Leadership that matters
California’s unrelenting housing crisis needs strong leadership more than ever. Wildfires, a viral pandemic and staggering jobless rates are all compounding the problem. San Francisco voters have a clear choice in providing needed direction by reelecting state Sen. Scott Wiener.
His job is nowhere near complete, which is why he needs to return to Sacramento. His prime push isn’t an easy one: obliging changeresistant communities to accept more housing. That plan has stalled due to weakwilled lawmakers cowed by entrenched residents unwilling to accept the glaring need for more residential units. Yet there’s no way to ease high housing costs and scarcity without more construction in settled areas.
Wiener promises that with a fresh term he’ll resume the fight that is nonetheless paying modest but important dividends. Measures to streamline approvals and assign increased housing goals, both authored by him, are on the books with additional building in the future. He’s made housing policy an issue that can’t be avoided, no small thing in a state Legislature that wants to take the easy way out.
That cause isn’t all that Wiener offers. He’s an assertive voice on law enforcement reform, LGBT rights and homeless policy — such as expanding conservatorships for the serious ill. For fireweary residents, he’s been especially tough on PG&E, favoring a public takeover of the giant utility. By his count, some 37 bills of his have become law under two governors.
That description should attest to his range as a legislator and skill at vote gathering. But it’s not enough in his deep blue district taking in San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. His opponent, Jackie Fielder, a 25year old college lecturer and Stanford graduate, collected a third of the primary vote as a Democrat running to his left. It was a strong showing by a firsttime candidate.
She argues that Wiener hasn’t done enough in pushing for affordable housing and notes that he has taken contributions from police groups. As a democratic socialist, she favors a $100 billion state housing fund paid for by tax increases on the wealthy. She’s refused contributions from police and real estate groups.
Wiener says he earlier returned $21,000 in police donations by giving the money to nonprofit youth groups. He is on of a few state legislators who have vowed not to take any further campaign contributions from police unions. Besides, he has a strong record of support for lawenforcement reforms.
He also acknowledges that his legislative work has produced punishing side effects. By rankling low density neighborhoods, aiding LGBT causes and pushing conservatorship rules that oblige some homeless people to seek medical help, he’s antagonizing a range of critics.
“I’ve been willing to break glass as a legislator,” he said. “I’m not shy.”
Wiener’s willingness to take risks on issues that really matter — and even fail at times — is an attribute too rarely found in politics. He’s shown a willingness to put in the work on a long list of policies that aren’t easy sells. His persistence and experience are needed in Sacramento, where tough choices on housing policy need to be made. San Francisco is well represented in the state Senate. Wiener gets our endorsement for District 11.