Transcripts For SFGTV2 20100929

to the 16th street safeway or tehe+iá>u? foodsco where you ct buy meat. it is a challenge to raise a family. you have to put in services first, public transit second, and then we can worry about cars. >> one reason why have the no. 2 endorsement from the sierra club was the we spend too much of our land and resources on cars. we have eight times the asthma rate. a shorter life expectancy year. we have to get serious about addressing that. it is literally killing us. we need to make public transportation and other alternatives more attractive. we need to redesign our routes. we need dedicated lanes for bicycles and transit. we need better to language and access services. we need better shuttle buses and more reliable transfers. eventually, muni needs to be free to ride. we need to think big. >> i definitely think we need to put public transit -- more effort into fixing the public transit system. we need to expand on what our vision of public transit is the cannot only be muni. -- it cannot only be muni. folks need to be able to move about without too much hassle to there are a great number of folks in district 10 that are disabled seniors who cannot use the bicycle. we have got to use other things. we need to increase shuttle services increase services for seniors and disabled. >> you can appreciate muni because a.c. transi is barely showing up at the bus stop. our buses carry 7000 people a day. imagine all of us getting on the bus. i do not agree with "cars last." it should be a happy medium in concentrated areas. in residential areas, i do not think it is a great policy for us, nor would i want my 71-year- old grandmother on the bus with people of all kinds. you really have to ride muni to understand what the average driver has to deal with. no buses are working efficiently to deal with the amount of traffic we have. thank you. >> mr. maas. >> as a community organizer for the last 10 years, i winced when i saw the anti-caru##çuç in thr today. we walked to markets and showed them a spiral cfl. in most cases, they threw us out of their stores. you cannot make people do what they do not want to do. people depend upon cars. you can make it easier for them to do things they want to do. that is why we created the treasurer truck i. in the future, the cars will be smaller. they will be fuelled differently. we will be using them differently. the communities will be different in district 10 because that is what we want to do. it is our opportunity to seize. >> what can you do to improve public housing? >> what we can do and should be doing is ensuring that the residents of public housing have adequate housing. we need to make sure it is rehabilitated correctly. the renovation project is a prime example of how it should be done. the residents were taken care of first. then we will build. then they get to come back. those are the things we need to continue doing. in the past with public housing in the city, there were given certificates of preference and told the houses would be torn down and they could come back with the certificate. we have great-grandchildren holding on to the certificates because it did not manifest itself. one thing we could do is ensure that any time we're doing these types of renovations that we're going to make sure that those residents are adequately taken care of and have some work to move back to. >> i grew up in the housing projects. my mother told us this was temporary. my mother returned to school. she never said this is where we would be for ever. we swept in front of the projects. we have pride in where we lived. i want to see all housing projects eliminated. there has to be some training and preparing this done. -- preparedness done. if we leave them there, we're not creating a self-sufficient workforce. they're just waiting for the check to come in the mail. redevelopment says if you live and our property, you can stay and come back. this document alone has to have some monetary value. >> public housing. we have four out of the five large projects in the community. the mayor's office is partnered with community developers and residents on the rebuild. i have been serving for the last 1.5 years and listening and attending planning sessions doing the rebuild in visitation valley. one thing i do know is that we must preserve housing. housing needs to be adequate, clean, and safe. we need to have appropriate landscaping. public housing is not viewed as a landing place. we need to change our cultural attitude about public housing. we need to encourage people to develop pathways to move away from public housing. >> ms. enea. hunters viy neighborhood. i have been intimately involved in watching the project as a neighbor and a member of the bayview project committee. i think a lot of the ideas are right. the right size and programs are very good. the one-for-one replacement is very important. the right to return is very important. i do think there's more that we can do. with the rebuilds the next in the queue, we can do more to prepare our residents. i met several times with stephanie. she said that if you have lived in public housing and never have to pay rent, you know you are supposed to but no one comes to collect it. if you do not pay, if you suddenly get kicked out. you have to plan further ahead. >> mr. jackson. >> the first important part is insuring that every president -- resident, after the construction is done, there are enough units for every resident to move back. that is not guaranteed in every project. it is not guaranteed that every single resident can move back. that is the first thing. the second thing is in terms of public safety. if someone needs an emergency transfer, they should not have to wait on average eight months. that endangers their public safety. i would call the management company of all of these public houses and saving need to do a much better job of improving the plight of housing residents. it is not just enough to look at the physical development of public housing. we have to look at the human capital and development. that is why we have worked hard to put community college classes in public housing. >> i agree with all of them. the simplest answer to the question that is that we need to fund it and put resources into it right away. i have been building support for the project allove over potrero hill on all sides. there is competition for who will go next. that is wrong. both of these are the oldest and most rundown in the city. we need to do something more about that. would he kill us to accelerate through building -- would kill us to accelerate the rebuilding? we cannot tell either of these projects they need to wait until 2018. the kids will be grown up and have left or worse. we need to get serious. >> one of the major issues with public housing is making sure it is appropriately funded. we need to be able to fund that. qz evern to get federal money put into it to support the rebuilding and development i agree with