{"id":35801,"date":"2024-08-28T12:41:31","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=35801"},"modified":"2024-08-28T12:41:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:41:31","slug":"district-9-forum-trevor-chandler-splits-from-rivals-on-gaza-ceasefire-rent-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/28\/district-9-forum-trevor-chandler-splits-from-rivals-on-gaza-ceasefire-rent-control\/","title":{"rendered":"District 9 forum: Trevor Chandler splits from rivals on Gaza ceasefire, rent control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" by\u00a0OSCAR PALMA<\/a><\/strong> AUGUST 27, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The seven candidates at the League of Women Voters’ District 9 forum on Aug. 26, 2024. Photo by Oscar Palma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mission<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 100 people dropped by City College\u2019s Mission campus on Monday night for a District 9 candidates forum organized by the San Francisco League of Women Voters, just two months before election day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most pressing questions, the fifth of the night, came up about 50 minutes into the 90-minute forum: It dealt with Proposition 33<\/a>, which would repeal the California Costa-Hawkins Act and allow cities to set rent control on any type of housing, regardless of the year it was built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould you support Proposition 33?\u201d asked moderator Lauren Girardin from the League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mission<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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A supermajority of District 9 residents are renters. Every candidate, except Trevor Chandler, said they backed the measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe often talk about our housing gaps. This is an easy way to meet that challenge,\u201d said Stephen Torres, a bartender at Twin Peaks Tavern. \u201cIf we protect people in their homes, less people will end up on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SR.<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are Trumpian levels of disinformation about this conversation,\u201d said Jackie Fielder, a public bank advocate and democratic socialist. \u201cI absolutely support Prop. 33. I\u2019m a renter. I am a beneficiary of rent control, and I think lots more people in San Francisco should have it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The candidates listen to opening statements during the District 9 supervisorial forum hosted by the SF League of Women Voters on Monday Aug. 26, 2024. Photo by Oscar Palma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jaime Gutierrez followed Fielder and said he, too, is a rent-control beneficiary.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a city job,\u201d said Gutierrez, a transit supervisor for Muni. \u201cI think that\u2019s the one thing that\u2019s keeping me in this city. Most of my coworkers have moved to other places in the name of saving a buck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"August<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But Chandler, now a substitute teacher but formerly an outreach director at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), called it a proposition supported by Republicans that will stop more housing from being built. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProp. 33 Is one of those issues that makes really strange bedfellows, where you have hard right-wing Republicans with folks who claim to be in favor of affordable housing,\u201d Chandler said, calling the measure a \u201cTrojan horse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI support rent control \u2026 I want to expand protections. I want to make sure we have strong eviction protections, all of those. But what we\u2019re seeing on Prop. 33 is a real Frankenstein hybrid ideological,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The California Republican Party opposes<\/a> the measure, while the California Democratic Party supports<\/a> it. Tenants advocates across the state support the proposition, while landlord groups are spending handsomely<\/a> to tank it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prop. 33 was not the only issue on which Chandler differed with all the other supervisorial hopefuls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis past January, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza, humanitarian aid, release of hostages and condemning anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic rhetoric and attacks. Do you support or oppose that resolution? In either case, what would your next steps be if elected supervisor for District 9?\u201d Girardin asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roberto Hernandez, a longtime Mission activist and the first to respond, said yes, he supports the ceasefire resolution. Torres followed with a yes, while Chandler \u2014 next in line \u2014took a deep breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would have opposed it. Foreign policy doesn\u2019t belong to the Board of Supervisors,\u201d said Chandler, who said he prefers to focus on local issues, and claimed the debate over the resolution caused anti-Semitic sentiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The response brought positive claps and boos from the audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, it was h brown\u2019s turn. He called the state of Israel \u201cfascist,\u201d and accused it of committing genocide. A member of the audience yelled \u201crespond to the question\u201d and then Brown, 80, replied, \u201cget out of here,\u201d and moved toward the heckler. At this moment, Girardin intervened, and reminded the audience and candidates that she was in charge of the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s get back behind the table,\u201d Girardin told Brown. \u201cI get behind the table, you can\u2019t see my legs!\u201d replied the candidate, who was wearing shorts, eliciting laughter from some members of the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forum was not done with housing yet, and Girardin asked the candidates what role developers should play in the city\u2019s housing market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandler said the city needed every form of housing, from 100 percent affordable to market-rate. Fielder responded by saying that the city can\u2019t solve its housing shortage by relying solely on developers. She called for more financing from legislation, like 2020\u2019s Prop. I, which doubles transfer taxes on properties valued at $10 million or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown, for his part, said the city should be buying all the land it can to stop depending on developers. \u201cPrivate developers? That\u2019s how we got in this situation. It\u2019s the most money that you can make for the fewest rules,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
From left to right: Julian Bermudez and Jaime Gutierrez at the District 9 forum on Aug. 26, 2024. Photo by Oscar Palma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was a sentiment also shared by Torres, who said the city has given developers the \u201ckeys to the kingdom,\u201d and that they often leave and lose interest once they\u2019ve made a profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Julian Bermudez, who works at his family-owned Rancho Grande Appliances, and Hernandez shared brown\u2019s view on the city buying land, but also spoke about the need to work with developers. The first called to phase them out slowly while the second called to build housing for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s talk about affordable. It should not only be the dishwasher but it should be the firefighter, the teacher,\u201d said Hernandez. \u201cThey say teachers make too much money, but they can\u2019t afford to live here, a nurse can\u2019t afford to live here. So we got to build housing for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gutierrez called for subsidies and for the city to allow building one floor taller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan you imagine if every house was able to go up a floor, and how much housing that would create?\u201d asked Gutierrez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The candidates also spoke about public safety, with Gutierrez pr and Chandler asking for a fully staffed police department while Hernandez. The first proposed a GI bill kind of plan to attract young people to the force while the second said he would not be satisfied until everyone feels safe walking at 2 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fielder called for more foot patrol officers, at the moment the district has 9 between Bayview, Mission and Ingleside. She also called for community-ambassador programs and community policing. Torres said the city needed to support the district through community programs so people \u201cdon\u2019t fall through the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bermudez blamed the media and neighborhood apps for creating the sense of insecurity and said he would support community policing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bermudez and Torres also called for making the San Francisco Police Department attractive to members of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur cops should be part of our community and our neighborhoods, instead of just somebody that comes from Idaho,\u201d said Bermudez. Most of the department lives outside the city<\/a>, and several super-commute from states as far away as Alabama and Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown called for more foot patrol specials<\/a> and said the problem was the police union. He also, like Torres, rejected the idea that the department is under-funded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last two questions, all candidates agreed that the city\u2019s Municipal Transportation Agency could do more about road safety, and all also rejected the privatization of public parks in the district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Do you appreciate our election coverage?

