Between February and the November election, Mission Local is asking each District 3 candidate one question per week, and candidates will get 100 words to respond. We will compile all responses to the 40-odd questions on a “Meet the Candidates” page, so that voters can get a full picture of their stances.
Because Supervisor Aaron Peskin terms out next January, six candidates have filed to run for his seat to lead District 3, which includes North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, the Financial District, Russian Hill and Nob Hill.
Have a question for the candidates? Meet me on Thursday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. at Joy’s Place (611 Post St.). Email me at yujie@missionlocal.com.
Question this week: What do you think about last week’s homeless sweeps? Do you want to see more of these in San Francisco and D3?
Danny Sauter
- Job: Executive Director, Neighborhood Centers Together
- Age: 36
- Residency: Tenant in District 3 since 2014
- Transportation: Public transportation
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from Miami University
- Languages: English, Cantonese
It is not compassionate to let people suffer and deteriorate on our streets. We should enforce laws to keep sidewalks clean and clear, especially from encampments. We need to make sure these interactions lead to solutions and are not just moving people from one block to another.
Our resources should be directed towards programs and services that we know best move people out of homelessness: shelter and permanent supportive housing, drug-treatment programs, and preventative work like rental vouchers and tenant assistance.
Endorsed by: Nor Cal Carpenters Union, Senator Scott Wiener, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, Operating Engineers Local 3 … read more here
Matthew Susk
- Job: Former lead with Divvy Homes
- Age: 32
- Residency: TIC owner, first moved to District 3 in 2007. 2007-2009 while in high school, 2014-2016 after college, 2023-present with his wife.
- Transportation: Walking
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University, master’s in business from Georgetown University
- Languages: English
I support the recent homeless sweeps as a necessary step to address safety and cleanliness concerns. Additionally, I advocate for sustainable, compassionate solutions, like the Homeward Bound program, to bring those in need to a loving community, and opening the Log Cabin Ranch as a treatment facility outside city limits. These initiatives can help address the root causes of homelessness.
Wendy Ha Chau
- Job: Attorney
- Age: 44
- Residency: Tenant in District 3 since 2009
- Transportation: Walking
- Education: Juris doctor degree from John F. Kennedy University
- Languages: English
The recent sweeps were examples of how not to do “homeless sweeps.”
There are videos showing evidence of excessive force and other Fourth Amendment violations perpetrated by the police.
If I am elected, I will have the police properly trained, to 5150 all homeless people who break the law (and I mean any law).
Once the homeless are 5150, then DPW can clean up the garbage left behind.
For a complete answer, please follow me on X.
Moe Jamil
- Job: Deputy city attorney, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office
- Age: 46
- Residency: Owner-occupied condo owner, living in District 3 since May 2014
- Transportation: Walking
- Education: University of California, Berkeley, and law school at Santa Clara University, K-12 public school
- Languages: English, Cantonese
District 3 should be tent-free every day, not just for APEC, Dreamforce and the 100 days before an election. Encampments have grown out of control because criminal and civil laws have not been enforced humanely, despite the pleas of residents and small businesses. We need long-term solutions to prevent our residents from becoming unhoused by expanding emergency rental assistance for tenants, investing in treatment and recovery programs for those who are currently housed and accelerating programs to help the 37% of the unhoused who moved here in the last year return home to the care of family and friends.
Endorsed by: San Francisco Tenants Union, Teamsters Joint Council 7, Retired Assistant Police Chief Garrett Tom, Board President Aaron Peskin … read more here
Sharon Lai
- Job: Economic recovery leader at the World Economic Forum, former board member at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
- Age: 41
- Residency: Tenant and owner, living in District 3 since 2023, first moved to SF in 2005
- Transportation: Walk and Muni when solo, drive when with kids
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley, development studies and city and regional planning; master’s degree in public administration, Harvard Kennedy School
- Languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese
We need fiscally responsible and effective solutions to unsheltered homelessness. Homeless sweeps without increases in services shuffle people around and don’t address homelessness sustainably. Leaning on the jail and the ER is costly, and not an appropriate intervention in many cases.
I support keeping our public spaces clear, and providing people with viable alternatives to living on the streets. That includes:
- Shelter opportunities, including expanding the tiny homes I built for San Francisco as the ED of a homeless housing nonprofit
- Leveraging the 800 PSH vacancies to get people into existing housing units
- Expanding homeward bound and other reunification efforts
Endorsed by: Community Tenants Association, Teamsters Joint Council 7, 7 of the current Board of Supervisors … read more here
Eduard Navarro
- Job: Tech startup founder
- Age: 44
- Residency: Tenant in District 3 since December 2021
- Transportation: Walking, public transportation
- Education: CFA Institute: Chartered Financial Analyst, passed level 1. Master’s degree from Columbia University, architecture, concentration in urban design. Master’s degree from Columbia University, real estate development, concentrating in finance. Ecole d’Architecture de La Villette. Bachelor’s degree in architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology.
- Languages: Spanish, French, German, English, Valèncian (Catalan)
Watching videos and images of the sweeps this week is heartbreaking. However, the reality is that people do not belong on the street as a permanent settlement. Public space belongs to all of us; it is our collective living room, not a place to be occupied permanently by any neighbor. We must classify our homeless population into those facing temporary hardship and those with cognitive disabilities, such as mental illness or drug abuse. Clearing the streets and enforcing the law must go hand in hand with securing paths to homes or institutional care that promote rehabilitation and reintegration.
Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at yujie@missionlocal.com.
Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
It seems Wendy Ha Chau is quite unfamiliar with when and why someone can be 5150-ed.
Maybe she didn’t study that part at JFK.
Wendy Ha Chau: “If I am elected, I will have the police properly trained, to 5150 all homeless people who break the law (and I mean any law). Once the homeless are 5150 (sic), then DPW can clean up the garbage left behind.”
Wendy (I’ll call you by your first name because that’s a thing now): California Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 5150 is not a catch-all for removal of homeless people from public view. It is a very limited emergency intervention that allows for an involuntary detention of an adult experiencing a mental health crisis. The hold can be placed if the person is a danger to themselves, others, or gravely disabled.
It is unclear if you do not know this or simply don’t care. Maybe JFK should revoke your Juris Doctor.