates; already 10,500 houses slated for the shipyard redevelopment - don't need more
Wesley-Smith: need balance; entrepreneurs partner with businesses coming into D10
Cohen: difficult to address; first question is education; need pathways to careers, not just jobs; need sustainability; foreclosures a problem
Enea: already have much housing; phase 1 Lennar development has 1600 homes, if '49ers go away, then 4500 more, plus 11,500 in phase 2 of Lennar development; dollars need to go to businesses, not housing; create an historic district to create a
Jackson: Community needs affordable housing; solve foreclosure issues; sustainable fund for affordable housing - city fund to buy foreclosed homes to help keep people in their homes
Kelly: need both; 80% of district rezoning already has plans ready to go; we'll see double the population of district with up to 100,000 more people; need complete neighborhoods


6. How can you bring tourism to D10?

Morris: 49'ers; need to reinvent itself; hasn't thought about this much, but identify landmarks and use shipyard as a tourist site
Moss: cruiseships dock in dogpatch, people get on a bus and leave; improve waterfront access; bring back wetlands, Pier 70 needs to be reclaimed; promote D10 history, weather
Smith: make Third St a destination; create business zones; celebrate heritage; Crissy Field-like park
Sweet: 9000 seat arena in shipyard plan could house a women's basketball team - discussed this with WNBA president; need a destination point to bring people in
Wesley-Smith: Provide cold-ironing for cruise ships; improve Pier 27 and the waterfront;
Cohen: D10 has the most children, but few places to take them; make family-friendly lands; create a place to go; create an artisan food district near Pier 70
Enea: D10 has water, sun, diversity, and history; but first and foremost, tourists want safety; invest more in community policing to improve safety
Jackson: stronger small businesses; tour buses drive through but don't stop - mandate that they do stop in D10 as has been done in other districts
Kelly: waterfront and arts need to be developed; is familiar with waterfront development; built a theatre on Potrero hill; Pier 70 - use as permanent home to burning man
Lacy: not sure wants BM in his backyard; need good transportation; build a locally owned and operated hotel; increase safety


7. Whom would you support for position two or three on the ranked choice ballot?

Moss: focusing on his own issues, but won't endorse anyone; voters need to vote for three
Smith: uncommitted
Sweet: punt
Wesley: would not support old guard candidates
Cohen: would support someone with similar values, background, support for working families, open space - impressed with Marlene Tran
Enea: also impressed with Marlene Tran; would support a candidate from the community who understands land use and economic development issues
Jackson: no answer, but several candidates share his views on land use, health and child care access
Kelly: likes Tran, Jackson, Donaldson, etc - neighborhood candidates; questions candidates who move their home to run for supervisor and wants to make sure that they'll keep dist interests first and not their own
Lacy: someone with a commitment to the district; it's one thing to know issues, but must be able to build consensus
Morris: tried explaining ranked voting, but seems to find it too confusing - therefore, just vote for one person


8. A recent SFGate article mentioned the city was adopting not just a transit-first policy, but a 'cars last' policy - do you agree with this?

Smith: promoting more transit good if it works; good if you can do it responsibly
Sweet: as BART board director, is an advocate for public transportation; agrees with this policy
Wesley-Smith: loves pub transit, but it doesn't work for her; must be mindful of elderly, disabled; would put cars first (may have misspoken)
Cohen: public transit is the way we need to go; challenges in our district; elderly, single moms; need a comprehensive approach
Enea: transit first yes, but don't make it hard to drive; let's build transit first, but don't make it policy to put cars last
Jackson: on CCSF board used BART and bus to help with access; this new city policy is another unfunded mandate; need to go back to the fact that there's no close grocery and shopping to get people out of their cars
Kelly: spend too much land and resources on cars; bring down I-280 at Cesar Chavez; make public transit more attractive; more reliable transfers; eventually free MUNI
Lacy: transit first, but need to expand vision of public transit; increased taxis, bike lanes, shuttles
Morris: one can appreciate MUNI when you look at A/C Transit mess; there should be a mix, but residential areas need cars; believes that buses are working efficiently in SF
Moss: winced with anti-car article; you can't make people do what they don't want to do; make transit easier; seize future by creating diff incentives to use alternate modes of transportation


