Author: timwayne

Hello! The San Francisco Berniecrats are reaching out to your campaign with the opportunity to submit answers to our Endorsement Questionnaire! Please answer the following questions to the best & trust of your ability, and our Endorsement Committee will review the answers to help our decision on which candidate to recommend or endorse for the upcoming election, based on our mission and values.

1. If elected, what will you do to address the housing crisis in San Francisco and California? Did you support 2021’s SBs 9 and 10? Would you fight for higher affordability requirements in upzoning legislation and, if so, what would those be?

For decades, California has suffered from an extreme housing crisis. We need more affordable housing in California, not just more luxury housing. And we need housing that will not contribute to environmental degradation, traffic gridlock and most importantly, displacement. While I think there are many beneficial elements to SB 9 and SB 10, these bills need to be improved with bolder proposals to create affordable housing, requirements that housing is near transit or supported by transit improvements, and most of all, that these bills do not become legal cover for mass displacement of low-income families. We have seen the terrible history of “redevelopment” in San Francisco which became an excuse for removing and erasing communities of color. Giving private developers a virtual blank check to build in low income communities without the consent of those communities is dangerous – and we should amend both of those bills to make them work as intended.

2. If elected, what would you do to fund and support social housing (AB 387), and specifically municipal social housing? Did you support November 2020 Propositions I and K? Do you support the large-scale decommodification of housing?

I have and will continue to support the funding of social housing, and I was proud to support Supervisor Dean Preston’s efforts to make San Francisco the model for what it means to unlock the keys to social housing and create a city that looks at what it can do to solve a historic housing crisis and not just at what it can’t do. I publicly supported Propositions I and K in the November 2020 election. In fact, I oversaw the San Francisco Democratic Party’s official endorsement of the two measures as its Chair in 2020 and made sure that the Board supported these two propositions. I also worked on mailers and mobilizations for Propositions I and K as

Chair of the Party.

I support the large-scale decommodification of housing. We need to start treating affordable housing as the ultimate solution for homelessness and other social inequities, instead of a profitable market that only serves the wealthy. Instead, we must look towards alternative housing models—that protect incumbent tenants from exorbitant rent increases and gentrification — to create secure and affordable housing for generations to come.

3. If elected, will you support CalCare (AB 1400)? What will you do to ensure that CalCare passes through the state legislature in 2022? Do you support California having a single-payer healthcare system, including undocumented Californians?

Healthcare has consistently been one of my top priorities throughout my career. I believe our state has a long way to go in expanding access to healthcare, particularly in addressing the racial inequities that impact marginalized groups.

If elected, I would support CalCare, and I will do everything in my power as a member of the State Assembly to ensure that it passes through the State Legislature in 2022. I will unequivocally voice my public opinion on this stance, join the coauthors of the bill to vote for its passing, and should it not pass, I would seek reconsideration. I wholeheartedly support the creation of a single payer system.

It is unconscionable that we don’t have single-payer in our state, especially considering our Democratic supermajority. I believe that the broad range of experiences I have had, as an undocumented immigrant without health security; as a local elected official fighting against sub-standard employers and profit-seeking health care corporations to preserve and expand access to quality health care services and good health care jobs for uninsured, underinsured, and historically underserved immigrants and other low and middle-income constituents; and as a county administrator charged with advancing equity and social justice during the worst pandemic in a century, uniquely qualify me to be an effective advocate for single payer.

4. If elected, what will you do to ensure California addresses the climate crisis? Will you support the California Green New Deal (AB 1839) in 2022, and fight for investments in public transit? Do you support a ban on fracking? How would you start a statewide conversation on decarbonization with CADEM leadership, building trades, and other elected officials?

California needs a Green New Deal. If elected, I will proudly sign on in support of AB1839. Cleaning up our environment with a Green New Deal will do more than fight climate change. It will fight poverty with green jobs typically paying much more than a living wage. It will fight crime with crime rates plummeting for people with stable, family-sustaining jobs. And it will fight diseases like cancer, diabetes, asthma and even COVID-19, which we know are made worse by wildfire smoke and air pollution.

As a Supervisor, I often fought to make sure that environmental issues, and the health of our communities were considered in tandem and given equal standing with economic considerations, especially when it came to land use approvals and business licensing decisions. I opposed development projects such as the Hunters Point Shipyard development in Bayview Hunters Point by Lennar and supported shutting down PG&E’s polluting peaker plants for that very reason. One of my proudest achievements as a Supervisor was authoring the landmark legislation that established Clean Power SF, the community choice aggregation program which competes with PG&E and offers customers like myself 100% clean energy in San Francisco. It is for this very reason that I was also proud to pass Free Muni for Low Income Youth, to enhance access to our public transportation system and reduce our reliance on driving.

