In, and why you are running for district 7 supervisor. Well start alphabetically with ben. Hello. Good evening, and thank you very much to the league for hosting us tonight. Hello. My name is ben matranga, and im running for district 7 supervisor. I want to fight for working families and ensure that our city emerges from this Health Crisis stronger than before. As a new father and firsttime homeowner, i know the stakes are high in this election. I know the city is calling out for genuine leadership, for common sense, and frankly, for people that will deliver on their promises. Let me tell you a little bit about my background. I was born and raised in district 7. I live in west portal seven blocks from where i grew up. I met my wife in high school at st. Ignatius, and were raising our young daughter in that district. Professionally, ive spent 15 years building largescale thank you, ben. Thank you. And now, well move to emily. Youre muted, emily. All right. Good evening, everyone. Im emily murase, and i want to be your supervisor. 2020 marks the millennial of womens right to vote, and yet, after the departure of supervisor yee from the board of supervisors, we will have two women on the board of supervisors. Im the only candidate whos been elected to office, serving two terms on the school board, including as president. My spouse and i have lived in the lake shore neighborhood of district 7 for over 15 years, where we raised our two now adult daughters. My priorities are bolstering Public Health, enabling voters, and accelerating Public Health. Well go to joel. Hi, everyone. Im joel engardio. I live in the district 7 neighborhood. Families care about the basics housing, schools, quality of life. The budget has doubled the last decade, and nothing is twice as good, and now, were facing massive deficits. We need to audit every program and only pay for what works. I grew up in the gm town of sag saginaw, michigan. Ive lived in San Francisco for 22 years, lived in district 7 for a decade. As a journalist, i held city hall accountable and gave people a voice. Ill do the same as your supervisor. Its time to get it right. Clean streets, smaller deficits, and better services, and id be glad to be your candidate. Thanks, joel. Ken . My name is ken [inaudible] we lived off of every muni met metro line, and for the last 14 years, ive lived just a couple of blocks up in district 7 on ocean avenue. Ive been successful here. Both my wife and i were able to build careers. One is at u. C. Davis and another ones at roll, and buena vista horace mann. I feel with my experience, i understand district 7 well. Families are important. Doct from cradle to grave, everyone should be able to live in district 7. Thanks, kenneth. Next will be myrna. Hi, everyone. My name is myrna melgar. Two years ago, i live in district 7 with my husband and family. Ive worked in the community for 15 years in housing and Economic Development and workers rights. Im running because our city is experiencing changes. Changes to our global environment, inequality and income inequality. Im running because i want to use my skills and experience to plan for those changes. The policy changes that we make today will have a profound effect how we get out of this pandemic, and whether we continue to be that city of opportunity and that shining example that we have always been to the world. I would appreciate your support, and i am the candidate with the most experience. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next will be stephen. Youre muted. Steven martin pinto. I live in district 7. I just want to ask one question. Are you better off than you were five years ago . Ladies and gentlemen, im running on a campaign of straight talk. When i began my campaign, it was just me, myself, and i, and one promise. Tell it like it is and dont hold back. Ive been one of the most successful nondemocratic candidates in the last decade. The reason why is because i tell it like it is, i speak the truth, and i have a lot of credibility. Im a firefighter, a fifth generation san franciscan, a veteran of iraq and afghanistan and the war, and ive seen a lot of the effects of homelessness. Vote for me in november. Thank you, steven. Last one will be polasca. Hi. My name is polasca. I loved growing up in a union household. My mother worked the post office, the graveyard shift, her entire career, so they really instilled a deep value for Public Service and hard work. I came here to San Francisco, u. S. F. School of law, where i met my wife. We currently live in parkmerced, and my kids go to school or they did before covid right across. Im proud to have the endorsement of the nurses and people in the sierra club. I ask that you allow me to be your champion at city hall and standup for working class families. Thank you, velasca, and thank you all, candidates. Well now move onto the questions for tonights forum. Question one. What type of forum will you support to increase housing availability in district 7. Do you agree with the approaches that promote more housing density . Just yes, which approaches. If no, what other approaches do you favor . And we will begin with joel, and joel, you have one win. Hi. So theres three areas of district 7 where more housing is coming. Par merced, balboa reservoir, and stonestown mall, and those are all appropriate areas for housing. I do not support anything that would restrict singlefamily zoning. We have 40 communities, and theyre all gems. West portal has a five story art deco thats been there 90 years. We can match the height of that without harming any single neighborhoods. We have a plan for seniors to age in place so they dont have to leave the home they love. We have a plan to keep singlefamilies in San Francisco, and the housing along train corridors can support those needs. Thank