Matt Haney

• Office: Assembly District 17
• Candidate: Matt Haney
• Due Date: Monday, October 25, 2021
• Printable Version

Thank you for seeking Grow SF's endorsement for the 2022 Assembly District 17 election! Grow SF believes in a growing, healthy, beautiful, and safe city via common sense solutions and effective government.

Grow SF volunteers run an open and participatory endorsement process. The endorsement committee will review all completed questionnaires and seek consensus on which candidates best align with our vision for San Francisco and have the expertise to enact meaningful policy changes.

We ask that you please complete this questionnaire by Monday, October 25 so our volunteers have enough time to adequately review and discuss your answers.

Table of Contents

• Vision
• Public health
• Urbanism
• Taxes
• Small Business & Entrepreneurship
• Housing & Homelessness
• Policy

Vision

Grow SF believes in a growing, vibrant, healthy, safe, and prosperous San Francisco. We believe in enacting laws that align incentives of private businesses and individuals to promote shared prosperity for every San Franciscan.

This section of our questionnaire seeks to help us gain an understanding of your alignment with our vision for San Francisco. Some of the questions may be outside the scope of the office you're running for.

Do you think, in general, San Francisco has too little, too much, or just enough control over…	Too little	Just enough	Too much
New businesses opening	X
Businesses operating in the city	X
Housing production	X

If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:

Do you think San Francisco spends too little, too much, or just enough on…	Too little	Just enough	Too much
Police and public safety		X
Street cleanliness	X
Homeless services	X
Affordable housing	X
Parks	X
Roads		X
Bus, bike, and train infrastructure	X
Schools	X
Medical facilities	X
Drug prevention and treatment	X

If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:

I am a progressive urbanist and have a strong, unparalleled track record among candidates in this race of actually delivering on the goals of both urbanism and equity. I've been clear where I stand, and I've delivered.

I believe that the growth of cities is good for the environment, quality of life, creativity, equity, and community. It is important that more people are able to live near where they work by building more housing in our cities, and that we build the infrastructure so that people are able to walk, bike or take public transit to work. It is also important that we enhance features that make cities such wonderful places to live and incubators of creativity and community: parks, public spaces, arts, nightlife, small businesses, and innovation. And it is also critical that we provide for the features that ensure human dignity and equity in our city: homeless services, stronger tenant protections, 24 hour public bathrooms, trash cans, and public safety. Finally, none of this is in conflict with bold steps taken to invest in public services like colleges, public transit, hospitals and schools, or support for labor unions, progressive taxation of billionaires or big corporations, and care for our most vulnerable residents and communities. All of these make for a more equitable, progressive, livable city, and I have a demonstrated track record of leading and delivering on all of these issues that are important to urbanists.

We are not providing enough homeless services such as access to supportive housing or navigation centers. Thousands of individuals in the city are currently living unsheltered on the streets or in other public spaces. As a Supervisor, I fought to require navigation centers to be built in all 11 supervisorial districts and I helped open a navigation center on the Embarcadero. Navigation centers in the city have not only provided shelter and a safe space for highly vulnerable and unsheltered San Franciscans, but have also been crucial to connecting them to housing, public benefits, health services, and more. The City must dedicate more funding towards homeless services and towards the creation of navigation centers to break the cycle of homelessness.

As for street cleanliness, our city has some of the dirtiest streets in the country. It's a public health crisis for San Franciscans who have to walk past feces and trash on a daily basis. Although the City spends millions of dollars on street cleaning, our efforts would be in vain if we do not streamline how this money is being spent or coordinate our cleaning efforts. I live on what the New York Times deems to be the "Dirtiest Block in San Francisco." I've had much time to think about this problem and how we should approach it. In my time as a Supervisor, I released a 10-Point Action Plan for a Clean & Health Downtown San Francisco, and I've worked closely with our Community Benefits Districts and community partners to secure half a million dollars for street cleaning operations in my district which includes bringing 60 more Big Belly style trash cans to my district, dog waste bag dispensers, and increased pressure washing of the sidewalks to the Tenderloin, East Cut, and SOMA neighborhoods.