As the elected chair of the California Democratic Party, I ran as the progressive candidate, championing progressive policies like the Green New Deal. Just as I have done on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, I am committed to turning the party into one that fights unapologetically for progressive policies, elects unapologetically progressive candidates, and builds an unapologetically progressive state. To that end, I oppose CADEM accepting money from fossil fuel interests, and am actively working with our leadership to end the practice.

As an Assemblymember, I will collaborate with legislative colleagues, environmental advocates, and community stakeholders to set more aggressive target dates and amounts for the reduction of greenhouse emissions in California, with an emphasis on ensuring that such reductions do not occur on paper alone. We must reduce the disproportionate burden of pollution in California’s low-income communities and communities of color. While serving on the Board of Supervisors, as San Francisco’s representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, I worked to ensure proper implementation of existing state legislation designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Bay Area.

Additionally, I support a ban on fracking. I do believe that in the process of developing such a ban, we should work with labor partners to make sure that they have a role in the development and implementation of the ban to ensure the protection of workers who have retired from or are currently working in that industry.

5. If elected, how will you support public education and our educators? Do you support increasing funding for K-12, ensuring free public college for all (CCC, CSU, UC), and fighting against the privatization of our education system? How will you attract more public school educators to address the statewide shortage?

Improving our education system is fundamental to addressing and uprooting the inequities of our society. An education system that gives all of our children an equitable start would lead to better

economic and social outcomes for individuals, for our region, and ultimately our nation— something I saw first hand as serving as the General Counsel for the San Francisco Public School System, where I oversaw implementation of a federal Consent Decree to ensure equal opportunity for students of color in San Francisco Unified. I would continue my support of public education and educators on a state-wide platform as an Assemblymember. I wholeheartedly support increasing funding for K-12 education.

As a San Francisco District Supervisor, I supported and fought for legislation making city college free for all— I intend to ensure free public college for all Californians as well. I also will fight against the privatization of our education system— I believe that education should act as an equalizer and there should be no financial barriers or exclusion in our public education system. I hope that fighting for an increase in funding for K-12 education— including a well-deserved and well-overdue pay raise for educators— will attract more educators and address the statewide shortage.

But a critical component of school funding is property tax reform. We need a split roll now. I was a huge supporter of Prop 15 last year, and was deeply saddened by its narrow failure that denied our schools and communities funds that they are in dire need of. Before Proposition 13 passed, around ⅓ of property taxes were paid by individuals and ⅔ by businesses. Today those numbers are reversed and it is hurting our children by shrinking the pool of money available for vital public services. Corporations in California need to pay their fair share, and when I am in the Assembly I will make sure they do.

6. If elected, how will you fight socioeconomic inequity in California? Do you support implementing a wealth tax (AB 1253), in addition to getting rid of corporate dark money in elections (AB 20)?

Yes, I support both AB 1253 and the Corporate-Free Elections Act (AB 20).

We must ensure that those who have the greatest means pay their fair share in our society. Consistent with that principle, at the local level, I have supported taxing the wealthy, including wealthy corporations to provide for basic services for the neediest among us. As San Francisco Supervisor, I voted against the Twitter Tax Break, and when that vote failed, I created the Legacy Business Program to help small businesses that were struggling to stay open during the “Great Recession” in the aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis. As Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, I was proud to lead in the successful passage of Proposition C, which taxed top earning corporations in San Francisco to pay for homeless services. I would support similar efforts at the state level.

I also believe that fair elections are elections that are free of money from corporations, big businesses, and corrupt special interests. This is why I have voiced my support for legislation like the Corporate-Free Elections Act (AB 20) which prohibits a candidate for elected office in

California from receiving a contribution from a business entity, and a business entity from making a contribution to a candidate for elective office. I am committed to preventing corporate, special interest money from flooding into electoral races, and I am committed to calling out and holding corporations and candidates accountable who condone and support what, in my view, is the buying of elections here in San Francisco, and across the state.

I am currently the only candidate who has publicly committed to running a corporate-free campaign. My campaign will not accept any money from corporate interests.

7. If elected, how will you help get progressives elected into office, up and down the ballot? How did you / would you handle seats being vacated by you running for another office or terming out (in the past, present and/or in the future)?

I know that the work that needs to be done can’t be done alone, and that we need to bring more progressive leaders to the table. Throughout my career I have always been a champion for progressive organizers and community leaders ready to make the jump to elected office. As a Supervisor, County Party Chair, or State Party Vice Chair, I have never been afraid to lend my time, money, and early pubIic support to progressive champions like Dean Preston, Chesa Boudin, and Jackie Fielder, all of whom are supporting me in this race because they know I won’t hesitate to advance our shared progressive agenda at the state level.

