Welcome to “Meet the Candidates,” where Mission Local asks supervisor hopefuls questions in the lead-up to the November election. In District 7 — which includes the Inner Sunset, Parkmerced and West Portal — Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin-Pinto are running against incumbent Myrna Melgar.
This week’s question: What would you do to make sure that drivers in District 7 drive responsibly?
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
Traffic safety is top of mind for District 7, especially because the current approach seems neither thoughtful nor effective. First, I’d advocate to stop wasting time on misguided traffic reengineering projects that have turned Taraval into a mess and sparked unnecessary conflict in West Portal. My priority would be to ensure SFPD has adequate resources for traffic stops, and direct them to enforce the laws rigorously. Secondly, I’d implement traffic-calming measures that have proven effective and have wider support. Moving away from the current ideological approach to one that focuses on data-driven solutions would have better outcomes for pedestrian safety.
Endorsed by: San Francisco Police Officers Association (#1), the Marina Times, SFFF Local 798 (#1), Chinese American Democratic Club (#1)
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
We need enforcement of traffic laws, and we also need better physical infrastructure to slow speeders, particularly on streets that are wide and do not have the necessary traffic-calming tools, like Monterey, Clarendon, Teresita, Laguna Honda Boulevard, Ocean Avenue, Irving, Kirkham, Lincoln and others. So many streets on the Westside have been deprioritized despite the danger, because the resources and improvements have gone to where there are numerically higher numbers of people on the streets: Downtown. We are making progress, though, and I will keep fighting for us.
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, SFFF Local 798 (#2)… 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 7’s Sunnyside since 2014, and earlier from 1983 to 1998
Quite simply, we need to have more enforcement. Police enforcement of traffic laws dropped precipitously over the last few years, most likely due to staffing issues and police commission policy. I would strongly advocate that all recent direct general orders changes made by the police commission related to traffic enforcement policy be rescinded, and the power of the police commission be reduced so that they no longer have influence over general orders. Along with intelligent traffic engineering and additional staffing, this will vastly improve driver behavior in San Francisco.
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, SFFF Local 798 (#3) … 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.
Campaign Finance:
Rescinding the police commission’s changes won’t do anything since the police don’t enforce moving violations.