you, joel. Thanks. Next, well have kenneth. Hi. Joel said a lot, and i agree with what he said. The transit corridors and the housing around should grow. I dont agree with scott wieners bill. I think we need to be smart about it. I think we just gave away the deal of the century. Less than 600,000 an acre for balboa terrace, so im ready to put a stop for future development. I want to see hwhats going to come out of that and how thats going to affect district 7. Thats a district 7 deal. I want to be smart when we have housing, but i want to remind people this is district 7. We are built on singlefamily homes in small neighborhoods, and i do not want to lose that character, so it has to be an equal balance. Thank you. Thank you, kenneth. Next is stephen. Okay. So kind of what a lot of people have been saying. Im im for increasing density along transit corridors. I feel like theres plenty of space to add a story to onestory buildings along west portal. It wouldnt change minimal impacts to the neighborhood. It wouldnt change much to the neighborhood if we do it right, but theres also one thing that i think we also need to reduce the [inaudible] weve found out that telecommuting is possible. Recent survey said that two thirds of all tech workers would leave San Francisco if they could. Theres a latent demand to get out of San Francisco. If they had a chance to get out of San Francisco and still work here, they would do so. That would make it easier for those who want to live here to be able to afford houses. Thank you, stephen. Now well move to question number two. How would you address providing more Affordable Housing in district 7 . Do you support programs that encourage the building of more accessory dwelling units, commonly known as granny flats or inlaw units . And well start with myrna. Thank you for the question. Yes, i absolutely support building more accessory dwelling units. I will point out that just because we think its a good idea and put together the legislation rights the state has doesnt mean it will actually happen. We have to do more that. We have to support homeowners to adapt their housing spaces and age in space. To do that, the city can help by making the process easier, friendlier, more expeditious, and more affordable. Its not just about development, its also about money because access to wealth is not equal in our society. If youre on a fixed income or youre a women, you tend to have woman, you tend to have less abhe is sccess to the mari support all of those things. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next will be emily. Can you please repeat the question . Yes. How would you address providing more Affordable Housing in district 7 . Do you support programs that encourage the building of more accessory dwelling units, commonly known as granny flats or inlaw units . Yes. I do want to start out by saying d7 is primarily singlefamily homes, and that keeps families here, not retreating to the suburbs, so its a very important part of our contribution to the city. We have over 40 neighborhoods that are very distinct from each other. Lakewood is different from Forest Knolls which is different from westwood park. And within that, there is a state law that allows for two accessory dwelling units within a single property. I do think there is an opportunity to be creative. Not only a. D. U. S, but coHousing Units and other ways to live together. Primarily, im looking at the new development for housing density. Balboa reservoir appropriates 1500 units, of which 50 will be affordable. Parkmerced and stonestown also promote ideas for more housing density. Thank you, emily. Next will be polanco. Im in favor of supporting housing. My concern is in terms of providing the Housing Units we need. I think there are sites here in district 7 where we can begin from day one after the election to really dedicate Affordable Housing to the working class families like educators. Back in 2018, the leadership of uesf, our educators and teachers actually identified a space that is owned by the School District at somerton and lawton. This is the per expect area where we dont have to treat these like theyre mutually exclusive, meeting the character of district 7 while still providing housing that will make a real impact and still provide the time thank you, polanca. Well move onto question three. Will the planned guidance of the guidance center, also called the juvenile justice center, provide an increased housing in district 7. If so, what type of housing would you favor . And well start with ben. So the closing of y. G. Yc. , think its the perfect example of the sugar high we see at city hall. Ive walked the facility several times. Over half of the board of supervisors voted to close it, but theyve never been there. Folks voted to close the facility but didnt know all the great programming, all the rehabilitation that was happening there. If you talk to the folks in capital planning, they say you cant use that site, so i think its fiscally responsible to do that. It would cost too much. The taxpayers are still paying off the rebuilding of the participation of y. G. C. From a decade ago. We need to figure out how to keep young kids in San Francisco that need that rehabilitation. Thank you, ben. Next will be joel . Yeah, i dont think we should have closed it in the first place. Juvenile haul, you know, you know, is a place that has good programs thats, like, helping kids get back on their feet and be more productive members of society, and we shouldnt give up on that. I dont want to put housing there. I dont think we should have closed it in the first place because obviously, you risk shipping kids out of county. Thats not going to be helpful for them, and theres good programs there already. I think we need to be mindful of the use of the land allaround that area, laguna