District 5 candidates want to leverage technology to improve SF

[ad_1] 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…

Photographer

Karl The Fog

[ad_1]

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.

Tech is a big part of San Francisco and its discourse — tech companies weathering the pandemic here, whether Twitter should stay or go, or how technological advances like drones and surveillance cameras and robot dogs can support the police department.

We asked the candidates to weigh in: How can tech and tech companies help the district and the city? How will you work to leverage it as supervisor?

Note: I’ll be at Peet’s Coffee (601 Van Ness) at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Come say hi and share your thoughts about the election.

Illustration of a smiling woman with glasses and long hair in a circular frame.

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

Many people in tech are working to solve our city’s problems, and as supervisor I will partner with them to get things done for D5 and our city.

Wishlist:

  • Make the city’s financial transactions transparent, so anyone can query them, without a sunshine request.
  • When we house drug users, they die at higher rates — because they overdose and no one knows. Create devices that alert a friend if your oxygen levels drop, so your friend can come running with Narcan.
  • Use tech to assist with emails, so supervisors and their staff can spend more time building deep relationships in our neighborhoods.

Endorsed by: San Francisco police union, Marina Times, Chinese American Democratic Club.

District 5 candidate Bilal Mahmood

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

The division between our technology and public sectors is hurting D5 residents. SF is the tech capital of the world, yet our teachers are not getting paid because of software errors, and Fillmore and Japantown residents are without reliable internet.

Much of my career has focused on bridging the digital divide — from working in the US Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, to helping rebuild a computer lab in Chinatown. As supervisor I will launch an SF Digital Service for tech employees to work on large scale government projects, and advance our outdated software and ensure outcomes for all SF residents.

[ad_2]

Source: missionlocal.org