In 2020, I introduced Prop B to create a Department of Sanitation and Streets, which would take over some of the duties of the Department of Public Works. The measure passed overwhelmingly, developing a new department responsible for overseeing sweeping streets and cleaning sidewalks, providing and maintaining sidewalk trash cans, removing graffiti and illegally dumped waste, and maintaining City buildings, public restrooms and street trees. My hope is that these resources will help restore the vibrancy of our city's streets.

What are the top three issues facing San Francisco, and what would you like to see change?

Representing the Tenderloin, SoMa, Mission Bay, Treasure Island and downtown San Francisco as District 6 Supervisor has given me direct insight, understanding and track record on the biggest challenges our residents are facing every day, especially homelessness, housing, economic inequality, and COVID recovery. I want to see all of our residents have more options for temporary and permanent safe and supportive housing, substance abuse treatment, and access to basic public services like bathrooms and trash cans. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on our city, and disproportionately impacted our communities of color. We need to continue to work tirelessly to ensure our neighbors have the resources and support they need to not only recover, but build back better. I look forward to diving deeper into these issue areas in the following questions.

Tell us one thing you think needs to change in SF that the average voter wouldn't know about.

Last year, our city was shocked to its core when several city Department Directors were charged with federal corruption or resigned in connection to the corruption scandal. San Francisco's Office of the Controller released a report which traced a network of kickbacks and benefits flowing between the San Francisco Public Works department, a nonprofit, and non-city entities interested in securing favorable business or regulatory decisions from the City. In the wake of this scandal, I called for sweeping reform of the Department of Public Works to demand more accountability, oversight, and transparency. I introduced anti-corruption legislation to put an end to shakedown donations and close the loopholes in the city's policies that were being abused by the actors involved in the scandal. As Budget Chair, I demanded every department leader focus on answering a series of questions related to corruption and oversight, such as: "How are you setting a 'tone at the top' that demonstrates ethics, transparency, and the public interest?"

When there is unethical leadership with no accountability measures set in place, it's the residents of San Francisco that suffer. We need to push for more initiatives and measures that will increase public transparency and accountability of our public officials.

Public health

How do you feel about labor unions lobbying against vaccine mandates for Covid-19?

We need to do everything we can to put an end to this pandemic, and that means supporting vaccine mandates to help stop the spread of COVID-19. I support unions' right to negotiate with their employers over workplace matters, however, to get the country back up and running as quickly as possible we need to implement and enforce vaccine mandates. In my experience, most of the unions in our city have been strongly supportive of getting all workers vaccinated and have been key partners in this work. We've seen how the vaccine helps both deter the spread of COVID-19 and protect vaccinated individuals who have contracted the virus from severe illness and death. This is important to protect workers, residents, and all San Franciscans.

I held two hearings on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and kept our City Departments and COVID Command Center accountable to ensuring that the vaccines were being distributed widely and as quickly as possible to our essential front-line workers and vulnerable populations. Even before the city established its mass vaccination program, I authored an emergency ordinance directing our Department of Emergency Management to coordinate with private health care providers to outline a clear and equitable vaccination plan. Lastly, I successfully fought to bring a vaccination site to both the Tenderloin and Treasure Island, and I used my platform to frequently share information and updates on vaccine eligibility and location availability with the public.

Do you support the creation of safe consumption sites in San Francisco?

Yes, I support establishing safe drug consumption sites in San Francisco. Safe consumption sites have been key to reducing the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, and they have also reduced the number of fetal drug overdoses. As a Supervisor I authored legislation with Mayor Breed to develop a framework and process to authorize these sites. This is now the law, and we are prepared to move forward. More recently, I introduced a resolution urging Mayor Breed to declare a state of emergency around the drug overdose crisis and implement safe consumption sites in the city. In 2020, San Francisco lost 700 individuals to drug overdoses. We cannot wait any longer to address this growing epidemic, however, our efforts towards implementing a safe consumption pilot program in the city have been held up in the state legislature. As the crisis worsens and advocates' voices grow louder, the state will need to listen to the demands of Californians and finally allow safe consumption sites.

Do you support our current laissez-faire approach to open-air drug usage? What would you change?

