Welcome back to our “Meet the Candidates” series, where we ask the District 9 supervisorial hopefuls in the November 2024 election one question each week. Candidates are asked to answer questions on policy, ideology and more in 100 words or fewer.
Answers are being published individually each week, but we are also archiving the weekly series here.
If you know of other political events, let me know and I will add them to the post.
I will be at Horsies Saloon at 3368 19th Street on Thursday, June 13, at 4 p.m. to say hello and talk about the district, or you can email me at oscar.palma@missionlocal.com.
This week’s question:Would you support safe consumption sites in District 9? If so, would you do it right now? or only if these became legal?
Stephen Torres
- Job: Bartender at Twin Peaks Tavern, customer service at Flowercraft Nursery and freelance writer
- Age: 46
- Residency: Tenant, lived in District 9 summer 2001 to fall 2003, and returned in the summer 2010
- Transportation: Public
- Education: Moorpark Community College and San Francisco City College as work has permitted
- Languages: English and Spanish
At the Milk Club debate in January, I referred to my job in a bar as working at a “supervised consumption site.” This was not to be clever, but to be honest. Alcohol is a drug that is also deadly if abused. This is why it is regulated and dispensed, just as marijuana now is. To prevent overdose, poisoning, unsafe conditions on our streets and transit, and death, safe and strictly enforced consumption sites are essential in every district. There are legal hurdles, however, and I would work with public-health experts and law enforcement to find a path forward.
Endorsed by: Mark Leno, Former State Senator, Aaron Peskin, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Hillary Ronen, Supervisor, District 9 … read more here
h brown
- Job: Retired special education teacher
- Age: 80
- Residency: Tenant, at current address for nine years, redistricted into District 9 in April 2022
- Transportation: Walking
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in education and master’s degree in special education from Clemson University
- Languages: English
For God’s sake,YESSSS!!!
But keep them inside.
How about the places taxpayers are probably still paying for that were for vendor sales ?
You were mentioning 55 empty storefronts on Mission Street alone ?
Biggest step would be to hitch up our britches and decriminalize drugs in San Francisco!
That takes both the cops and the dealers out of the equation.
Gives some breathing room to our bulging jails.
Ignore the four right wingers running for Mayor who want to lock everyone up.
Don’t let the billionaires steal San Francisco’s very soul.
And, let we the VOTERS choose our next police chief.
Endorsed by: No endorsements listed.
Julian Bermudez
- Job: Works in and directs his family business, Rancho Grande Appliance
- Age: 27
- Residency: Born San Francisco in 1996, raised on and off in District 9 until he left for college in 2015, then the army in 2019 and now back, living in the Mission
- Transportation: Carpool/catch a ride
- Education: City College of San Francisco, Chico State University
- Languages: English and Spanish
Safe-consumption locations are efficient at preventing overdoses, reducing the spread of blood-borne pathogens, and considerably cleaning up the streets. According to the same studies, it has no effect on consumption rates, which is insufficient to end the opioid epidemic. This may be a step in the right direction, but we must acknowledge that more needs to be done to help those who use dangerous drugs. I would not open a safe-consumption location until it was legal at the state level, to ensure adequate funding. Using private financing can lead to corruption and finger-pointing between local officials and private contributors.
Endorsed by: No endorsements listed … read more here
Jaime Gutierrez
- Job: Transit supervisor for SFMTA/Muni
- Age: 57
- Residency: Tenant, born in District 9 in 1967 and, except for three years spent in the Army, has resided here ever since
- Transportation: Bike
- Education: U.S. Army, City College of San Francisco, University of California, Berkeley
- Languages: English and Spanish
District 9 cannot become a dumping ground for the city’s biggest bane. Easy and banal to foist an intensely complex issue — second to housing — onto our community and conveniently turn away from the real issue that addiction is a nearly untreatable disease of isolation. Are other districts also being asked to support safe-consumption sites? Otherwise, this is a life-and-death issue, and should not be endured by a minority of city districts. San Francisco also should not be the place to get high and die. It must become a place to live and visit sober. Legalize that, please.
Endorsed by: Transportation Workers Union Local 200 … read more here
Jackie Fielder
- Job: Nonprofit co-director at Stop the Money Pipeline. Former educator at San Francisco State University, co-founder of the San Francisco Public Bank Coalition. Democratic Socialist
- Age: 29
- Residency: Tenant, lived in District 9 September 2017 to June 2018, October 2019 to August 2020 ,and April 2021 to present
- Transportation: Public
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in public policy and master’s degree in sociology from Stanford University
- Languages: English and Spanish
Yes, I support safe-consumption sites in District 9, which is what public health professionals have called for in the City’s 2022 Overdose Prevention Plan, and would entice people off the streets and into treatment. I have consulted with a wide range of experts and stakeholders, from researchers and public-health professionals to social workers, in forming my overdose and mental-health platforms available on my website. At the same time, we need to secure more dual-diagnosis beds from the state’s Prop. 1 funds to be able to provide long-term treatment to those struggling with both mental illness and substance-use disorder.
Endorsed by: Former State Representative Tom Ammiano, Former District 9 Supervisor David Campos, Former Mayor Art Agnos, City College Trustee Vick Chung, District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin … read more here.
Roberto Hernandez
- Job: CEO, Cultura y Arte Nativa de Las Americas (CANA).
- Age: 67
- Residency: Homeowner, born in the Mission in June 1956 and has not left
- Transportation: Car and bicycle
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in sociology from University of San Francisco
- Languages: English and Spanish
Safe-consumption sites have failed our addicts in the past, because they were established without any pathways to get sober and healthy alongside them. However, these sites have demonstrated they can be an effective component of a multifaceted approach to addiction, if they are implemented with wraparound services that help get addicts into long-term recovery.
I would only support safe-consumption sites that operate in concert with other measures to address the addiction crisis, such as comprehensive mental-health treatment, compassionate addiction-recovery programs, social and public health services, and proper enforcement against those who supply and sell narcotics.
Endorsed by: State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Supervisor Myrna Melgar, Supervisor Shamann Walton, State Senator Scott Wiener, BART Director Bevan Dufty … read more here
Trevor Chandler
- Job: Public school teacher since 2023. Former director of government and public policy at Citizen, a public safety app.
- Age: 37
- Residency: Tenant, living in District 9 since July 2021
- Transportation: Public
- Education: Plymouth State University
- Languages: English
Any safe-consumption sites must be legal and part of a comprehensive strategy that ensures that a mandatory metric of success is how many people were directed into recovery services. We can no longer spend billions of dollars on addiction without results that benefit the quality of life of all San Franciscans.
D9 residents expect their tax dollars to be spent on getting those in active addiction off the streets and into recovery, not to perpetuate the failing system we see all around us. With reasonable updates to our policies we can balance both compassion and accountability.
Endorsed by: Latino LGBTQ political organization HONOR PAC, State Senator Scott Wiener, Assembly Member Rick Chavez Zbur, Brownie Mary Democratic Club, Supreme Court Marriage Equality Lead Plaintiff Jim Obergefell … read more here
District 9 contributions
Money raised and spent in the District 9 supervisor race
Money raised
Money spent
Jackie Fielder
$31,954
$112,742
Roberto Hernandez
$11,443
$100,577
Trevor Chandler
$72,682
$90,840
Stephen Torres
$13,848
$5,949
Julian Bermudez
$740
Michael Petrelis
$0
Jamie Gutierrez
$0
h Brown
$0
$0
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
Money raised
Money spent
Jackie Fielder
$31,954
$112,742
Roberto Hernandez
$11,443
$100,577
Trevor Chandler
$72,682
$90,840
Stephen Torres
$13,848
$5,949
Julian Bermudez
$740
Michael Petrelis
$0
Jamie Gutierrez
$0
h Brown
$0
$0
$50K
$100K
$150K
$200K
Source: San Francisco Ethics Commission, as of April 3, 2024. Chart by Junyao Yang.
Candidates are rotated alphabetically. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at oscar.palma@missionlocal.com
Read the rest of the District 9 questions here, and the entire “Meet the Candidates” series here.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.