2016 District 1 Supervisor candidates: Top Row, L to R: Sherman D’Silva, Sandra Lee Fewer, Richie Greenberg, David Lee, Jason Jungreis
Bottom row, L to R: Marjan Philhour, Jonathan Lyens, Brian Larkin, Andy Thornley, Samuel Kwong.
The election for a new Richmond District Supervisor is only 33 days away! We have a full field of 10 candidates and so far we have had a few events where the candidates have debated the issues.
We hosted an online poll in September, asking readers to indicate who they would vote for on the District 1 Supervisor race. Note that the actual election on November 8 will allow for rank choice voting, which means you can vote for up to three candidates. But in our poll, readers could only vote for one.
359 people responded to the poll and Marjan Philhour came out on top with 41.23% of the vote. The next closest candidate was Sandra Fewer with 35.93% of vote, followed by Andy Thornley at 7.24%.
Results from a mid-September poll asking which District 1 Supevisor candidate readers would vote for.
What do you want to ask the candidates?
On Wednesday, October 26, we’ll be hosting a District 1 Candidates debate at Presidio Middle School, 7:30pm. And we want to hear from you, our readers, to help us craft the questions and issues that the candidates will debate that night.
Leave a comment with your question or issue that you want to hear about from the candidates. We’ll use your feedback the pull together the topics for our October 26 event.
And let’s keep it civil, readers, ok? Ok. 🙂
Sarah B.
I have had a general issue with all the candidates and those getting elected to the Board of Supervisors.
That issue is the continuing placement of time and energy on their part on issues the are not directly related to the functioning of the City and County of San Francisco.
We see time and energy spent on things like toys given out with meals on the one end and these folks wading into state and national policy issues on the other.
I feel insulted when the candidates and eventual board members usurp my selection of state and federal representatives to deal with those issues. I vote for those people to handle those matters. You are paid to worry about San Francisco.
What I want to know from the candidates is to what level are they willing to commit to that they will stay focused on the job I am voting to place them in and not insult me by assuming that I want them to wade into state and federal matters?
Perhaps if we get someone who stays focused we will get more done than has been the case of late.
What is your stance on real estate development in the Richmond? Are you going to allow large high rises to be built?
Illegal dumping makes the neighborhood ugly and depressing. Seeing so much litter on sidewalks is also disheartening. What will you do to stop illegal dumping on sidewalks and removing the unsightly litter? I’ve never seen the Richmond look so ugly as it currently does.
That we need more Cops in the inner Richmond area and more stop sign car in the area does not stop
What’s your stance about overtaxing homeowners? It seems a lot of the current board goes to that well a lot. I’m not talking about landlords. I’m talking about people who own one home here but are parcel taxed to death. It’s not like homeowners can pass the increase onto their tenants (which are non-existent if you live in your own home).
Part of the problem is the current group just likes to spend money. They are not fiscal watchdogs at all. I want someone who is mindful of the company cash register, so to speak.
1. Are you for or against Geary BRT?
2. What can we do and should we do in the Richmond to help address the citywide housing shortage? Be specific.
3. You have one vote on the Board. What experience do you have that will help you build a coalition to pass legislation that will help your voters?
Prove your local credentials by “correctly” pronouncing the street east of 2nd Avenue, the street between California and Geary, and the street between Balboa and Fulton. (OK this is for fun to lighten things up at a tense time in the debate.)
What is candidates stance on 2 issues
1. Increasing crowding and densities by increased In-Laws, higher buildings and allowing to build farther back into lots.
2. Stance on BRT (vs no build BRT).
What are you going to do about the parking problems? There is not enough parking for residents in the outter Richmond area.
What will you do about all the concerts in GGP that leave residents with no parking and garbage all over the streets? Parking is horrible during the concerts and parking violations do not get cited.
How will you keep the Inner Richmond from gentrifying and pushing out middle and low income residents?
How will you bring in local businesses on Balboa at 6th Ave. which have been empty for years?
What are they going to do about all the crime in the park? GG park is getting creepier and creepier. For instance stories like this? http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Man-pummeled-robbed-by-mob-of-7-in-Golden-Gate-9765911.php
Its not just crime in the park. Violent crime in the city in general is out of control. 5 murders last weekend in SF. 10 robberies in the Mission District alone last weekend. Tourists getting mugged left and right. SF ranks number two in violent crimes among the 30 biggest cities in the US. http://www.npr.org/2016/09/19/494293952/study-violent-crime-and-murders-slightly-on-the-rise-this-year-in-largest-cities?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
Our so-called leaders should be ashamed and embarrassed.