The City has not been doing enough to tackle the growing issues of open-air drug use and overdose deaths in San Francisco. In my district and within the Tenderloin especially, there has been a concentration of illegal drug activity for decades and the problem has only gotten worse with the pandemic and the increased use of illegally produced synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl. I've seen the crisis firsthand and understand the urgency we need to act with to help our communities be safe and healthy. In response to the City's lack of a comprehensive plan to meaningfully address street level drug dealing and the deadly drug use epidemic, I launched the "Street Level Drug Dealing Task Force'' in 2019 to develop recommendations for the Board, Mayor, and City departments on approaches to tackling rampant drug dealing in the city. I drafted a resolution that passed unanimously by the Board to declare a public health crisis on drug overdoses so that the Mayor, our City departments, and state officials might respond in a commensurate way to the crisis that we are facing. I demanded that the Department of Public Health present a comprehensive emergency plan to: (1) improve street level crisis response to address individuals using drugs, in psychosis, or overdosing, (2) identify and establish emergency detox and drop-in facilities, and (3) coordinate efforts to stop the flow of deadly drugs into the Tenderloin and SOMA.

I believe that we have to support individuals dealing with substance abuse disorders through an approach that does not just aim to target or punish specific individuals but rather proposes larger solutions at the city and state levels. We simply haven't dedicated enough resources, time, and spending towards solving this chronic issue, nor has the state provided any concrete solutions or comprehensive plan to address open-air drug use and overdose deaths on our streets. We need to look towards evidence-based approaches and employ innovative programs; I believe the Street Level Drug Dealing Task Force I launched a couple years ago has already proposed several promising solutions. For example, we should allocate further resources and funding towards community safety programs and ensure that individuals working for community safety organizations are properly trained on de-escalation, trauma-informed care, and more. If elected, I am prepared to elevate our concerns over substance abuse and overdose deaths to the state level in a matter that's never been done before.

Do you support the recall of Board of Education members Alison Collins, Gabriela Lopez, and Faauuga Moliga? Why?

Generally, I don't support recalls because they are more often than not a bad use of taxpayer dollars and distract from the pressing issues our elected officials need to be addressing on a daily basis. I generally believe that the best time for us to elect our elected officials is during regularly scheduled elections, when voters can choose between various candidates and make a choice. I did not sign any of the recall petitions and did not support putting a recall on the ballot.

With that said, I had previously called for Alison Collins's resignation because the statements she made about Asian students were offensive and combined with a lack of a real apology, were immediately disqualifying for a sitting school board member. Further, suing your colleagues is incredibly distracting and destructive in a time when we need leadership on the School Board. I do not think it is at all acceptable for a school board member to sue their colleagues and the district for $87 million, for personal and political reasons, during the middle of a pandemic. I cannot fathom how someone would believe that we should take money out of the pockets of our hardworking educators and put it in their own pocket. Now that the recall has qualified I will vote yes on the recall of Alison Collins, but I do not plan to vote yes to recall Gabriela Lopez and Faauuga Moliga.

How should the Board of Education be reformed to bring more accountability and better performance to the Board?

During my two terms as a School Board Member, including chairing our Curriculum, Budget, and Rules committees, and as a Supervisor, where I've chaired our joint Education committee and Budget committees, I have always worked to ensure that the voices of parents and young people are at the forefront and centered in our decision making, particularly when it relates to decisions that impact them so directly like schooling. This starts with transparency and accessibility, and is why I visited all of our 100+ public schools to meet with students during my time as a School Board Member. It also requires regular town halls, forums and surveys, that allow everyone to participate with language translation. I will always make my decisions about schooling deeply informed by the experiences of students and parents. The Board of Education should focus on improving educational outcomes, raising academic standards, and ensuring that all students are given the tools to succeed. When I was on the Board we focused on making tangible improvements for students and families, and that should continue to be the Board's priority.

Should the ban on middle school algebra be reversed?

There should be an option for students to take higher levels of math, including algebra, in middle school. Higher levels of math should not be "banned." These options should be provided, informed and designed by educators, alongside math sequences that help everyone reach a higher and more relevant level of math completion, while not establishing mass systems of tracking nor slowing students down who are prepared to move faster. I believe both goals can be achieved.

Should charter schools be allowed to operate in San Francisco?

