Daly Honored During Annual SRO Convention

Flanked by co-hosts Stevon Moore and Margot, termed out Disitrct 6 Supervisor Chris Daly was honored Friday during an annual convention of SRO tenants held at the Civic Center Library. Photos by Luke Thomas.

By Luke Thomas

October 31, 2010

Termed out District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly was honored Friday during an annual convention of low-income single residency tenants, tenants’ rights activists and advocates.

“It’s really important that people take a moment and really think about what it has meant in District 6 to have Chris Daly as our supervisor,” said Tenderloin Housing Clinic Executive Director Randy Shaw during introductory remarks to as many as seventy attendees at the annual Central City SRO Collaborative Convention (CSCC) held at Civic Center Library. “He’s the best supervisor, I think, in San Francisco history.”

The convention program included entertainment from SRO tenants, speeches from TURN Executive Director Mark Toney, Shaw and Daly, an awards ceremony led by CSCC Executive Director Jeff Buckley, and workshop sessions dealing with bed bugs, tenants’ rights, neighborhood issues, drug overdose prevention and mental health issues.

Macquan performs a rap song for attendees.

Street entertainer "Bucketman" performs for attendees.

Latonya Jones

TURN Executive Director Mark Toney is honored for combating efforts by AT&T and the California Public Utilities Commission to raise "Lifeline" telephone rates for low-income SRO tenants.

Central City SRO Collaborative Executive Director Jeff Buckley.

Daly made a name for himself in 1995 working and living in the Mission District as a tenants’ rights activist, working against the forces of displacement and gentrification. In 2000, Daly ran and was elected to the open District 6 seat in large part because he engaged SRO dwellers in the district, a previously voiceless constituent bloc that had found in Daly a champion of  their issues.

“What was really unusual, actually unprecedented, was I had never seen a candidate get elected to office whose position was, ‘my top priority are the needs of SRO tenants,’ Shaw said of Daly’s 2000 campaign. “It’s not like SRO tenants are big campaign donors. But what was amazing for me because I’ve been around since 1980 and I’ve seen a lot of campaigns, but, suddenly, this guy, Chris Daly, was going into the SROs trying to get votes, trying to get campaign volunteers. No one had ever done that before.”

Tenderloin Housing Clinic Executive Director Randy Shaw.

Shaw said it was Supervisor Daly who carried the agenda for the SRO community in City Hall, successfully pushing for the installation of fire sprinklers, relaxing guest visitation restrictions and pushing for the installation of secure and personal mailboxes. Daly’s agenda also included increasing affordable housing opportunities as well as addressing issues around housing the homeless.

During his short ten-minute, unprepared speech, Daly said, “We might be characters, misfits and outcasts, but clearly we’ve got some talent. We’ve got love from one another. We’ve got love for our community – and for our City – and even though we are not supposed to win, even though we’re not supposed to persevere, we do it anyway.”

Daly said organizing around single residency occupancy hotels was about “basic dignity” and about “improving the lives” of the most vulnerable.

“When you fight to improve your own lives and build communities and you go out of your way to make sure others – even when you’re not benefiting – also have a fighting chance to make it in this town, that’s solidarity,” he said.

Supervisor Chris "Fear the Beard" Daly.

When an attendee called out “I think you should run for mayor,” Daly responded: “Let me say this, other than no. When poor people unite, working class and the city’s tenants – two-thirds of San Franciscans are tenants – when we unite together and when we’re able to dissect the messaging and we were able to rally and organize, get out of the vote – when we are able to bring up our own leaders with political education, training… When we develop our own media, Poor News Network, collaboratives, tenants rights organizations – when we have friends who deliver affordable housing and those who fight for healthcare… when we have an agenda that is about meeting the needs of everyday people, honestly, we don’t need me as a candidate, anyone of us in the room can be a candidate. But if we have a movement in this town that’s pushing back against all this banking, Wall Street, financing craziness, craziness Tea Party stuff, and we’re able to set an agenda that’s about basic things; decent housing; services like healthcare; access to employment; decent jobs; taking care of our seniors and making sure our youth aren’t left on the mean streets – if we have that kind of agenda, then you don’t need me, we can do it without any single individual. We can do it together with all of us, because that’s what it’s about. That’s the future of SROs in San Francisco.”

“I ain’t going far. I’ll be around,” Daly added. “When you rally the Board of Supervisors at City Hall, I’ll be out in the crowd with you championing in the name of justice. I’m looking forward to that. Thank you very much.”

Asked if he is considering running for higher office, Daly told FCJ: “I’m interested in a people’s movement. If there was a race that made sense and there was some value added for me running, then I would consider it, but there is no race that I can see so, then, no. I’m not looking to run for the sake of running, never was.”

“People from the progressive side – typically we’re not in this for ourselves, though there are some exceptions. Folks from the other side of the aisle tend to be more about their careers and moving up the ladder. I’m on the progressive side so it means I’m not looking to run for anything unless it makes a lot of sense. Honestly there’s nothing out there that makes very much sense at the moment,” Daly added.

More Photos

School Board President and candidate for District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim attended the confab.

SRO community activists are recognized for their efforts to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in society.

Luke Thomas

Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

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