San Francisco District 5 Supervisor candidate forum on AAPI issues

(1) District 5 Supervisor Candidate Autumn Looijen

Wind Newspaper Question 1: Can you give us a brief introduction of yourself? What has made you decide to run for your district's next Supervisor?

Looijen Answer 1: I’m the Caltech educated mom of five who ran the school board recall and brought algebra back to middle school. I have a track record of getting things done. I’m running for Supervisor because I came home one day to find a drug user lighting a fire under my home. I told him I had 5 kids on the top floor and couldn’t get them out on time if he lit my home on fire, and asked him to move a few feet away to do his drugs. But when I came back, there were scorch marks on the sidewalk. We have to close the open drug markets that are destroying our city.

Wind Question 2: Public safety is the top priority for the Asian community. Your district covers a number of Asian neighborhoods. What is your plan to combat crimes, especially anti-Asian hate and violence?

Looijen Answer 2: We will enforce our laws against hate and violence. Your parents deserve to feel safe on the streets. You should not have to worry when they go to the grocery store. It will be my job as your Supervisor to protect the community, and I take that very seriously. That’s why I have the Stop Crime Action endorsement— because I will support our police and DA in enforcing the rules that keep us all safe. We will do this so the people of district 5 can walk free on our sidewalks without fear.

Wind Question 3: What is your plan to support the small businesses who have faced huge challenges of losing customers and retail crimes in recent years?

Looijen Answer 3: I support Prop M to help lower their costs. Businesses who make less than $2 million will not have to pay most city taxes. That includes most restaurants and small businesses who work so hard just to survive. Our small businesses have been failing because we do not have clean safe streets. In the Tenderloin there’s row after row of closed storefronts, because customers won’t come when they don’t feel safe. The open drug markets cause shoplifting - it’s how many people pay for drugs. We need the help of the police to close the drug markets and make our sidewalks drug-free.

Wind Question 4: Both residents and businesses are impacted by the related problems from homelessness. How will you handle homelessness in your district?

Looijen Answer 4: Prop C has done a great job preventing homelessness— keeping families in their homes when they hit hard times. I will ask voters to redirect some Prop C funds away from permanent supportive housing and to interim housing—long term shelters and sober living homes that give people a real chance to get back on their feet. I will also double down on drug treatment. I support converting Log Cabin Ranch into a drug treatment facility and reopening mental health homes.

Wind Question 5: Do you think Asian voters in your district should vote for you and why?

Looijen Answer 5: Asian voters should vote for me #1 — because I will fight for their safety on our streets, for a school district with high standards and help for every child, and for drug-free sidewalks on every neighborhood. Asians have been an important part of every campaign we have run, and I would be honored to have your support.

(2) District 5 Supervisor Candidate Bilal Mahmood

Wind Newspaper Question 1: Can you give us a brief introduction of yourself? What has made you decide to run for your district's next Supervisor?

Mahmood Answer 1: I am the son of immigrants, renter in the Tenderloin, and housing, safety and climate justice advocate with over a decade of experience in the public and private sectors. District 5 is the heart of our city — we’re a hub for immigrants and refugees, innovation and transit, and housing and small business. I’m also on the Board of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, and an elected member of SF DCCC. Together, we can gets results on tackling the our toughest issues so we can build back safe, vibrant, and inclusive neighborhoods.

Wind Question 2: Public safety is the top priority for the Asian community. Your district covers a number of Asian neighborhoods. What is your plan to combat crimes, especially anti-Asian hate and violence?

Mahmood Answer 2: Our public safety departments are facing a staffing crisis. We are missing 1000 police officers, dispatchers, ambulance drivers, and I will prioritize rapidly hiring them to support those suffering on our streets and arrest the drug dealers who exploit them. During the pandemic, my community impact fund supported bystander intervention programs to support our Asian elders who were facing increased rates of hate crimes. As Supervisor, I will allocate budget from the Department of Public Health towards providing mental health, physical health, and supportive services to victims of hate crimes, so our communities can heal.

Wind Question 3: What is your plan to support the small businesses who have faced huge challenges of losing customers and retail crimes in recent years?

Mahmood Answer 3: Our small businesses cannot succeed if we our residents don’t feel safe and crime remains unchecked. I want to ensure our police department is fully staffed and I will advocate for community policing. We need beat officers to walk patrols at day and night. Countless reports and evidence have shown that beat officers who build relationships with community, and small business, and walk regular patrols have a double digit reduction in crime. However, we have 0 beat officers in nearly all precincts in the Tenderloin. If elected, I will ensure we have beat patrols in all our neighbors and that we hire officers who are from the neighborhoods or speak foreign languages spoken by community members so they can best serve them.

Wind Question 4: Both residents and businesses are impacted by the related problems from homelessness. How will you handle homelessness in your district?

Mahmood Answer 4: I will advocate for a Built for Zero System - a data driven public-private partnership that centralizes fragmented government departments into a coordinated effort, and has helped 14 US cities reach a level of functional zero homelessness. At the core of the system is reducing bureaucracy, consolidating services, and personalizing care. It will ensure we have guaranteed shelter to build the thousands of missing shelter beds we need to support those that are unhoused.