9. What as supervisor can you do to preserve public housing?

Sweet: ensure residents have public housing; Hunters View redevelopment was done right; the old certificate program didn't work; must ensure that residents have somewhere to move back to
Wesley-Smith: eliminate housing projects; we're not creating a self-sufficient work force; need to restore pride to the projects
Cohen: 4 of 5 largest projects are in district 10; for Potrero Hill rebuild, must preserve access to return; must be safe, clean; need to change our thinking re public housing
Enea: Hunters View - HopeSF project is a good project; need more in the next HopeSF project to prepare them better
Jackson: must ensure residents have something to return to - currently not guaranteed they can move back; public safety - emergency transfers require eight months to move, affects safety of residents; invest in human capital
Kelly: fund it; currently renovating projects one at a time, but need to accelerate the process
Lacy: fund it - HopeSF having troubles, need state and fed money; human capital; restore pride; allow people living there the ability to build new projects
Morris: works as social worker at housing projects; HopeSF replaces one for one, but also provides important wraparound services; should no longer have areas of high density of poverty;
Moss: walked though all projects; they should not exist in current form; there is currently not enough money, but replacement needs to accelerate
Smith: most atrocious places in SF; awful that we must wait to replace them for so many years; use a co-op model; reform Housing Authority

PG&E Pipelines Through D10 - SFBG

I hope this gets some people talking tonight at the League of Women Voter's Debate.

SFBG: PG&E's secret pipeline map

The utility won't release its pipeline locations — even to the Fire Department

It's been nearly two weeks since the pipeline in San Bruno exploded and killed four people, injuring many more and destroying 37 homes. And it's left a lot of people in San Francisco wondering: could it happen here?

Of course it could. PG&E has more than 200 miles of major gas pipelines under the city streets that are scheduled to be replaced — and that means they're reaching the end of their useful life. Just like the pipe that blew up in San Bruno.


Read more at SFBG...

League of Women Voters Debate TONIGHT

Candidate Forum
District 10

Potrero Hill, Bayview Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley, Silver Terrace, Dogpatch, Little Hollywood, and the Portola districts.

Wednesday, September 22nd
6-8pm

Genentech Auditorium, UCSF Mission Bay
600 16th Street
http://www.ucsf.edu/pdf/maps/ucsf_mission_bay.pdf

Join your supervisorial candidates
and learn more about their
positions on parks, recreation,
open space issues and
general public policy issues affecting
District 10 and the City of San Francisco!

*The UCSF Mission Bay campus is accessible using the MUNI T-Third light rail line. If you drive, please park at NO COST in the SURFACE LOT (near the UCSF Police Station); this lot can be reached by taking 16th Street to 4th Street.

Submit questions to forumquestions@sfvotes.org
Learn more at www.lwvsf.org


View Larger Map

Community Clean Team District Ten Cleanup--Coastal Cleanup Day

Not necessarily a 'candidate event' per se, but what politician would pass up an opportunity for a great photo-op where they can be seen actually cleaning up the district they keep talking about helping? I would imagine you'll find a couple of them here, right?

Come join DPW at this year's Community Clean Team Event at Islais Creek Park at Cargo Way @ Third St. To volunteer, email DPW, or call (415) 641-2600.

Let's see who shows up!

FYI - there are eleven of these coastal clean-ups in D10 this weekend. Check out The Ocean Conservancy website for more information on events in near you.

DeWitt's on the Board

Just noticed DeWitt Lacy has raised some cash this year after all - $4229 from 71 people this year. Who-hoo!! I guess it was difficult for his campaign treasurer in West Hollywood to get this information in to the SF Ethics Commission in a timely manner.

Um, Mr Lacy, why is your campaign for San Francisco Supervisor based in West Hollywood?

Who's Topped the $100K Threshold in Money Raised?

Candidates file form SFEC-152(a)-2 when they reach the $100,000 threshold in funds raised through monetary contributions, in-kind contributions, and public funds.

So, who's reached the magic $100K mark?



