District 1 Candidates Busy Fighting for Votes
Richmond District electorate to choose supervisor by ranked choice voting

By Carol Dimmick

With a few notable exceptions, a "meet the candidates night" held in the Richmond District in September resembled a love-in more than a rigorous debate on the issues. 

In a city where politics is a blood sport, retired judge Lillian Sing, radio host and attorney Rose Tsai and small business owner David Heller answered questions from the audience without laying a verbal glove on incumbent Supervisor Jake McGoldrick's four year track record.

The one exception was attorney Matt Tuchow, who told the 50 attendees who came to the Richmond Recreation Center for the Sept. 8 event that McGoldrick had the wrong answers for the city's housing crisis.

Tuchow said he would concentrate on building more affordable units, while implying that the incumbent favors rent control.

"Rent control is not the answer to affordable housing," Tuchow said, taking aim at McGoldrick's strong pro-rent control stance.

Tuchow reminded voters that McGoldrick tried to block property owners from converting their buildings to tenancies-in-common, but failed when the court intervened and ruled that McGoldrick's legislation was ruled unconstitutional in 2003. That ruling is currently on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

McGoldrick responded by saying he supports Proposition A, a $200 million bond that would spend $60 million for below-market rental units for low-income residents.

The candidates were almost unanimous in siding with Richmond residents who have campaigned against the closure of Golden Gate Park's John F. Kennedy Drive on Saturdays and the Presidio Trust's plan to build 350 units of housing at the site of the former Public Health Service Hospital, located in the Presidio near 15th Avenue and Lake Street.

When asked whether they would support closing J.F.K. Drive on Saturdays, there was unanimous opposition to the idea, with the exception of Tuchow, who said he would consider a partial closure.

With the exception of Tsai, who said she was undecided, all of the candidates were against a proposal by the Presidio Trust to build 350 units of housing near the affluent Lake Street neighborhood.

On citywide issues, there were some differences between the incumbent supervisor and the candidates fighting for his seat.

On the question of how they would deal with the growing number of panhandlers that have flooded into the Richmond District, Tuchow and Heller said they supported Prop. M, the mayor's anti-panhandling proposal. McGoldrick opposed the measure.

"Prop. M is politicizing a social issue and I am against it," McGoldrick said.

Concerning the Care Not Cash proposal OK'd by city voters, all of the candidates voiced support for the plan.

Candidates Leanna Dawydiak, a police officer and attorney, and Jeffrey Freebairn did not attend the debate.

Voters Face Ranked Choice Ballot

The debates take on a new importance this year because voters  will be asked to choose three candidates for supervisor on Nov. 2 in an effort to avoid costly and time consuming run-off elections.

Voters will pick a first, second and third choice for supervisor. If a candidate receives a simple majority of first-choice votes, that candidate is elected.

If a candidate does not get 50 percent of the vote after the initial first-place votes are counted, then the candidate receiving the fewest first-place votes is eliminated and voters who selected the eliminated candidate will have their second vote counted. The votes are then recounted. If a majority candidate emerges, that candidate is elected, if not, the process is repeated until a winner is declared.

For more information on ranked choice voting, call the SF Department of Elections at 554-4375 or go the website at www.sfgov.org/site/election for more information.