Submitted by London
Breed, Candidate for District 5 Supervisor
FLFNA Questionnaire
Responses
QUESTIONS –
1) Describe in your own words what is the
purpose of a Supervisor representing a District in San Francisco? (2000
characters including spaces)
A
Supervisor has two equally important roles: to fight for the people of his or
her District at City Hall, and to fight for the entire city by ensuring that
its laws work for all of its people.
The
first of these roles, fighting for the district, is why we need someone
representing District 5 who was born here, raised here, educated here, and has
spent the last three decades immersed in the issues unique to our district.
As
Supervisor, I will use all that I have learned and all that people continue to
teach me about the needs and hopes of District 5, so that we can make City Hall
the instrument for addressing those needs, and making those hopes a reality.
A
Supervisor’s second role is to write and pass laws that work for all the people
of San Francisco. San Francisco is the greatest city in the world, but it
didn’t get that way by accident. It got that way because its people are always
working to make the city better. A Supervisor must craft laws that are focused
on the needs of our people, and keep the city faithful to the progressive
ideals for which San Francisco is known around the world.
At
the same time, a Supervisor must be ready to fight against the forces that try
to take away what makes San Francisco so special. Some very powerful and
influential people would prefer that city government focus on increasing their
bottom lines, consolidating their political power, and compromising our role as
a progressive model for the country and the world. The Board of Supervisors
must be the fortress where we defend the city against those who would try to
make San Francisco just another city run for the benefit of whoever pays the
most.
As
our Supervisor, I will always be faithful to both these responsibilities, for
the good of the people I grew up with and have always served.
2) What do you believe are the three most
pressing problems/challenges in the Lower Fillmore and what is your strategy to
address and resolve them? (4000 characters including spaces)
The
three most pressing problems in the Lower Fillmore are jobs for the people who
live there, quality education for our children, and healing the divide between
the neighborhood and city government.
MORE AND BETTER JOBS
Not only do locally owned businesses give the
Fillmore its unique character, but small businesses provide a majority of jobs
across the entire city. To bring more and better jobs to District 5, I
will create a
one-stop shop for business permits and inspections, to replace the numerous
bureaucratic agencies businesses must navigate and that drive up their costs.
Making things simpler and less expensive will help business owners to hire more
people from the community.
I will also expand the
city’s job training programs that make the residents of our neighborhoods the
perfect new hires for our expanding businesses. Our citizens are our
community’s greatest economic assets, and our businesses should be eager to
hire them. That way our district can be a reflection of the people who have
made their homes here and given it its historic flavor throughout their lives.
EDUCATION
As
a product of District 5 schools and the executive director of an arts
organization for District 5 children, artist and the community, I am passionate
about finding innovative solutions to the challenge of better preparing our
children for a successful future.
All citizens of San Francisco have a vested
interest in the education of our youth. They are the future business owners,
workers and professionals that will sustain our economy, and they are the
future good citizens who will carry the banner for our communities.
As a young girl, I
walked to Raphael Weill Elementary School and to Benjamin Franklin Middle School with all my friends. It
created a sense of community and friendship that I think is lacking nowadays.
When a community takes an active role in its schools, everyone involved is
enriched. As Supervisor, I will be a fighter for greater community involvement
that brings schoolchildren and their neighbors closer together, so that the
fabric of our entire community grows stronger.
I will also push for a
new approach to learning that is showing promise around the country. Students
are more than just memorization machines or number crunchers. They require a
balanced approach to their educational process, not an obsession with
standardized tests. We must focus on an approach that understands the whole
student as a complex human being, who we should help prepare for the challenges
of a rich and full life outside the classroom.
Finally, I support a
citywide service-learning program for our youth. Service learning is a new
approach where students apply what they learn in the real world, for the
benefit of themselves and their community. It should be part of the curriculum
at all grade levels and at every educational institution in San Francisco.
MAKING CITY HALL WORK FOR YOU
The third
problem I would most like to address is the disconnect between the Lower
Fillmore and the city government. In recent years, it has become harder and
harder for the residents of the Lower Fillmore to trust that City Hall is
listening or working to solve our problems.
The gang
injunction, the difficulty in starting new businesses, the slow response to
educational problems and violence in our community, and the lack of a forceful
advocate in City Hall are all evidence of this problem, but all are things that
can be fixed. As your Supervisor, the people of the district will be my most
important guides. My office will be extremely responsive and open, because no
Supervisor can work for the people of their district without knowing exactly
what those needs are, and understanding how city government can respond to
them.