There are many interests working to keep progressives out of power. That is why it is so important that when we term out or ascend to higher office, we do everything in our power to make sure we are succeeded by someone who shares our values. In 2016, I fully supported and helped Supervisor Ronen get elected. In the race to succeed myself as Chair of the SF Democratic Party, I was proud to support and help Honey Mahogany, the first Black transgender member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, get elected as a Chair of the SF Democratic Party. She has the progressive values we need to make sure the SFDCCC endorses candidates that reflect our progressive ideals.

8. As the SF DCCC, UESF, and several major SF democratic clubs have passed resolutions opposing the Republican-funded recall elections, how do you plan on supporting our D.A. and Board of Education against the potential recalls, to safeguard the rights of voters to choose who represents the people of San Francisco?

Republicans are abusing recalls at both the state and local level to undermine our democracy. Barring egregious misconduct, elected officials should be allowed to serve the term that the voters elected them to serve. As Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, I supported a resolution in May to publicly condemn all of the recall efforts, and will continue to be a loud voice of opposition to the recall of Chesa Boudin. I am also against the recall of BoE President Gabriela López and Vice President Faauuga Moliga. However, when I receive my ballot I will be voting to recall Member Alison Collins. I could not stand in solidarity with my Asian American

husband and vote otherwise.

9. Is there anything else you’d like to add that our Endorsement Committee should know that could assist us in endorsing a candidate that represents our values?

I’m proud to say that during my tenure representing District 9 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, I established myself as the most progressive voice on the Board, and as a fearless fighter for the underdog, including working on the following:

● Protected San Francisco’s Healthcare Care Security Ordinance against efforts by the business community to pocket tens of millions of dollars per year that should have gone to provide healthcare for their workers.

● Working closely with allies, I helped lead the fight against CMPC’s effort to close St. Luke’s hospital and build the CPMC Van Ness Campus union-free, eventually working to put together an agreement that ensured the building of a world class hospital at the Bernal/Mission Campus, and helping nurses successfully maintain and expand their union.

● Enacted landmark pay equity legislation to ensure pay equity for women and people of color who work for City government.

Every one of my progressive accomplishments is the result of broad coalition building with community activists and stakeholders to fight for results that move our city and state in a more progressive, equitable, and inclusive direction.

And as a proud and vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, I would be proud to earn the support of the San Francisco Berniecrats.

Hello! The San Francisco Berniecrats are reaching out to your campaign with the opportunity to submit answers to our Endorsement Questionnaire! Please answer the following questions to the best & truest of your ability, and our Endorsement Committee will review the answers to help our decision on which candidate to recommend or endorse for the upcoming election, based on our mission and values.

1. If elected, what will you do to address the housing crisis in San Francisco and California? Did you support 2021’s SBs 9 and 10? Would you fight for higher affordability requirements in upzoning legislation and, if so, what would those be?

San Francisco and California are facing a housing crisis due to a lack of needed investment in social and affordable housing, exclusionary and racist zoning practices, and skyrocketing rental prices. I have proven in my time as a Supervisor that I am committed to expanding our affordable housing stock dramatically. More housing for low and middle income people is being built in District 6 than in any other district, by far. I have consistently championed efforts to increase investments in affordable housing and social housing, purchase new buildings and small sites, and expand tenant protections.

I worked alongside affordable housing advocates and the labor community to introduce “Housing for SF Workers” to the Board. This legislation passed unanimously and will create almost $400 million in funding to generate 1,000 new units for San Francisco’s low-to-middle income workers and 715 units for individuals experiencing homelessness over the next 7 years. I also sponsored the Affordable Homes for Educators and Families NOW initiative in November 2019 along with members of the SF teachers’ union, city college faculty unions, and non-profit affordable housing developers. This initiative passed with 76% support of the voters and, along with a $600 million affordable housing bond, is the most comprehensive housing reform package San Francisco has seen in recent years. This measure will generate hundreds of opportunities for affordable housing projects through San Francisco, and keep our educators and families housed. This is the kind of work that we have to do at both the local and state level to confront our housing crisis.

I have done everything I can in San Francisco to advance affordable housing, but in order for this crisis to be effectively addressed we need to ramp up our efforts at the state level. As an Assemblymember, I will actively work towards ending exclusionary and racist zoning policies, and support upzoning legislation that is combined with efforts to advance housing equity in the state. The state must take an approach to the housing crisis that puts the needs of the people and working class families first — that is why, if elected, I will work closely with affordable housing advocates and low-to-middle income working families to advocate on their behalf in the State Assembly. I’ll be a champion for zoning reform that makes it easier and quicker, with greater accountability, to build affordable social housing. I’ll explore legislation that will upzone areas where there has been little to no housing production, such as commercial corridors, while closely paying attention to the preservation of historic neighborhoods, potential impacts of gentrification,

and the need to expand affordable housing. Yes, I supported SB 9 and SB 10, but more work has to be done.

