Candidate for District 6 Supervisor James Keys and Supervisor Chris Daly. File photo by Luke Thomas.
By Chris Daly
Author’s Note: Please join me tomorrow for a reception to help our friend, James Keys, in his bid to become the next District 6 Supervisor. Thursday, August 19th, 5:30pm, 222 Hyde Street.
August 18, 2010
This past Saturday, I stood in the the very spot in Boeddeker Park where I launched my first political campaign ten years ago. An affordable housing activist, I was little-known in mainstream political circles, and my campaign was all but written off by the political pundits and power brokers. But we had a very strong idea, to take our campaign directly to everyday people, and the will to knock on thousands of doors to talk about our movement for social and economic justice in San Francisco.
So it was fitting that I would return to Boeddeker Park ten years later, to endorse a community activist all but written off by the political establishment. James Keys doesn’t have a high citywide profile, powerful organizational endorsements, or big campaign money, but he does have a special connection to the heart of District 6 that can only be earned through years of work on some of the district’s most important issues. For nearly four years, James worked in the my office, coordinating our constituent services. Whether it was addressing bedbug outbreaks in the Tenderloin or helping to organize the response to the threatened demolition of Trinity Plaza, James was there. As Chair of the Mental Health Board, James has worked to ensure quality mental health services for the diversity of San Francisco. James has also been a forceful advocate for low-income seniors around issues of affordable housing, healthcare, and pedestrian safety.
On his record alone, James Keys has earned my support. But more importantly, James’ campaign best speaks to my passion — economic justice for the most vulnerable. In ten years, I have worked to build a real partnership between my office and struggling communities within the district, and this partnership has yielded some important wins. James can best build on this model, because as a hotel resident and affordable housing tenant, he’s lived it and has a special connection to the district’s base.
On this point, we progressives talk a lot about empowerment– making sure that those who live through injustice are the leaders in fighting that injustice. If this empowerment is to be more than just lip service, it has to extend to our highest leadership positions. As I have fought for the low-income communities of District 6, I have been well-aware that I have done so as a straight white man from a middle-class background. While I have talked a great deal about empowerment, I have understood that talk without action is cheap. Now in the race for District 6 Supervisor, we have a person from the Tenderloin –a low-income, gay, African-American man– who has taken on some of the toughest issues in San Francisco, with a campaign aimed to fight injustice, build affordable housing, ensure that everyone has high quality health services, and to take care of our seniors and our young people. James Keys has stepped up to the plate, and I am proud to stand with him.
Over the past several months, I have expressed my concern with the prospect of the progressive vote being split in District 6. When I raised these concerns to the progressive candidates in the race, only James Keys stepped up to put the progressive movement ahead of his personal self-interest. The leadership that James displayed when I was trying to organize the Progressive Primary gave me further insight into the character of the campaign he’s running. While I would be happy with a Supervisor Meko, Walker, or Kim, and I count each one as a friend and ally, none of these candidates have truly embraced the progressive politics of District 6, which for better or worse, is defined by our engagement in some of the toughest political battles of the last 10 years. While “uniting the district,” stopping the “acrimony of the last 5 years,” or “listening to all parts of the district,” all sound like nice things, none of the other campaigns have inspired my confidence that their candidates would go to the mat on the toughest political battles.
Like my campaign in 2000, the campaign to elect James Keys needs to put in the work necessary to overcome significant odds. That means knocking on thousands of doors and making many more phone calls to the everyday people of District 6. I hope that you will roll up your sleeves and join me in this righteous endeavor.
The Hunger Site
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