The people
of the Fillmore and Lower Fillmore need a strong-willed champion in City Hall
fighting on their behalf. That presence will rebuild trust between the people
of the neighborhood and the city government and make it easier to address any
challenge that the neighborhood faces.
3) What have you done to improve the
condition of people who were negatively impacted by The Redevelopment Agency?
(2000 characters including spaces)
Over forty years ago, the
reprehensible actions of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency led to the
removal of African American citizens, their homes and businesses from the
Fillmore District. It was so bad for the residents that afterwards, courts
declared that redevelopment agencies nationwide now have to consult with the
residents of the impacted neighborhoods, and make them partners in all the
decisions that are made.
In that community-oriented spirit, during
my five years on the Redevelopment Agency Commission I voted time and again to
assist local residents and businesses, and to establish the Jazz Preservation
District in the Fillmore, providing millions of dollars in support to Rassela's,
Yoshi's, Sheba Lounge and 1300 on Fillmore. We also strongly encouraged Safeway
to renovate its Fillmore store and hire more people from the local community.
During my time at the Agency, we saw
the establishment of the Fillmore Jazz Heritage Center, and a new block of
affordable condos at Fillmore Park on Turk Street. I also voted to give a
renovation grant of $5 million to the Martin Luther King - Marcus Garvey
Co-operative Apartments; a grant which allowed them to retain 211 affordable
homes in the Fillmore.
But one of the things I'm most proud
of is my support for Certificate of Preference holders, their children and
grandchildren. As many of your members know, the agency issued these
certificates to residents and businesses displaced by redevelopment, in order
to help local residents with the purchase of housing or businesses once the
redevelopment projects were completed.
But it took more than forty years
for anything to be built on the land left vacant by the razing of dozens of
buildings. To make matters worse, what was built after four decades was rental
property at a time when people wanted to own their homes and businesses.
We were able to finally begin to
make amends for that delay, refocusing the Agency on better housing and better
living for the people of the Fillmore.
However, although redevelopment has left the Fillmore, the negative
impacts still remain. We need a strong
advocate who understands the past and has a proven track record to make the
future better despite of redevelopment.
4) Do you believe the Gang Injunction
helped the community, if yes how? (2000 characters including spaces)
Having grown up in the Western Addition, and seeing so many of the
young people around me tempted by “gangs “ as an outlet for the frustration
they felt with poverty and despair. I know how devastating gangs can be on our
youth and our communities. We have to do all we can to make gang violence a
thing of the past in our neighborhoods and our city.
But
while the Fillmore gang injunction was a well-intentioned idea to make the
streets safer, it has proven to be the wrong tool for accomplishing that job.
Rather than reducing gang violence, the main effects of the injunction have
been to harass and even imprison some of the district’s young people, not for
committing gang violence but sometimes only for being suspected of being in a
gang.
This
suspicion can be based on something as small as wearing the wrong color in
public, or even associating with a close family member who is also suspected of
being in a gang. That means that some young people in the Fillmore can now
actually be imprisoned for associating with their own families.
Keeping
our streets safer from gang violence starts when our children are young, when
they benefit most from growing up in the embrace of our community, receive a
quality education, and have quality employment opportunities in our city.
We
also need to build an atmosphere of trust and cooperation between law
enforcement officials and the citizens of our district, not separate them with
a wall of suspicion. Without that spirit of trust and cooperation, it will be
much harder to solve all of the neighborhood’s challenges, including public
safety.
5) What community work have you done that
you are most proud of? (2000 characters)
I have dedicated my professional and private life to serving the
community where I was born and raised. I have served for the last ten years as
Executive Director of the African American Arts and Cultural Complex, where we
have brought together people of all walks of life to create jobs, support the
arts, enhance our children’s education, and make our community a richer, more
fulfilling place to live.
Because
so many different disciplines at the Complex are intertwined, all of our
programs and experiences are focused on the community as a whole: an art
exhibit or dance performance not only showcases local artists, but engages the
children to build connections to community service and artistic expression,
builds cultural bridges between generations, and provides a space where we can
make opportunity and expression the words that our community and its people are
known for.
I
am also honored to serve on the San Francisco Fire Commission. From that post I
have worked to prepare San Francisco to respond quickly and effectively to
disaster, and to be a bridge between the Fire Department and our neighborhoods.
The unique challenges San Francisco faces due to our geography and climate make
this a serious and solemn duty that I am proud to uphold.
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