Myrna Melgar OFFICE RUNNING FOR: Supervisor District 7 CAMPAIGN
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2020 SF DCCC Endorsement Questionnaire NAME: Myrna Melgar OFFICE RUNNING FOR: Supervisor District 7 CAMPAIGN ADDRESS: 312 Clay Street, Ste 300, Oakland CA 94607 CONTACT AND CELL PHONE: Adlah Chisti 415-359-4472 or 415-347-1404 EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected] or [email protected] Instructions Please complete this questionnaire and send an electronic copy to [email protected] and [email protected] by close of business on Monday, July 6th, 2020. The 2020 endorsement interviews for Supervisor candidates will take place during a special meeting on Saturday, July 18th, 2020 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The exact time will be communicated to you as soon as you return your completed questionnaire. Due to COVID-19, the interview will be held via the ZOOM Video Call. We advise those that have not familiarized themselves with this application to do so and, if assistance is needed, to contact the DCCC endorsement committee prior to July 11th, 2020 via email at [email protected] . The SF DCCC’s endorsement vote will occur during the meeting of the SF Democratic Party on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2020 at 6:30pm. Only candidates who return a completed questionnaire electronically by 5pm on Monday, July 6th, 2020 will be interviewed by the committee. While it may seem that some of these questions do not apply to the office you are seeking, they represent important Democratic Party principles. As you may run for higher office where these questions will be relevant, we would like them addressed. We will distribute the questionnaires to the DCCC members and post them on the S.F. Democratic Party’s website (at http://www.sfdemocrats.org) for the public to view. PART 1 - General Questions 1. Are you a registered Democrat? Yes: X No: 2. When did you first register as a Democrat? 1995, when I became a citizen and registered to vote for the first time. I also ran for the DCCC on the progressive slate in 2016. 3. Have you ever voted for or endorsed a non-Democrat in an election? No Yes: No: If “Yes,” who? When? 4. Please list the organizations and elected officials who have endorsed you. • Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee • Supervisor Aaron Peskin • Supervisor Catherine Stefani • Supervisor Hillary Ronen • Supervisor Gordon Mar • Supervisor Rafael Mandelman • Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer • Supervisor Shamann Walton • City College Board of Trustees President Shanell Williams • City College Board of Trustees Brigette Davila • City College Board of Trustees Thea Selby • Board of Education President Mark Sanchez • Board of Education Vice President Gabriela Lopez • Board of Education Commissioner Alison Collins • Board of Education Commissioner Jenny Lam • Board of Education Commissioner Faauuga Moliga • DCCC Member Jane Kim • DCCC Member Suzy Loftus • BART President Lateefah Simon • BART Director Bevan Dufty • Board of Equalization Member Malia Cohen • State Assemblymember David Chiu Latino Democratic Club (Sole endorsement) AFT 2121 (#2 Endorsement) SFTU (#2 Endorsement) SF Tenants Union (#2 Endorsement) Short Answer Questions (No more than 200 words per response) 1. Please provide a brief summary of your qualifications for this office. I am an urban planner and dedicated public servant with expertise in affordable housing and community development. I have lived in District 7 for a decade and my daughters have all attended school in the district. I have worked to expand access to affordable housing and homeownership opportunities for low- and middle-income San Franciscans, improve rent control protections for tenants, provide technical assistance and access to capital for small businesses, support the rights of workers and expand education opportunities for disadvantaged San Francisco youth and families. I was an aide to Supervisors Eric Mar and Jose Medina, and Director of Homeownership Programs during Mayor Gavin Newsom’s administration. I was President of the Planning Commission, Vice President of the Building Inspection Commission and have served on the Board of Directors of several nonprofit organizations. My family immigrated to San Francisco when I was a child from El Salvador during the civil war. This City gave my family opportunity and the ability to set roots and create community. As income inequality changes our City, I want to put my skills and experience to work to ensure this City will continue to provide the opportunities I was given to the next generation. 