We must also demand the repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which has restricted city officials from being able to enact rent control or set rent caps on units constructed after February 1995, and it exempts single-family homes and condos from rent control restrictions. We must push for further legislation that will put an end to exclusionary zoning, repeal Costa-Hawkins and the Ellis Act, ensure everyone has access to eviction defense attorneys, and generate greater state investments to build affordable and social housing across the state.

2. If elected, what would you do to fund and support social housing (AB 387), and specifically municipal social housing? Did you support November 2020 Propositions I and K? Do you support the large-scale decommodification of housing?

I am prepared to be a fierce advocate for social housing and supportive housing if elected to the State Assembly. I am proud of Assemblymember Lee for introducing AB 387 in the legislature, and I believe that it’s the right approach towards tackling the housing crisis. Social housing programs are a tried-and-true solution that have been successfully implemented throughout the world. California has the unique opportunity to lead the nation in adopting a housing model that invests in communities, supports affordable living costs, and promotes the maintenance of housing properties as private developers’ profit-driven motives are taken out of the equation. I will listen to affordable and social housing advocacy groups who know what’s best for California’s housing affordability. Lastly, I am interested in the possibility of imposing and utilizing a state wealth tax to help fund social housing.

I was a vocal supporter of Propositions I and K on the November 2020 ballot. Proposition I was an urgent measure as it generates millions in emergency funds to help those who have suffered most during the pandemic by increasing the transfer tax rate on real estate sales to invest in social housing and tenant assistance. Meanwhile, Proposition K allows the city to build or acquire 10,000 units of low-income housing in San Francisco, which is a necessary investment for the sustainable future of our city. Prop K is vital to reducing the cost of housing in San Francisco to ensure working people and families can afford to live in the city. Having access to adequate and affordable housing is a fundamental right. I believe that we need to re-envision housing in a way that ensures every member of society has access to affordable housing.

3. If elected, will you support CalCare (AB 1400)? What will you do to ensure that CalCare passes through the state legislature in 2022? Do you support California having a single-payer healthcare system, including undocumented Californians?

Yes, I am a strong proponent of single-payer health care for California and I am ready to be a fierce advocate for it if elected to the Assembly. After COVID-19 left millions of Americans jobless and without insurance, we have an especially urgent duty to ensure our residents have access to health care as a human right. I supported AB 1400 California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act (CalCare) when it was introduced by Assemblymember Kalra earlier this year, joining Medicare for All rallies here in San Francisco and co-sponsoring resolutions in support of the bill. I was disappointed to see the bill held without being heard in a policy committee. I will do all that I can to be a champion for AB 1400 as an Assemblymember.

I support AB 1400, and am proud to have Assemblymember Kalra’s sole endorsement in this election. I would not support efforts by others to undermine AB 1400 or initiate an entirely new effort. I will stand with Assemblymember Kalra in fighting for AB 1400. Assemblymember Kalra and I have already been coordinating to plan a town hall on the bill in the coming months — he believes that I would be the

strongest partner that San Francisco could send to the State Assembly to join him in the most important health care fight in our state. San Francisco has long been a home for much of the activism for Medicare For All, and it is critical that you have not only a supporter, but a champion for this bill.

I will be aggressively committed to achieving affordable, quality coverage for all, regardless of immigration status. I’m willing to bring different stakeholders to the table and be a mediator to actually deliver on our goals. If any place can do it, it’s California, and I’m eager to be in this fight.

4. If elected, what will you do to ensure California addresses the climate crisis? Will you support the California Green New Deal (AB 1839) in 2022, and fight for investments in public transit? Do you support a ban on fracking? How would you start a statewide conversation on decarbonization with CADEM leadership, building trades, and other elected officials?

We have simply not done enough as a state to act with urgency and boldness to move quickly and aggressively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move towards clean energy. Climate change is a public health emergency, and I will stand behind a Green New Deal that advances these goals. There is no question that our environment impacts our individual and collective health in multiple ways, both physical and mental, and it is our elected officials’ responsibility to act urgently to protect our residents.

When communities deal with unhealthy air and pollution it has a direct impact on health, further proving how critical it is to limit this pollution and protect communities. This is especially true for pollution connected to fossil fuels, and one of the reasons why I strongly support our state moving much more aggressively towards clean energy. Our residents deserve transparency, and we must hold our agencies accountable to public health. As a state assemblymember, I would have greater leverage to provide clarity, transparency, and accountability, as well as, most importantly, a safe, clean and healthy environment for all, with a special focus on how low income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted.

Governor Newsom has pledged to stop issuing fracking permits by 2024, which is great news, but our state cannot wait years for change. It must happen now. We have to take action now to save our environment. Beyond improving our energy efficiency and infrastructure, it is critical that we are heavily investing in our public transportation systems, like high speed rail and clean buses, to meet our greenhouse gas reduction goals. One of my early and continued priorities is the expansion of bike infrastructure in District 6. The District saw the largest expansion of protected bike lanes in the city.. As we continue to grow, it will be my top priority to make sure we develop environmentally and economically sustainable communities.

