Political aide seeks Fewer’s seat on board
Connie Chan, a longtime public servant, began her campaign for the District One seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors two days after incumbent Sandra Lee Fewer announced she will not seek reelection.
Chan, a resident of the Richmond District, is a staffer for Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, DSan Mateo. She’s worked previously as a spokeswoman for City College of San Francisco and the Recreation and Park Department.
She’s also worked as an aide to former Supervisor
Sophie Maxwell, who’s now on the city’s Public Utilities Commission, as well as to thenDistrict Attorney
Kamala Harris and Supervisor Aaron Peskin. Chan was born in Hong Kong and came to San Francisco at age 13.
“This city has raised me, and people like me. This city has raised us well. But today, we look around and we’re worried. We’re worried that ... immigrant and workingclass families like us can no longer afford to stay here,” Chan said shortly after filing paperwork to run for office.
Much like Fewer, Chan said the antidote to the city’s affordability crisis is to “preserve, plan and build 100% affordable housing.”
Rumors were circulating for months in City Hall that Chan was planning to run for the seat, with Fewer’s blessing. Fewer endorsed Chan on Friday, saying that in a district where 65% of residents are renters, Chan would “stand for rent control, she will stand up for tenants, and she will continue the work that we have done on affordable housing. I am proud to support her today.”
Chan, whose previous work has largely been behind the scenes at City Hall, will still probably have to work to win over the network of progressive activists and organizations that have rallied behind Fewer.
With its bevy of singlefamily homes, District One, which is primarily composed of the Richmond District, will probably be a pressure point in San Francisco’s roiling housing debate. Politicians and activists for years have called for the neighborhood to be upzoned to allow for denser housing.
Fewer said Chan would “protect and expand affordable housing, preserve our small businesses and continue to strengthen the Richmond District community that 80,000 residents call home.”
Chan was also endorsed Friday by Maxwell and former District One Supervisors Eric Mar and Jake McGoldrick.
Chan was the first person to declare candidacy for the District One race. But another familiar name in the Richmond District may not be far behind.
Marjan Philhour, a senior adviser to Mayor London Breed whom Fewer defeated in 2016, said Friday she is considering another run at the office.
“Over the past few days I’ve heard from many Richmond residents who have approached me to run for supervisor. I’m talking to my family and seriously considering it,” Philhour said.
— Dominic Fracassa
Righting wrongs: As the nation prepares to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Supervisor Shamann Walton wants San Francisco to begin confronting the grave wrongs suffered by African Americans for hundreds of years, beginning with slavery and continuing through discrimination, inequality and mass incarceration.
On Friday, Walton announced plans to lay the groundwork for reparations in San Francisco. The idea of reparations includes a range of compensation to African Americans for the inequities and trauma driven by racist and discriminatory government policies.
Reparations have usually been discussed at the federal level, with Congress holding a hearing over the summer on the issue, but Walton wants them addressed locally, too.
“We cannot forget the pain and suffering of our ancestors,” Walton said, flanked by a bevy of city officials and black community leaders.
“The injustices and racism during the time of slavery still resonate in the policies and systems that exists today,” like systemic poverty, housing redlining, educational disparities for black children and food insecurity. “Reparations can be defined as providing what is owed to the descendants of slaves who were trafficked to and enslaved here in the United States,” Walton said.
Reparations, Walton said, could take a variety of forms, such as cash payments along the lines of Stockton’s experiment of giving lowincome residents $500 a month, grants for blackowned businesses, and investments in programs and services that serve black communities.
Walton plans to introduce legislation this month — or in February, to coincide with Black History Month — that will create an advisory committee on the issue. The committee, with broad input from black community organizations, will determine the size and form of the reparations. Walton said he expects the group to spend about six months on the project.
— Dominic Fracassa