mr. jackson about looking at the human capital. we need to allow some of the folks who live there to work as contractors or have jobs to rebuild the places. that restores the pride when you get to rebuild your own home and get to live in it after that. i think that is a way that we can improve the public housing in san francisco. >> i feel like i enclose the connected with this being a social worker for the welfare department. i work in public housing every day. the most important thing is that sf is a great model. it is replacing at 141. it is also providing some money wraparound services. -- it is replacing at one for one. it is also providing so many wraparound services. the problem is that we no longer should have areas with high density of poverty. that has been a problem with public housing. public housing should be a stepping stone. it should not be your final destination. if it is, you should have the pride and services to live a suitable life like most of those live in san francisco. >> i have walked for all of the public housing complexes. i participated in the development processes. the city should be ashamed of ourselves. as has been mentioned, these projects are not financed. we spend a lot of money planning and allowing teenagers to decide where a basketball court will be planted, but we do not have money to pay for the basketball court. looking at the entire length of district 10, that is true. we need a supervisor to step up and find a way to get the funding and financing necessary to take what is a formally financing industrial area not created for human habitation and bring it up to snuff. whether it is public schools or safety. it is time we stepped up in a very much larger way. this needs to be solved regionally. >> thank you. i could not agree more with ñ about human capital. steve is right. this is one of the most atrocious things that san francisco has. it is horrific that folks have to live like this, and they have to wait until 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020. we should do something about it now, and i love the idea about a cooperative model where communities can take charge of these things themselves and partner with others to do this. another thing others have not mentioned -- the housing thing is pretty horrible. i know we lost federal money. i know it was not sustainable, but that is one of the most atrocious agencies in san francisco, and it needs to be reformed. as a supervisor, i would like to look at that. thank you. >> thank you. and thank you, candidates. i'm sorry to the members of our audience who provided us with so many good questions, that we could not get into more of them. now we come to the candidates' closing statements. let me remind you that if you are not registered to vote, please do so right away and urge others to do so as well. the actual deadline is october 18, and if you have moved, you need to register again at your new address. we will do the closing statements tonight in reverse alphabetical order, which means we will be direction. remember once more, candidates, that you have one minute. >> diane wesley-smith. i filed my intent to run for supervisor of district 10 at the age of 57 on january 23, 20 -- 2009 because i could no longer continue to watch the demise of the community that i loved and that i was raised in. after receiving an extensive education, i returned to make a difference. i am not a career politician. you will not hear me talk about endorsements because we did not seek any. why? because the only people i will be obligated to are you. anyone that has failed you, they cannot help me. they cannot help you. there are some people that are doing okay. there are some great endorsements. some candidates have secured great endorsements. but i m to grass roots. i do not have time. i only have time to serve you sat -- so that when i am eulogized, you can say that that black women work with all her might for all races and i helped unite the races. thank you. >> i am just a woman who wants to do the right thing for her community. i always have. i have been working in my community for all my life, and i have lived my entire life in district 10. i am an elected official who serves a large constituency base, yet i want to cut that down to come back to the community i was raised in because i know i can make a difference. my issue is i'm not going to make you any promises. i'm going to bring results. i have done it on the bar board of directors in a major way. there is a budget surplus that no one else can talk about. there was a killing last year was one of our police officers -- one of our police officers killed a young man, and the reforms i put in place garnered me the endorsement of oscar grant's family. in my opinion, that was huge. that speaks volumes to what i can do in bringing people together and getting things done. in 41 days, i am looking for your vote. thank you. >> the environment has been my passion. that is the reason why the sierra club gave me their number oneá3@r/"÷ endorsement, wide the of conservation voters gave me their endorsement, one san francisco tomorrow gave me their endorsement. i am about creating sustainable solutions for this community. i could have gone anywhere to work and do the things i have done, but i wanted to do it here because this is the district that needs it most. i wanted to seef1 rebuilt. i want to see muni run on time. i want to see outcome-based social services. i want to see us get what we deserve, what we need. i want to see an end to crime and an end to blight. this is the place where everything is going to happen, and i want to be the supervisor that makes that happen. i want to be the supervisor improves upon that agenda. that is why i'm asking for your vote. i would be a good supervisor. i believe in sustainable solutions, and i hope you will vote for me on november 2. thank you. >> 25 years ago, i started on a path on working for public policy. i work in congress and public agencies. 