On November 6th, with two statewide initiatives, we will decide whether to reverse decades of tax policy that has enriched the wealthiest while starving basic public services, or we could pass a deceptive measure that will eliminate unions’ ability to fight for our priorities.
Think about it. Just a week after submitting his budget and fresh off of negotiating a deal on pension reform; just days after revelations that a political consultant with close ties was staging an Astroturf campaign to draft him into the race; and at the very moment legislation authorizing the biggest demolition of rent-controlled housing in San Francisco history was being transmitted to his desk, Ed Lee was at my bar looking magnanimous—bearing gifts for one of his most vocal critics.
For decades, the stretch of Market Street between 5th Street and Van Ness Avenue has been a primary target for downtown special interests and their political allies. The slot between the Tenderloin and South of Market’s 6th Street had grown to be more alike its hardscrabble, adjoining neighborhoods than its past as a commercial destination. However, downtown’s plan to renew Market Street was always driven by their desire to line their pockets. With the needs of the neighborhoods not even a consideration, their grand plans to gentrify the area failed to take off.
Since announcing our intention to purchase The Buck, I have been excited to see additional segments of our progressive community drop in. This Fall, Drinking Liberally and several other informal progressive circles have found a home at Buck Tavern, and I am committed to continuing to foster these discussions as well as many others. In addition, our public house will be committed to supporting the grassroots efforts for social and economic justice that I have been associated with in this town for nearly 2 decades.
I know when I’m being sold a bill of goods. I remember when they told me that my life would be easier once elected. It wasn’t. I was encouraged to always vote my conscience — that really worked out well for me. And earlier this year, I was even promised a job in the LG’s office in exchange for my endorsement. But now Gavin won’t return my calls.
Every four years, there’s one political contest that dominates San Francisco’s political landscape, and for good reason. The Mayor of San Francisco is not just the most prestigious position in City Hall, it is by far the most powerful.
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.
Politicians thirst for personal accolades, and just about any one of them would swoon over that passage in The New York Times. But over the last decade in San Francisco’s District 6, the more honest analysis is that our many victories– on the ballot, at City Hall and in the neighborhoods– have not been about Chris Daly. Rather, our success has grown from the strength of our grassroots community and a true partnership between those in the trenches and those of us they elevated into the halls of power.
Rafael Mandelman is a near consensus progressive candidate for Supervisor. He’s already endorsed by most progressive elected officials, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, the Sierra Club, SEIU 1021, the CA Nurses Association, and the SF Labor Council. He will certainly add the Tenants Union and SF Bay Guardian to that mix. Why then would a progressive like Paul Hogarth cast aspersions on the Mandelman campaign?
I see three basic categories of candidates in this race. Let’s start with the candidates who are not Progressives. Clearly they will criticize the Progressive Primary, just as they will criticize progressive values and issues. I am confident that any of our progressive candidates can handle any downtown candidate in a one-on-one debate. It’s easy enough to contrast downtown’s disdain for a progressive “litmus test” while they actively support their own litmus test for rent control! Sorry, but that doesn’t fly in the tenant-rich neighborhoods of D6. As for the downtown establishment, they are smart to attack the Progressive Primary. Their visions of sneaking away with the District 6 seat are quickly dissipating!
Supervisor Chris Daly Photo by Luke Thomas By Chris Daly, special to FogCityJournal.com January 11, 2010 For 2010, I vow to use the word “fuck” in each of my remaining Board of Supervisors meetings. A…
Human Rights Commission Executive Director Theresa Sparks has positioned herself as the downtown candidate in the 2010 race for District 6 Supervisor. Photos by Luke Thomas By Chris Daly, special to FogCityJournal.com October 26, 2009…
But this is by no means the political eulogy for one of the few grassroots progressives in the Obama administration or the progressive movement that helped elect Obama. It is, however, a call to action.
Daly family portrait: Chris, Sarah, Jack and Grace Eolen Daly. Photo by Luke Thomas By Chris Daly, special to Fog City Journal July 22, 2009, 2:57 pm As an elected official, I take seriously my…
The developer for One Rincon Hill, a 62-story skyscraper that juts out of the sky at the foot of the Bay Bridge, says the $5 million in fees that were central to obtaining city approval…
” District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly Photos by Luke Thomas By Chris Daly February 3, 2009 Last month when the new Board of Supervisors was seated, the Mayor and newly elected Supervisors went out of…
District 11 Supervisor-Elect John Avalos and Supervisor Chris Daly on election night. Photos by Luke Thomas By Chris Daly January 4, 2009 John Avalos, Community Organizer District 11 Supervisor-Elect John Avalos I first met John Avalos…
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