I support public schools with democratic oversight and accountability. I don't believe that charter schools, generally, are the broad solution to ensuring high quality public education. With that said, charter schools should be able to operate in San Francisco, to serve specific populations and provide unique educational experiences, with high standards and oversight, such as Five Keys, Gateway and Creative Arts Charter School, and I have a history of supporting these schools, their educators, families and students.

Urbanism

Do you support raising the price of parking and driving in San Francisco?

I support raising the price of parking and driving in targeting ways to fund public transportation and clean energy improvements. As we do it, we should do it in ways that are targeted to reduce congestion, address equity, and together with increased investments in public transportation.

Do you support banning cars from central downtown areas and certain retail or residential corridors?

The Slow Streets program during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a critical, urgent health intervention to provide safe spaces for families, kids, and residents. I have been an advocate for more slow streets in the Tenderloin and SoMa, where cars are limited or banned at certain times or all together, and will continue to fight for our residents' safety and access to more public walking space. As we recover from the pandemic, I will continue to do whatever I can to make our slow streets permanent.

Do you support charging a toll to drivers who drive into our most congested downtown areas (i.e. congestion pricing)?

We must act urgently on climate change and congestion pricing, when implemented effectively, is a proven tool that I support. I also believe it should be paired with increased investments in public transportation, and other improvements to encourage and facilitate other modes of travel. It is also important that we work with neighborhoods like Chinatown to address their concerns as we move forward in order for any program to be sustainable and effective.

Should San Francisco expand its protected bike lane network?

Yes, I have been an outspoken advocate for expanding and protecting bike lanes in San Francisco. During my time in office, we have dramatically expanded the protected bike lane network in our city, especially in my district.

Should San Francisco prioritize buses over car traffic by creating more bus-only lanes and directing traffic enforcement to ticket drivers who ignore the restrictions?

Yes.

Should Uber, Lyft, and other ride-share services be banned?

No, they shouldn't be banned. But I will continue the fight to require them to treat their drivers as workers, and therefore be protected by labor, employment, workers compensation, anti-discrimination, health and safety laws.

Should San Francisco permit more Baywheels bikeshare bikes and docks in every part of the city (including Golden Gate Park)?

Yes. I have been a staunch supporter of expanding bicycle access in our city.

Should San Francisco permit more scooter-share providers, and allow them to operate with fewer restrictions on the number and locations of vehicles they offer for rent?

Yes.

Do you support keeping JFK Drive and the Great Highway car-free permanently?

Yes, I support keeping JFK Drive car free permanently, as well as the Great Walkway — a car-free beachfront promenade that has become San Francisco's most visited public space. Both streets are safe and welcoming for kids, families, people walking, biking, and skating, and are important resources that make our city better and more vibrant. We need more spaces like them.

Should Muni be free for everyone? If so, what other programs would you take money from in order to fund this change?

Yes, I have been a strong supporter of free Muni for our residents. I introduced legislation with Supervisor Preston, and was a leader in advocating for a three-month free Muni pilot program to study the benefits we could expect to see from free public transit. We should fund free Muni with new dedicated revenue sources or funds from the state or federal government; I do not support taking money from other programs to fund free Muni.

Taxes

Would you repeal Prop 13, if you had the authority to do so? Or, if not repeal it, how would you change it?

Yes. Prop 13's state limitation on property tax has crippled funding for our schools, housing and public services. Throughout my career as an elected official I have supported efforts to reform Prop 13, particularly as it relates to the cap on commercial property tax increases, which is deeply unfair.

Are taxes and fees on small businesses too low, just right, or too high?

Our small businesses were hit extremely hard by the pandemic, with restaurants, stores, and bars all being forced to shut down or drastically scale back operations for well over a year. There was not an adequate plan in place to assist them with immediate support to ensure their survival, and although we have worked hard to secure millions of dollars in aid for small businesses during the height of the pandemic, recovery is still a long path ahead of us.

I have and will continue to support increasing taxes on large corporations so that they pay their fair share, but I have no interest in making it harder for smaller merchants to do business. In contrast, we need to make it as easy as possible to open and operate a small business in San Francisco, and center our small businesses as we think about our recovery, including reducing taxes and fees on small businesses. Our taxes and fees on small businesses are too high.

