• Office: DCCC, Assembly District 19
• Election Date: March 5, 2024
• Candidate: Catherine Stefani
• Due Date: December 23, 2023
• Printable Version

Thank you for seeking GrowSF's endorsement for the March 5, 2024 Primary Election! GrowSF believes in a growing, beautiful, vibrant, healthy, safe, and prosperous city via common sense solutions and effective government.

The GrowSF endorsement committee will review all completed questionnaires and seek consensus on which candidates best align with our vision for San Francisco.

We ask that you please complete this questionnaire by December 23, 2023 so we have enough time to adequately review and discuss your answers.

• Questions
  • Education
  • Business
  • Public Safety
  • Housing
  • Drugs
  • Mental Health
  • Public Transit
• General questions

Questions

Please mark the box that best aligns with your position. You may explain any position if you so desire.

Education

	Yes	No
Should all students in 8th grade have access to algebra, if they want it?	Yes
Should all students in 7th grade have access to algebra, if they want it?	Yes
Should all high school students have access to AP courses?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies that promote making algebra available to 8th graders?	Yes
Did you support or oppose the recall of Board of Education members Collins, López, and Moliga? If you supported or opposed a subset, please specify below.	Supported Recall

Explain why you did or did not support the recall of each member:

These members of the Board of Education made decisions time and again that harmed the students they were entrusted to protect. From failing to safely reopen our public schools in a timely manner, wasting time on a school renaming project during a pandemic, ignoring a rapidly expanding budget deficit, to frequently expressing disdain for parent and families, I shared the majority of San Franciscan's frustrations with these members of the Board and supported their recall.

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

Business

Should San Francisco…	Yes	No
Reduce the time to obtain all permits to open a new business to no more than 3 months?	Yes
Reduce the cost of obtaining permits to open a new business?	Yes
Reduce the number of activities which must obtain permits, and expand the number of by-right activities?	Yes
Increase the number of available ABC permits?
Increase the number of available recreational marijuana permits?
Try to attract businesses of all sizes to the City?	Yes

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

I would need to review any proposal to increase ABC or recreational marijuana permits before lending my support. I believe there is a role for members of the community to play in the creation of new permits of this type and would want to ensure that everyone's voice can be heard throughout the process of changing any of our existing ABC or recreational marijuana permit rules.

Public Safety

	Yes	No
Do you think that property crime in San Francisco is too high?	Yes
Do you support policies commonly referred to as "defund the police"?		No
Should the Party adopt or support policies that promote a fully-funded and fully-staffed police department?	Yes
Should police funding be from the general fund, rather than via special taxes and set-asides?	Yes
Did you support the recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin?	Yes

Please explain why you did or did not support the recall of DA Chesa Boudin:

I was the first member of the Board of Supervisors to support the recall of Chesa Boudin as District Attorney. After watching his work for months, it was clear to me that his office had abandoned victims of crime and was in no place to carry out the functions of the District Attorney's office. While in office, Boudin charged 13 out of 131 felony domestic violence cases that were brought to him in the last quarter of 2020 and failed to send a single drug dealer to prison after far too many drug overdoses on our streets. Residents of our city did not feel safe, and Boudin gave them little reason to expect change. I was eager to join the majority of San Franciscans in supporting his recall.

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

Housing

	Yes	No
Is it too difficult to build market rate housing in San Francisco?	Yes
Is it too difficult to build subsidized housing in San Francisco?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies that make it easier, faster, and/or cheaper to build market rate housing in San Francisco?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies that make it easier, faster, and/or cheaper to build subsidized housing in San Francisco?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies that would loosen the existing limits on height, density, and bulk for residential buildings? (ie taller, denser, and fewer/reduced setbacks)	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies that would abolish the existing limits on height, density, and bulk for residential buildings?		No

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

Drugs

	Yes	No
Should San Francisco arrest and prosecute fentanyl dealers?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies that formally request help from the State and Federal governments to bolster our police force (both the officers and the investigators)?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies promoting "safe consumption" sites without altering existing laws and lax enforcement around open-air usage?		No
Should the Party adopt or support policies promoting "safe consumption" sites only if paired with zero-tolerance for open-air usage? (ie consuming drugs like fentanyl on the street would be illegal; and users would be taken to a recovery site until they are sober)	Yes

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

Mental Health

	Yes	No
Should San Francisco place people who are experiencing mental health crises on the streets into involuntary mental health holds at psychiatric facilities?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies that facilitate the construction and operation of mental health facilities, and permit those facilities to treat patients involuntarily if they are deemed to be unable to care for themselves (as determined by a panel of psychiatric professionals)?	Yes

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

Public Transit

	Yes	No
Should SFMTA and BART conduct fare enforcement operations and prosecute fare evaders?	Yes
Should the Party adopt or support policies requiring SFMTA and BART to enforce fare payment?	Yes
Recent state funding requires Muni and BART to enforce fare payments in order to receive funding; do you agree with this requirement?	Yes

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

General questions

What needs to change with the Party?

Our local Democratic party must focus on the matters that matter most to voters in our city and support candidates who are serious about addressing ongoing concerns with public safety, housing, education, and are willing to adopt policies that promote safer and more dynamic neighborhoods for all.

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

Residents are concerned about keeping their families and neighborhoods safe and deserve a local Democratic party that prioritizes public safety at every turn. I have always said that the most basic function of government is to keep its residents safe. We must make meaningful and long-term investments in our police department and get serious about filling vacant positions that play an essential role in keeping residents safe. We can no longer drag our feet on addressing the open-air drug markets on our streets or property crime at our homes and businesses.

San Francisco is also grappling with sky-high housing costs and homelessness. One of the best ways to alleviate homelessness, combat climate change, and provide good jobs is to make sure that we create homes where the demand for housing is greatest and ensure people can stay and thrive in our community. We need to make it as easy as possible to construct the new homes we desperately need for residents at all income levels.

Making lasting progress on any of long-term priorities is incumbent upon a strong public education system that is accessible and meets the needs of our children and families. We need to make investing in schools and teachers a top priority. Our state has one of the largest economies in the world but continues to run well below the national average in per-student funding – so it's no coincidence that California ranks dead last in the number of counselors, nurses and social workers per student. We need to get serious about supporting our schools and ensuring that they are financially stable to continue serving our children for generations to come.

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

We have over 300 vacant positions in the San Francisco police department and they have all already been funded. For years, we have failed to set aside the resources needed to recruit and train for these essential positions. If we're serious about creating a safer and more equitable city for all, we must ensure that our primary agency responsible for public safety is funded and equipped to handle the issues on our streets.