15 years ago, i started working at san francisco state university in a public administrations department. i have students now working in the garage way as a result of my teaching. i started san francisco community power to close power plants and help working-class 'efamilies cover their utility bills and create jobs. i took over the potreto view, and i have been marshalling along a neighborhood newspaper of which we can all be proud. might impact is probable. it is written in utility bills people get every month. it is written in the fact that people get trained for the jobs they have for wages they were paid. it is written in the fact that the hunters point power plant has closed and the potrero plant will close. i work with many of the people in this room and with tens of thousands of residents, and i want to continue that work, and you can have faith that if i am elected supervisor, i will be effective at -- outcomes that you want. thank you. >> when i wrote my candidate statement, i put dare to dream of -- dare to dream that you complainant, someone who could be authentic to come into this race and really represent the people with no hidden agenda, just someone there to do the work. when i declare, and i was 29 years old, finishing my master's degree in social work, and i wanted to oppose these issues on a macro level. i walked in the air happy with a kind heart. during these last nine months or so, this kind heart had to get strong because this is a difficult thing when you are trying to do something authentic, and people say, "you are so compassionate" and i really feel that. don't you want that in your politician? don't you want something that you can believe in? do you want to know that they will do their best? i am an independent thinker, someone who is definitely a server for the people, and that is what i am saying. november 2, one vote. thank you. >> i definitely believe in the power of consensus. i think that what it will take to get all these visions and promises to actually come true is the consensus of many voices and votes on the board of supervisors. that is why i do think endorsements are important. that is why i'm proud to have the endorsement of supervisor avalos, who is in attendance tonight. i will leave his support to make sure we get things like local hiring initiatives. i will need the help of assembly member amiano to make sure we get state funding for state programs -- school programs. i will need help from senator magee in order to make sure we get help from the state to make sure our housing projects are built properly. i have the ability to create the consensus. i have proven that not only through this campaign, but through my tenure in district 10. i want to do it as a supervisor, not on a micro level, but on a macro level for all of us, and i have the proven track record in order to do that. >> my home phone number is 341- 8040. the reason i say this is i think a lot of people in this room already have it, and it means that for the last decade or more, i have been answering that call to leave the neighborhood and the district. we need a supervisor who has the experience and skill set to make change happen and the commitment and value to do the right thing every time for the next four to eight years. it is wanting to talk about the budget and another to ask what you will do on that in july at 1:00 in the morning when the mayor says we're going to cut the budget for health and human services, and that is how we are going to get the budget, or else we're not going home. who is going to stand up for that? let's say at 3:00 on friday morning at 3 -- there is a mental health expert at a shooting scene to make sure there is hope for the families? i will be there. ask yourself who will be there and who will not. it is about time we raise expectations from what we expect from government. love and fairness, courage and compassion, better ideas, and hard work. thanks. >> i want to first thank you guys for being here. in these tough economic times, you really want someone -- i mean, we have a lot of broken promises, and as a member of the community college board, i talked about bringing city college closer to the community, and that is why we are expanding our city service program, by adding 200 glasses so folks can have access to of the -- to affordable, high-quality education. district 10 is at a crossroads. do we continue to be a place for working-class people in san francisco, where do we come a bedroom community, do we sought to attack our 40% unemployment rate? that is bangladesh style unemployment. do we start to attack back in a real way to create real jobs? do we even asked the question what type of jobs and what type of housing will we have in our district? those are the questions i will be asking. those are the questions i have asked. that is the kind of approach to government that i will take, that i have taken. please put your trust and faith in me. thank you. >> vote for me, and if you do not have to wait until november 2 because of early voting starts in less than two weeks. i want to thank everybody for hosting the form, especially our time keepers. it has been like synchronized swimming. speaking directly to you is one of the best parts of this campaign to me, so thank you for being here. i believe on your choice for supervisors because i'm informed. i started learning about the issues here -- the challenging issues well before it was time to run for the campaign. i was talking to people on leland, san bruno, third street, well before it was time to collect signatures. i've invested in his community. i have a 30-year mortgage on my home, right at the crossroads of every change coming out of my issues are ever was issues, and i am independent. i have not mentioned my personal background. i am a business lawyer. i have started three businesses. i drove myself to panama and back. s risks ad do the right thing, even if it is an unpopular decision. we need that kind of informed, independent leader. please vote for me as soon as possible. >> thank you. this is the last each year after year for tonight, and i want to thank you for sticking it out with us. thank you to the community we live in that we call home, the community i have been working in for all of my life. i was born and reared here in san francisco, and i have a background in public policy. i have been working both in washington, d.c., as well as in san francisco, and their three things need to think about me -- that is commitment to keeping district 10 residents healthy, keeping them working, and keeping them safe. those are my #13 priorities, and i would love to have your support. -- those are my number one three priorities. we need to have a consensus builder because issues come and go, but a person's values -- are they trustworthy, can you believe them, will they be there when you pick up the phone? that is what counts. land use and development is very important. yes, it is critical, but will they be there for you when your back is against the wall? will they listen? will there be transparency? will there be open and honest dialogue even when you do not see eye to eye? i would love to serve you. >> thank you all very much, candidates. i think we all agreed this is a pretty impressive panel of candidates. [applause] district 10 will be in good hands. the president of the league of women voters san francisco. >> i just wanted to say thank you very much to all the candidates and to echo banking -- thanking all of our volunteers from the league of women voters, especially our timekeepers. [applause] and encourage all of you to join the league of women voters of san francisco. go to our website, www.sfvotes.org. i would also like to thank our hosts here tonight at ucsf and introduce paul takayama. [applause] >>

Related Keywords

San Francisco State University , California , United States , Bangladesh , San Bruno , Bayview , Panama , Washington , District Of Columbia , City College , San Francisco , Paul Takayama ,