Malia Cohen $100,469.99 (form submitted 09/14/10)
Steve Moss $101,006.00 (form submitted 09/08/10)

They subsequently have to file this form every time they get another $10K.

League of Women Voters Debate - TOMORROW Night

Candidate Forum
District 10

Potrero Hill, Bayview Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley, Silver Terrace, Dogpatch, Little Hollywood, and the Portola districts.

Wednesday, September 22nd
6-8pm

Genentech Auditorium, UCSF Mission Bay
600 16th Street
http://www.ucsf.edu/pdf/maps/ucsf_mission_bay.pdf

Join your supervisorial candidates
and learn more about their
positions on parks, recreation,
open space issues and
general public policy issues affecting
District 10 and the City of San Francisco!

*The UCSF Mission Bay campus is accessible using the MUNI T-Third light rail line. If you drive, please park at NO COST in the SURFACE LOT (near the UCSF Police Station); this lot can be reached by taking 16th Street to 4th Street.

Submit questions to forumquestions@sfvotes.org
Learn more at www.lwvsf.org


View Larger Map

Candidates out and about this past weekend

Did anyone have any comments about this past weekend's events, either at the Leland Ave Street Fair or in Potrero Hill, where candidates were out stumping and looking for votes?

Flog That Dead Horse, SFBG

Over at the SF Bay Guardian, they're acting like a dog with its favorite chew toy. It seems to me that ALL of the candidates have serious cred when it comes to D10. The fact that Mr Moss moved back after a couple of years' absence, even if it was to run for office, is not an issue. The work that he has done with the Potrero View and SF Power are D10-centric. He knows the district, or at least Potrero Hill, and feels he knows it well enough to to let voters decide if he should represent the district at City Hall.

As for other top candidates, Enea has been living in and volunteering on multiple BVHP redevelopment CAC's and PAC's since she bought her house in India Basin in 2005, so don't go calling her a carpetbagger. Smith moved in a little more than a year ago, but his wife's family has deep roots and he's done some worthwhile things in D10 in the past few years, both of which gives him cred in this regard. Jackson's grandparents lived a long time in the Bayview, and although it's unclear when he moved back, he's only 27, so the fact that he decided to move to the Bayview tells me it means a lot to him to be here. Cohen's family goes back four generations in the Bayview, and it seems she only moved away to attend school, while Sweet grew up in the Bayview as well, so both their D10 ties are tight. Kelly has lived in San Francisco since the late 80's and has deep, self-made roots in D10. Lacy grew up in San Jose and moved to SF to attend school in '95. Duqué and Tran have lived and volunteered in Vis Valley for over twenty years each.

As far as I can tell, all of the candidates have some, if not a lot, of cred when it comes to D10 ties. This whole non-issue needs to be put to rest, and the SFBG needs to stop with the 'endorsement interviews' and just tell us whom they're backing, cuz they've obviously made up their minds and it is sure as heck isn't Moss or any pragmatists. The SFBG reporters also need to get to the issues and stop distractions like this from wasting readers' time.

Leland Ave Fair This Sunday

This Sunday, Sept 19th, is the Leland Ave Street Fair in Visitacion Valley



I mention it here because the guest list on Facebook indicates that several candidates for D10 supervisor will be there! They include:

Malia Cohen, Teresa Duqué, Kristine Enea, Rodney Hampton, Tony Kelly, Marlene Tran, and Stephen Weber

The lineup for the day:

10:00 AM MC: Atim opens event

10:10 AM Siva Polynesia

10:30 AM Sana
...
10:45 AM Back Porch Band

11:45 AM Native Elements

12:30 PM Community Cpeakers

12:45 PM Pete Escovedo Orchestra

2:15 PM Fog City

3:15 PM Soul Society

For more info, Leland Ave Fair

Top Candidate Pages

Thanks to Kristine Enea, Tony Kelly, Steve Moss, Eric Smith, and Marlene Tran for providing me with information so that I could write my piece on the candidates for the Potrero View (and for here, too).

I get it that the PV is run by Mr Moss, and that some candidates may be wary of him and/or his motivations, but honestly, his are likely to be the same motivations as yours, so if you're wary of him, then are we all to be wary of you, too? As our supervisor, you're going to have to trust people, folks, and yes, sometimes you'll get burned, but I don't think we want a paranoid candidate who is always playing politics, do we?