I am proud that San Francisco is among the first cities requiring city departments to report their greenhouse gas emissions with our Climate Action Plan, and I worked hard to achieve full enrollment in CleanPowerSF and advance our goals of phasing out fossil fuels, including fully divesting. However, we need these advancements to occur at the state level to truly achieve our goals. I have the experience necessary to make this happen, and will champion innovative solutions to combat climate change and other environmental threats.

5. If elected, how will you support public education and our educators? Do you support increasing funding for K-12, ensuring free public college for all (CCC, CSU, UC), and fighting against the privatization of our education system? How will you attract more public school educators to address the statewide shortage?

I am a proud product of Bay Area K-12 public schools, and hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. I was elected twice to the San Francisco Board of Education, and served as President and Budget Chair. While on the Board of Education I authored the transformational “Safe and Supportive Schools” policy which is viewed as the national standard for solutions not suspensions, cutting suspensions in SFUSD by over 50%, moved forward housing for teachers, and wrote the policy to expand computer science education to all students in schools. I was the only school board member to have visited all 113 public K-12 schools in San Francisco. I am passionate about ensuring that our students receive high quality, equitable public education statewide, and our teachers are supported, fully staffed, and able to live in the cities they teach in. As your Assemblymember, I would be able to pass progressive policies, like those I was able to develop on the Board of Education, at the state level.

After law school, I turned down a job at a big law firm, and instead chose to work as an advocate for public higher education. As the executive director of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), I demonstrated my commitment to public higher education by helping lead the California student movement following the 2008 recession during an incredibly challenging time for higher education. When one student disengages due to a lack of funding and agency in their own educational experience, we all lose out. With California’s diversity, resources, and community of innovation, our schools should lead the movement for 21st century quality higher education for every student.

I firmly believe that higher education should be funded as a public good. Private colleges limit accessibility, and they alone cannot support the educational needs of our state. Fully funded, affordable, accessible, public education is absolutely essential and should be made available to every person who wants it and needs it. This is critical for ensuring that our diverse population has access to education and can help to address economic and racial inequality. It is something we all benefit from, and it is not something that the market can provide for.

The disinvestment from our state’s higher education system is brutal and unacceptable, and has driven educators away from the profession. The fact is that funding levels matter: they allow us to increase enrollment, ensure access to classes and services, high quality facilities, and faculty and staff that are permanent and fully supported. When the state disinvests from public higher education, we all suffer. One of the best investments we can make as a state is in public higher education, as the return on investment for our future is tremendous.

While serving as the Executive Director of the UC Student Association, we worked hand in hand with CSU, UC and community college students to increase funding for the system. I led marches and advocacy days alongside CSU, UC and community college faculty and students. While I served on the Board of Education, I chaired our joint committee with City College, and there we worked with SF State to support our broader higher education systems. I have a deep and firsthand understanding of how to fight for funding increases, and against budget cuts, and win.

Public funding for higher education also entails forgiving student loans and increasing subsidized and

fully funded higher education for our students. I firmly believe that President Biden should commit to forgiving all student debt. $1.6 trillion dollars in student loan debt is reckless, unsustainable, and prevents millions of mostly young Americans from reaching financial independence, funneling wealth rapidly to the top one percent. We need state and federal solutions to ensure all of our students can pursue higher education without crushing financial debt. Debt-free and tuition-free college must be made a reality in California.

During the current strained budget times, it is also critically important that we treat our educators and staff as partners, and we keep them informed and involved in all budget or policy changes. As an Assemblymember, I will be able to hit the ground running as a champion for the public education system and our teachers, bringing my experience as a Board of Education commissioner, student advocate, policy analyst, organizer and advocate to protect, strengthen and grow public education.

6. If elected, how will you fight socioeconomic inequity in California? Do you support implementing a wealth tax (AB 1253), in addition to getting rid of corporate dark money in elections (AB 20)?

Everything should be on the table to fight wealth inequality and fund critical public institutions and social safety net services, including the AB 1253 wealth tax (which I strongly support), increased income tax on high income earners, corporate tax, increased commercial property tax via Prop 13 reform, or gross receipts taxes. I have a track record of doing that, with the Overpaid Executive Tax (“CEO Tax”), and with other local tax measures that I’ve led here in San Francisco, and I would bring that same leadership to Sacramento.

San Francisco is one of the most unequal cities in the country. We saw this inequity skyrocket as thousands of residents across the city lost their jobs during the pandemic, while the biggest companies continued to make billions of dollars. At the same time, we have been struggling to pay our healthcare workers and hire more nurses, mental health workers, and other frontline workers. In the face of inaction from the national and state government, I created an avenue to let the city act on its own by introducing the Overpaid Executive Tax (Prop L), which voters passed with overwhelming numbers in the 2020 election. The measure created a tax on companies who have CEOs that make more than 100 times the median salary of their employees. I am committed to championing a similar effort at the state level.

