Here’s the latest in our “Meet the Candidates” series for District 5, where we ask each candidate to answer one question per week leading up to the election.
All the responses will ultimately be compiled onto a single page, where readers can peruse the potential District 5 supervisors’ stances on upwards of 40 topics before it’s time to vote in November.
San Francisco has dozens of neighborhoods with distinct personalities and communities. These neighborhoods also have very different needs, but are joined together as districts under one leader expected to advocate for them all.
This week’s question is: What do you love about District 5, and what makes it special?
Note: I will be in District 5 this week on Thursday, April 4, at 11:00 a.m. at Alamo Square Cafe (711 Fillmore St.). Come say hi and share your thoughts.
Allen Jones
I love the challenge of the Tenderloin, where I live. Haight Ashbury reminds me of my late father. The Panhandle reminds me of some of my naughty and nice times … I mean strolls through the park on a sunny day. And I think the Fillmore is majestic, in need of a new caretaker.
And though I would not use the word “special” for any district in the city, it is because I reserve that word to describe all of San Francisco.
Autumn Looijen
District 5 is the best district.
We’re an incredibly diverse district, a microcosm of the City — but, even more important, weโre the heart of the City, where movements begin.
The Harlem of the West.ย The Summer of Love.ย The school board recall I led from my apartment in Lower Haight to turn our schools around.ย The fight to save our Safeway.ย The AI revolution.ย All here in District 5.
In our darkest times, District 5 is where weโve found hope.
Hope in the faces of the Safe Passage volunteers guiding kids to school in the Tenderloin. Hope as new restaurants … See more.
Bilal Mahmood
Our people.
District 5 spans a wide array of perspectives that inform district values. Each neighborhood has rich character, from Yemeni and Vietnamese refugees in the Tenderloin to multi-generational Black families in Western Addition to seniors in Japantown โ we host an incredible tapestry of culture and vibrant communities.
Our food is unmatched, our small businesses fight hard to succeed, our residents come together for their neighbors. The people here inspire me every day.
Dean Preston
District 5 has been my home for 28 years. We have deep roots here and are happy to be raising our kids in this amazing place.
The diverse people, small businesses, and neighborhoods make our district special. From the Fillmore to Japantown, to the Haight, Lower Haight, Tenderloin, Divisadero, NOPA, and Hayes Valley, we have some of SFโs most incredible, resilient and celebrated neighborhoods. D5 is walkable, historic and transit-rich, with great parks, slow streets, restaurants, music venues, nonprofits, cafes, thrift stores, schools, local grocers, and much more.ย
Itโs been an honor to serve D5 through the pandemic and recovery.
The order of candidates is rotated each week. Answers are capped at 100 words, and may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at eleni@missionlocal.com.
Read the rest of the District 5 questions here, and the entire “Meet the Candidates” series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
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Hi Iโm Autumn Looijen a recent arrival in D5. A couple of years ago, I moved from Los Altos to SF. I am a self appointed expert on what ails SFUSD although my 3 kids donโt attend San Francisco public schools and are enrolled in private school in Los Altos. As a new arrival, I am enormously proud of my ability to organize a frightened and angry pitchfork mob during a global pandemic in order to recall the SF School Board. It was fun removing democratically electeds! Also: one of D5โs serious problems was a lack of Algebra being taught to young D5ers. I fixed that problem though so donโt worry. In my spare time I enjoy baking brownies and writing โspicyโ poetry with my rabid recall mate. We enjoy appearing on conservative talk shows to doomsplain about our newly adopted city and all of its terrible problems and challenges.
Damn, lots of new comers who think they are right person for the job? I don’t think so.
Dean is joking, right??? ยซย honor to serve D5 through the pandemic and recoveryย ยซย not true at all! D5 residents were getting their homes broken into by the thieves that he gave out free tents to – yup, the came from Stockton to steal from us and used the tents from Dean as free staging areas to shift our stolen property. Dean didnโt take calls, and was MUTE the whole time.
No 2nd term for this one trick pony.
So long Dean. Enjoy your mansion on the hill, you donโt represent D5 residents.