If I hear from Cohen, Duqué, Jackson, Lacy, or Sweet, I'll update their pages, too, but for now, they're the candidates who didn't respond to me and my request for some simple information to help them look good. The question in my mind right now is, how will they respond to me - and to voters - if and when their help is needed should one of them become our supervisor?

For me, this whole exercise ended up being a bit of a test to see which candidates are accessible to Joe Q. Public.

Questions for the Candidates

Steve Moss (D10 Candidate and publisher of the Potrero View) asked me last week to compile for his newspaper some basic biographical information on the top candidates. Apologies to those I haven't asked for info, but my 'top candidates' are those who've garnered the greatest buzz (press), have collected the largest amounts of money (yes, money), and quite honestly, have the greatest chance of winning among the remaining 21 candidates.

I sent an email to all the candidates last week asking for basic stuff, and have heard back from... Steve Moss.

OK, candidates, if you're reading this, I'm not doing some Steve Moss-centric piece for the PV. I don't work for Mr Moss, and he's not paying me to do this. I'm posting what I find here on my site, as well as writing the piece for the PV. Potrero Hill is important to your election, and how you come across to the voters there WILL affect your chances of winning. I am writing this completely unbiased, and am basically putting in the PV information that you have on your websites or that is totally public if people care to go looking for it. I'm just doing the legwork for them.

For you to be cast in the absolute best light, it would behoove you to send me some info (pretty basic, really) instead of having the words 'no reply' next to the simple questions I've posed. If I can't find info on your website, you're going to get a 'no reply'.

My deadline is Thursday. It'd be great to hear from all y'all.

You'll find the stuff that I find on the left side of this page under the "D10 Candidate Pages" section.

- your humble blogger, Chris

A walk through D10

Instant Runoff Voting

For a great look at the effective, cost saving, voter empowering instant runoff voting system in San Francisco, check this out.



A few tidbits jump out at me from this:

"Significant tax savings: The City saved approximately $1.2 million by not having to administer runoff elections for four supervisorial districts"

"Winners received significantly higher percentage of total votes cast than winners in December runoffs; more voters had a say in who their supervisor is."

Steve Moss - the next Ed Jew? (Update)

Steve Moss has responded to the article from a few days ago in the SF Bay Guardian.


I don't ever want to see our city and the reputation (such as it is) of the BOS dragged through the crapper like it was during the Ed Jew scandal.

I don't personally think there's anything to this but pot-stirring, but Sarah Phelan over at SFBG think she may be onto just such a scandal.

The important point in the time-line is that the potential candidate has to have lived in the district for 30-days prior to filing the Candidate Declaration Form. The question is whether a potential candidate can live outside the district when filing a Candidate Intention Statement, or can use a non-home address in the earlier filing. This I don't know.

So, for two years out of ten, he and his family lived in a building he owns in D8 and then moved back to D10 in February, months before filing the Declaration form. Unless there are regulations surrounding residency in the Intention statement, or that the street address used on that form must be your home address, then this shouldn't be a problem. Sure, maybe he's not the 10-years full-time resident of D10 he has been saying he is, but with the community candidates touting their generations of D10 roots, it's a natural response to that to try to pump up your own 'local-boy' cred.

Isaac Bowers Bows Out

Not sure if everyone saw this or not:

Meeting the Candidates at the Youth Forum

I have to thank all of the candidates for seeming to be genuinely appreciative of what I'm trying to do here with this little blog. DeWitt Lacy was the only one who seemed a bit confrontational, looking me dead in the eye and asking, "Are you a Progressive? Do you believe in rights for the working man?" Uh, nice to meet you, too, DeWitt.


I spoke to as many as I could, some more at length than others. Marlene Tran and I talked a little about immigration, Malia gave me a big hug, but I didn't get to talk to her much after that, Lynette Sweet told me she's trying to stay out of trouble, Tony Kelly called me bald (I prefer 'hair challenged', please :D), and Steve Moss lamented that none of the candidates seem to trust him because of his position at the Potrero View, to the point where they won't even take him up on his offer of 50% discounts on ads. Ed Donaldson and Kristine Enea joked about Beth Spotwood's take on Ed as one of the best looking candidates in the race, and Kristine joked about Steve Moss and Tony Kelly wondering aloud at a previous forum as to why she's so awesome.

