Economic Development Strategy
The reality of today’s global economy means that unionized factory work and other decent wage jobs, previously available for unskilled
laborers, are now increasingly being out-sourced or otherwise moved overseas. And because many of our residents lacked the necessary
skills to remain competitive, even the heady days of the “dot-com” boom passed us by.
But in spite years of the incumbent Maxwell’s political rhetoric and empty promises, the economic divide between many of District 10’s
residents and the rest of the City only continues to widen. That’s because real economic development requires deliberate planning and a
sound implementation strategy, to both attract potential new jobs, as well as, to also ensure that our community’s residents are, this time,
ready for job opportunities that are developed.
My economic plan utilizes a three pronged approach:
I) Jobs Creation – by making the City structurally capable and business friendly so as to induce investment by (job generating)
entrepreneurs.
II) Employment Opportunities Access – through a comprehensive training investment of our residents, we prepare and forge them
into a workforce qualified to secure the job opportunities developed.
III) Community (Neighborhoods) Revitalization – by promoting structural (aesthetic) improvements, coupled with technical
assistance, in order to attract and retain small businesses, which produce over 80% of our tax revenue and 50% of our job
opportunities.
I) JOBS CREATION
Stimulate jobs creation through attraction of new business investment into the city by:
A) improving City infrastructure & services, such as public transit, roads, workforce housing, dependable power-grid, etc.
B) streamlining burdensome City regulations that raise business costs or discourage venturing entrepreneurs from investing
in San Francisco, thereby causing both a loss of job opportunities for our residents and a loss of tax revenue needed for funding
essential city services and community programs.
C) open (publicized) and competitive bidding process in the system for awarding City contracts (Sole Source Contract
Reform) in order to ensure the process is both fair to local businesses and accountable to taxpayers.
II) EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ACCESS
Invest in and develop our under-employed residents into a qualified, motivated and employable workforce by:
A) directing dedicated resources / funding to vocational training programs targeting low & middle income residents, in
order to facilitate their ability to gain jobs that provide livable wages & benefits. Create and seed an Employer Incentive Fund to
induce potential employers to participate in workforce training programs in partnership with vocational training non-profits, unions
& schools (e.g.: S.F. Community College’s Southeast Job Training Program and the Schools-to-Career Partnership), inclusive of:
1) Skilled Trades Apprenticeships e.g. carpentry, electricians, machinists, masonry, construction, plumbing, HAV (heating &
ventilation), refrigeration, etc.
2) Technical / Science Training Programs (vocations in emerging / growth industries), e.g. computer technology, bio
-science, nano-technology, clean energy technology, telecommunications, health care, etc.
B) promoting an enhanced, municipally run Job Networking Clearinghouse (permanent jobs fair) providing access to career
recruitment opportunities (available both within & outside the City) for our economically disadvantaged residents, thereby
exceeding the reach of the City’s existing First Source Hiring Program, which is limited by its focus upon dedicating job slots for
projects operating solely within the City’s boundaries.
C) streamlining the First Source Hiring Program interaction process between community based employment organizations
(CBO’s) and participating businesses, to heighten the program’s efficiency; and in order to enhance the program’s effectiveness,
strengthen accountability by enforcing compliance through penalties against businesses that bypass the process for prioritizing the
hiring of local residents.
III) COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION
Revitalized neighborhoods, with flourishing small business commercial strips, are essential to the overall success of any economic
development strategy for San Francisco. Community revitalization is attained by:
A) making aesthetic improvements to community environs in order to create cleaner, safer and more attractive
neighborhoods that raise property values and attract / retain community serving businesses.
1) Capital Improvement Programs funded by the City / State and targeted to communities lacking the financial base to
pursue the capital improvements (e.g. façade improvements, street-scape redesigns, tree planting beautification, small lot /
pocket parks, traffic calming / pedestrian safety, public parking structures, etc.) needed for effective community renewal.
2) Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) seeded by City funds and maintained by pooled merchant contributions to
finance enhanced City services (e.g. street cleaning, sidewalk steaming, graffiti removal, etc.) targeted to neighborhood
commercial areas.
3) Community Policing Programs that develop close, mutually supportive community / police relations targeted to ensure that
neighborhood commercial areas and community services are kept safe and user friendly.
4) Commercial use of Public Space is a component of street redesign that can contribute significantly to the sociability and
distinctiveness of neighborhood character. Therefore, I will pursue the easing of restrictions placed upon restaurants’ outdoor
seating and stores’ sidewalk vendor displays, where appropriate – with accommodation for access for our disabled, as well
as, for the general pedestrian right-of-way.
B) directing dedicated resources / funding for Small Business investment, through:
1) establishment of Enterprise Empowerment Zones for needy areas not meeting Redevelopment Zones criteria.
2) promotion of Technical Assistance & Training Programs.
3) promotion of Entrepreneurial Loan & Grant Programs, such as MOCD’s Micro-Enterprise Loan Program which provides
start-up business loans for economically disadvantaged residents unable to qualify for conventional bank loans.
4) promotion of Employer Tax Credit Incentives, as well as, the inclusion of a Tip Credit for those employers complying with
the city’s “Living Wage” criteria.
5) streamlining of the Minority / Women Business Enterprise Certification process, modeled on Los Angeles’ successful
Small & Local Business Preference Program.