Yes, I support AB 20, and efforts to rid corporate dark money from elections.

7. If elected, how will you help get progressives elected into office, up and down the ballot? How did you / would you handle seats being vacated by you running for another office or terming out (in the past, present and/or in the future)?

I am a loud supporter of our progressive allies at all levels of government, and will continue to be as an Assemblymember. I have taken advantage of every opportunity to work on campaigns and volunteer in support of my colleagues.

I have spent a great deal of time working directly with young people throughout my career, elevating their early work and futures as the leaders of our city, state, country, and beyond. I have been a tutor and mentor at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and taught in summer and afterschool programs, which helped me understand early in my career the importance of not only mentorship, but all supportive efforts

to elevate our young people to progressive leadership roles. As the Executive Director of the UC Student Association, I led training and popular education for thousands of students, working to ensure that young people could have a strong organized voice in the political process.

As District Supervisor I have been fortunate to work with a wide range of progressive fellows and interns, who I am committed to supporting throughout their work in my office and beyond. I am even luckier to have been able to connect many of my interns to full-time positions after their work with the district, pushing them closer to the ability to run for office themselves. Ensuring that these young people are consistently afforded opportunities to grow and test their skills is a priority in all of the work I do.

I fully understand that as an ally representing an Assembly District with a large LGBTQ+ population, it is critical for me to be a loud, vocal, consistent, champion for the community and I am fully committed to that. This is something that I have done in every role I have had, and I will take that responsibility with the highest level of commitment as an Assemblymember. In accordance, I am committed to ensuring that my successor in my Supervisor seat is a progressive, LGBTQ+ person of color.

8. As the SF DCCC, UESF, and several major SF democratic clubs have passed resolutions opposing the Republican-funded recall elections, how do you plan on supporting our D.A. and Board of Education against the potential recalls, to safeguard the rights of voters to choose who represents the people of San Francisco?

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 believe that the best time for us to vote for our elected officials is during regularly scheduled elections, when voters can choose between various candidates and make an informed choice. I did not sign any of the recall petitions and opposed putting any recalls 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 in my view disqualifying for a sitting school board member. Further, Commissioner Collins believed that the school district, which has a deficit, should pay her personally $87 million dollars. That is a position, considering the needs of our children, that I believe is egregious, and demonstrates a betrayal of the students and educators of SFUSD. $87 million could pay for urgently needed support services for our neediest students. I have nothing against Commissioner Collins personally, and respect her years of advocacy, but as a former school board member myself, I cannot fathom how someone would believe that we should take money directly from our school and hardworking educators and put it in their own pocket. I believe it is the opposite of progressive to believe that money should be taken from our starving public schools and given to you with legal claims that were clearly frivolous, and force the school district to spend time, energy and resources on that. Only now that the recall has qualified, I will vote yes on the recall of Alison Collins for these reasons.

I do not support the recall of Gabriela Lopez and Faauuga Moliga and will continue to voice my support for anti-recall efforts. I am also opposed to the recall of the District Attorney, I am listed in opposition publicly, and will vote no and advocate for others to vote no. We must safeguard our voters’ rights and the democratic process.

9. Is there anything else you’d like to add that our Endorsement Committee should know that

could assist us in endorsing a candidate that represents our values?

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 and services, taxing billionaires and big corporations, standing with organized labor and workers, calling out corruption, 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 social housing, transit and clean energy infrastructure, dramatically grow the social safety net to protect the most vulnerable, force big corporations and billionaires to pay their fair share, and strengthen the pipeline to middle class union jobs

I was raised here in the Bay Area by a single mom. I went to public schools and a 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, ending racist school discipline policies, 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 just cause eviction protections, facilitated over 5,000 new units of housing in my district, and oversaw record investments in housing, health care, 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 affordable 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, 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.

As Supervisor, 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.

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. But we can grow the circle of compassion so that no one is discarded. With determination, hard work, and innovation, our state can provide that leadership, and together I believe our community can lead that fight. I would love to be in this fight with you all, the San Francisco Berniecrats, and I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish together.

Hello! The San Francisco Berniecrats are reaching out to your campaign with the opportunity to submit answers to our Endorsement Questionnaire! Please answer the following questions to the best & truest of your ability, and our Endorsement Committee will review the answers to help our decision on which candidate to recommend or endorse for the upcoming election, based on our mission and values.

1. If elected, what will you do to address the housing crisis in San Francisco and California? Did you support 2021’s SBs 9 and 10? Would you fight for higher affordability requirements in upzoning legislation and, if so, what would those be?