Chris Jackson made a good point to me about the segregation of the four distinct neighborhoods in D10 - Vis Valley, The Portola, Bayview, and Potrero Hill - and how, as a candidate, it's extremely difficult to run a campaign in this district when something comes up that might be good for one part but would be bad for another. There are commonalities, but there are also huge differences, and whomever becomes supervisor will have to have staff devoted to each segment of the district to help them sort everything out.

During the Q&A, one young audience member spoke out of turn and was subsequently ejected. What is it with people getting ejected from these forums!?! Afterward, Geoffrea Morris made a very good point that she should have been allowed to stay, because she is the face of the frustration with City Hall that D10 kids, parents, seniors, and business owners all have. People need to know that they are being spoken to and listened to by someone who understands them and their needs. The biggest frustration in life is telling somebody something and then having them ignore you. When frustrated, these kids need to be able to turn to people who will listen, give them structure, and give them praise for a job well done. Unfortunately, when parents, elected officials, teachers and employers don't seem to be there to provide that positive reinforcement, kids will, and do, turn to the bad elements of our society - drug dealers, pimps, gangs - to get the validation they crave.

One thing that struck me, having attended a few of these meetings now, was how some candidates have their stock, mirror-practiced stump-speeches at the ready for whatever question comes their way. Steve Moss is always asked about how he can know anything about the rest of D10 when he's from Potrero, and he always replies with his "I'm the only candidate who got 1000 signatures" and "I replaced 2000 toilets" speech. OK, it's good to stay on message, but the reality is that walking through a neighborhood and knocking on doors isn't the same as living those peoples' lives, which for many of the candidates is impossible to do. But, you have to make them believe that you understand their personal hardship and can offer them a possible way out. When Steve Weber reiterates that he converted his 2-BR home into a 4-BR home, how does that address any of the questions of the audience of 13-18 year-olds he's talking to? Kristine Enea with her "esoteric land use" speech may work well with people who know what 'eroteric' means, but with a group of kids who have up to 75 kids in their classrooms (yes, this is what one of the questioners reported about her school) and barely have access to text books and teachers, the delivery needs to change. I'm not saying to the candidates to "dumb it down" or patronize anyone, but know your audience and speak to them accordingly.

My take was that Lynette Sweet and Malia Cohen both brought their A-games to the forum, answering questions well and appropriately to the target audience. Some of the 'vote for me and nobody else in this ranked-voting scheme' candidates played to the audience well, too (Morris, Joshua, Wesley-Smith, Hampton). Honestly, though, there are just too darned many candidates to get anything substantive out of any of them during these forums.

Next stop, Sept 22nd at UCSF.

Questions from D10 Youth

Some good questions from the youth to our candidates - sorry if this seems a little choppy - I was writing things down fast and didn't get a chance at many edits.

1. What is your plan to increase jobs for youth?

Marie F: mentoring, classes offered by college board such as real estate classes

Marlene T: mentoring programs

Lynette S: campaign held youth summit and determined nothing going on, so she used contacts to get jobs for youth, will force employers to hire locally

2. How can you help bring youth together and settle disputes btwn neighborhoods?

Diane WS: no owns title to the land, so everyone should stop acting like they do. She would rely on others to tell her.

Eric S: ask youth what they want to bring kids together, more outlets for positive interaction

Ed D: incentivize changing behavior - jobs, school, opportunities

3. Vision for BVHP?

Steve M: HP youth needs to have a vision for themselves. HP should be a place for opportunity clean air and environment, and a good place to live and raise a family

Tony K: BoS needs to have budget that has money for opportunity for youth

Steven W: many kinds of opportunity bc not all opportunity fits all people, more parks and rec, arts commission, etc to expand horizons

4. Low high school grad rates for black kids from. How do you fix it?

Chris J: CC board tried addressing issue to give GED and associate degree. Where's the outrage? Parents and families need to organize, stabilize families, schools open longer hours to accommodate kids

Kristine E: space based system, as much to do with what goes on inside school as outside. Neighborhood schools, take care of our community with much community involvement

Rodney H: involve parents, oversight committees, increase arts programs, more social engagement, Willie Brown Academy being closed - tired of have nots not having.