Our commercial corridors and so many of our storefronts were still shuttered and as more barriers were being put up for small businesses. That's why I was a strong supporter of the Board of Supervisors' First Year Free legislation to waive fees for new small businesses opening as we recover from the pandemic, and I would advocate for similar policies at the state level.

Should San Francisco pursue any and all avenues to impose parcel taxes that could bypass Prop 13, which keeps property taxes on multi-million dollar property artificially low?

I have been an advocate of efforts to impose parcel taxes to support the needs of our communities and critical public institutions and social safety nets and will continue to. I was a strong supporter of Prop G in 2018, which imposed a parcel tax to benefit SFUSD. The tax helped fund essential salary increases for our hard working underpaid public school educators, and I will continue to support similar efforts.

Are sales taxes too low, just right, or too high?

This is a question that needs to be answered on a case by case basis. As a city and state with drastic wealth inequality, we need to be able to balance everyday access to essential goods with support for essential city and state services. Sales taxes are regressive taxes, and the burden is held disproportionately by lower income people. For that reason, I would generally prefer a heavier reliance on progressive taxes, like property, wealth or corporate taxes.

With that said, there are certainly sales tax increases that I support and that I have supported in the past. In 2020, I was strongly supportive of the measure to fund a dedicated revenue source for Caltrain through a ⅛ cent regional sales tax. Thousands of people in the district I represent rely on Caltrain, and considering the growth all over the Bay Area and increasing congestion, we need to be able to guarantee that Caltrain is sustainable and funded. This is an example of a sales tax increase I would be in support of.

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

What would you change about the process of new business formation?

San Francisco should be the easiest and cheapest place in the country to start a new small business. That has been my call to action for the last few years since becoming a Supervisor, and I have been a consistent champion for small businesses during my time as Supervisor. I joined with Supervisor Ronen to author "First Year Free," which will make it free to start a storefront small business in San Francisco for the next year.

In addition to reducing and eliminating fees, it is important that small businesses and start-ups have the resources and support they need to make San Francisco their launchpad. Especially in the aftermath of the financial devastation of the pandemic, we need to be making it easier for all types of businesses to call our city home and provide them the support they need. This must mean an easy one stop shop for all new or prospective businesses to get the support and assistance they need from the city to quickly and easily navigate the process of opening, including necessary inspections and permits. We also have to reduce arbitrary, complex and confusing barriers that can increase the time and cost it takes to open a small business, that's why I supported Prop H on last year's ballot as well as Mayor Breed's Small Business Recovery Act.

Should San Francisco welcome all businesses, regardless of size?

I do believe we should welcome businesses to San Francisco, which powers San Francisco's economy, funds our city's services, and provides jobs to our residents. We should be welcoming of businesses of all sizes as a source of jobs, innovation and economic growth in our city. Innovative businesses in San Francisco have created technologies and products that have changed the way we interact across the entire globe; it is something that we should be proud of, and our city has benefited from. It is also critically important that we set standards to ensure that the businesses provide opportunities for our residents, pay their employees fairly and their fair share in taxes, follow the law, allow their employees to organize into labor unions, and respect employment and labor rights. None of these things must be mutually exclusive.

Do you think the government should decide which businesses can and cannot open in San Francisco?

The government should have a role in determining zoning, which helps to shape what type of businesses should open and where. For example, allowing a Walmart in the Tenderloin would be absolutely unacceptable and untenable. With that said, it shouldn't be overly restrictive and unreasonable. For example, I do not support the overly restrictive rules that define some stores in ways that prevent them from opening all together, like the definitions of chain stores which prevented El Farolito, which had only 3 other stores across San Francisco, from opening in North Beach. I don't believe that these rules should be overly restrictive, or allow for governments to pick and choose based on arbitrary or unknown criteria. Zoning should be clear, transparent, and fair, and encourage small businesses to open and operate.

Should all businesses be permitted by-right? If not, which business categories do you think should not be by-right?

Generally, we should make it easy to open a small business in our city, and not put up barriers and restrictions that prevent that unnecessarily. With that said, no, I do not believe all businesses should be permitted entirely by-right--for example, I support some chain store restrictions on big chains like Starbucks or McDonalds that require conditional use authorization, or restrictions on big box stores.

Housing & Homelessness

Do you believe that San Francisco has a shortage of homes?

