Welcome back to our “Meet the Candidates” series, where District 1 supervisorial candidates who have filed to run respond to a question in 100 words or fewer.
Answers are published each week, but we are also archiving each answer on this page for District 1, to make it easier for voters to browse.
Next Thursday, April 25 at 10 a.m., I will be at La Promenade Cafe at 3643 Balboa St. Drop by and share your thoughts. Can’t make that meeting? I’ll be somewhere in the district every week. Check back here to find out where.
San Francisco is facing a challenge: Meeting its goal of building over 82,000 new housing units by 2031, of which 46,000 are affordable. The state-mandated plan will change zoning rules in the city’s westside, allowing denser and taller buildings to be built in those neighborhoods — a contentious issue for the city’s Westside residents in District 1, 4 and 7.
So, this week, we ask District 1 candidates: How can D1 help the city hit its housing goals?
Connie Chan
- Job: Incumbent District 1 Supervisor
- Age: 45
- Residency: Homeowner, living in District 1 since 2011
- Transportation: Driving and walking
- Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of California, Davis
- Languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin
District 1 has been building market-rate multi-family housing projects throughout the neighborhood, but when I talk to many District 1 residents, they want housing that is affordable for students, seniors and working families. They support my efforts on projects like 4200 Geary which will provide 98 units of 100 percent affordable housing for seniors and the Alexandria Theater Development which will bring housing to a long-neglected site while preserving our history with an agreement between developer and the city.
In San Francisco, our long standing market driven housing solutions have not delivered us the affordable housing that we need, in fact … read more here
Endorsed by: San Francisco Labor Council, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, Local 21, Service Employees International Union 1021 … read more here
Sherman D’Silva
- Job: Owner of a laundromat on Geary Boulevard
- Age: 51
- Residency: Homeowner, living in District 1 since 1973
- Transportation: Driving
- Education: Bachelor’s degrees from San Francisco State University
- Languages: English
The district can increase housing by streamlining the application and approval of projects, as well as, relaxing some zoning restrictions to allow for two- or three-story buildings. The district also has many single-story commercial buildings along business corridors. Let’s encourage property owners to add additional housing units onto these properties or rebuild them with additional units.To incentivize adding additional units, San Francisco should not reassess properties that participate in adding additional units if they fall under rent control. This gives an incentive to property owners to add units while increasing rent-controlled units in the city.
Jen Nossokoff
- Job: Vice president of a healthcare company and physician assistant
- Age: 38
- Residency: Homeowner, living in District 1 since 2020
- Transportation: Walking, biking
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and master’s degree from Samuel Merritt University
- Languages: English
As the city is poised to expand zoning regulations to support building more housing, it’s essential for D1 to focus on infrastructure and intentional urban planning as density increases. This means ensuring adequate resources like water and electricity, and that our transportation systems are designed and scaled appropriately to support new residences.
By focusing on an integrated and planful approach, District 1 can not only meet its housing goals but also enhance the overall livability and sustainability of the community.
Marjan Philhour
- Job: Business owner, former advisor and fundraiser to London Breed
- Age: 49
- Residency: Homeowner, born in District 1 and moved back in 2006
- Transportation: Biking, walking, driving and public transportation
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley
- Languages: English
The Richmond District can play a critical role in helping San Francisco meet its housing goals by advocating for and supporting the creation of diverse housing opportunities, including affordable housing. We need to cut through the bureaucratic red tape that has historically stalled housing creation and reform zoning laws to allow for density along transit corridors.
I will work to reform the permitting process for housing creation and push for initiatives that both preserve existing housing, bring neighbors together in the vision for the future of housing for the neighborhood, and meet the growing need for housing options. Together, we … read more here
Endorsed by: San Francisco Police Officers Association … read more here
Jeremiah Boehner
- Job: Marketing specialist and U.S. Army veteran
- Age: 39
- Residency: Tenant, living in District 1 since 2006
- Transportation: Driving
- Education: University of San Francisco
- Languages: English
We can help by fixing the incentive structures for landlords. Currently, we make it very difficult for landlords to remove bad tenants.
We have over 10,000 units sitting empty because the incentives to rent these units out aren’t there. We need to rethink the way we approach tenants vs. landlord rights and how rent control works.
Additionally, we need to fix the regulatory process involved in building new housing. We can do this in a way that protects our single-family home communities while growing the housing supply.
(Editor’s note: A city report found that, as of 2019, more than 40,000 units were empty in the city, about half of them in the process of being rented or sold and more than 8,000 as second homes; about 13,000 were vacant for “other” reasons, including those being used as corporate housing, caretaker units, etc.)
Money raised and spent in District 1 supervisor race
For
Money spent
Against
Marjan Philhour
$63,735
$136,064
Connie Chan
$11,806
$101,585
$5,360
$72,021
Jen Nossokoff
$11,653
$3,573
Jeremiah Boehner
$0
Sherman D’Silva
$0
$0
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
For
Money spent
Against
Marjan Philhour
$63,735
$136,064
Connie Chan
$11,806
$101,585
$5,360
$72,021
Jen Nossokoff
$11,653
$3,573
Jeremiah Boehner
$0
Sherman D’Silva
$0
$0
$50K
$100K
$150K
$200K
Source: San Francisco Ethics Commission, as of April 3, 2024. Chart by Junyao Yang.
Candidates are ordered alphabetically and rotated each week. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at junyao@missionlocal.com.
Read the rest of the series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
Chan: “In San Francisco, our long standing market driven housing solutions have not delivered us the affordable housing that we need, in fact the state demands us to build 46,000 units of affordable housing by 2030. This is why I supported and advocated the $600 million affordable housing in 2019 and again another $300 million last March”
… and at current building costs those funds would – in the absolute _best_ case, with no inefficiency – still build fewer than 900 units. The inclusionary funding that comes from market rate construction builds more affordable units than that, if anything.
This isn’t a serious answer to the question. Of course everyone will support these bonds, but pretending these kind of piecemeal actions will allow SF to meet its goals and build suitable housing for its growing population is just fantasy.