Housing is one of the largest long-term problems in San Francisco and California. With our newest housing mandates set by the state, we are to build 80,000 new units in the next 8 years. One of the best things we can do as legislators is figure out ways to get the housing built and to make sure we prioritize affordable housing. In our last 8 years, we met our housing goals for market rate, but fell short for both

middle and low-income housing. We are losing our middle class in San Francisco, we are losing our working families and we are losing our lower income workers, forcing them to travel long distances to get the better wages in San Francisco but be housed far away. This is not right, it’s not equitable and it makes for a worse and less diverse San Francisco.

I support SBs 9 & 10 as ways to build more housing more flexibly. I will fight for more housing equality, such as transitional and long-term. As Trustee, I negotiated 50% affordability for two different properties – 33 Gough, currently slated for tiny homes until the 1500 units are built, and Balboa Reservoir. We strived

to get 500 dorm beds for our students as well. While not successful, I have hands-on experience with Francisco. If elected I will continue to strive for housing equality.

I support building 4-plexes on corners with envelopes of one-plexes. I support higher height limits (5-story) along boulevards, like Geary, so we can have active and diverse neighborhoods everywhere. And I support a public bank that can help give mortgages to low and middle-income families so they can realize their dreams of homeownership.

2. If elected, what would you do to fund and support social housing (AB 387), and specifically municipal social housing? Did you support November 2020 Propositions I and K? Do you support the large-scale decommodification of housing?

When I ran for Supervisor in 2011/12, I knocked on a lot of doors. That’s how I found out about St Francis Square, co-op housing in District 5 built by the ILWU to house union members. There are also Eichler apartments very near by that are co-ops, a social housing model that strove to achieve permanent affordability, social equality, and democratic resident control. I have advocated for more co-ops where people are able to live and raise their families and then sell it with a slight profit to the next generation, that is able to live and raise their families if they so desire as well.

I respect that there are those who support decommodification of housing but I think we have to be careful not to make it harder for low and middle income families to access homeownership. For most families, a home is their single largest asset and investment in their future. Indeed, it is the barriers to homeownership (including discriminatory real estate and lending practices) that have reduced access to wealth for people of color. The Urban Institute has rightly noted that the homeownership gap is a direct cause of the wealth gap for Black Americans. I support policies that equalize access to homeownership – and in particular for families that have for too long been shut out.

Prop K is about the city building or taking over 10,000 units of housing. I have reservations about this idea because I’ve observed how the city has failed to maintain the low-income housing they have. I was involved with HOPE SF, which is rebuilding 4 city-owned low-income housing units in the southeast area of the city and making them multi-income and significantly larger. These are great projects, but prior to this being done, residents were living in subhuman and dangerous conditions. When we put legislation on the books, we need to think about the consequences of the legislation. I don’t see anything in that legislation that has talked about how we will be maintaining these buildings.

I supported Prop I, but I have concerns that general funds are not necessarily used for the reasons the campaign says it will be. My real-world experience with Prop W, another increase in the transfer tax that was billed as a way to save City College, was that we (City College Trustees) had to fight for every dime. There is no guarantee the money is actually used for the purpose the campaigners say it will be.

3. If elected, will you support CalCare (AB 1400)? What will you do to ensure that CalCare passes through the state legislature in 2022? Do you support California having a single-payer healthcare system, including undocumented Californians?

Yes. I have supported single payer since I first heard the idea espoused by Bernie Sanders. There are 10 Assembly Members currently sponsoring AB1400 out of 80. So, the first thing I would try to do is get more sponsors. Our Senator and Assemblymembers are currently sponsoring, so I would go to other Assembly Members starting with our region and then moving outwards.

I would also work with a coalition that I hope is already formed of all those essential workers who

did not necessarily have health care during the pandemic like domestic workers along with nurses, our strongest allies, and teachers and unions in general who support AB 1400 and I would urge them to come to Sacramento and show their support. It is one of the great disappointments to me that during COVID there was not a national outcry for single payer, when many workers lost their jobs and therefore their health insurance that the government did not take heed and notice and begin single payer.

4. If elected, what will you do to ensure California addresses the climate crisis? Will you support the California Green New Deal (AB 1839) in 2022, and fight for investments in public transit? Do you support a ban on fracking? How would you start a statewide conversation on decarbonization with CADEM leadership, building trades, and other elected officials?

AB 1839 currently has both COVID just recovery principles with spending rules, and findings around the environment and work including a just transition for labor l. I am in favor of both these ideas and think starting with principles is a great way to go. I did that with our Voices for Public Transportation coalition, where we have a vision and principles that guide our work.

As a long-time advocate for public transportation, I am going to the Assembly partially to do my best to have CA meet or exceed our climate goals. In San Francisco, 47% of all carbon emissions come from cars and trucks. We need to change things quite a bit to reduce these carbon emissions

and it starts with abundant, accessible and affordable public transit and active transportation options.

I support a ban on fracking. Not only does it exacerbate earthquakes, threaten water supplies and use inordinate amounts of water, but it also creates pollution and is the last ditch effort to get more oil and gas out of the ground.