5. Why should you be our Supervisor?

DeWitt L: in order to receive benefits, jobs, etc, need someone who understands legal nuance, political process

Nyese J: D10 in a state of emergency

Jackie N: worked with various programs, problem with our children is that behavior issues limit abilities, need an agenda that serves to district

6. WB Academy closing - how will you ensure that SFUSD will have a quality middle school?

Malia C: public ed has operated out of coordination with BoS, etc. Need to coordinate. Need 21st C solutions. Wrap-around services

Geoffrea M: they need to make one of our schools a middle school, need to listen to everyone

Espanola J: Century 21 school. We have to start engaging ourselves as parents.

D10 Youth-Led Candidates Forum

The Last Supper? Nope, D10 Candidates Forum at the Opera House.


L to R:
Nyese Joshua
Geoffrea Morris
Steve moss
Chris Jackson
Rodney Hampton
Steve Weber
Diane Wesley-Smith
Eric Smith
DeWitt lacy
Malia Cohen
Lynette Sweet
Kristine Enea
Ed Donaldson
Tony Kelly
Marlene Tran
Marie Franklin
Espanola Jackson

D10 Candidates Should Disclose Their #2 and #3 Ballot Choices

We have 22 candidates in the race for District 10 supervisor. Obviously, only one can win. We've had some very strong endorsements come out recently, plus some rather tepid ones, from across the city. It's a reality that there are only a few candidates who have a shot at actually winning the seat, and many more who don't.


Obviously, each candidate is going to put themselves, and tell supporters to put them, in the #1 position, but would it be too much to ask of every candidate to indicate whom THEY would endorse to go in the #2 and #3 position on the ranked-choice ballot? I don't think that this would detract from anyone's candidacy in the least, but it would give their supporters an idea whom their favorite would choose themselves.

If some candidates are on the ballot to help bring out the vote of traditionally under-represented communities, then people from those communities may be voting in a local election for the first time, may not know that they can make three choices, may not know how the ranked-choice system works, and as such, may only vote for their favorite candidate who brought them to the polls in the first place, leaving the other two positions blank. If their candidate gets dropped in the rounds of the ranked-choice system, then that voter who voted for them won't actually get to have a voice after all if they haven't also put someone's name in for #2 and #3.

Candidates, please think about endorsing your fellow candidates for the #2 and #3 slots.

Democratic Club Endorsements

I don't know about you, but I think that the D10 Democratic clubs and the larger DCCC have given us quite a lot to think about.


Democratic Club endorsements range from one for (Potrero Hill resident) Tony Kelly by the Potrero Hill DC, to one for (Bayview resident) Lynette Sweet by the Bayview Hunters Point DC, to one for Malia Cohen by the African American DC, to one for DeWitt Lacy by the SFDCCC.

The question is, do voters pay much attention to these endorsements? If the answer is 'yes', then I think that the Potrero Hill endorsement is the key one to look at, as Potrero Hill is where the majority of the people who actually vote in D10 live. Personally, I'm not so sure how strongly endorsements play into things here.

If in-district money raised is a factor, then Tony Kelly is looking pretty good right now. He has raised more money from D10 voters (albeit ALL from 94107) than any other candidate. Somewhat surprisingly, Marlene Tran is #2 on the D10 money haul, though the majority of her money comes from her base in 94134 (Vis Valley). Lynette Sweet and Kristine Enea come in next, with Enea #1 in fundraising from 94124 (Bayview). Cohen and Lacy have done an abysmal job in raising funds from within the district, although Cohen's second place to Steve Moss at the top of the public funds disbursement list speaks to the heap o' cash she's raked in from outside the district. Lacy, on the other hand, hasn't raised ANY money since June, and only $745 since the beginning of the year!! How is he funding his campaign without money, and why would DCCC pick someone who has no money or apparent desire to run a campaign? Is this all an elaborate plot?