C) exploring Community Cooperative Ventures as an alternative means for obtaining essential community serving businesses
(such as supermarkets) that have not been successfully enticed to invest in economically challenged (Bayview & Visitacion Valley)
communities. Modeled on the premise for the Our Market Project of Buffalo, New York, such Co-op corporation enterprises,
underwritten by repayable municipal revenue bonds and supported by effective management teams, have the potential benefits of:
1) attaining essential services sorely needed by economically challenged communities.
2) creating job opportunities for local residents.
3) being a vehicle towards the goal of community self reliance and empowerment.
COMMENTARY ON REVITALIZATION PROJECTS
Note that aside from photo-op appearances at Steet Faires and other project events, the incumbent, Maxwell, has been largely tepid in
her support of District revitalization efforts. And when faced with pending (Formula Retail) legislation that would serve to undermine
struggling southeast commercial corridors’ efforts to secure necessary “anchor” franchise businesses, Maxwell turned a deaf ear to
community pleas and voted for this damaging legislation.
As an active community proponent of the San Bruno Avenue Revitalization Project, I have worked steadfastly to create a pedestrian-
friendly commercial corridor, packed with neighborhood-serving businesses.
As your Supervisor, I will be a pro-active steward of the Neighborhood Revitalization projects planned, or already underway –
the Bayview Town Center, the Visitacion Valley Town Center (at Schlage Lock), the Hunters Point Shipyard, and the Southeast Waterfront
projects. I will not hide behind the feeble and often cited excuse of “I am just a legislator”, but rather I will act as your project
facilitator at City Hall to stimulate a true community / government partnership.
Education
At a time when academic and high technology skills are ever more crucial for success, for too many of our children a college education is
increasingly out of reach. In spite of the State Supreme Court’s (Serrano v. Priest, 1974) decision guaranteeing “equal access to adequate
education”, a flawed “Categorical Funding” formula has led to an irrational and grossly inequitable distribution of funds between school
districts, shortchanging our own San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) of the dire resources needed to educate our children.
Compound that with rising college costs, while federal grants and loans don’t keep pace, and you have a formula for our children faltering
in life even before they have a chance to start.
As a parent of three daughters myself, I know all too well that there is no greater duty for a parent than to ensure that our children receive a
quality education, readying them to meet the challenges of a modern world. To that end, I shall endeavor to secure a strong and stable
funding base for our public schools. As well, I will explore ways to minimize bureaucratic waste in administration, ensure more
efficient and equitable use of resources, and hold the SFUSD (bond spending) accountable to the taxpayers for their performance.
QUALITY NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS
I have observed that our district’s school assignment process, designed under a federally mandated “Consent Decree”, has failed to
achieve even its own de-segregation goals, while also unnecessarily burdening our own Southeast side children with hours long bus
commutes to attend cross-town schools. As such, I actively opposed this failed process because it operates under a faulty reverse logic that
seeks, in vane, to take some of our children to facilities with resources, rather than bring adequate school resources to our children here.
The result of this failed process has been to cause heated competitions among parents – who naturally want the best for their children –
for the limited number of seats at the more desirable west side schools.
The core problem is that an inequitable portion of SFUSD (school district) funding resources have been historically, but unfairly, directed
to west side City schools, creating top caliber facilities there, while leaving our southeast schools wanting. Therefore, I will continue my
fight for the equitable reallocation of SFUSD resources, to ensure that the presently under-performing Southeast schools get the necessary
support to become choice “Neighborhood Schools”. I will not rest until our own Southeast side schools become quality facilities,
stocked with adequate learning materials, having strong academic programs and enriching extracurricular activities.
IMPROVING SCHOOL SAFETY
Our southeast schools – particularly the Burton and Marshall high schools – have, all too frequently, been the scenes of some extremely
disturbing episodes of violence. We’ve been confronted with occurrences of gang-related assaults, shootings and a mass student melee
that resulted in multiple arrests. All this has served to undermine the proper learning environment required for our children to succeed in
school. Students’ fear of violence within their schools has contributed to chronic absenteeism (or truancy), which is a major cause for poor
student performance – also costing an estimated $10 million yearly in lost attendance based State funding to the SFUSD.
I support implementing truancy prevention programs (such as the San Francisco Stay in School Coalition), school safety / anti-
violence programs (such as the San Francisco Gang-Free Initiative), as well as, the expansion of after-school student
enrichment and youth mentoring programs as a comprehensive approach to remedying this situation. Additionally, I support
strategies that employ a combined approach of incentives and sanctions for truants, and their parents when appropriate, including
mandatory summer school for low achieving students.
I support also the SFPD’s community policing programs – the federally funded SRO (School Resource Officer) Program and the Car
29 (Patrol Response) Program – that have proved very successful intervening in student altercations early on, before they escalate into
violence. These community policing programs deter disruptive, or even criminal, behavior by “at risk” youths, so that the safety of others is
not jeopardized and the learning environment is not marred.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
I support expanding early childhood development programs (such as those at Bay View’s Burnett Child Development Center), and
the implementation of quality academic enrichment programs (such as the AIM High and College Bound programs) in the
Southeast, including the establishment of a Southeast Children’s Center, modeled upon the Yerba Buena Gardens Children’s Center.
Additionally, I support programs that draw in crucial parental involvement, such as Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA’s) and the San
Francisco School Volunteers. In fact as Co-Founder of my neighborhood’s improvement group CAPS (Community Alliance of Portola &
Silver Terrace), I pointedly incorporated the position of an Education Affairs Liaison, so that we could effectively serve as a conduit
between our community and the SFUSD.
