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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. Four 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.
Amid the ongoing debate over how to approach the drug epidemic and homelessness, two San Francisco supervisors introduced a plan earlier this month to prioritize abstinence-based housing options for formerly homeless people, which would be a shift away from current “Housing First” state policy.
This week’s we asked a simple question on a divisive topic: Do you support safe drug-consumption sites?
Two of our District 5 candidates say they would. The others range from wanting drug-free options to compelled substance abuse treatment to deportations.
Supervision at these sites can help prevent overdose deaths among people who would otherwise consume drugs elsewhere. Meanwhile, critics consider the sites to be enabling substance abuse.
We have already asked our candidates related questions, like their thoughts on law enforcement crackdowns on drug dealing or their planned approaches to fentanyl overdoses. Read the rest of the District 5 questions here.
Note: I will be at Urban Ritual Cafe, 201 Steiner St, on Thursday, June 20, at 4:30 p.m. Come say hi and share your thoughts about the election or District 5.
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
We donโt need to give drug addicts a safe place to do drugs; we need to give them a safe place away from drugs.
June 2016, my brother died of a drug overdose while housed in an otherwise encouraging city program. Against public health policy, it placed my brother, a known drug addict, in a hotel known to have drug dealing literally at its front door. Will the Department of Public Health ignore its safe drug-consumption sites policy too? My guess: Yes!
Autumn Looijen
- Job: School board recall co-founder
- Age: 46
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since December 2020, landowner
- Transportation: Public transit
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from California Institute of Technology
- Languages: English
Safe drug-consumption sites are illegal, and ineffective. If we donโt get users treatment, they will die.
Unfortunately, fentanyl is 50x more addictive than heroin: Users choose it over their limbs. They have a steam shovel to dig themselves into drug use, and a spoon to dig themselves out. They need our help, and time is short.
We need effective street intervention, more treatment and mental health beds, a willingness to compel treatment, and sober housing options. (71 percent of SRO residents want drug-free housing, but city and state policies give them no choice. And they cannot afford to move away.)
Endorsed by: San Francisco police union.
Bilal Mahmood
- Job: Founder of private and philanthropic organizations
- Age: 37
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since May 2023
- Transportation: Walking
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, master’s degree from University of Cambridge
- Languages: English, Urdu
I support safe-consumption sites, but as part of a holistic approach to help those battling addiction in our community.
As a city, we need to support the ability to operate safe-consumption sites and abstinence based treatment in parallel, so both options are available for those who are ready for it.
And more importantly, the Tenderloin cannot, and should not, be the containment zone for the city. We need to make sure that more districts are doing their fair share and collaborating to address the drug epidemic on our streets.
Endorsed by: San Francisco YIMBY, 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: Bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College, juris doctor degree from University of California Law, San Francisco
- Languages: English
Safe-consumption sites have played an essential role in curbing overdose deaths and public drug use in other cities, including our sister city, Zurich. In the U.S., New York City and Providence, Rhode Island, are following the evidence by opening and approving safe-consumption sites.
Donโt believe the lie that our city cannot do this โ theyโre in our cityโs Overdose Prevention Plan, and we already piloted one for eleven months with the Tenderloin Center, which reversed 300 overdoses. These sites will help save lives, move drug use off our streets, and get people connected with the help they need.
Endorsed by: Bernie Sanders, United Educators of San Francisco, San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco Tenants Union, National Union of Healthcare Workers.
Scotty Jacobs
- Job: Marketing
- Age: 30
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since November 2022, homeowner
- Transportation: Public bicycle
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from Washington University
- Languages: English
We need a fundamentally different approach in order to end the rampant addiction crisis; without policy changes, those experiencing addiction on our streets will continue to die from overdoses, with or without safe-injection sites. We need serious leaders who will take the necessary steps to end the addiction crisis.
We must refer convicted, undocumented drug dealers to ICE and ensure that those revived with taxpayer-provided Narcan are compelled toward recovery. I am unwavering in my commitment to ending the addiction crisis, and will work with law enforcement at the local and federal level to ensure we do so.
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 entire “Meet the Candidates” series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
Yikes. RFK spoiler candidate #2 Scotty laser show Jacobs would call ICE? What about all the drug addicted white collar Tech bros? Where do they get their drugs and will they be jailed too? Business consultant candidate Bilal Mahmood largely agrees with the current D5 Supervisor on safe consumption sites. Go figure.
It think it is worthwhile to repeat what Allen Jones says, which is quotable:
โWe donโt need to give drug addicts a safe place to do drugs; we need to give them a safe place away from drugs.โ
I want to find that place! Where is it?
Can San Francisco buy it?
Dean Preston favors supervised consumption sites, citing the TL Center as a model. That site connected less than 1% of its clients to treatment and allowed users to buy and sell drugs outside. We don’t need that in the Mission.