When Jackie Fielder takes office on Jan. 8 to become the new supervisor for District 9, she will face a full plate of issues: a street-vending problem that has stumped city officials, a lawsuit from neighbors suing the city for not acting against prostitution and loitering, and the gloom of the immigration threats coming from the second Trump administration.
Then there are the citywide issues that hit particularly hard in District 9: The housing shortage and homelessness.
Fielder’s easy victory — she eclipsed her main rival, Trevor Chandler, by 20 points — sent a strong message that progressives maintain a tight grip on the district. But the nearly 100,000 San Franciscans who live in the tower-shaped district, topped by 13th Street in the north and Mansell Street in the south, are far from homogeneous in their expectations.
How do community leaders, merchants, and ordinary residents hope she’ll lead?
Mission District
Over the past year and a half, the Mission District has been home to some of the most controversial issues in San Francisco: the Valencia center bike lane and the Mission Street vending ban.
For now, the former has been settled: Despite opposition from Valencia street merchants, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency recently approved new side-running lanes up and down the corridor.
The vending issue, however, remains up in the air. A ban on selling on Mission Street was extended by six months in August, and is expected to run until at least Feb. 27.
13th St
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Source: DataSF. Chart by Junyao Yang.
Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who is departing in January and held the seat since 2016, tried to curb unpermitted vending by putting the vending ban into effect last year. And, while some called the ban a success — vendors hawking likely stolen wares have markedly decreased when enforcement is prevalent — the permitted vendors have suffered, and unpermitted vending remains an issue.
Once February comes and the ban ends, Rodrigo Lopez, president of the Mission Street Vendor, would like Fielder to stand behind the permitted vendors’ desires to remain on Mission Street under the city program.
“In the last five months, we had very open communication with [London] Breed’s administration,” said Lopez. “We would like for Jackie to continue this open communication so she can bring our voices to the new mayor.”
Over on Shotwell Street, Ayman Farahat, a Shotwell resident who led a charge to sue the city over failing to act against prostitution, loitering and public indecency on the street and Jose Coronado Park, said he hopes Fielder will follow through with her beliefs that sex workers and their clients should not be in residential areas.
The city has already responded: Mayor Breed installed cameras on Shotwell and closed the street to through traffic; in mid-November, the San Francisco Police Department implemented a “Dear John” program that photographs vehicles in search of sex work, and mails a photo of the alleged johns to the vehicle owner’s address.
When asked if he believes these efforts are enough, Farahat called them a step in the right direction, but only time will tell if they work or not.
Tracy Gallardo, a member of the executive board of the Latino Task Force, is most worried about expected attacks on immigrants. While many of the district’s Latinx and Chinese residents are citizens or legal residents, others are undocumented or have been on temporary protected status, a limited designation that allows them to remain in the United States to work because of upheavals in their own counties.
“A lot of workers are very nervous because they have different temporary statuses. We’re just hearing all kinds of crazy things,” said Gallardo, adding that retaining the city’s status as a sanctuary city is key. “My hope is that she really takes that fight on.”
Gallardo added that, as the youngest supervisor at 30, Fielder can inspire new generations to become politically active.
“She appeals to a young population, and can motivate the leadership of our young people to rise up,” said Gallardo.
For other community leaders, like Martina Ayala, the executive director of the Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts, the expectations are more immediate.
Ayala hopes Fielder will be a loud voice advocating for funding the MCCLA at the city’s arts commission, as the center will face a temporary relocation next year that may put many of their programs at risk.
For the first time since its founding, the center will have to pay significant rent, as its current city-owned building, which it rents for $1 a year, undergoes renovations.
Ryen Motzek, president of the Mission Merchants Association, said he hopes Fielder will listen to merchant concerns and focus on maintaining clean and safe streets to help bring customers back to the area. He said unpermitted vendors hurt businesses in the corridors, and called for Fielder to continue efforts started by Ronen with the vending ban.
Just a street over, Manny Yekutiel, the president of the Valencia Merchants Association, shared much of Motzek’s vision about cleanliness and public safety, but added that merchants would like to see the supervisor-elect’s support for graffiti abatement and the Valencia bike lane.
“Making sure that whatever ends up happening with the bike lane, that the supervisor works with the merchants to try to make construction go as quickly as possible and as painlessly as possible,” said Yekutiel.
Portola
Teresa Duque is the executive director of the San Francisco Community Empowerment Center, a nonprofit based in Portola, a neighborhood of District 9 tucked under the arm of the 280 and 101 highways.