honda. We want to make sure that were not using up land that the hospital might need. Thank you, joel. Next will be kenneth. Hi, thank you very much. I think ben hit it on the nose. That is a sugar high. The idea that juvenile crime is down forever and we are in some magic wonderland. The reality is that were heading into a recession thats already showing its teeth. California is now flattening at 11 unemployment. We know that during times of recession and high unemployment that crime does go up, particularly with youth. We likely have pressed it with the lows in Violent Crime that existed. So the magic that were going to be able to deal with our juvenile problems without Juvenile Hall is a sugar high. When we have a problem that manifests, we should look at fixing and solving that problem, not necessarily shutting it down. Thank you very much. Thank you, kenneth. Well move onto question number 4. What are the primary issues regarding homelessness in district 7. What programs or services would you bring to the community to address these issues, and well start with stephen. In my experience as a first responder, every day i go to work, im right there in the trenches, dealing with homelessness. I worked at some of San Franciscos busiest fire stations, where i ran up to 20 or 30 calls a day, most of which were homeless calls, and in my experience, the homeless crisis in San Francisco is very much closely tied to a drug and mental Health Crisis. We had nearly 300 fentanyl deaths in 2018, nearly 400 last year, and the number is on pace to be even higher this year. So one of the biggest things we can do to solve the homeless problem not only in district 7 but citywide is really crack down on these drug dealers who are imprisoning people in a cycle of poverty, misery, and drug addiction. Thats one of the biggest things we can do to start. The other thing is lobby for those increased conservatorship laws, and im willing to go to sacramento to do that. Thank you, stephen. Next will be myrna. Thank you, dee. Your question was about district 7, and i just want to point out that district 7 is very different than district 6 or district 5 in terms of our homeless epidemic. The majority of folks who are experiencing drug problems are not drug addicts, theyre working people, living in homeless encampments and vans. The other day, my friend who owns a coffee shop called me and said there was a young woman on the street with no place to go. Hes, like, myrna, what do i do . We dont have the Wraparound Services that exist in other districts, and we need them. We need to have shower sites where people can dispose of our waste so that it doesnt go into our sewer drains and people can be treated with dignity. Thats what we need. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next will be emily. Yes, i believe strongly that its a human rights violation to let people sleep on the streets. Were one of the wealthiest cities in the world. We cannot tolerate this situation anymore. Unfortunately, homelessness is not just a d7 issue. Its a citywide issue. Ive been on the record opposing a Navigation Center in d7 because its too costly. The embarcadero Navigation Center is 12. 5 Community Funds for 200 beds. Families and women are not well served by tents or cots. I advocate for the flexible subsidy pool that aims to provide 200 apartments with a door and a key and an address. And i want to make sure that women dont get lost in this. Domestic violence is the number one cause of homelessness on the streets. We need to Fund Domestic Violence services. Thank you, emily. Well move onto question five. What programs do you support that address homeless and Mental Health problems in San Francisco . Well start with polasco. Mental health access, if its fully funded, i think we can make a visible impact on our streets. This goes hand in hand with the reform that we want at the criminal justice level. If Police Officers can be focused on just reporting to crime, we can actually have social workers and folks that are really trained and know the nuances of deescalation and Mental Health intervention, and that really stems from Mental Health sf, and i think it is a much needed program citywide. I think here in district 7, i think we can all echo the same underlying issues that, you know, the unhoused issue is very different from the other districts, but that is one program and policy that im fully in support of. Thank you, velasquez. Next will be ben. Thank you. I had a young kid that worked for me four years ago that died of a Drug Overdose. Was born and raised in San Francisco and died of a Drug Overdose on our streets in San Francisco just two months ago. We have an epidemic on our streets. We need to make sure we have treatment on demand and the services that actually deliver for folks like that. This is an issue that hits folks of all backgrounds, of all neighborhoods, of all parts of the city, and i think the city has been slow to respond. You see it in the numbers, you see it in the raise in fentanyl deaths. Mental health sf is a good program, but in a way, its a repaneli repackaging of the services that already existed. It really is just the first step forward, but we need new services, and thats what ill do as supervisor. Thank you, ben. The next is joel. We will be solve our homeless crisis until we deal with our mental Health Crisis. In San Francisco, theres something called the Mental Health court. This is if someone attacks someone while having a Mental Health attack on the street, they dont get jail time. And this is a good thing because we dont want jail to be the de facto services. I think we should be supporting conservatorship laws. This doesnt mean going back to the awful days of nurse ratchet and the mental asylum. I know thats a reference to netflix and a show in the 70s, but its a