Here’s the latest in our “Meet the Candidates” series for District 5, in which we ask each candidate to answer one question per week leading up to the election. Four candidates are challenging incumbent Supervisor Dean Preston to represent District 5, which spans from the east end of Golden Gate Park through Haight-Ashbury, Japantown and the Western Addition, the Lower Haight and Hayes Valley, and most of the Tenderloin.
San Francisco has a new mandate from the state of California to build 82,000 new homes by 2031, with more than half of those to be affordable to low- and moderate-income households.
We’re not on track to meet this goal, and one of the big arguments in San Francisco’s housing debate — particularly as campaigning heats up in District 5 — has been over who is to blame for our slow housing development.
Much of the problem is systemic: We have some of the lengthiest timelines and processes for getting housing projects built. But the supervisor candidates say there’s more to it.
This week, we asked candidates: What do you find problematic with our housing development, and how will you improve or speed up the process?
Allen Jones
- Job: Activist
- Age: 67
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since November 2021
- Transportation: Wheelchair
- Education: Teaching Bible studies at juvenile hall
- Languages: English
The animosity between Dean Preston and Mayor Breed makes housing development in SF/D5 more challenging or impossible. That said, I support Mayor Breed, and despite my disagreements with her administration, I eschew animus in politics.
I am 100 percent opposed to the development of Parcel K. But I will support ANY development in San Francisco. The 20-year “Promise” to develop the site is past its shelf life. As a lemons-to-lemonade story due to the pandemic, PROXY helped D5 in a time of need. Development of this parcel would be a slap in the face to creativity during a crisis.
Autumn Looijen
- Job: School board recall co-founder
- Age: 46
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since December 2020, landowner
- Transportation: Public transit
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from California Institute of Technology
- Languages: English
First, we should legalize co-housing. Century-old laws say at most five unrelated people can share a unit. This means bedrooms that could be housing people are kept off the market. This is a quick fix for in-demand housing.
But the most problematic thing about building housing in D5 is the “shadow code” — the unwritten, often surprising reasons code-compliant projects are turned down repeatedly … for 33 months on average.
We should write down the shadow code, including everything we do to preserve the beauty of our neighborhoods, to make sure everyone knows the rules. Then make the process clear and quick.
Endorsed by: San Francisco police union, Marina Times, Chinese American Democratic Club.
Bilal Mahmood
- Job: Founder of private and philanthropic organizations
- Age: 37
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since May 2023
- Transportation: Walking
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, master’s degree from University of Cambridge
- Languages: English, Urdu
There’s too much red tape that makes it nearly impossible to build affordable or middle income housing, driving up rent. I wrote the SF Chronicle story explaining why we are the slowest city to approve new buildings in California.
That’s not progressive, it’s embarrassing.
We must tackle government bureaucracy to build housing faster. I will advocate for initiatives that accelerate our permitting process — investments in technology to speed up application approvals, allowing parallel permitting and approvals, and reducing discretionary permits to effectively cut the time to build affordable housing in half.
When there’s less obstacles, we build more homes affordably.
*Note: The linked San Francisco Chronicle story is an Open Forum opinion piece.
Endorsed by: Mayor London Breed, TogetherSF Action, San Francisco YIMBY, State Sen. Scott Wiener and DCCC Chair Honey Mahogany … read more.
Dean Preston
- Job: Incumbent, tenant attorney
- Age: 54
- Residency: Homeowner, in District 5 since 1996
- Transportation: Public transit
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College, juris doctor degree from University of California Law, San Francisco
- Languages: English
The biggest barrier to housing development in D5 has been an obstructionist administration that has delayed affordable housing projects (Parcel K, 400 Divisadero) and refused to scale up affordable housing construction voters demanded (2020 Props I, K). We need a mayor interested in working together to create the housing people need, rather than playing politics.
Despite this dynamic, we’ve raised hundreds of millions for affordable housing, funded land trusts, and won affordable housing at 730 Stanyan, DMV lot, 650 Divisadero, 180 Jones, the Kelsey, and other sites. I’ve voted for 30,000 homes, 86 percent affordable. More info at deanshousingrecord.com.
Endorsed by: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Public Defender Mano Raju, United Educators of San Francisco, San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco Tenants Union, National Union of Healthcare Workers … read more.
Scotty Jacobs
- Job: Marketing
- Age: 30
- Residency: Tenant in District 5 since November 2022, homeowner
- Transportation: Public bicycle
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from Washington University
- Languages: English
[No response submitted]
Endorsed by: Mark Farrell, Marina Times, Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, Raoul Wallenberg Jewish Democratic Club, Connected SF, and UA Local 38.
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 all of the District 5 candidates’ answers 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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