Constituents in the neighborhood, Duque said, often feel ignored by City Hall. It’s a dynamic she hopes Fielder can change. “We feel very isolated. No one cares,” said Duque. “I hope she can work with all of us.”
District 9 is 41 percent white, 25 percent Asian, 26 percent Latinx and four percent Black. But Portola is the district’s Asian stronghold: The neighborhood is 58.5 percent Asian, 22.4 percent Latinx, 14 percent white and three percent Black.
John F Foran Fwy
Bayshore Blvd
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the Excelsior
Cambridge St
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McLaren Park
John F Foran Fwy
Bayshore Blvd
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the Excelsior
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Source: DataSF. Chart by Junyao Yang.
Portola is also less affluent than the rest of the district, with a median household income of $117,000, compared to median household incomes of $147,000 in the Mission District and $159,000 in Bernal Heights.
And, unlike the rest of District 9, Portola went heavily for Chandler. The geographic split in the district, in fact, was exact: All precincts in the Mission and Bernal chose Fielder as their first-choice pick, and every precinct in Portola chose Chandler, who campaigned with a tough-on-crime platform and swept the area’s more conservative Asian homeowners.
Map by Kelly Waldron. Data from the San Francisco Department of Elections.
Duque sees a need for more services, such as English as a second language classes, counseling, and translations. The residents in the neighborhood don’t know Fielder, Duque said. And that’s not unusual: Too often, Duque said, Portola’s needs are not a priority because city officials, including supervisors, fail to visit the district often, which makes residents feel as if their representative is out of reach.
Chandler’s message resonated, because Duque said crime is the No. 1 concern for most merchants on the San Bruno Avenue commercial corridor between Hale and Olmstead streets.
Wendy Zeng from Red House Bakery, at 2818 San Bruno Ave., agreed with Duque.
“Crime is my No. 1 priority,” said Zeng. “Over the last few months, a person came in here and other businesses and took the tip jars, but we didn’t call the cops, because we thought it was too small.”
Zeng said she’s heard stories of people getting mugged on the bus and in the areas around San Bruno Avenue.
Another business owner in the corridor, Michael Wong from Michael Wong Chiropractors, said that, on one occasion, he has called 911 to report a car break-in as it was happening. The call lasted four minutes, he said. By the time the call ended, it was too late to do anything.
The slow police response makes residents reluctant to call the police, said Duque. She added that, for a lot of Chinese people, there is a language barrier that makes them even more hesitant to do so.
Police data, however, shows a mixed picture.
From 2020 to 2021, Portola saw a nine percent increase in police incidents, according to the San Francisco Police Department’s log of police reports. That decreased five percent the following year, then increased 16 percent, before again decreasing 31 percent from last year to this year.
Despite this year’s decrease, crime remains top of mind for residents, Duque said. Residents don’t feel safer, and they believe the decrease in numbers is a result of victims not reporting the crimes.
Another priority for the neighborhood is affordable housing: The median home price in Portola, which is 65 percent homeowners, is $1.1 million, according to Zillow. The median rental price for a one-bedroom is $2,900, according to Apartments.com.
Duque said that despite the high rate of ownership, many still come to her looking for housing. An example, she said, is an older Asian woman who works at Hui Zhong Trade Co., a grocery store next to the nonprofit.
Home construction in Portola has been slow, compared to other parts of District 9. Since 2016, when Ronen became supervisor, Portola has gained 111 new housing units, Bernal Heights 124 and the Mission 1,829.
Seven fully affordable projects have been completed since 2016, all in the Mission, for a total of 777 units. Two more are under construction, both in Bernal, for a total of 180 units. There are also 1,158 units under predevelopment, all in the Mission — 575 units at the Potrero Yard, which is at the border of District 9 and District 10.
Bernal Heights
Housing affordability is also top of mind for Gina Dacus, the executive director of the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, a nonprofit that works to develop and preserve affordable housing. In Bernal, however, building seems to be bustling.
Dacus noted the recent groundbreaking for the fully affordable 3300 Mission St., a 35-unit building at the intersection of Mission and 29th streets that is expected to be finalized by fall 2026.
The Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center’s 70-unit affordable housing project for seniors at 3333 Mission St. also received approval from the city’s planning department on Oct. 30.
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Source: DataSF. Chart by Junyao Yang.
The developers must now apply for building permits with the Department of Building Inspection before that project can break ground.
The two projects will go up on the same Mission Street block, and a third affordable-housing complex may be built in the Safeway parking lot nearby, said Ronen. Ronen began conversations about the possible Safeway project during her tenure, but they did not pan out. She hopes, however, that Fielder will continue the efforts.