1. do you like coyotes? (hint: i do)
2. are you in favor of BRT (hint: im not)
3. are you in favor of supporting a plan to bring an actualy subway down Geary? (hint: I am)
4. What is your plan to address increasing homeless in the Richmond?
5. What is your plan for cleaning up junk on the streets, including all those paper flyers that each of you are putting on doors that ends up on streets, sidewalks, gutters and eventually in the bay?
6. Wht is your position on trying to get a mexican restaurant in the old Q restaurant space? hint: im defeinitely in favor
7. What is your view on raising more taxes and fees on homeowners? this seems to be the city’s solution to any new expense
8. What is your position on upzonging Geary? Im in favor
9. What is your view on legalizing marijuana? I am definitely against
10. Will you disagree with every stupid idea that comes from Jan Kim and Campos?
11. what is your favorite color?
12. Do you have a dog?
13. can we please get some f#$king crosswalks on cornwall at 2nd, 3rd and 4th so my kid doesnt get killed almost every day?
14. can you please recommend putting more speedbumps on the avenues to slow down cars?
15. can you please recommend putting more speedbumps in the presidio to slow down cars?
16. can we please stop the presidio from cutting down more trees and widening paths? were losing nature there
17. Can we please ticket cyclists fro running the stop signs all over the richmond? again, had to save my kid at least 3x crossing arguello near washington/clay
18. can you stop people from outside the richmon from coming to our famous bakery because the lines are now too long?
19. Can you please shut down all of the massage parlor/handjob joints all over the inner richmond? why does our neighborhood support sex slaves?
20. Do you like coyotes?
jimbo,
cant force legal biz to close and dont have enough cops to make sure that they arent doing anything illegal. and please dont ask for more zoning laws
instead of forcing these biz to shut down, lets determine why this district cant bring in the type of biz that we want and will use
why is it that landlords would prefer to rent to these biz
some of these questions have been asked and answered in earlier forums and in the richmond review
the problem is that we have 10 people running for supe and not enough time in any of the venues for in depth answers. why the city allows anyone to run and then asks them to do a petition drive after is beyond me.
first question, which is connected to what charles wrote…how can we trust you
and to everyone running, if you lose, will you stay involved in the district or will you disappear (as many running have in the past) only to show up 4 to 8 years from now, running on the same platform because nothing has changed
a) will you hold monthly district meetings at times when residents can actually attend. not like mar, who held them on weekday mornings
2. will you call for a full audit of all depts no matter the cost, so that the citizens can learn why a city with a 9.6 bil budget doesnt have the money for basic services. included in this audit, will you find out why 240 mil is being spent on homeless programs that do not service the homeless.
3. no matter your stance on the mta, will you or one of your staff attend any and all mta hearings that have a direct impact on the district? will you demand that the mta and other depts hold hearings on days and at times when the public can actually attend?
4. as it may take time to get the funding for more staffing at the richmond pd precinct, will you help to organize a district wide neighborhood watch?
5. as it may take time to get the funding for more street and sidewalk cleaning, with you help to organize neighborhoods and merchants in taking pride in their blocks and cleaning them themselves, which should include steam cleaning some of the dirtier sidewalk areas….the reason dumping occurs is because the dumpers think that no one actually cares about the cleanliness of the streets…take a walk on the biz parts of california….no dumping there and the blocks are a pleasure to walk on
5. another of the reasons for the lack of safe streets in the district is due to the lack of adequate street lights….i have absolutely no idea who is in charge of this now….but there are areas in the richmond when at night…it is completely dark…that is inexcusable. will you move to have this issue dealt with. dark streets lead to crime
6. enough of the lack of housing myth. 10k units will soon be going online in the mission…there are another 40k in the pipeline…nobody has the right to live where they want…they can only live where they can afford. but if you are in favor of more development in the richmond, will you also make sure that the infrastructure is in place before building commences. and will you push to levy fines on developers who lie about things like adequate parking for residents and visitors….
for example the largest development to date has been the institute on aging at the former site of the coronet.
