FREE//GRATUITO
Published by Acción Latina
eltecolote.org
Octubre 6-19, 2016
Vol. 46 No. 20
Sparks fly at District 9 candidate debate Vuelan chispas durante debate entre candidatos al Distrito 9 Shajia Abidi
Shajia Abidi El Tecolote
El Tecolote
he candidates vying to replace District 9 Supervisor David Campos, who is termed out this year, gathered at Brava Theater Center Sept. 28 to discuss the issues that affect the district, which includes parts of the Mission, Bernal Heights, St. Mary’s Park, and Portola. All four candidates—Hillary Ronen, Joshua Arce, Melissa San Miguel and Iswari España—were asked to weigh in on a variety of topics including the screaming housing crisis, growing homelessness, police brutality, employment opportunities, small businesses and immigration policies. But the debate was largely dominated by Arce and Ronen, who are seen as frontrunners and whose wellfunded campaigns dwarf those of España and San Miguel. Housing, which came up again and again, was perhaps the most contentious point of debate. Throughout the evening, the candidates repeatedly used the issue to criticize Ronen, who they sought to characterize as the incumbent and thus personally responsible for District 9’s problems. “I won’t sit here like Ms. Ronen and make false promises about how many units I’m going to build in a certain amount of time,” said San Miguel, an education advocate. “She, as chief of staff to our supervisor, had the opportunity to build these units, but did not.” Ronen, who for the last six years served as Supervisor Campos’ Chief of Staff and who before that worked as an employment law attorney at La Raza Centro Legal, has promised to build 5,000 units of affordable housing over the next ten years. “The way I’m going to do that [build 5,000 units] is by finding revenue to build 100 percent affordable projects, and working with the developers to build good
os candidatos que compiten para reemplazar al Supervisor del Distrito 9, David Campos, cuyo nombramiento se renueva este año, se dieron cita en el Brava Theater Center el 28 de septiembre para discutir los asuntos que afectan al distrito, el cual comprende zonas de la Misión, Bernal Heights, St. Mary’s Park y Portola. A los cuatro candidatos —Hillary Ronen, Joshua Arce, Melissa San Miguel e Iswari-España— se les pidió opinar sobre una variedad de temas, incluyendo la cada vez más creciente crisis de la vivienda, la falta de vivienda, la brutalidad policial, las oportunidades de empleo, las pequeñas empresas y las políticas de inmigración. Pero el debate fue dominado en gran parte por Arce y Ronen, que son vistos como los candidatos favoritos y cuyas campañas bien financiadas empequeñecen a las de España y San Miguel. El tema de la vivienda, que surgió una y otra vez, fue quizás el punto más polémico del debate. A lo largo de la noche, los candidatos utilizaron en varias ocasiones el tema para criticar a Ronen, quienes trataron de señalarla como titular y por lo tanto, responsable de los problemas del Distrito 9. “No me voy a sentar aquí como la señora Ronen para hacer falsas promesas sobre el número de unidades que habré de construir en cierta cantidad de tiempo”, dijo San Miguel, un defensor de la educación. “Ella, como jefe de personal de nuestro supervisor, tuvo la oportunidad de construir estas unidades y no lo hizo”. Ronen, quien durante los últimos seis años se ha desempeñado como Jefe de Personal de David Campos y que previamente trabajó como abogada en derecho laboral en el Centro Legal La Raza, ha prometido construir 5 mil unidades de vivienda asequible en los próximos diez años. “La forma en que voy a hacer eso [construir 5 mil unidades] es mediante la búsqueda de beneficios y el desarrollo de proyectos cien por ciento asequibles, y por medio del trabajo con los desarrolladores para crear buenos proyectos a precio de mercado con una gran cantidad de viviendas asequibles en ellos”, declaró la candidata. Ronen luego mencionó estar trabajando actualmente en un plan con un desarrollador anónimo para un proyecto de financiación privada cien por ciento asequible. Arce, abogado en derecho civil, quien está realizando dos campañas paralelas, una para Supervisor del Distrito 9 y la otra, como miembro del Comité Democrático del Condado Central (DCCC), no perdió oportunidad para atacar a Ronen. “He construido vivienda asequible como secretario de la junta junto con Mission Housing (Development Corporation)”, dijo, refiriéndose al desarrollo de 165
