Laurance Lee
- Office: DCCC, Assembly District 17
- Election Date: March 5, 2024
- Candidate: Laurance Lee
- 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.
Table of Contents
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? | X | |
| Should all students in 7th grade have access to algebra, if they want it? | X | |
| Should all high school students have access to AP courses? | X | |
| Should the Party adopt or support policies that promote making algebra available to 8th graders? | ||
| 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. | X |
Explain why you did or did not support the recall of each member: YES I supported the recall of all members. Kids were not doing well at home on Zoom. The recalled Commissioners never acknowledged such pain to families. And there were many other reasons.
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free: The SF Democratic Party should adopt or support 8th grade algebra policies if necessary. They can do better focusing on registering voters, approving Democratic clubs, and doing common sense endorsements. Meetings need not be so long and painful. Let's focus on fixing our reputation.
Business
| Should San Francisco… | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Reduce the time to obtain all permits to open a new business to no more than 3 months? | X | |
| Reduce the cost of obtaining permits to open a new business? | X | |
| Reduce the number of activities which must obtain permits, and expand the number of by-right activities? | X | |
| 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? | X |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
Public Safety
| Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
| Do you think that property crime in San Francisco is too high? | X | |
| Do you support policies commonly referred to as "defund the police"? | X | |
| Should the Party adopt or support policies that promote a fully-funded and fully-staffed police department? | ||
| Should police funding be from the general fund, rather than via special taxes and set-asides? | X | |
| Did you support the recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin? |
Please explain why you did or did not support the recall of DA Chesa Boudin:
I had no opinion on Boudin's recall. Boudin did a lot to advance better oversight of police excesses and abuses, as well as reducing incarceration as an option. Boudin also could have done better in handling cases of assaults to asian seniors. I was sympathetic to arguments on both sides of the recall.
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
Both increasing police staffing and a well managed city budget are critical to a thriving city. A fully -funded and fully-staffed police department is a worthwhile goal. There will need to be so many trade-offs to make such a goal work in the short term that I can't comfortably make such an idea be one I can confidently state Yes or No on at this time.
Housing
| Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
| Is it too difficult to build market rate housing in San Francisco? | X | |
| Is it too difficult to build subsidized housing in San Francisco? | X | |
| Should the Party adopt or support policies that make it easier, faster, and/or cheaper to build market rate housing in San Francisco? | X | |
| Should the Party adopt or support policies that make it easier, faster, and/or cheaper to build subsidized housing in San Francisco? | X | |
| 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) | X | |
| Should the Party adopt or support policies that would abolish the existing limits on height, density, and bulk for residential buildings? | X |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
Drugs
| Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
| Should San Francisco arrest and prosecute fentanyl dealers? | X | |
| 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)? | X | |
| Should the Party adopt or support policies promoting "safe consumption" sites without altering existing laws and lax enforcement around open-air usage? | ||
| 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) |
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? | ||
| 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)? |
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? | X | |
| Should the Party adopt or support policies requiring SFMTA and BART to enforce fare payment? | ||
| Recent state funding requires Muni and BART to enforce fare payments in order to receive funding; do you agree with this requirement? | X |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
General questions
What needs to change with the Party?
The SF Democratic Party needs to do its job with common sense and listen to the majority of the voters. It is not doing so now.
What are the top three issues facing San Francisco, and what would you like to see change? 1) Support families, particularly public education and workforce development. I am a graduate of SF public schools and would love families to have their kids find jobs in the City. 2) Better public safety. Let's help figure out ways that we can make us all feel safer walking the streets, shopping at small businesses, and thinking about our personal property. 3) Encourage means to build more housing at all levels across the City. As a professional general contractor and real estate professional, I can't help but notice how little construction activity happens because it is so expensive and cumbersome to do so. Let's make it easier so that families of all incomes can own homes.
Tell us one thing you think needs to change in SF that the average voter wouldn't know about.
Many electeds and department leaders need to stop being the problem. The Safai police staffing proposal on the March ballot is one example as it makes the funding more complicated. The Valencia Street bike lane implemented by the MTA is another example.
If you see any errors on this page, please let us know at contact@growsf.org.