Crowded Starting Line in Race for District 10 Supervisor

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is comprised of 11 seats, each representing a geographical slice of the City. Supervisors serve four-year terms. Elections are staggered. This year voters will choose representatives in even-numbered districts: two, four, six, eight and 10.

During the 2022 re-districting process, District 10 yielded territory to Districts Nine and Six. Still, the District remains one of the largest by area – along with District Seven – encompassing Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Bayview-Hunters Point, and Outer Mission. According to the San Francisco Redistricting Task Force, the demographic mix was largely unaffected by boundary changes, with Asian residents comprising 42 percent, Whites and Blacks 21 percent and 20 percent respectively, and Hispanics, 15 percent.

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, first elected in 2018 and again in 2022, is ineligible for another term. Supervisors are prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms. They can run again after sitting out at least one election cycle, a loophole used by Aaron Peskin to become the City’s longest serving supervisor, from 2001 to 2009 and again from 2015 to 2025. District Five Supervisor Bilal Mahmood has proposed a charter amendment to cap service at two terms total, consecutive or not.

Potential candidates who want a spot on the ballot must file a Declaration of Intention to Solicit and Accept Contributions and a Declaration of Candidacy with the Department of Elections. Both documents have to be submitted on the same day. After this initial tender, from May 15 and June 9 candidates must provide a petition signed by between 20 and 40 San Francisco voters nominating them to run. A Candidate Qualification Statement may also be filed but isn’t required. The final deadline to qualify for the ballot is at 5 p.m. June 9.

Once this deadline has passed, the public has 12 days – from June 10 to June 22 – to review and legally challenge candidates’ legal names, qualification statements, ballot designations, and translated or transliterated Chinese names.

Eight people have filed initial paperwork declaring their District 10 candidacy. Districts Eight and Two are the next closest, with three each. District Four has two contenders. No one has yet declared for District Six. 

The District 10 candidates in alphabetical order are:

Pearci Bastiany, 30, owner of MAFH Security in Sunnydale and a SF Bay View reporter. Born in San Jose to an African American father and Mexican American mother, both of whom were employed at Silicon Valley defense firms, he attended the University of San Francisco (USF), where he earned a bachelor’s in marketing. He’s presently attending USF’s graduate program in public administration. Bastiany decided to run after working with the NAACP and San Francisco Democrats on collegiate voter mobilization two years ago. He hopes to end homelessness with containerized, modulated shelters and has a plan to remediate and reactivate the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, which he claims will restore jobs in the manufacturing, logistics, and defense industries. He’s received training from GoodParty.org, and is affiliated with Students Demand Action, which wants to end gun violence.

Dion-Jay “DJ” Brookter, is the executive director at Young Community Developers, Inc., a nonprofit that provides workforce development, education, and housing services to Bayview and Hunters Point residents. In 2023, YCD served more than 2,000 clients and secured job placements for upwards of 30 percent of them. Brookter is a Bachelor of Science in Speech Communication from Utah State University and has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He’s endorsed by District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, who calls Brookter “the real deal…He respects all communities and is a true leader with a proven track record and the right ideas to move us forward.”

Theo Ellington, 37, is a third generation San Franciscan with a master’s in urban affairs from USF. He lives in Bayview with his wife and three sons. He’s executive director of the Bayview Opera House and policy director at Brownstein, a legal and policy firm. He finished third in the 2018 race for District 10 Supervisor. Since then, he’s served as The Salvation Army’s director of homelessness initiatives and community development and as the Golden State Warriors’ director of public affairs. His campaign website lists numerous endorsements, including Congressman Kevin Mullin, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Senator Scott Wiener, former Mayor London Breed, and Supervisors Stephen Sherrill, Matt Dorsey, and Danny Sauter.

J.R. Eppler is an attorney whose clients include small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. A native of Oklahoma City, Eppler moved to California to attend Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and history, followed by degrees in law and management from the University of California, Los Angeles. Since 2010, he’s lived with his wife and son in Potrero Hill, where he serves as Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association president. He was appointed to the Board of Appeals in 2022 by Walton.

“I’m running because I believe I have a deep understanding of how City government works and a deep commitment to delivering what this District needs,” Eppler said. “As a community advocate, I’ve been closely involved in pushing forward the priorities of our residents, bringing the 55 and 15 Muni routes to our communities, negotiating on behalf of the renovation of Jackson Park, securing funding for a new box-step trail on 22nd Street and working to make the Dogpatch Hub a reality.”

Mike Trouble Lin, 53, is a self-employed divorced father of two adult children who has lived in District 10 for 25 years. He’s a registered independent with Andrew Yang’s Forward Party who wants to highlight mental health issues in Asian American communities and promote small businesses. 

“I’m well aware that as an outsider and independent candidate, my chances of winning the D10 supervisor race are minimal,” Lin said, but hopes that his ideas will resonate with the front runners and San Franciscans.

Jameel Patterson previously served as associate director of the New Community Leadership Foundation, a Black-led organization that works to combat displacement and disenfranchisement among San Francisco’s African American communities. He helped secure $1 million in municipal funding to preserve the Fillmore Mini Park and activate the long-dormant Fillmore Heritage Center. He was recognized as an Everyday Hero by the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation in 2021.

Jessica Pessecow, 33, is a psychiatric nurse and health policy professional who has lived in Potrero Hill since 2022. 

“The intersection of being unhoused and having untreated mental psychosocial and behavioral health conditions is the most urgent crisis we face,” she said, and plans to advocate for a coordinated behavioral health services system. 

She hasn’t raised any money and doesn’t plan to. 

“Public service should be about accountability, independence, and advocating for the community,” she said. “Not about donor influence or special interests.”

The eighth candidate, Deandra Bryant, couldn’t be reached for comment.

The San Francisco Standard identified several additional potential candidates, including community organizer Cedric Akbar, and nonprofit housing director Bill Barnes. 

“Make sure that you listen to your communities and remember that you represent them,” Walton advised the candidates.