I have already started the conversation with the building trades about decarbonization using their own third party study. That study describes what is needed for unions to break from the fossil fuel industry and turn towards clean energy jobs.

5. If elected, how will you support public education and our educators? Do you support increasing funding for K-12, ensuring free public college for all (CCC, CSU, UC), and fighting against the privatization of our education system? How will you attract more public school educators to address the statewide shortage?

The second reason I am going to the Assembly is to be a champion for public education. I was a

supporter of Proposition 15 and we need to try it again. I support and champion right now additional funding for the K-16 system. The UC system used to get about 85% of its funding from the state, now it’s reversed and it gets about 15%. We should be funding the future for our children, especially community colleges which allow first generation college goers a nurturing entrance into the college system.

If we could provide housing for our teachers at a reasonable rent, we could attract more and diverse teachers. Teacher housing should be a part of our 80,000 units that we will be building in the next 8 years.

I also support “grow your own” programs, which have been proven to get more diverse teachers into the schools. If you grew up in San Francisco, often you have a place to stay that is cheaper than when you rent for the first time coming from another location. That helps.

Finally, paying teachers and others who help educate our children better is imperative. Our childcare workers are often paid less than minimum wage for the most important work–raising young children. If we are going to get the childcare industry back, decimated as it was by Covid, we are going to have to pay living wages to our childcare professionals.

6. If elected, how will you fight socioeconomic inequity in California? Do you support implementing a wealth tax (AB 1253), in addition to getting rid of corporate dark money in elections (AB 20)?

AB 1253 has already passed the Assembly with ⅔ vote and our current Assemblymember David Chiu was one of the 57 Yays. This legislature is now going to the Senate. I support this legislation; some of our wealthiest residents pay a lower effective tax rate than teachers, nurses and child care workers. We need to make sure all Californians are paying their fair share.

I have also been working on looking into progressive revenue sources for transportation funding for the past three years. Voices for Public Transportation found that there are very few ways to raise a LOT of money progressively, but one way to do so is to look at income tax. A few other ways: parking taxes, head taxes, transfer taxes.

I am open to seeing different ideas for funding politics. I like the way they run elections in England, where you can only raise a small amount and you only have a short time to run. In this country, we reward politicians who can raise a lot of money, and can run for office for indefinite time periods because they are wealthy. We are judging viability and therefore fitness to serve on their ability to raise money, not their ability to think straight, stand up for their constituency, and be independent.

7. If elected, how will you help get progressives elected into office, up and down the ballot? How did you / would you handle seats being vacated by you running for another office or terming out (in the past, present and/or in the future)?

I plan to be in the Assembly for the full 12-year term so that I can give the maximum amount of benefit to the people of CA.

I am a big proponent of lifting up others behind you, of mentoring and of looking for people who are not well represented and helping them lift themselves up. I practiced this at City College where I work with the Student Trustees with regular meetings and lunches as well as with new Trustees to help them get the lay of the land and hopefully surpass me in their expertise and skills.

It is one of my disappointments that we have the most powerful women at the highest levels in CA–Speaker and Vice President and Senator, yet we don’t have a good pipeline of women who are in the wings ready to fight for their place at those tables. I am an Emerge graduate, and we are taught to pull people up the ladder after us.

8. As the SF DCCC, UESF, and several major SF democratic clubs have passed resolutions opposing the Republican-funded recall elections, how do you plan on supporting our D.A. and Board of Education against the potential recalls, to safeguard the rights of voters to choose who represents the people of San Francisco?

I will not be opposing the recall of our Board of Education. I have been a consistent supporter of getting the kids back in school. Not only did I advocate for it with data (kids and teachers pre-vaccine in school were getting less sick than out of school most likely because they were so well organized and masked and socially distant), but I felt strongly that disadvantaged students, those with less access to internet, less space, and less tutoring possibilities, were seriously falling behind. This was in fact the case. Our board of education, many of whom I supported in their races, in my opinion should have been paying more attention to the children. They should have been doing the hard work of negotiating with faculty and administrators and seeking ways to get the kids back in school–private schools managed to do it, but we were one of the last districts in the nation to have in person classes.

The behavior of the school board did not change until the recall. So, while in general I believe recalls should be reserved for extraordinary circumstances – criminal action, corruption or dereliction of duty – I think in this case it caused the school board to start paying attention to the very dire problem in front of them, and that was a blessing and the ultimate outcome is up to the voters of San Francisco.

9. Is there anything else you’d like to add that our Endorsement Committee should know that could assist us in endorsing a candidate that represents our values?

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your questionnaire. I recognize we may not agree on our approach to resolving every issue but I’ve always admired the tenacity and energy of the Berniecrats. As a Bernie Sanders voter, I believe you have done much to elevate progressive values and appreciate your hard work.