2. Please describe your contributions to the Democratic Party at the local, state and or/national level in the last 4 years. I was on the executive Board of the Latino Democratic Club, and assisted with our work of registering voters and visibility. Additionally, I have been active in Emerge CA, mentoring and supporting Democratic women run for office and win. 3. If elected, what are the three top issues you will work to affect? Affordable housing development, financing and production capacity building Small business retention Public transportation 4. What have you done to mentor women and people that are not White in your field? I have spent decades hiring, mentoring, and providing professional development opportunities to people who are not White, women and young people. As a manager with the City from 2004 to 2011 I hired women and people of color almost exclusively, while also including professional development and advancement opportunities for staff. During my work with nonprofits: at the Mission Economic Development Agency, I led the creation of the agency’s workforce program, that provided entry into the workforce for Latinos, women and youth. At Jamestown Community Center, I led the expansion of our youth workforce programs, quadrupling the capacity of the agency to provide mentorship and work opportunities for high risk Latino and African American youth. As an 2015 alum of Emerge, CA, I have stayed active in the network recruiting women to run for office, mentoring and supporting young women to get the support and training they need to run for office and win. I am running because I think it is important for young women of color, particularly Latinas to see women run and succeed in politics. Only one Latina has ever been elected to the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco – that was Susan Leal in 1994. No Latinas have been elected at all since SF implemented district elections. It is important to me to show Latinas that we can do this, and that we should do this. We need a seat at the table. 5. Define affordable housing. A housing situation that costs a household no more that 30% of their income. 6. As Supervisor, how do you plan to push for and ensure racial equity in San Francisco's neighborhood planning and individual project development process and ensure that we are building more deeply affordable housing and other community assets (ie. childcare, parks and open space, grocery stores and small businesses) are distributed more equitably throughout San Francisco? 1. Affordable housing is an obligation market rate developers have to mitigate the impact of development as calculated by a city wide nexus study. This should be more targeted, because racial patterns of segregation and exclusion have affected communities differently. An impact score could be a component of the approval process for projects in communities that have suffered underinvestment and exclusion. 2. Insure adequate funding for long term planning processes, particularly in low income neighborhoods and communities of color. 3. Support the work of the Office of Racial Equity with the Planning Department, with the goal of having a staff that reflects the diversity of our city, and has knowledge of our communities. 7. Did you support Rich Hillis for Planning Department Director and if so why? If you did not support, please explain who you would have supported otherwise and why? As President of the SF Planning Commission, my role was to lead the recruitment process in the search for a new Director, which I did with integrity. The commission held public hearings, and voted on a process of recruitment in open session. The process, which included a job description and interviews in closed session was passed with a unanimous vote at the commission. By a unanimous vote, the commission also voted to not disclose any information about this personnel matter, and as per the memorandum prepared by Deputy City Attorney and made available to the public on this matter dated September 12, no individual commissioner is at liberty to disclose information about the closed session held by the commission. My public comments about Mr. Hillis expressed that the commission had found his qualifications met the qualities we had put forward and voted on in a public meeting. In the end we forwarded a list of 5 candidates who the commission put forward as meeting those qualifications. As far as my publicly stated desired qualifications for this position, my priorities were to attract a pool of candidates who reflected the diversity of San Francisco, who loved our city, had deep understanding of community planning, and were women and people of color. 8. Do you support the split roll amendment to Proposition 13 that would tax commercial property but not residential property? Yes 9. What are your top district priorities and what would be your process in addressing these issues with the community? 1. Affordable housing: District 7 is 2/3 homeowner occupied. I will work on creating financing options and process improvements to support residents in adapting their homes to age in place while creating new rent controlled units. I will also work with community stakeholders, our state representatives and city departments to support the production of co-op housing, a model that is a more affordable homeownership option that we have not adequately invested in. Additionally, I will work to support tenants in rent controlled housing, making supports available to prevent evictions.