Ronen said that supervisors have done as much as they can to support streamlining all levels of housing, including lowering the city’s inclusionary percentage — the percentage of affordable housing that must be built in new developments — to 12 percent. As for new 100-percent-affordable housing proposals, the funds are simply scarce, Ronen said.
Ronen said that another issue for Bernal neighbors is street safety. So far this year, three collisions involving a vehicle and a pedestrian have been recorded on Cortland Avenue. A man also died in June after a hit-and-run on Mission near Cortland Avenue.
Two neighbors in Bernal Heights, Jamie B. and Josephine, who declined to share their full names, said they fear the high number of autonomous vehicles they have seen in the narrow streets of the neighborhood.
Too often, Jamie B. said, autonomous vehicles have had close calls with residents crossing north, toward the cars.
“I’ve seen as many as 20 to 30 of them within an hour,” said Jaime B. “Often, they’re empty, so I think they’re just using the area to test.”
I’m going to give Fielder a chance, even though I strongly opposed her candidacy.
My advice, do not try to be your predecessor. Ronen abandoned this district years ago and even walked around City Hall with a countdown clock set to when her term ends. Now she is fleeing to Spain to abandon the district she helped destroy. People are very angry and upset about that.
I agree with this one hundred percent! Hillary Ronen was quite literally the worst supervisor the Mission has yet to endure. I’m sincerely hoping that Jackie Fielder will not be the next! Here’s a hint: support your working class folks in the Inner Mission – crack down on the thieves markets, drug dealers, users, tents and people who are using the street as a toilet. Support small businesses and artists, musicians, teachers, writers and anyone else who provides cultural value to the neighborhood. Understand that the current “Harm Reduction” has actually exponentially increased harm, and support programs that support recovery rather than addiction. Please! As a 35 year resident of the Mission, I beg you!
“Crack down on tents”? Really? What is hurting people with nowhere to go supposed to accomplish?
You say you’ve been here for 35 years. Well I’ve been here for eight and seen what the status-quo policy of “crackdowns on tents” has accomplished: absolutely nothing. The nonstop ritual of threats and demands for unhoused people to move along is nothing but a cruel game of musical chairs. Not only does it senselessly hurt people, it’s stupid and a waste of money.
If you don’t want to see people sleeping on the streets, we need to do much more to build and preserve affordable housing. It is actually cheaper to house people than to do what we do now and what you are advocating for more of: harassing them for being poor and having nowhere to go.
JB,
Twas the Mayor who abandoned D-9 as did her predecessors cause we don’t vote for them.
If you look at it from this Progressive’s view D-9 (where I’ve lived for last 10 years and partied in for last 40 years) …
D-9 has had the strongest and best educated and Lefty Voice of every district in the City since we got back to District Elections in 2000.
You and Francisco enjoy Spain, Hillary.
And, please to Judge McNaughton …
Send Jachorey Wyatt home to his family for Xmas.
Leaders from the SF Bench to Gaza and South Korea should get a grip and start the New Year with one unexpected Act of Kindness.
Free Jachorey pleeeasssee !!!
And, go Niners !!!
h.
I suggest that Supe Elect Fielder do what her predecessor failed to do – the quotidian work of local government. What a joy it would be to have someone who rolls up their sleeves and gets to work for the district rather than spending time visualizing peace in far off lands. To he sure, certainly important work – just not the work of a city supervisor.
Focus on fixing the streets and keeping them fixed 24/7/365 – most of the battle. The toughest part there is getting our petulant PD off their behinds – that would be a major accomplishment for the mayor and supes. Next is SFUSD, help turning that around.
How should Jackie Fielder lead District 9?
Simple.
Move to somewhere around 16th BART and have an office around 24th BART.
Or vice versa.
Walk to work.
Wiener was constantly walking around up the street in the Castro. At Mollie Stone, going to the yoga place at Collingwood and 18th. Heck you could follow him home. You still see him around.
Does this “woman of social consequence” have the courage to actually live and work in The Mission?
Or is this going to be another duck and cover in your hidey-hole aerie up the Bernal hill?
I agree! I walk the neighborhood all the time and if she did, she would see exactly what needs to be done!
This is a consistent motif in SF crime reporting in Mission Local and other local news venues: talk to residents, who say, “we don’t bother calling the police,” then cite police statistics that say, “crime is way down,” without ever drawing the obvious connection between the two. It would be great if there were some way to learn the facts, rather than just the police assertions – “we don’t get calls, so that must mean crime is down.”