OK, there's something fishy here...

I'll look into the money issue more in a later post, but in the end, no one candidate has sewn up all the endorsements, and as it was before, this race could still be considered to be wide open. Those who've gotten an endorsement have a gust of wind at their backs, and those without will just have to work a little harder to be heard above the white noise generated by the ten or fifteen 'me too' candidates.

Democratic County Central Committee Endorsements

The SFDCCC voted tonight to determine whom they would suggest backing in the District 10 Supervisor election.

The rankings that the DCCC has chosen are:

1. DeWitt Lacy
2. Malia Cohen
3. Eric Smith

Um... Comments?

Interesting... From Beyond Chron, "Lacy was a 'consensus pick' – nobody had a real problem with him." Is that an enthusiastic endorsement? Me thinks not!! Why, with such a 'progressive' DCCC, did they not pick a progressive like Kelly or Jackson, particularly after Kelly had just gotten the Potrero Hill DC's endorsement?

Potrero Hill and BVHP Democratic Club Endorsements

Potrero Hill Democratic Club

Tony Kelly won PHDC’s endorsement for District 10 Supervisor.

Bayview Hunters Point Democratic Club

1. Lynette Sweet
2. DeWitt Lacy
3. Malia Cohen

"We felt that these candidates best embraced the Club's commitment to the three issues that proved to be most important during our interviewing process: jobs, education, and the local economy. All three candidates affirmed their support for strengthening local community hiring, increasing our commitment to the district's youth, and growing local business and opportunity."

Blocking the bridge - SFBG

Suit over Lennar EIR could force changes in bridge on Yosemite Slough

The Sierra Club and Golden Gate Audubon Society have sued to block the final environmental impact report on the Lennar Corp. redevelopment project, a move that could force reconsideration of a bridge over Yosemite Slough.

Read more from the SFBG

Endorsement Meetings Tonight and Tomorrow!

Plan to attend:

Potrero Hill Democratic Club Endorsement Meeting
Tuesday 9/7, 6:45pm-9:15pm
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro @ Southern Heights


View Larger Map

San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee
Wednesday 9/8, 5:00-?
Unite Here Local 2,
209 Golden Gate Ave

View Larger Map

22 Candidates

Opinion:

I was recently reading a Facebook posting by one of our candidates for D10 supervisor, and it made it very clear that some of the candidates, while stating that their intentions in this race are pure and altruistic, are really more just white noise in an incredibly important election. If you're running for the position of supervisor for our district, and claim to be one of the "I've lived here all my life" candidates, then at least try to know who the players, movers and shakers are in your own backyard!




For those who, like Ms Wesley Smith, don't know, James Moore is the Third Street Corridor manager, a person whom, I would hope, a supervisor candidate would know and recognize immediately as an important person in the Bayview. Her lack of knowledge in something so basic speaks to me as an indicator of a greater lack of knowledge on a whole host of issues.

I then read her response to a D10 candidate questionnaire from Bayview Hunters Point.com. WTF!?! Is this the kind of flippant responses we can expect from her if elected? This is the same candidate who blew up at the end of a candidate forum a few weeks ago because she hadn't been invited - perhaps now we're seeing why that was. I'm not sure what some of the candidates hope to achieve in this election - is it increasing their own sense of self-worth, notoriety, trying to get out a particular demographic to vote, or are they just rabble-rousers?

Some of the candidates have done really good things for our district, and I for one would be 80% happy with any one of those candidates. Those candidates have risen to the top of the heap for a reason. While the others, who likely love their district and neighborhood no less, should, for the love of their district, back out and endorse one of the more knowledgeable candidates who would be ready to lead our district on Day 1 in office.

For this reason, I suggest that we don't have time for on-the-job training. There is too much at stake. The influential DCCC has yet to take a position on a D10 candidate, and it is my fear that they will endorse someone inexperienced and/or in the pocket of forces external to D10. The DCCC votes Wednesday to determine its preferred candidate. I am thinking that they should either endorse an experienced candidate or let the voters decide. If you have an opinion on this and want to express it to the DCCC, please do so before Wednesday at this email address.