Welcome back to our โMeet the Candidatesโ series, where District 6 supervisor candidates respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published every Tuesday.
District 6 includes SoMa, Mission Bay, Treasure Island and Yerba Buena. Its current supervisor, Matt Dorsey, was appointed by Mayor London Breed on May 9, 2022. He is up for re-election this November against one challenger, Alex Behrend.
Mission Local previously excluded Behrend from this series because he did not meet our candidate-coverage guidelines. He has since qualified for Meet the Candidates coverage after receiving endorsements from former District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston and Juanita More, an activist and drag queen.
SoMaโs sales-tax revenue remains below its pre-pandemic levels.
In 2025, the latest complete year of neighborhood sales-tax data, SoMa generated about $9.4 million in sales-tax revenue, down from roughly $18.5 million in 2019 โ a decline of about 49 percent. But neighboring Mission Bay, also in District 6, moved in the opposite direction, with sales-tax revenue rising more than 20 percent over the same period.
The most recent quarterly figures show little sign yet of a sustained rebound for SoMa. Inflation-adjusted sales-tax revenue in the first quarter of 2026 remained at roughly half its 2019 level.
โSouth of Market is struggling,โ Henry Karnilowicz, president of the South of Market Business Association, told Mission Local earlier this year. He pointed to fewer office workers, low foot traffic and persistent concerns among business owners about crime and public drug use.
According to 2025 police incident data, SoMaโs crime rate was more than twice that of every other San Francisco neighborhood, even as crime fell citywide.
Southern Station, which polices District 6, including SoMa, has also struggled with adequate staffing and longer response times for all but the most urgent police calls. The station added more officers this year, but its jurisdiction expanded Oct. 1, bringing an expected 23 percent increase in calls for service.
Some local business owners have said that they contend with crime and difficult street conditions on a daily basis. Merchants have described vandalism and theft at their businesses, people struggling with addiction outside their entrances and the high cost of repairing damaged storefronts.
At the same time, the shift to remote work since the pandemic has deprived some restaurants and shops of the office workers who once supplied a steady stream of customers, according to business owners interviewed by Mission Local.
So, this week, we asked the District 6 supervisorial candidates: How should San Francisco support SoMa businesses?
Matt Dorsey
- Job: Current District 6 Supervisor
- Age: 61
- Residency: Renter, living in District 6 since 2008, has lived in San Francisco since 1990 (except for four years in Washington, D.C.).
- Transportation: Public transit, walking, biking
- Education: Bachelorโs degree from Emerson College
- Languages: English
- Website: Reelect Matt Dorsey 2026
Most of what I hear from SoMa businesses is frustration at the unfairness of playing by the rules while the city tolerates business-killing lawlessness all around them. San Francisco demands a lot from our law-abiding businesses โ and yet we seemingly allow public drug use, drug dealing, retail theft, vandalism, violence, illegal vending, and more undermine them every day. Itโs not a level playing field. Itโs not fair. And itโs a predictable result of a police staffing crisis we havenโt done enough to solve. Supporting SoMa businesses means enforcing the law โ consistently and fully โ to end unlawful competition and improve safety.
Endorsed by: Mayor Daniel Lurie, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, Senator Scott Wiener … read more here.
Alex Behrend
- Job: No current job, formerly a voter organizer for Dean Preston’s 2024 campaign, a Safeway checker and a housekeeper at the San Francisco Zen Center
- Age: 54
- Residency: Renter living in District 6 since April 2026, and in San Francisco since 2011, with a previous stint in 1990-91 while attending the University of San Francisco
- Transportation: Public transit, walking
- Education: Bachelorโs degree from the University of California, San Diego
- Languages: English
- Website: Alex for All
The power imbalance between local businesses and corporate property owners is murder on neighborhood commercial corridors!
The city cannot pussyfoot around as landlords spike rent on small businesses while vacant storefronts are everywhere.
Organizing, resources and oversight are necessary protections against corporate greed. When landlords and banksters know shopowner rights are protected and the city won’t roll over, predatory practices aren’t enticing.
We need a Public Bank to ensure local businesses โ vital for neighborhoods โ are properly capitalized. The Public Bank will deliver ROI for all city residents. [ED. NOTE: Proposition B, on the November 3 ballot, lays the groundwork for a public bank, though it will not provide the estimated $325 million that it will take to get the bank up and running. Matt Dorsey is one of 9 supervisors supporting the measure.]
Weโre the most important economic stakeholders here โ not Wall Street and faraway landlords.
Endorsed by: Former Supervisor Dean Preston, Juanita More, Arab Resource and Organizing Center Action.
Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at sarah@missionlocal.com // io@missionlocal.com.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
