2020 SF Democratic County Central Committee BART Board of Directors Endorsement Questionnaire

NAME: Lateefah Simon

OFFICE RUNNING FOR: BART Board Director, District 7

CAMPAIGN ADDRESS: 3542 Fruitvale Ave. PMB 227 Oakland, CA 94602

CAMPAIGN CONTACT AND Laurel Poeton CELL PHONE: 415-658-5152

EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]

Instructions Please complete this ques0onnaire and send an electronic copy to [email protected] by Monday, August 17th, 2020 at 12pm.

The 2020 endorsement interviews for Board of Educa0on candidates will take place during a special mee0ng on Saturday, August 22nd, 2020 from 10am-2:00pm. The interview will be held via the ZOOM applica0on. We advise those that have not familiarized themselves with this applica0on to do so and, if assistance is needed, to contact the DCCC endorsement commiJee prior to August 14th, 2020 via email at [email protected] . The SF DCCC’s endorsement vote will occur during the mee0ng of the SF Democra0c Party on August 26th, 2020 at 6:30pm.

Only candidates who return a completed ques0onnaire electronically by 5pm on August 14th, 2020 will be allowed to present before the commiJee. While it may seem that some of these ques0ons do not apply to the office you are seeking, they represent important Democra0c Party principles. As you may run for higher office where these ques0ons will be relevant, we would like them addressed. We will distribute the ques0onnaires to the DCCC members and post them on the S.F. Democra0c Party’s website (at hJp://www.sfdemocrats.org) for the public to view

General QuesPons

1. Are you a registered Democrat?

Yes: X No:

2. When did you first register as a Democrat? 1997

3. Have you ever voted for or endorsed a non-Democrat in an elec0on?

Yes: No: X

If “Yes,” who? When?

4. Please list the organiza0ons and elected officials who have endorsed you.

We’ve just started soliciting endorsements and expect to retain all of our 2016 endorsers. Currently, I’m endorsed by: Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond Mayor Mayor Mayor Michael Tubbs Supervisor Matt Haney

SEIU 1021 Short Answer QuesPons (No more than 200 words per response)

1. Please provide a brief summary of your qualifica0ons for this office.

Born and raised in , I got my start in social justice movements as a teenager working for the Center for Young Women's Development. At 19 and pregnant, I was appointed Executive Director of the Center. At 26, I became the youngest women to receive the MacArthur Fellowship. I left the Center after 11 years to serve then District Attorney and head up San Francisco's Nirst reentry services division, including the creation of Back on Track, a national model for anti-recidivism programs. I moved on to become Executive Director at the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights of the Bay Area and refocus that organization's mission on effective community- based initiatives. I studied public policy at Mills College and social entrepreneurship at .

I believe that the biggest impact I can make for working families is to serve on the BART Board. As a legally blind, single, working mother, I rely on BART everyday. For them, I will Night for a BART that provides affordable, clean, and safe transit.

2. Please describe your contribu0ons to the Democra0c Party at the local, state and or/ na0onal level in the last 4 years.

The majority of my Party work has come from supporting CDP endorsed candidates, such as Senator Kamala Harris, Governor and BoE Member Malia Cohen. When I am able, I try to attend local Democratic clubs, the CDP Black Caucus (formerly African American Caucus) and other affiliated organizations surrounding the Democratic Party. I was also active in both the 2017 and 2019 Kimberly Ellis CDP Chair campaigns.

3. If elected, what are the three top issues you will work to affect?

1. BART services and budget post the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Enhancing public safety through transforming BART policing.

3. Improving and ensuring affordability to BART riders.

4. What have you done to mentor women and people that are not White in your field?

I am a longtime advocate for low-income young women and girls and for juvenile and criminal justice reform. At the age of 19, I was appointed executive director of the Center for Young Women’s Development (CYWD) in San Francisco. CYWD is the nation’s Nirst economic and gender justice organization solely run for and by low- income and formerly incarcerated young women, and has been hailed as a model to replicate across the country.

As division director of San Francisco’s Nirst reentry services division, I led a strategic citywide public/private partnership effort aimed at providing concrete pathways to prevent young adults charged with low-level felony drug sales from returning to a life of crime. The Nlagship program, Back onTrack, has reduced the recidivism rate for the population it serves to less than 10 percent. It has been replicated in several prosecutors' ofNices across the county and was selected as a national model program by Attorney General Eric Holder.

5. Define affordable housing. Affordable housing is more than just the defini0on used by HUD. Affordable housing is crea0ng accessibility to housing and developing financial assistance programs so that all people can be comfortably housed. Affordable housing is ensuring that people have a roof over their head and are s0ll able to put food on the table for themselves and family.

6. As a BART member, how do you plan to push for and ensure racial equity in San Francisco's neighbourhood planning and individual project development process and ensure that we are building more affordable housing and other community assets (ie. childcare, parks and open space, grocery stores and small businesses) are distributed more equitably throughout San Francisco?

Accessibility and affordability are two of my major plalorms. This related not only to BART but how riders rely upon housing and accessibility to human needs for survival where they live. I will work in partnership with San Francisco Supervisors and other city leaders to combine transporta0on policy planning and equitable city planning.