Yes. We have dramatically increased jobs in San Francisco, without anywhere near the increase in new homes. As we create more jobs, which we should, we need to build more homes, of all types, a lot more. It is much better for the environment, for quality of life, for our city, for people to be able to live close to where they work, including people who are middle and lower income, which means we also need to dramatically increase the supply of subsidized housing.

Do you believe that housing prices are set by supply and demand constraints?

I do not believe that the market alone will meet our housing needs, particularly for middle and lower income levels. But yes, I do believe that supply and demand constraints certainly help set housing prices.

Should San Francisco upzone? If so, where and how?

San Francisco is facing a housing crisis as a result of soaring rental prices, a lack of affordable housing, and a lack of overall housing production throughout the city. Upzoning, or allowing for denser housing development, will increase the city's housing stock and help combat the crisis we are facing. We need to work towards ending exclusionary and racist zoning policies, which must include allowing for more multi-unit buildings to improve housing equity in San Francisco. I have supported that and will continue to if elected Assemblymember. Affordable housing, in particular, should be allowed everywhere in the city. I have expressed my support for upzoning to allow for more multi unit buildings across the city and across the state. We have upzoned in my district in Central SoMa, and I believe that we should upzone throughout San Francisco, especially along commercial corridors, and especially in areas where there has been little to no housing production.

Should homeless shelters be exempt from CEQA, Discretionary Review, and zoning?

Yes, generally.

Should subsidized Affordable housing be exempt from CEQA, Discretionary Review, and zoning?

Yes, generally.

Should market rate housing be exempt from CEQA, Discretionary Review, and zoning?

I definitely support streamlining and exemptions for certain types of market rate housing, in some situations, but, no, I don't believe that market rate housing should be entirely exempt from all of these laws including zoning.

Policy

Now that we know where you align and differ from our vision for San Francisco, we'd like to get some details about how you intend to use your elected office to achieve your goals.

Why are you running for Assembly?

For over 15 years, I've fought for progressive policy change—for workers, tenants, students, families, and small businesses--as a San Francisco Supervisor and Budget Committee Chair, SF Board of Education President, non-profit founder, advocate, organizer, pro bono tenant attorney, and state legislative aide.

I'm not afraid to take on San Francisco's toughest challenges. Whether it's getting people into housing, cleaning up our streets, expanding mental health services, or fighting for small businesses, I've found new solutions that make a real impact. I'm running for Assembly because I want to deliver for San Francisco on an even bigger scale.

The crises of wealth inequality, homelessness, housing affordability, and impending climate catastrophe are overlapping and require California to step up in unprecedented ways: build housing, transit and clean energy infrastructure, dramatically grow the social safety net to protect the most vulnerable, and strengthen the pipeline to middle class union jobs

I was raised here in the Bay Area. I went to public schools and public university. My whole family is here, including my Grandparents who live here in San Francisco and have been here my whole life. They taught me to see the opportunities and possibilities of California, but also that there is so much left to do, and that our responsibility is to spend a life of service fighting alongside my neighbors to make it more fair and just for everyone.

After graduating from UC Berkeley, my first job was in the state legislature as a state senate fellow and legislative aide. After law school, I turned down a job at a big law firm, and instead served as Executive Director of the UC Student Association, where I led advocacy and outreach on behalf of the 200,000+ UC students across the state, winning multiple tuition freezes and helping pass the California DREAM Act.

I co-founded and led #cut50, fighting and delivering on criminal justice reform statewide. I taught human centered design at Stanford, and defended families as a pro bono eviction defense attorney.

I served for six years on the San Francisco Board of Education, including as Board President, where I expanded computer science education to all students, fought for affordable teacher housing, and secured additional funding for public schools across the city.

As Supervisor, I helped spearhead the effort to transform San Francisco's mental health system with Mental Health SF, an initiative guaranteeing mental health care for all San Franciscans, delivered on common sense policies like 24-hour bathrooms and universal eviction protections, facilitated over 5,000 new units of housing in my district, and oversaw record investments in housing, public safety, and economic recovery as Budget Chair.