developers insisted that the project would not cause a significant impact on traffic or parking. they lied
traffic now bottle necks at that corner all day long until 7 pm. because not enough parking is provided to the vans used by the facility or by those coming to the facility for day programs, most of the parking on the block (which should be available to those going to merchants on the block) is used by those vans. and when they run out of room there, they park in the residential area. and that still isnt enough as vans frequently double park when loading and unloading….adding to the backup of traffic. heavy fines should have been levied against the developer….they were not
ive got more comments and questions…but this was pretty much me venting as i know none of the above matters
the two frontrunners talk a good game, but in the end, no matter who wins, we are getting at least another 4 years of mar and that is sad, because from what i hear on the street…people are angry and dont want another 4 years of a do nothing except get his/her name in the paper supervisor
What are you plans to fill vacant storefronts, replace/rebuild the Alexandria and otherwise encourage high-density housing along major transit corridors with mixed-use LOCAL stores that will re-invest in the community?
sam, do you still reside in the district?
the work on the alexandria has already begun
and what is this push for high density housing?
What is your stance on converting electric overhead lines to underground?
@Brady Don’t expect it any time soon. http://abc7news.com/news/efforts-to-bury-all-utility-wires-in-sf-nearly-impossible-/486804/#
Even though everyone paid and continues to pay for it; somehow the wealthier areas like the Marina, Sea Cliff, Pacific Heights and Laurel Heights got their wires grounded first. I’m sure it was just coincidence…
I would like the candidates view on the San Francisco Park and Recreation Department (P&R).
Some years ago I went to several P&R meeting to support Jimmy’s (Jimmy being a 30 year GG Park Gardener) Old Car Picnic.
The board made the rather large crowd sit through all of the budgetary discussion rather than place our issue higher up on the agenda. One thing that was apparent is that the P&R is technically bankrupt. Their deferred maintenance costs are so high that if they were a for-profit company they would be out of business. Their cash flow does not even come close to covering their capital and maintenance needs.
So one of my questions to the candidates is what would you do about it? I for one am tired of the facilities being in a constant state of decay. If I was in charge, I would see to it that they shed assets, yes that means parks, and got to the point of sustainability. Either that or property taxes way up to cover the needs
As an aside to that above, the lack of professionalism at P&R reared its ugly head again the other day in a communication I had with them. For 25 years, folks taking cars to the Old Car Picnic every year started to flow in at 5:30 in the morning. Many groups of people sent an “advance team” in with their vintage cars and set up for breakfast in the park for their friends. They also held a 1/2 dozen spaces so their friends could park next to them as they came in and all would picnic together.
Last year someone at P&R ordered that none of the cars could enter the field before 7AM. That created a 50 to 75 car back up down JFK Drive, well past 30 Avenue. How nice to have all these cars sitting there idling away in the morning. In the past they all trickled in quietly and shut down.
When I communicated with P&R they responded with the same false accusations that they made at the public hearings. They stated that the early morning cars were doing damage to the grass. We definitively showed that there was not any damage for the event, in the morning or otherwise, during the hearings. In fact, we called for a 3rd party compaction study not only of the old car picnic but Outside Lands. They got the message as the Picnic was allowed to continue. No study was ever undertaken…you can guess why.
Do remember that that the event was Jimmy The Gardeners birthday picnic! Do they really think he would allow his name to be used for an event that hurt the park he served on his knees for 30 years!
So, we have management at P&R making false claims in communications with the public to cover their behavior. Since P&R management could not win their case before the park board, they are now trying to kill the picnic by regulatory strangulation. Moving it to Saturday from Sunday, many families have kid duty on Saturday and cannot attend. Restricting people from getting their early to facilitate common groups wanting to park together. Increasing the costs for each car to “Concourse d Elegance” pricing for working guys. You can see the pattern.
I list the above as an example of a department that is out of control and would really like to know what the candidates running would propose to clean their mess up.
How can anyone with a straight face complain about the 100 cars that come early for the Picnic with the damage that some other use here on Sara’s blog wrote about the mess that Outside Lands made of the park? Or, the several week long impact that Outside Land has?
I can tell you that several of us were sitting around talking about what, and who, we were going to vote for. After this experience with P&R on a rather trivial matter, many of us have come to the conclusion that the City and County of San Francisco can no longer be trusted with any more of our money in any way. Therefore, will not be supporting anything (bonds, taxes) or anyone who supports such, until I see real movement in how departments are run in this town.
jd
you hit the nail on the head. dont vote for any more bond proposals, tax increases or anything (that includes what appears to be a good deal in switching tree trimming back to the city, but really is another spending cap scam) until the city can make an actual accounting of where the money is going. 9.6 billion dollar budget and the city cannot provide basic services.
every dept must undergo an audit
as for park and rec…the city is hard at work at trying to force out older, long term employees. that is what they are trying to do to the woman who has managed rossi pool for over 30 years.
