by ELENI BALAKRISHNAN APRIL 9, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)
Here’s the latest in our “Meet the Candidates” series for District 5, where we ask each candidate to answer one question per week leading up to the election. All the responses are compiled onto a single page, where readers can peruse the potential District 5 supervisors’ stances on upwards of 40 topics before it’s time to vote in November.
For the next couple weeks, we’re going to talk about housing. It’s a huge topic, and we’ll have follow-up questions with more specifics.
But first, this week’s question is: What has been working well in District 5 with regards to housing in recent years, and what will be your focus areas for improvement?
Note: I will be in District 5 this week on Wednesday, April 10, at 11:00 a.m. at Alamo Square Cafe (711 Fillmore St.). Come say hi and share your thoughts.
Living in District 5 since 1996
Dean Preston
Homeowner
As a tenant rights attorney and affordable housing advocate for decades, my priority is housing San Franciscans can afford.
I wrote the Right to Counsel law to give a free lawyer to any tenant facing eviction, passed legislation to ban evictions in the pandemic, and raised over $40m for rent relief. I voted for 30,000 homes (over 85 percent affordable), taxed the rich to raise over $300m for affordable housing, and broke ground on sites across D5. Visit www.deanshousingrecord.com for details.
What works: rent control and social housing. What doesn’t: relying on trickle-down economics to make housing affordable.
Living in District 5 since Nov. 2021
Allen Jones
Renter
Regarding housing, I have not noticed anything get better in District 5.
This includes the fact; I’ve heard of many obtain housing near where I live. Sure, I’m happy to hear that one less person or family is homeless. But I scratch my head more about the criteria/formula for obtaining subsidized housing than that of market-rate rents.
Main gripe: The city is operating so desperate to house our most mentally unstable residents, it shows little to no regard/respect for those who fork over hard earned money for rent. This will be my focus area for improvement.
Living in District 5 since Dec. 2020
Autumn Looijen
Renter
Our Victorian homes are an irreplaceable treasure, and our neighborhoods have done incredible work to preserve them. On Haight Street, we’re building great affordable housing for families and youth.
Yet the rent is too high for families, working class people, artists, and youth we invite here for sanctuary. (My family moved here because Covid-19 dropped the rent.)
We haven’t been building enough homes. We’ve been slow to approve homes — even in vacant parking lots — and even slower to build them. Slow process means financing falls apart and the homes we need are never built.
Let’s start by fixing the process.
Living in District 5 since May 2023, lived adjacent since May 2021.
Bilal Mahmood
Renter
San Francisco has made significant, but insufficient, progress on housing. Talking with residents every day in District 5, it’s clear that affordable rent and cost of living have gotten undeniably worse over the last 4 years.
Especially for our nurses, teachers, laborers — we have not prioritized middle-income housing. The time to get any type of housing approved in San Francisco averages 1,000 days, the longest of any city in California. Until we solve this permitting crisis all types of housing — from affordable to middle-income — will almost never be developed.
The order of candidates is rotated each week. Answers are capped at 100 words, and may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at eleni@missionlocal.com.
Read the rest of the District 5 questions here, and the entire “Meet the Candidates” series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
READ MORE CANDIDATE ANSWERS
Meet the Candidates: San Francisco’s District 5 supervisor race
ELENI BALAKRISHNAN
REPORTER. Eleni reports on policing in San Francisco. She first moved to the city on a whim more than 10 years ago, and the Mission has become her home. Follow her on Twitter @miss_elenius.More by Eleni Balakrishnan
