Elon Musk Made Me Jump In
When I agree with Elon Musk on San Francisco politics, something must change at City Hall. No, I do not believe Dean Preston should go to “Prison,” as suggested by Musk.
I simply interpreted Musk’s statement that Preston should go to prison for his proposed legislation earlier this year to prohibit the use of firearms by security guards to protect property as pointless and grandstanding. This issue does not make the top 100 list of things wrong with San Francisco.
As a longtime (1960) San Franciscan, I have lived in the Tenderloin for the past two years, and I love it. However, it became apparent to me that Preston does not love the new map that placed the challenging Tenderloin in District 5 after he won his seat on the board.
With these observations and personal experience with his office, on October 13, 2023, I took my pet peeve against political grandstanding and my perceived lack of attention by the supervisor for the Tenderloin to the SF Department of Elections and filed papers to challenge Supervisor Dean Preston for D5 in the November 5, 2024, general election.
Sure, I’m a dark horse candidate, but I am excited to put up my ideas, which includes literally 100s of emails to the full board over 14 years, for a better D5 and all of San Francisco for that matter against what Supervisor Preston has done the entire time he has lived in the city. This is despite the fact; I agree with about 30% of the policies that Supervisor Preston supports, and I greatly appreciate a person who puts his money where his mouth is, which Preston has done on housing before he ran to become a supervisor.
In the latter part of July 2023, I contacted Supervisor Preston’s office about a problem on my block where SFPD/DPW placed barricades to cut down on drug dealing and loitering. These barricades have made it a challenge for me to move up to my apartment in my wheelchair and done nothing to discourage loitering. I provided photo evidence and received a lovely reply with a promise from one of Preston’s staff. Five months later and a few more emails, not only are the barricades still in place, but even after I told the officer responsible for putting up the barricades, a blind man got his cane stuck in one of the barricades, no further communication with SFPD or Preston’s office. But as an elected supervisor, I know who will work to remove many barriers.
Since November 2022, I’ve been pressing the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) to provide public charging stations for people who use electric wheelchairs. In a meeting with the MOD director, I learned that this idea had been sitting on a dusty shelf at the MOD office for two years from someone who suggested it before me. When I cc’d the entire board on this issue, I got no response. But as an elected supervisor, I will not allow dust to collect on ideas that make traveling/navigating the city easier for the disabled. The public wheelchair charging stations are coming no thanks to a feckless Mayor’s Office on Disability and the Mayor’s Disability Council who did nothing until I nagged them enough.
From 2009 to 2019, I was homeless, living in my pickup truck. So, I say solving the problem of homelessness is possible with some creativity. I would first challenge the board with the fact, living in a pickup truck for ten years costs the city nothing, but it is willing to spend $160,000.00 for each space for people to live in their vehicles in the latest agreement to waste tax-payer money. My ignored correspondence to Mayor Breed, who I otherwise support, and the full Board of Supervisors who I have little faith in, says that as an elected official, I know there will be one supervisor who will support creativity and will consistently vote no on waste.
I am a conservative. I have been a registered Republican since 1982. I am a Black man who does not support money reparations for Black San Franciscans. I am a homosexual who is not a part of the LGBTQ community. And I have never been able to walk due to a birth defect. So why do I think I have a chance to represent D5 residents better than Dean Preston in the November 2024 general election?
My website: D5campaign.com