Are any of the supervisors gonna take a stand against pet owners whom don’t clean up after their pets’ mess? How about a fine as if you were getting on board on MUNI. Pet owners needs to be responsible as it becomes a health issue for the community. Besides that have you read that dogs have e.coli strains.
Walt Kovacs
You keep saying there needs to be audits. The city and each department is audited each year. An audit won’t necessarily an opinion on the effectiveness of funds, just if they are used for the proper purpose. So if something could have been done for $500k and was done for $1M, it won’t be a finding of the audit unless some of the $1M was used for purposes other than it was designated for.
The voter pamphlet for November is 300 pages long. There are 24 propositions on the ballot with significant implications for current and future city residents. It appears the supervisors are settling their disputes through referendums. At the same time, the voters are not always equipped to make a judgement on the proposed legislature.
For example, controller’s office released a study of proposition C from June — Affordable Housing Charter Amendment. The report could have swayed the public on how to vote, as it broke down the impact of the proposition on the housing stock and real estate prices (something the supervisors did not do before putting it on the ballot). Individually, most voters are not able to conduct the same economics analysis and have to rely on incomplete information.
Would you continue this trend toward direct democracy or encourage the other supervisors to limit the number of propositions and attempt to reach a compromise? Looking back, do you think the supervisors should have placed the affordable housing proposition on the ballot? If not, how would you have handled the issue?
I like jimbos list. Lets deal with the increased dirtiness and homeless public health issue 1st. This is the most pressing issue in SF and the supe should be willing to fight to do something about it
Also would like cyclists on arguello to be ticketed. Ridiculous behavior
trevor, if there are actual audits going on yearly, where is the public record and why cant the city account for the 241 mil spent on the homeless? and that is just one item.
do you know that there are 3 different depts in charge of tree trimming in the city? do you know that the mta frequently schedules “paint only” projects before they do street paving…which means that they have to repaint the road again?
i want a real audit that tells the people of san francisco exactly how the 9.6 billion dollar budget is being spent and why 241 mil is not enough to help people who are homeless or why they cant sweep streets every week….christ, los angeles is 10x the size of sf and they sweep the streets every week
2. spencer…dont hold your breath….when was the last time you saw police hanging out on arguello? how about parking enforcement on non street sweeping days? when was the last time you saw anyone get a ticket for double parking? this city, through the mta is trying to socially engineer private vehicles out of san francisco and they are doing it by working with the bike activists and actively doing everything they can to make driving less safe and more expensive
welcome to the real
Will a video of the debate be posted on-line? Would love to see it but can’t attend.
Yes, planning to livestream it so we’ll post details here when we have them.
Sarah B.
Where do the candidates stand on better police enforcement on Fulton, specifically at 37th Ave? Drivers often exceed the 25mph speed limit by at least 10mph, sometimes doubling the limit. Without exaggerating, I can honestly say that I almost get hit at least twice a week in the crosswalks at 37th and 38th, occasionally carrying my infant son. Drivers don’t even slow down and offer obscene gestures as a consolation, if they even notice me.
When the police do monitor traffic in the area, they are more interested in ticketing drivers for speeding than allowing pedestrians to cross. If proper traffic enforcement is impossible, a traffic light should be added.
I am also concerned about the rampant dumping on the sidewalks. This is a blight and must end.
I watched the League of Women Voters Candidate Forum for District 1 last night and I think the League presented a well-organized and fair forum for D1 residents. I recommend watching it on SFGovTV.
With so many candidates, no one was challenged about the merits or viability of the plans each candidate proposed for improving life in the Richmond. But I still felt that I had a better sense of the candidates and what is important to them.
A question about campaign financing brought up a recent article in the SF Examiner about how much outside money is being poured into the D1 election from donors like SEIU, Salesforce, Y Combinator, Airbnb, and Maximus Real Estate. And without naming the 2 candidates, Richie Greenberg pointed out that one candidate (Sandra Fewer) is backed by $13,236 from SEIU, and another candidate (Marjan Philhour) is backed by $365,507.00 from major tech and real estate interests. These numbers above are taken from the Examiner article.