The average income in the Mission is $147,000 a year?
I have lived in the often-overlooked Portola neighborhood for 12 years. When attention is given to our area, it tends to focus on San Bruno Avenue. However, Portola is more than just that single street. Over the years, I’ve witnessed a troubling increase in litter across nearly every block. Unlike other districts, the Department of Public Works (DPW) has not seen fit to provide garbage cans throughout our neighborhood, which only exacerbates the problem.
One small victory came after I persistently reached out to Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s office: we finally got one garbage can on Silver Avenue. However, this has become a dumping ground for homes without Recology service, further highlighting the inconsistency in waste management across the city. While other cities include trash collection in taxes, San Francisco requires residents to pay for their own service, and unfortunately, some residents in our area simply don’t.
Additionally, I’ve requested benches at Palega Park, but I was told by an aide (who will soon work for Jackie) that the Parks Department claims they don’t have the funds for such improvements. Meanwhile, Precita Park in the more affluent Bernal Heights neighborhood is slated to receive a $5 million makeover. The disparity in resources between neighborhoods is disheartening.
I sincerely hope that Supervisor Jackie will advocate for these seemingly small but impactful changes in our part of San Francisco. These improvements—better waste management and basic amenities like benches—would greatly enhance the quality of life in Portola. We, too, deserve a pleasant, well-maintained neighborhood in this city.
My one hope is this political snob and Stanford elite, who was really running to get to Sacramento, doesn’t pull a Matt Haney.
I have high hopes for Jackie Fielder! My one hope is that she tries really hard to help save the trees from being cut down in McLaren Park. In the park and the city in general, trees are being destroyed by the nativist movement, which seems to think we need less tree canopy and more grassland. This is misguided science.
Exotic plants are plants that don’t fit into the local, native ecology. They just take up space and do not support nor promote local ecology. Eucalyptus for example. We would all be better off if they were in Australia where they are native, and not her.
Yeah,
I addressed that as a candidate. 800 trees this crazy guy with a chain saw wants to cut just as he did a thousand on Mount Sutro and other places.
I talked to Chat Gpt about it and Chat said that those giants are the only place San Francisco’s owls and raptors and other large birds from eagles and on can nest.
Free Jachorey for Christmas !!
And, go Niners !!!
h.
The mission is gonna get what they deserve.
Hi all, as a CEO of the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce of San Francisco, we do not endorse candidates, but we work with them in representation of our small businesses members in the city and county. We have supported and opposed initiatives that affects our Latino and minorities small businesses, we all agree that we need more police enforcement, zero tolerance and safetiness. We are also in support of let the Mission Street Vendors be able to get back especially since they have business licences, liability insurance and legit product which the mayority have. And definitely get rid of the hideous center bike lane whic regardless what MTA says, they are affecting small businesses, we argued that long time ago with the red traffic lanes as well. We expect that the new supervisor will reach out to the business organizations for support in enforciong laws that benefits our community.,
Thank you
Carlos Solorzano, CEO, Hispanic Chambers of Commerce of San Francisco
Do you (the reader) and Fielder want an end to land speculation, lower sales and business taxes, a clear relationship between taxes paid and streets maintained, public schools so good the ethno-apartheid of SF-style private education atrophies? Now it won’t happen without a shift in tax policy, Supervisor-elect Fielder, but it’s within your wildest dreams. Talk up replacing Prop 13 with a land value tax.
Hi Jackie,
I supported Jackie in the trenches sitting on stage next to her and saying unkind things about her main opponent, Trevor Chandler whom is now a friend and my message to her may be cryptic but I only have 3 days to get this message to Superior Court Judge Michael McNaughten …
Please Free Jachorey Wyatt for Christmas as Peace Gesture
I’m asking Supervisor Elect Fielder to join Public Defender Mano Raju and me and Jachorey’s Family in a Plea to do this positive thing against the tide of Revenge Politics World Wide.
Please Free Jachorey for Christmas in the Bay View !
And, as Niners fans we have to show as much class in defeat as we do in victory and we’ve had more than our share of the latter cause I got here 44 years ago and been to 5 Super Bowl Championship million crowd parades so I’m getting some kind of weird pleasure out of watching the joy of Green Bay fans in beating us after we have beaten them in so many key contests.
Remember, Green Bay is the only team in the NFL owned by the people of their home City instead of a billionaire.
Tip of the hat to em and if we can’t do the impossible and come back I hope they win another Super Bowl.
For the People !
h.