Wind Question 5: Do you think Asian voters in your district should vote for you and why?

Mahmood Answer 5: I served in the Obama Administration as a policy analyst helping small business recover post-recession, and I started a community impact fund to facilitate bystander training for victims of anti-Asian hate crimes, and helped fund efforts to rebuild a computer lab in Chinatown.

(3) District 5 Supervisor Candidate Dean Preston

Wind Newspaper Question 1: Can you give us a brief introduction of yourself? What has made you decide to run for your district's next Supervisor?

Preston Answer 1: As District 5 Supervisor, and in my previous decades of work as a tenants rights attorney and affordable housing advocate, I’ve focused my work on improving conditions for low-income and working people. I am a public school parent, an everyday Muni rider, and a 28-year D5 resident. I’ve passed legislation banning evictions due to COVID-19, wrote SF’s groundbreaking right to counsel law for tenants, brought back suspended bus lines, and brought community ambassadors to all District 5 neighborhoods, and much more. This city has become increasingly unaffordable, less diverse, and is at risk of losing so much of what makes it special. I am running for re-election to continue fighting for vulnerable people and build a better, safer, more sustainable city.

Wind Question 2: Public safety is the top priority for the Asian community. Your district covers a number of Asian neighborhoods. What is your plan to combat crimes, especially anti-Asian hate and violence?

Preston Answer 2: I am committed to solutions that work and will never play politics with something as important as community safety. I’ve stood against Asian hate, cosponsoring legislation and attending rallies. Our work includes: held oversight hearing on lack of coordination of City response to auto burglaries, prompting reforms that led to a 50% reduction in car break-ins, established the City’s first victim assistance program for vandalized businesses, delivering $4,000 to any vandalized small business in District 5, fought to expand Street Violence Intervention Programs into the Tenderloin, advocated for police visibility in gun violence hot spots and proactive public health outreach to people who have been traumatized by gun violence.

Wind Question 3: What is your plan to support the small businesses who have faced huge challenges of losing customers and retail crimes in recent years?

Preston Answer 3: I’m a former small business owner – I co-owned Cafe Du Nord for years. Protecting small businesses has been a high priority for our office. The Tenderloin was moved to my district two years ago, and we’ve been working hard to improve conditions. Working with Japantown and Chinatown leaders, we passed a ban on evictions of small businesses during the pandemic. We also passed a groundbreaking ordinance to waive back rent for struggling businesses, and we created the first ever victim assistance program for vandalized small businesses. I believe neighborhood recovery is absolutely crucial to the well being of our city and our local economy, and safety in our neighborhoods is a critical part of a successful recovery.

Wind Question 4: Both residents and businesses are impacted by the related problems from homelessness. How will you handle homelessness in your district?

Preston Answer 4: I believe everyone deserves a safe place to call home and nobody should be sleeping on our streets, especially while over 40,000 homes sit vacant in our city every night. My legislative work has stopped thousands of evictions, preventing homelessness. I’ve expanded shelter and supportive housing opportunities to make sure people have a roof over their heads, and the mental health and addiction services and treatment they need to stay housed and thrive. We should expand our shelter capacity, invest in permanent housing, fill empty units, and provide the support people need to thrive inside.

Wind Question 5: Do you think Asian voters in your district should vote for you and why?

Preston Answer 5: For over 20 years, I’ve worked closely with API residents as a tenant attorney, nonprofit director, and City supervisor. As Supervisor, I’ve helped stop evictions of small businesses in Japantown and Chinatown during the pandemic. I passed the first law to waive back rent for businesses shut down during the pandemic. I’ve collaborated with Korean community leadership to reopen the Bay Area Korean Center. I’ve worked closely with the Tenderloin Chinese Rights Association to promote food security and public safety in the Tenderloin.

*Editor's Note:

Wind Newspaper, an English and Chinese bilingual weekly news publication based in San Francisco, was launched during the pandemic in 2020 with a goal to keep the Chinese and Asian community members informed with local news and be the voice for them.

In a major election year in 2024, while most of the local news media coverage is focused on the mayoral race in San Francisco for the November 5 election, Wind Newspaper is interested in helping San Francisco Asian voters who make up 37% of the population to know more of the candidates who are running for Supervisor positions in six districts where all of them cover the Asian populated neighborhoods.

Wind Newspaper sent a questionnaire with the same five questions to all 34 supervisor candidates and provided two different deadlines to accommodate their busy schedules.

Wind Newspaper publishes the Supervisor Candidate Forum in both English and Chinese languages. Some answers in Chinese were submitted by candidates, some were translated by Wind Newspaper. Some answers were edited due to the length of their submissions.

Seven candidates who have not responded or answered to our questionnaires are Allen Jones and Scotty Jacobs running for District 5 Supervisor, Edward Yee for District 7, Julian Bermudez and H. Brown for District 9, Oscar Flores and Roger Marenco for District 11.