7. How many people are banned from BART? How can someone get back the privilege to ride?

I have submiJed this ques0on for the exact number to BART Police and will gladly get back to you once I have received it.

8. Can a person be banned from BART for fare eva0on?

No, a person cannot be banned from BART for fare evasion.

9. What are your solu0ons to ensuring the maintenance of clean and hygienic BART sta0ons?

In 2020 BART has tripled our cleaning and sanita0on efforts. We were able to do this with funding from the CARES Act. We have focused our energy on keeping BART sta0ons and trains clean. This also includes installing an advanced filtra0on system while using hospital grade sanita0on cleaning supplies.

10. What specific policy changes would you propose to address the issue of chronic homelessness and homeless riding BART?

The solu0on to the issue of chronic homelessness on BART and at sta0ons is not increased policing. It can be obtained through coordinated support services from each of 5 coun0es that BART provides service to.

11. What is the budget for BART police and do you believe it should be raised, sustained or decreased? If decreased, by how much? Currently the budget for BART police is 3% of the opera0ng budget. We are currently working on a community process to determine if this is adequate or should be subject to change.

12. Do you think that people that work in San Francisco but can’t afford to live here should have to take a shuJle bus, get off, then transfer onto a BART train?

I myself experience this on a daily basis and it is extremely frustra0ng. There needs to be improved coordina0on between all of the 27 operators in the Bay Area. The issue of addressing the “last mile” has been a priority of mine because I am transit dependent.

13. What is the procedure in regards to how onen a BART police officer and/or unarmed ambassador ride the trains and are you sa0sfied with this policy?

BART implemented the ambassador program within the last year. Supplemen0ng the police force with ambassadors helps to ensuring safety on BART trains.

14. In a recent hearing conducted by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, it was found that African-Americans dispropor0onately experience lower hiring rates for Civil Service jobs, are the lowest paid of all ethnici0es in SF’s Civil Service classifica0ons, have the highest termina0ons rates, and their claims of hos0le environments such as harassment, threats, and bully-tac0cs persist. What steps have you taken (or will you take) to address these dispari0es? How would you recommend legisla0on be draned so that BART can be held accountable?

As a woman of color, I believe that we need to look at the whole candidate and ensure our hiring policies address systemic racism. This is why I support ACA 5 that will address this issue at the university and college level.

15. A common complaint about BART is that there are needles. What policy is in place to address these concerns and how can the procedures be improved?

Partnership with ci0es to provide wrap around services such as mental health and social welfare has successfully been implemented in San Francisco and Oakland. Expansion of this program throughout the 5 coun0es that BART serves in collabora0on of leaders will start to address this issue.

16. Have you accepted dona0ons from any police officers, police officer associa0ons, police unions, sheriff’s associa0ons, correc0onal officers unions, BART Police or the Prison Industrial complex?

Yes: No: X

If No, will you accept any such dona0ons in the future?

Yes: No: X

If you answered “Yes” to any of the above, please explain why.

Issues QuesPons

Please only mark whether you SUPPORT or OPPOSE each posi0on.

QUESTION SUPPORT OPPOSE

1.Do you support or oppose affirma0ve ac0on? X

2. Do you support or oppose priva0za0on of essen0al X government services? 3. Do you support or oppose San Francisco’s sanctuary city X policy? 4. Do you support or oppose the Mayor’s statement of intent to X divert police funding to support Black communi0es? 5. BART Board officials should ride BART at least once a month? X

6. Do you support the emergency ac0on of securing hotel X rooms and shelter homeless San Franciscans from COVID-19? 7. Do you support calling for economic relief to support X undocumented workers during the COVID-19 pandemic? 8. Do you support calling on the Senate and X Congress to enact legisla0on to extend immediate financial relief and support including hazard pay, for all unemployed workers, and increased family benefits for essen0al workers and health care workers? 9. Do you support acknowledging systemic racial inequi0es and X calling for a coordinated response to support the Black community during the COVID-19 pandemic? 10.Do you condemn an0-Asian racism and xenophobia and X urge stronger Governmental response to prevent and address aJacks of the Asian American Community? 11. Employers should pay their employees BART fares? X

12. Do you believe that public transit should be free? X

13. Do you support the crea0on of a local municipal bank in San X Francisco? 14. Do you support expanding affordable child care to low- and X middle-income families? 15. Do you support “ban the box” legisla0on statewide to X ensure that the formerly incarcerated are given an equal opportunity for housing? 16. Do you support the Black Lives MaJer movement? X

17. Do you support or oppose lowering the price of BART fares? X

18. Unlimited ride passes? X

19. Do you believe that surplus public lands should be priori0zed X for 100% affordable housing? 20. Do you support civil or criminal penal0es for people X sleeping, sirng, or lying on the streets?

21. Do you support the prac0ce of forced removal and X reloca0on of homeless encampments or homeless “sweeps”? 22. Do you support the City's recently passed conservatorship X policy which expands the City’s legal authority to seek court supervision of those it deems unable to help themselves? 23. Do you support employee rights to organize and collec0vely X bargain and support enforceable organizing agreements?

24. Do you support or oppose the App-Based Drivers X Regula0on Ini0a0ve to repeal AB 5?

If you need to add further explana0on or qualifica0on to any of your support-or-oppose answers above, you may do so here: