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Welcome to โMeet the Candidates,โ where Mission Local asks supervisor hopefuls questions in the lead-up to the November election. In District 7 โ which includes the Inner Sunset, Parkmerced and West Portal โ Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin-Pinto are running against incumbent Myrna Melgar.
This week’s question: Name a specific issue affecting residents in Parkmerced. How would you address it?
Also, please come join me for coffee next week to talk about District 7: I will be at Beanery (602 Irving St.) at 10 a.m. on Thursday July 25. You can also reach out to me at kelly@missionlocal.com.
Matt Boschetto
- Job: Small business owner
- Age: 35
- Housing: Homeowner
- Transport: Car
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Saint Mary’s College of California
- Residency: Living in District 7 since 2014
While the issues at Parkmerced reflect the foundational problems the city faces, they also illustrate the calculated indifference by the developer. Although Parkmerced is entitled to break ground, the high costs of entitling the project and shifting market dynamics make it financially unfeasible. This situation is true for many of the 70,000 units in the pipeline, posing a significant obstacle to increasing the city’s housing supply. Until we address the high soft costs imposed by our permitting process, housing development will continue at a snail’s pace, and we risk losing planning control to state housing advocates. I sympathize with the … read more here
Endorsed by: San Francisco Police Officers Association
Myrna Melgar
- Job: District 7 supervisor
- Age: 56
- Housing: Homeowner
- Transport: Bike
- Languages: Spanish, French, Swedish
- Education: Bachelor’s degree, Excelsior College; master’s degree in urban planning, Columbia University
- Residency: Living in Ingleside Terraces since 2011, and lived in District 7 while in college at SF State between 1987 and 1991
The two issues Parkmerced residents have complained about for the past four years are an increase in crime and security issues, and the lack of responsiveness from management regarding repairs. During the pandemic, vacancies went up, and the owner of the property cut back on services, including security. Squatters on the property have caused problems, and we have had serious and dangerous situations that have required police intervention. The problems with repairs have been serious, especially for seniors who live in the tower, as elevators were broken for weeks.
Endorsed by: SF Labor Council, SF Tenants Union, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Supervisor Connie Chan, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Supervisor Catherine Stefani, Senator Scott Weiner, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins … read more here
Stephen Martin-Pinto
- Job: Firefighter/major, U.S. Marine Corps reserves
- Age: 46
- Housing: Tenant in SF, property owner and landlord in Lemon Grove, California
- Transport: Fairly evenly split between car, Muni and walking
- Languages: Spanish, Russian, Georgian
- Education: University of California, Davis
- Residency: Living in District 7โs Sunnyside since 2014, and earlier from 1983 to 1998
There are several issues affecting Parkmerced that I believe are interrelated. Squatters occupying vacant units; RVs parked along Higuera Avenue, Vidal Drive, and Lake Merced Boulevard; and criminal activity happening in vacant units and RVs. The most immediate fixes include the removal of squatters from units, and RVs from neighborhood streets, in accordance with the Grants Pass ruling. This will reduce crime, illegal dumping, and dog attacks that some of the residents have told me that they have experienced. Then we need to commit to the Parkmerced residents that we will keep the vacant units free of squatters and streets clear of RVs.
Endorsed by: Former District 7 Supervisor Tony Hall, former Planning Commissioner Michael Antonini, former Police Chief Tony Ribera, drug policy advocate Tom Wolf, BART Board Director Debora Allen … read more here
The order of candidates alternates each week. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar.
Do you have a question for the candidates? Let me know: kelly@missionlocal.com
Read the rest of the series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