All of this money, is put into “independent expenditure committees” that while supporting the candidate through the media cannot directly coordinate with the candidate and there are no spending limits. The fact that there is no direct coordination with the candidate means that a candidate can deny receiving support from a controversial company like Airbnb. Indeed, during a recent forum at St. James Church, Marjan Philhour was asked about donations from AirBnB, and she said emphatically that she received no money from Airbnb. While she may argue that technically this is true, I don’t feel her answer was the whole truth. I would like Marjan to clarify this discrepency and why she thinks she is getting so much tech and real estate support.
The article “Google Bus Issue Reappears as ‘Dark Money’ from Tech Floods into Supervisor Races” was published on 10/14—http://www.sfexaminer.com/?p=155499 It’s definitely worth reading. If nothing else, this article will help you identify who is sending out all the glossy mailers we are getting and who is actually paying for them.
I’m surprised that Sarah B. hasn’t posted this article. It’s certainly valuable information for voters. Richmond residents should know who is trying to influence our election and consider what these people, companies, or unions hope to gain.
I received a call yesterday from a guy who said he was with ‘SIEU’ and supporting Sandra Fewer. I said I wasn’t sure how I would vote and he started saying negative things about how Marjan Philhour wants to abolish affordable housing and how she was responsible for the housing crisis. Is Philhour even an elected official how could she cause the housing crisis?
Well I’ve made up my mind now and I can tell you I am NOT voting for Sandra Fewer.
@Angry Voter
New traffic signals will be installed on 28th, 33rd, and 37th at Fulton St. It looks like they are are in the contract bidding phase until 11/23/16 (Contract 63).
http://www.sfcta.org/sites/default/files/content/Executive/Meetings/cac/2015/04%20Apr/Prop%20K%20Grouped%20Allocation%20CAC%2004.22.pdf
In my view, nearly all of the serious problems in San Francisco today stem from insufficient housing. Do you believe that the laws of supply and demand are applicable to the SF housing market? What specific legislation will you support to enable the construction of more housing of all types in all areas of SF?
More protected bike lanes
@Calvin,
Thanks! Glad to hear something is being done.
PLEASE ASK THIS QUESTION AT THE FORUM:
Do you feel that the “Gig Economy” (Uber, Lyft, Wag!, Instacart) is the future of our economy that needs to be accepted and embraced or do you feel it needs to be stopped and/or regulated? What impacts on the city either positive or negative do you think this “Gig Economy” will have on our city?
would you consider doing another poll to see how peoples preferences have changes over past 5 weeks?
I would love to see a comparison of the candidates position on the current city propositions. That would be a good measure of their similarities/differences on specific, real issues
I got a nasty flier in the mail today slamming Ms. Philhour. I’d like to know who is behind the “affordable housing alliance” that sent it out and which candidate they’re supporting. Negative campaigning has no place in our district.
Turnin: Fewer is in Mar’s camp, and, like Mar, SEIU has been using the scare tactic that candidates they’re not supporting will abolish rent control and affordable housing for years now. You’d think they could come up with something a little more original. They know it’s a topic that freaks everybody out, and Mar (also supported by SEIU) used it against David Lee during the last District 1 election. Vote for Philhour and AVOID Sandra Fewer. She has Mar’s endorsement, which should alone warn you to stay far away, lol…
I thought Sandra Lee-Fewer nailed it at the forum. She proved that she not only knows what is important to the Richmond residents but she also proved that she is on top of the issues and knows how to fix them. All of the candidates were claiming that they would make sure the Geary Rapid Transit was approved. Sandra called them all out by informing us that the Geary Rapid Transit would already be decided by the time that any of them took office. This shows that she is really on top of the issues and is not just saying what we want to hear. Most of the candidates thought that building high-rises was the solution to our housing crisis. She was the only candidate that understands that fixing our housing crisis not only includes building new homes but must also include preserving rent-controlled housing. She was also the only one who seemed to be aware of what the implications of building high-rises would have on our small businesses. Businesses are not rent controlled and only have 5 year leases maximum. If we just start building high-rises like they did in the Mission our neighborhood will quickly be gentrified and small businesses will be the first to be pushed out just like has happened in the Mission District.
I also want to know why The Clinton Foundation has taken interest in this district’s election and in Marjan Philhour’s campaign.
Maybe outside groups are interested because marjan is the only qualified candidate. She has it right on housing, transportation and the homeless, the 3 biggest issues in the richmond
By the way lane, exactly ZERO high rises have been built in the mission
What do you call VARA, JIMBO? It may not be a high rise but it is definitely luxury and not affordable.