Welcome to “Meet the Candidates,” where Mission Local asks supervisor hopefuls questions in the lead-up to the November election. In District 7 — which includes the Inner Sunset, Parkmerced and West Portal — Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin-Pinto are running against incumbent Myrna Melgar.
Between now and the November election, Mission Local will ask each candidate one question per week, and candidates will get 100 words to respond. Take a look at all the answers from District 7 candidates here.
This week, we asked the candidates how they voted in the March election, one in which San Francisco voters rejected only Proposition B, which would have established minimum funding levels for police only if voters “amend an existing tax or approve a new tax that would fully fund police staffing and recruitment.”
The candidates veered from the city on very few of the measures, a story told best in a graph:
See their individual responses below. How did you vote on the March ballot measures?
And of course, if you have a question for the candidates, let Kelly, who is on vacation this week, know: kelly@missionlocal.com.
Myrna Melgar
- District 7 supervisor
- Age: 56
- Housing: Homeowner
- Transport: Bike
- Languages: Spanish, French, Swedish
- Education: BA, Excelsior College; MSUP, Columbia University
- Residency: Living in District 7’s Sunnyside since 2014 and, before that, from 1983 to 1988
Prop. A: Yes. Affordable housing (cosponsored).
Prop. B: Yes. Police staffing.
Prop. C: Yes. Real estate transfer tax exemption for commercial property conversions to housing.
Prop. D: Yes. Ethics reforms.
Prop. E: Yes. Police department reforms.
Prop. F: No. Drug screening for public assistance recipients.
Prop. G: Yes. Algebra (cosponsored).
Matthew Boschetto
- Small business owner
- Age: 35
- Housing: Homeowner
- Education: BA in philosophy, Saint Mary’s College of California
- Residency: Living in District 7 since 2014
Prop. A: No.
Prop. B: No.
Prop. C: Yes.
Prop. D: Yes.
Prop. E: Yes.
Prop. F: Yes.
Prop. G: Yes.
Stephen Martin-Pinto
- Firefighter/major, U.S. Marine Corps reserves
- Age: 46 Housing: Tenant in SF, Property owner and landlord in Lemon Grove, Ca.
- Languages: Spanish, Russian, Georgian
- Education: UC Davis
- Residency: Living in District 7’s Sunnyside since 2014 and, earlier from 1983 to 1998.
Prop. A: No. We have had several affordable-housing bond measures over the last few election cycles. At $1 million a unit, affordable housing isn’t affordable.
Prop. B: No. With a $14.6 billion budget, paying for a fully staffed police department should be a basic expectation.
Prop. C: Yes. We need to make it easier to convert office space into housing.
Prop. D: Yes. Corruption and undue influence are issues in San Francisco.
Prop. E: Yes. Unfortunately, our Board of Supervisors needs to be compelled to act on public safety matters by the voters.
Prop. F: Yes. It is not unreasonable to ask that recipients of benefits be sober or try to become sober.
Prop. G: Yes. Who in their right mind wouldn’t support early Algebra?
The order of candidates alternates each week. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar.
Read the rest of the series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.