<\/strong>Mission Local is bringing you election stories from across San Francisco. We’re asking every supervisorial candidate a weekly question in our “Meet the Candidates” series<\/mark><\/a><\/strong>. We’re publishing daily dispatches from the campaign trail following the mayoral candidates in our “See How They Run” series<\/mark><\/a><\/strong>. We’re following the money<\/mark><\/strong><\/a>, telling you who is backing whom leading up to the November election.

And we’re putting it all on our one-stop shop election dashboard<\/mark><\/strong><\/a>, where you can find everything related to local races.

We can’t do it without your support. Help keep voters informed: Make a tax-deductible donation<\/strong> to Mission Local today.One-timeMonthlyAnnuallyDonation amount<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSCAR PALMA<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

oscar.palma@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oscar is a reporter with interest in environmental and community journalism, and how these may intersect. Some of his personal interests are bicycles, film, and both Latin American literature and punk. Oscar’s work has previously appeared in KQED, The Frisc, El Tecolote, and Golden Gate Xpress.More by Oscar Palma<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0OSCAR PALMA AUGUST 27, 2024 (MissionLocal.org) Sign up below to get Mission Local\u2019s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won\u2019t find elsewhere.Sign up Leer en espa\u00f1ol About 100 people dropped by City College\u2019s Mission campus on Monday night for a District 9 candidates forum organized by the San Francisco… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35801"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35802,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35801\/revisions\/35802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}