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District Elections
Perhaps the single most important thing the individuals elected to the Democratic County Central Committee in June will do in their entire term is make endorsements for the November elections to the Board of Supervisors. With four members of the Class of 2000 now terming off the Board, 2008 will see the largest turnover on the Board since district elections began. November represents a great opportunity to make the Board a more representative body (the relative lack of diversity on the current Board has perhaps been its greatest weakness), while ensuring that it continues to reflect the values that have characterized the Board over the last eight years: respect for neighborhoods, skepticism of corporate interests, a reformist commitment to open and ethical government, and an affinity for innovative policies to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Housing and Gentrification
The Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park and the Mission are more than a collection of people trying to maximize their property values, and San Francisco should be more than a crowded Beverly Hills. I love San Francisco, but I worry that we are becoming a City that is simply too expensive for young people, artists, musicians, and indeed anyone earning less than a six figure salary. These people are of course a vital part of what makes San Francisco an exciting place to live. I have supported and will continue to support efforts to preserve our City’s rental housing stock and to ensure that new development brings sufficient public benefit, including affordable housing, to compensate for its gentrifying effects.
Queers and Progressive Politics
From Harvey Milk’s days to our own, San Francisco queers have taken our “place at the table” of political power as progressives committed to a broad social and economic justice agenda. More recently, as LGBT political and economic clout has grown and our community has emerged from the struggles of the early queer civil rights movement and the darkest hours of the AIDS epidemic, some have speculated that our community has been and will inevitably continue moving to the right. I am not so sure. As a Jew, I know that a people can “arrive” without abandoning its commitment to the ongoing struggle to make a more just world. I am proud of San Francisco’s tradition of progressive queer politics, and it is one that I hope to help sustain and build upon.
Effective Progressives
Progressives sometimes get a bad rap for being so entranced by the rhetoric of revolution that we fail to get the job done. Although the caricature is often untrue, we progressives have a special obligation to demonstrate competence as well as conviction. I look forward to another term on the DCCC as an opportunity to support candidates and initiatives that will advance the causes of social and economic justice, elevate people over property and profit, and safeguard the diversity and vibrancy of our city. But I also view it as an opportunity to continue and expand on the less glamorous work I and others have already begun to build the network of grassroots activists that ensures relevance for the local Party.
Diversity
Some people seem to believe that our City and our Party have moved beyond the need to ensure representation for San Francisco’s diverse communities in our elected offices. I strongly disagree. It is unacceptable that our Board of Supervisors is overwhelmingly white and male, and it is unacceptable that our DCCC is largely white and male. White male progressives I think have a special responsibility to seek out, mentor and support progressive women and minority candidates for leadership at every level. That is something I have tried to do in the organizations of which I have been a part, including the DCCC. |
