Candidates Jeff Sheehy and Rafael Mandelman are campaigning to become District 8 Supervisor in the upcoming June 5th election. We compared the two candidates on some of the major issues impacting Noe Valley and San Francisco.  

Take a look:

HOMELESSNESS

Mandelman: He has proposed the creation of more shelters and drug treatment centers to help the homeless, combined with more stringent laws to help mentally ill people off the streets.

Sheehy: Working with the Department of Homelessness/Supportive Housing, he introduced legislation last month that would require SF to prioritize housing for those released from mental health and substance abuse programs.

SUPPORT FOR MAYOR

Mandelman: Supports Mark Leno for Mayor.

Sheehy: Supports Mark Farrell for Mayor, having served as the swing vote to unseat London Breed. Appointed by Ed Lee, but has spoken out against this decision in hindsight, saying “his biggest defect”.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

- Both candidates support/expressed interest in building affordable housing at both the Safeway parking lot at Church and Market and in areas in Glen Park close to the BART station. Sheehy endorsed and signed the ballot argument for Proposition D, a gross excise tax for the funding of low and middle-income housing.

Mandelman:

• Homeless himself during his youth, is calling for building a psychiatric ward in San Francisco General Hospital that would specialize in homeless and mentally ill patients.
• Proposed full comprehensive audits of legislative measures that pertain to homelessness. He feels that “too much money is being spent on homelessness and we have nothing to show for it.”
• Supported Mission Moratorium.
• Claimed Sheehy endorsed a measure that would have allowed thousands more rental units to be turned into condos.
   

Sheehy:

• Opposed  Mission Moratorium, saying “one of the most misguided things I have ever seen. How do we solve a housing crisis without building housing?”
• Wants to allow existing residents to buy their apartments to prevent future displacement.
• Creating the “Housing For All” initiative to build affordable, middle-income and teacher housing and end homelessness.
• Voted against SB. 827

PUBLIC TRANSIT

Mandelman: Rafael Mandelman was targeted by Sheehy’s predecessor Scott Weiner as being anti-Muni, as the result of a 2010 mailer issued during Mandelman’s run that year for District 8 Board of Supervisors. At the time, a measure known as Proposition G was in the works that dealt with driver’s salaries and their place within the city charter.

Sheehy:

• Seeking to continue his predecessor Scott Weiner’s policies on public transit. Says, ““The Castro and other neighborhoods of District 8 rely heavily on Muni, and bike safety needs to be improved. I haven’t had my daughter get on a bike and ride around the city’s streets,” Sheehy said. I think there’s another level of safety needed.”
• Wants to increase more bike lanes and bike shares near BART stations.
• Helped to create bike lanes in Upper Market area.
• Also in support of the potential Central Subway extension that spans Fisherman’s Wharf to North Beach.
• Pro greater subway expansion.
• Pro a second BART transbay tube.
• Pro red bus lanes.

SCHOOLS

-Both feel that teachers need a massive pay raise.

Mandelman: On the board of City College and a driving force in making it tuition free. As president of the Board he voted for budget cuts in 2015 and 2016 to save the school from losing its accreditation status.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Mandelman:

• Reducing property crime by moving the Police Department back onto the streets instead of in the station so that more officers walk precincts.
• Disagrees with Sheehy on enabling police to have more tasers. “Perhaps this is not the best moment to give the cops another weapon, considering all the problems with the department’s use of force.”

Sheehy:

• Serving on the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Board with Aaron Peskin and Hillary Ronen, he advocates for the passage of Proposition D, which is on the ballot for next month. The measure would tax commercial rents as a procedure to obtain funding for housing and homeless services, a problem that has become notorious in the Castro. The HOME-SF bonus program and creation of more affordable housing in Noe Valley under the auspices of this program, noting the former Real Foods parking lot as a prime target, has also been discussed.
• Supports arming police with tasers.

PARKING/TRAFFIC CONGESTION

Mandelman: N/A

Sheehy:

• Installing speed bumps, stop signs, crosswalks and added traffic officers in Diamond Heights and Glen Park.
• Feels Lyft and Uber are contributing greatly to the problem.
• Proposed a littering fine at Dolores Park.

Tim Hill is a writer, environmental/political activist, and organizer living in Oakland. He has written for and worked with the Sierra Club, 350.org, Clean Water Action, and Earthjustice. Covering a variety of political, environmental, and cultural beats, Tim earned a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Writing and Media Studies from Unity College. When not writing for various groups, he also plays traditional Irish music on uilleann pipes, flute, and tin whistle, performing throughout the Bay Area and beyond.