When the pandemic hit, I worked around the clock to protect San Franciscans, authoring legislation to house over 2,000 people experiencing homelessness in hotels and even working on the frontlines as a disaster service worker at one of our COVID shelter hotels when there weren't enough staff. I delivered relief programs to keep restaurants and music venues afloat during the shutdown, led the fight to open mass-vaccination sites, and ensured workers had masks, gloves and adequate sick pay.

We are at a pivotal moment in California: we must reverse soaring inequality, fully fund our schools and colleges, build more housing, confront the threat of climate change, deliver guaranteed health care for all, and push for transformative innovations like high speed rail and clean energy infrastructure.

These huge challenges and big ideas require state leadership—they cannot be accomplished by one city or district alone. We need the entire state to build housing, provide health care and mental health care, build public transportation infrastructure, challenge exclusionary and racist zoning, create middle class jobs, and administer services for those in need, and to be held accountable to do so.

The pandemic saw some people do very well, as billionaires grew their wealth exponentially. But everyone else struggled: students, small businesses, workers, communities of color. Black and Latinx residents were excluded from our state's prosperity even more so than before, and API residents were under attack from xenophobia, hatred and violence. Those are the folks I will fight and deliver for, and I'm not afraid to take on the biggest, most powerful interests to do it.

Out of the 120 members of the State Legislature, only two are renters, I would be the third. As we saw with the failure to extend the eviction moratorium, there is an obvious and urgent need for more renters and tenants rights leaders serving in the state legislature.

With a supermajority of Democrats and a Democratic Governor, our time to deliver is now: we need legislators who will tell the truth, effectively engage the public, hold people accountable for results, and get things done. Together we can build a state and city that is more inclusive, affordable, and equitable for all.

Over the past 3 years, I've kept my commitments to my constituents, including its most vulnerable residents: together we delivered on universal eviction protections for all residents, set the cap at 30% of income as rent for SRO supportive housing tenants, introduced and dramatically expanded 24 hour bathrooms, street cleaning and trash cans, we housed thousands of people in new affordable housing and thousands more in shelter in place hotels, we implemented traffic safety measures to protect pedestrians and people biking and lowered the speed limits, we passed new revenue measures like the Overpaid Executive Tax to invest in services for those in need, we fought corruption and to restore integrity and accountability to our government, we brought new parks and open spaces and safety initiatives, we protected our small businesses and cherished music and entertainment venues, and we passed a budget that made historic investments in mental health, the API, Latinx, Black and LGBT+ communities, treatment and housing.

I am not a leader who is going to focus on who I'm against, but rather what we can do and how we are going to do it. I've been true to both equity and my commitment to fight for urbanism that respects and uplifts human dignity. I've treated people with respect and got things done. I know there is so much work to do, that's exactly why I am running for Assembly.

We know better than anywhere, here in the community that I represent now especially in the Tenderloin, SoMA, and Treasure Island, when the state fails, when other cities and counties fail to take care of people, they often end up here. We can't continue to accept that. We will take care of everyone that we can, but at some point we have to go up the river and build the systems, housing and services so that people aren't tossed aside.

The destructive forces of hate, discrimination, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, transphobia, inequality are what we are up against, together with an inertia that stands against changes to our way of life that some people may fear but are needed to ensure an equitable and sustainable future. I believe we can grow the circle of compassion and creativity to build a future where no one is discarded. With determination, hard work, and innovation, our state can provide that leadership, and together I believe our city's representatives in Sacramento can lead that fight.

What is your #1 policy goal?

My top policy goal is addressing homelessness and our state's chronic housing shortage. My priority in housing is long-term increases in the housing stock, particularly affordable housing, and immediate housing solutions for our renters, homeowners, and those who are homeless or vulnerable to losing their housing right now. We cannot accept that other cities and counties are not building housing or providing services for people experiencing homelessness. Those solutions have to be statewide, including tenant protections, rapid rehousing assistance, mental health services and treatment beds, eviction defense assistance, supportive, affordable and housing of all types. We need bold solutions to tackle this crisis and I'm eager to take what I've learned in San Francisco to the state level and bring back new investments for services here in San Francisco.

How will you build the coalition and political capital to enact your #1 goal?

