Here’s the latest in our “Meet the Candidates” series for District 5, in which we ask each candidate to answer one question per week leading up to the election. Three candidates are challenging incumbent Supervisor Dean Preston to represent District 5, which spans from the east end of Golden Gate Park through Haight-Ashbury, Japantown and the Western Addition, the Lower Haight and Hayes Valley, and most of the Tenderloin.
This week, on the heels of Bike to Work Day, we asked candidates how they will promote alternative transit modes such as biking which, for some reason, is highly controversial in some circles. We also asked if there are other cities we should look to as a good example.
Note: I will be at Cafe International at 508 Haight St., on Wednesday, May 22, at 11 a.m. Come say hi and share your thoughts.
Autumn Looijen
- Job: School board recall co-founder
- Age: 46
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since December 2020, landowner
- Transportation: Public transit
- Education: B.S. from California Institute of Technology
- Languages: English
I once lived in the Netherlands, where I rode a bike to work every day. Biking in our city needs to be safe, practical, and welcoming.
SFMTA is creating a Bike and Roll plan right now.
This needs to be a practical plan where bikes and cars are separated as much as possible. Where people can get to workplaces, businesses and grocery stores easily by bike. And where the paths are green and welcoming for both pedestrians and bikes.
This will reduce the number of people who need cars, making parking easier and traffic lighter for the drivers who remain.
Bilal Mahmood
- Job: Founder of private and philanthropic organizations
- Age: 37
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since May 2023
- Transportation: Walking
- Education: B.S. from Stanford, M.Phil from University of Cambridge
- Languages: English, Urdu
Encouraging alternative transit modes in San Francisco is crucial and we need to implement traffic safety measures to ensure residents feel safe enough to bike on existing bike paths like the Wiggle and throughout our neighborhoods.
I wrote an op-ed on this topic describing how Tokyoโs transit policy has allowed for widened sidewalks that arenโt just for pedestrians; they accommodate bicycles as well โ with separate, designated lanes. In keeping bikes off the roadways, streets are designed simpler and safer. Instituting similar urban design here in San Francisco could mean accelerating progress toward the Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic fatalities.
Endorsed by: State Senator Scott Wiener and DCCC Chair Honey Mahogany.
Dean Preston
- Job: Incumbent, tenant attorney
- Age: 54
- Residency: Homeowner, in District 5 since 1996
- Transportation: Public transit
- Education: Bowdoin College and J.D. from UC Law San Francisco
- Languages: English
Iโm an everyday Muni rider and a strong advocate for public transit, slow streets, protected bike lanes, and Vision Zero. Iโve been pushing SFMTA to create a citywide safe streets network.
Iโm the only District 5 candidate with a proven safe streets record:
- Championing JFK Promenade, Car-Free Hayes, Golden Gate Greenway, Page Slow Street
- Securing $25M for traffic safety in the Tenderloin and Western Addition
- Establishing parking-protected bike lanes along the Panhandle
- Legislation to ban turns on red
- Lowering speed limits in neighborhoods
- Unwavering advocacy for public transit
Traffic injuries and fatalities are a policy failure. Iโll continue to prioritize safe streets.
Endorsed by: Bernie Sanders, United Educators of San Francisco, San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco Tenants Union, National Union of Healthcare Workers.
Allen Jones
- Job: Activist
- Age: 67
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since November 2021
- Transportation: Wheelchair
- Education: Teaching Bible studies at juvenile hall
- Languages: English
I use a wheelchair, so I am limited in what I have to offer on this subject. Nevertheless, promoting alternative modes of transit demands that we all first take a course in courtesy. Then wake up and dream big.
Since November 2022, Iโve been nagging the Mayorโs Office on Disability and the Mayorโs Disability Council to do for San Franciscoโs electric wheelchair community what I learned is happening in other cities: Public electric wheelchair charging stations. But my plan stresses stations throughout the city. My nagging is working. April 19, 2024, Mayorโs Disability Council meeting here (Item 7).
Money raised and spent in the District 5 supervisor race
For
Money spent
Against
Dean Preston
$10,530
$301,458
$26,174
$156,791
Bilal Mahmood
$6,846
$63,387
Allen Jones
$0
Autumn Looijen
$0
$0
$100,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
Money spent
For
Against
Dean Preston
$10,530
$301,458
$26,174
$156,791
Bilal Mahmood
$63,387
$6,846
Allen Jones
$0
Autumn Looijen
$0
$0
$100K
$200K
$300K
$400K
Source: San Francisco Ethics Commission, as of April 3, 2024. Chart by Junyao Yang.
The order of candidates is rotated each week. Answers are capped at 100 words, and may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at eleni@missionlocal.com.
Read the rest of the District 5 questions here, and the entire “Meet the Candidates” series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
Autumn, just because you “once lived in the Netherlands” and “rode a bike to work every day” does not mean you are a policy expert.
There is nothing in what you said or in what you’ve done to indicate you have any clue how to create bicycle infrastructure even remotely close to what exists in and between Dutch cities.
You tell us, “SFMTA is creating a Bike and Roll plan right now.” How involved with that have you been? How much are you willing to tell the merchant class that they and their customers can’t have all of the street and much of the sidewalk? Do you realize that more times than not SFMTA has failed in their “efforts” to create bike infrastructure? That they given into the car owner/user class (think about what is happening in West Portal)?
Los Altos Looijen speaks in platitudes and never offers specifics or her vision for solutions for D5ers and San Franciscans. She lists her job/occupation as โschool board recall cofounderโ but how does she make her living? Is she riding Tech billionaire Michael Moritzโ gravy train? How does she pay her rent? How does she pay for private school for her kids?
I once lived in NYC, Paris and in London. I rode my bicycle and took public transit every day. No car needed. But that was then. This is now. Looijen doesnโt say how she will make biking โsafe, practical and welcoming.โ She doesnโt seem to fathom that she is a candidate who is running for elected office.
And thanks Autumn, but D5ers already know SFMTA is working on a Bike and Roll plan right now. Maybe thatโs how they do it in the Netherlands and in Los Altos but what is YOUR plan?
Someone should tell the carpetbagger candidate Bilal Mahmood (who moved to the newly gerrymandered TL in D5 only a year ago after losing his assembly race to Matt Haney) that sidewalks are for people, not motorized bicycles or scooters. The data shows a quadrupling of injuries and deaths to both pedestrians and the riders with bikes and scooters on our sidewalks. Quit pandering Bilal! Candidate Mahmood has no clue about what D5ers want or need.