The politician with whom we tend to have the closest connection is our district supervisor. They might be a neighbor, someone we recognize seeing at Farley’s or The Good Life Grocery, or a community activist who is part of the civic fabric, appearing in neighborhood newspaper articles and on park cleanup days. Yet choosing from a group of well-meaning, sort-of-familiar newbie candidates can be far more difficult than deciding who to vote for President.
The challenge is that while most never-before-elected contenders are sincere do-gooders, almost nothing in their background fully illuminates how well they’ll perform, or carry through with their stated values, once inside the fight club called the legislative branch. Before she was elected District 10 Supervisor in 2000, Sophie Maxwell, possibly the most successful in that role in the past 25 years, was a union electrician. Yet she helped close two polluting power plants, ushered in the Muni T-Third light-rail line, and was generally seen as transparent and constituent friendly. Timing may have mattered – the tides of history had turned against the generating stations – as did being raised as the daughter of Enola Maxwell, a clever, charismatic civic leader.
Supervisors with middling talents are still able to use the office to get to a higher branch of government, courtesy of name recognition combined with City Hall’s access to great wealth and connections. Gavin Newsom, Fiona Ma, Scott Weiner, Malia Cohen, and Matt Haney are just the latest crop of former supervisors made good. Some of these higher officeholders have proven themselves to be adeptly thoughtful politicians and public servants. Others, not so much, adding an extra burden of responsibility to voters who placed them on their path.
There’s no doubt that this cycle’s leading supervisorial candidates, Theo Ellington, J.R. Eppler, Dion-Jay “DJ” Brookter, and Shawn M. Richard are earnest in their quest to represent the district. Each has demonstrated dedication to community improvements. At first blush it’s hard to tell their policy priorities apart; all four say they want more housing, safer streets, and economic opportunity for community members. Who doesn’t want those things? If they were easy to get, we’d have them.
The contenders have evident experience with at least one of this year’s crop of identified priorities, though as former Chief Executive Officer of Young Community Developers Inc. Brookter arguably has the most background in fully subsidized housing. Market rate residences are most likely to materialize if construction proposals aren’t blocked or slowed. Safer streets might best be approached block by block, with supervisorial advocacy for lighting, speed bumps, bike lanes, and proper signage. Economic opportunities can be fostered by more thoughtful approaches to grants offered Third Street enterprises, and a tighter focus on trade-related apprenticeships and training programs. However, requiring higher wages and less experienced workers on residential construction projects would likely slow the pace of development, Catch-22.
Charismatic and engaging, Ellington is almost certainly the frontrunner. He’s been widely endorsed, by “progressives” and “moderates,” including Congressional candidate Scott Weiner, and has deep roots in the Bayview while appealing to other District 10 neighborhoods. The fact that he garnered a large donation from a San Francisco oligarch – as well as the mayor’s endorsement – indicates that the establishment believes it can work with him and sees him as the likely winner.
Eppler has been doggedly helping to fix municipal planning issues on behalf of Dogpatch and Potrero Hill for more than a decade, mostly as Potrero Boosters president. He’s the latest in a series of white Hill supervisorial aspirants, including Tony Kelly – himself a former Booster president – and me. He’s endorsed as a first choice mostly by Dogpatch and Hill civic leaders, which doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be a good supervisor so much as his campaign hasn’t yet been able to break out of his native geography.
Dion-Jay “DJ” Brookter is District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton’s preferred successor. So far, he doesn’t appear to have run as effective a campaign as Ellington. He’s backed by progressive local officials, including Congressional candidate Connie Chan and former supervisor Aaron Peskin.
Shawn M. Richard is Executive Director of Brothers Against Guns, a community nonprofit dedicated to youth mentorship, anti-violence advocacy, and crime prevention, which he founded in 1995 following the loss of his brother to gun violence. Given his low name recognition, he’s unlikely to break double digits in terms of vote percentages. As a result, a vote for Richard is more likely a vote for the supporter’s second or third pick candidate.
While the choice may be challenging, it’s also, in its own way, thrilling. Without an incumbent, voters have an opportunity to reboot their representation. Perhaps as important, they’ll change at least one individual’s life: the winning candidate’s.