I am a creative problem solver and organizer committed to advancing a progressive agenda. I understand how to navigate complex political and strategic challenges and win. My goal in Sacramento is to build bridges with other legislators and broader labor and organizational coalitions, and to guide a strategic and thoughtful approach to advancing a bold, equity based, progressive agenda. I have been building momentum in the fight to end homelessness, housing shortages, and inequality throughout my tenure as Supervisor, and especially during the pandemic I've been on the frontlines. I will be a loud voice and advocate for my constituents and champion the needs of San Franciscans in AD17.

Will the power of the office of State Assembly be enough to achieve this goal?

Yes.

Assemblymember Chiu has vowed to continue working on some bills of his like AB550 (automated speed enforcement) which did not get through the Legislature this year. What will you continue, and what will you change from the previous office holder?

100 other U.S. cities have already implemented speed safety programs and in New York they have been a key contributor to reducing pedestrian deaths by 25%. San Francisco would greatly benefit from having a speed safety system of its own to improve pedestrian safety in the city. AB 550 would create a pilot speed safety program in not only San Francisco but also Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Jose on the busiest streets with the highest crash rates. As previously mentioned, I've been able to pass legislation to improve pedestrian safety and limit traffic related deaths and injuries in District 6 while on the Board and I hope to do the same while in the State Assembly. I led our work to reduce speed limits in the Tenderloin and would work to expand that work.

Assemblymember Chiu has done much to achieve progress on housing, addressing homelessness, tenants rights, transportation, education, public safety, and police accountability. I am grateful for the work he has done during his time in office and believe I am the best candidate to continue that work.

I will be a strong progressive, as he has been, and I will also deliver for San Francisco, have an open door to work with and hear from all of my constituents and services, and have strong constituent services. San Francisco deserves someone in Sacramento who is progressive and delivers, I've done that in all of my work locally, Assemblymember Chiu has done that, and I would continue that approach and track record. The Assemblymember who represents AD17 has to represent all of our constituents, and I will do that. I want to especially note that Assemblymember Chiu's work on homelessness, housing, transportation, stopping hate and violence against the AAPI community, and tenant protections are areas where I am fully committed to continuing.

What are your #2 and #3 policy goals?

My next top priorities are addressing climate change and tackling the growing economic and racial inequality in our state.

It is imperative that we take much bolder, sweeping actions to target the climate crisis. Climate change is a public health emergency and an existential threat to humanity. San Francisco is among the first cities to require city departments to report their greenhouse gas emissions with our Climate Action Plan, and I fought vigorously to achieve full enrollment in CleanPowerSF to advance our goal of phasing out fossil fuels and divesting from fossil fuel investments. As Board of Education President, I authored a resolution to significantly reduce water and energy use, and achieve carbon neutrality at the San Francisco Unified School District. As Budget Chair on the Board, I supported investments into funding a climate action study and an environmental justice grants program, as well as funding towards the launch of a Clean Energy/Climate Equity Hub, which will serve as a centralized resource for information, assistance, and resource for existing-building electrification.

However, we can only adequately address this issue at the state and federal level. We need to aggressively move towards our clean energy goals and standards and stop fracking and oil production. We also must move more aggressively to build public infrastructure, transportation and housing to allow people to live near where they work. We need dramatically less vehicles on the road and less emissions from vehicles. And we need deep investments in green jobs so that we can both build up our state and build the middle class. This will require bold leadership that is unafraid to make dramatic changes to build a better future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only sharpened the disparities and inequities in our city and state. Billionaires and big corporations have made more profits than ever, and still our public services and systems like schools are struggling, working families are not making enough to live in our city, and too many people lack access to child care, family care, health care or essential services. We have the resources as a state to provide for all of our people. This will require big corporations and the wealthiest to pay their fair share, and for us to invest in lifting everyone up through high quality, high skilled, high paying jobs, so that all of our residents can thrive. I will be a strong and vocal proponent for guaranteed income, and created a guaranteed income task force here in San Francisco, and will work to simplify and and hold accountable our social safety net to deliver for vulnerable people. We should eliminate programs that are not working and put money directly in the hands of those who most need the support.

Will the power of the office of State Assembly be enough to achieve these goals?

Yes.

What is an existing policy you would like to reform?

Prop 13, the Ellis Act, Costa Hawkins, and any policy that allows cities and counties to refuse to build housing and services for people experiencing homelessness.