Catherine Stefani

District 2 Supervisor

District 2 includes the Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, Jordan Park, Laurel Heights, Presidio, Lower Pacific Heights, Cathedral Hill, and part of Russian Hill.

Appointed

January 2018

Elected

November 2018

Won by 1,279 votes.

Re-elected

November 2022

Up for Re-Election

Termed out in 2026

stefanistaff@sfgov.org

(415) 554-7752

In March 2023, Stefani announced her candidacy for California State Assembly to represent District 19 (currently held by Phil Ting, whose seat will be open when he reaches his term limit in 2024).

Catherine Stefani is the Supervisor for San Francisco's District 2. She currently resides in Cow Hollow and was previously a deputy district attorney and legislative aide.

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Policy positions & priorities

Supervisor Stefani's top priorities include:

Gun control

An ardent supporter of common-sense gun control, Stefani has repeatedly pointed out that we can do more to "take guns out of the hands of people who are a danger to themselves or others." Stefani sponsored legislation proposing a ban on ghost guns in San Francisco, the first of its kind in California. Ghost guns are firearms that can be purchased in individual pieces online and assembled at home, bypassing background check requirements - a workaround that Stefani called a "massive loophole." After Stefani's legislation passed in San Francisco, the initiative spread and became a statewide ban. Stefani was also a leader in the local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and continues to work with the organization.

Public safety and policing

Stefani, who chairs the Board of Supervisors' Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, has prioritized adequately staffing the San Francisco Police Department. To address growing staffing shortfalls, she joined 9 other supervisors in April to increase police salaries. Stefani meets regularly with SFPD and publicly supports their efforts, and has told the Chronicle that her constituents are begging for more police.

Nonprofit oversight and accountability

San Francisco has outsourced many key government functions to nonprofit groups, leading to repeated problems with corruption, mismanagement, and waste. After the city Controller's Office published an audit that called out problems with how nonprofits' success is measured, Stefani asked the City Attorney's office to prepare legislation to standardize success and performance metrics. Stefani has also led the Board of Supervisors in investigating theft and corruption by nonprofits, noting her "serious concerns" with how the city manages its nonprofit contracts.

Supporting small businesses

"For me, small businesses just really represent the fabric of who we are in San Francisco," Stefani has said. In the midst of COVID pandemic lockdowns, Stefani tackled what she called "impediments'' to small businesses staying afloat. These efforts included co-sponsoring the Shared Spaces Program (restaurant parklets) and authoring legislation to reduce fees for small businesses, stating that the city needs to "stop viewing small businesses as ATMs."

Affordable housing

Stefani is a proponent of increasing housing for people of all income levels, including improving city policies to maximize production of affordable housing. As discussed below, she has repeatedly followed through with key votes in favor of housing, and to help projects succeed despite opposition.

Key votes and actions

Public Safety

SFPD Salaries: Stefani co-sponsored the bill to approve a $25 million budget supplemental for SFPD overtime salaries. Dean Preston was one of two Supervisors voting no, arguing that the funding would protect luxury stores and areas that are already "saturated with coverage." In response, Stefani defended the bill by saying "I think the public deserves to feel safe and be safe. This 'Louis Vuitton argument' is driving me nuts."
Office of Victim and Witness Rights: In November of 2021, Stefani introduced the ballot measure that would create the Office of Victim and Witness Rights, which later passed as Proposition D in June 2022. The department is fully separate from the police and the district attorney, and exists to provide support to crime victims from all backgrounds.
Ghost Guns: Stefani led the initiative to ban ghost guns in the city, a policy that was eventually adopted statewide. The SF bill, which was passed in 2021, made possessing or selling a ghost gun in San Francisco a misdemeanor with a potential fine of $1,000 or six months of jail time.

Housing

Lucky Penny: Stefani sponsored legislation to allow 101 new apartment units at the former location of the Lucky Penny diner, which closed in 2015. After the builder announced that including affordable housing units at the site was financially impossible, Stefani negotiated a $4.5m payment in lieu of building affordable housing units, which was then earmarked for affordable housing elsewhere. "Building housing now is far better than the alternative of letting this site sit vacant," Stefani told the Planning Commission. "We must take action. If we're going to address this housing crisis, we have to make sure that the projects actually get built."
3333 California: Stefani sponsored legislation to turn UCSF's Laurel Heights campus into 744 units of housing (including affordable and senior housing), parks, plazas, and retail space, which she called "acceptable, warranted, and desired." The BoS unanimously approved the project.
469 Stevenson / Nordstrom parking lot: Stefani was one of only 3 supervisors who supported the construction of 495 new units on what is currently a valet parking lot for Nordstroms by Market and 6th. The opposing supervisors have been widely condemned for opposing the new housing, and their opposition has led to reports of corruption and an investigation into ethical violations.

Small Businesses

Shared Spaces: Stefani co-sponsored Shared Spaces legislation to make street parklets permanent.
Fee Waivers: Stefani introduced legislation to reduce or waive fees for small businesses whose revenues were negatively impacted by COVID lockdowns. It was signed into law in March 2021, helping small businesses as they worked to recover from the pandemic's effects.

Government Oversight & Accountability

Nonprofit accountability: Following repeated scandals with abuse of city funds by nonprofits, and after an audit by the city Controller's Office found that the city lacked consistent measurements of nonprofits' performance, Stefani called on the City Attorney's office to draft legislation to "standardize and streamline existing processes and strengthen performance measurement and performance monitoring."
No GRAFT Act: Stefani introduced the No GRAFT (Government Rackets, Abuses, or Fraudulent Transactions) Act, which established rules and restrictions for city government departments when evaluating bids from vendors and contractors.
DA Recall: Stefani was the first supervisor to endorse the recall of former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, noting Boudin's record of insufficiently charging on cases involving domestic violence, drugs, and guns.
School Board Recall: Stefani supported the recall of three SF school board members, saying that she was "furious," like many other parents, at the board's inability to operate in the best interest of students especially during the pandemic: "[they] have consistently engaged in wasteful, destructive, and ego-driven side projects while San Francisco families suffered."