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Roberto Hernández (a la izquierda) fue moderadores del debate entre los cuatro candidatos a Supervisor del Distrito 9 (desde la izquierda) Iswary España, Melissa San Miguel, Hillary Ronen y Joshua Arce. Roberto Hernandez (left) moderates a debate between the four candidates for District 9 Supervisor, (from left) Iswary España, Melissa San Miguel, Hillary Ronen and Joshua Arce. Photo Erasmo Martinez market-rate projects with lots of affordable housing in it,” she said. Ronen then mentioned that she was currently working on a plan with an unnamed developer for a privately funded project that would that would be 100 percent affordable. Arce, a civil rights attorney who is waging parallel campaigns for District 9 supervisor and Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) member, didn’t miss the chance to take a jab on Ronen. “I’ve built affordable housing as the secretary of the board with Mission Housing [Development Corporation,” he said, referring to the 165-unit affordable housing development at 1950 Mission St., which is set to break ground in 2017. “We don’t have to look or find the resources or try to build the more houses than have built
in the past 6 years.” Each time Arce spoke, his proclamations were met with loud applause by a group of supporters belonging to a community organization in the Bayview district known as the Aboriginal Blackman United (ABU). Arce, dating back to his time as Executive Director of Brightline Defense Project in the Bayview, is an ally of ABU. Even though they are not District 9 residents, the ABU members continually booed Ronen throughout the evening, frequently drowning out her attempts to defend herself. Tensions flared when Arce and Ronen attacked each other’s campaign finances. While expanding on his plans for dealing with the housing crisis, Arce stated his “big concern” about Ronen’s campaign. “The developers of all the
La vivienda, fue uno de los temas clave abordados durante el debate por el Distrito 9 llevado a cabo el 1 de octubre.Varios grupos comunitarios han estado abordando el asunto en recientes años. Cerca de un centenar de manifestantes marcharon por la calle 24 el 16 de abril de 2015 exigiendo una ‘zona libre de desalojos’. Housing was one of the key issues at the District 9 debate on Oct. 1. Various community groups have been calling for affordable housing in recent years. Close to a hundred protesters marched down 24th Street on April 16, 2015 demanding for an “eviction-free zone.” Photo S. Thollot
major high-end projects in the Mission … have been donating to Hillary Ronen’s campaign. I’m not taking a dime from the developers,” Arce exclaimed to huge applause. Ronen, who has been endorsed by the SF Tenants Union, admitted that a small portion of her campaign was funded by development lobbyists, approximately one percent. But she stressed that she had helped spearhead multiple ballot initiatives to fight big developers and eviction including 2014’s Proposition G, a housing tax on real estate speculators, 2015’s Proposition I, a luxury housing moratorium in the Mission District, and 2015’s Proposition F, which would have placed tight restrictions on Airbnb. “If you are worried about special interests affecting this election, you should look at who is spending money at Joshua’s campaign,” Ronen said, referring to the support the Arce campaign has received through the Police Officers Association (POA). Throughout the night, Arce defended his campaign by denying that it had received donations from lobbyists, developers and the POA. “SFPOA isn’t supporting any candidate in this race,” Arce said, which was followed by more antiRonen boos. According to the Ethics Commission for City and County of San Francisco, Arce’s campaign did receive $10,000 in ads from an independent expenditure outfit called San Franciscans for a City that Works, which is funded in part by the San Francisco Police Officers Union. The candidates will meet again on Oct. 9 at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts for another debate sponsored by Mission Local.
Vea DISTRITO 9, página 2