Newly elected District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan’s San Francisco story began in a rent-controlled Chinatown apartment.
After arriving from Hong Kong at age 13 and attending the public high school Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, she studied at UC Davis, then bounced between jobs as a community organizer, interpreter, aid to then-District Attorney Kamala Harris, and media relations jobs at City College of San Francisco and the Recreation and Park Department. Now she lives in the Richmond with her partner, a firefighter whose responsibilities shifted to stay-at-home dad during her campaign. She chose to run to be a voice for families like her own, as well as the 40% of Richmond residents who are Chinese.
“I realized there’s a gap and a need for our Chinese-speaking residents in the Richmond, and city-wide. Also, I was raised by a single mom. That’s my background, from a working family. That’s what I’m about, and I’m running so that those values will consistently be front and center at the Board of Supervisors.” Her message resonated with district residents, who voted her into office over challenger Marjan Philhour by just 123 votes (17,030 to 16,9097).
Like most of San Francisco, reasonably priced housing is one of her primary concerns. Her campaign stressed support for an eviction moratorium, for both small businesses and tenants. She does cite some city progress, noting a nearly 100-unit senior housing development at Geary and 6th Avenue that’s 100% affordable. She’s optimistic about Propositions A and E passing in 2019, which unlocked a $600 million housing bond and allowed public land to be rezoned for 100% affordable housing.
“When I talk about 100% affordable housing, it’s up to 120% of area medium income. That means it’s 160k dollars of annual income for a household of four, and in my opinion, that’s solid middle income,” says Chan. “The challenge for someone like me, a policymaker, is how can I find incentives, programing, and policy solutions to incentivize developers to build 100% affordable housing?”
The message resonated with Marria Evbuoma, a 39-year-old environmental non-profit worker who has lived in the Richmond for 15 years. An activist with the group Richmond District Rising, Evbuoma organized candidate forums where Chan stood out based on her engagement with the community. When asked about her support of Chan, housing was the first thing on her mind.
“65% of people in D1 are renters,” says Evbuoma. “Not having new housing that’s built that’s 100% affordable, that means that folks like me who moved out here and aren’t in the medical or tech industry, who are artists and musicians, we can stay here, we can afford to be here and not be priced out by the market rate.”
Evbuoma also appreciated Chan’s stance on defunding the police, which didn’t hedge around one of the hottest button phrases in 2020’s political lexicon.
“Truly from my perspective from the last 15 years working in city government, and some years in the district attorney’s office, is that it’s not just about the police budget, but the overall city budget,” says Chan. “What is it we need to do to continue to invest in public health, our school system, and our city services. That really is a front end investment in our community, so we don’t have to spend so much on the back end, which is law enforcement and incarceration.”
Her time working with Kamala Harris were formative to supplement her communications and policy skills with experiences reaching out to the community. Her biggest lesson was about the Vice President Elect’s lack of pretense.
“By the time I worked for her, everyone knew who Kamala Harris was in San Francisco. But with new faces, and young people especially, she’d just say, ‘hi, I’m Kamala Harris, how are you doing’. There’s no you-should-know-me-already vibe. It’s a gesture. Humility is the lesson that I learned.”
Chan’s favorite thing about San Francisco is the fog, she calls it “natural air conditioning,” but the chilly contrast to her native humid Hong Kong seemed to be missing this year due to a series of heat waves, which she sees as just one more consequence of climate change. For Chan, global warming isn’t just an environmental issue, but an equality one. When she worked as an aide to former District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, who saw the shutting down the Marin powerplant disproportionately hurt the health of color in her district.
“From that point on, I recognized that environmental justice is social and racial justice. You’ll see a lot of pollution in areas of San Francisco that are disproportionately hurting people of color,” says Chan. She stresses the importance of everyday actions like plastic bag and straw bans, but also larger infrastructural changes like shifting to cleaner power.
Chan stressed many of the challenges her district faces, but in terms of personal challenges, she’s currently struggling with the same issues facing most people during the pandemic: working from home. It made traditional door-knocking and community events impossible during the campaign, but has also made juggling a family even more complicated. When she does find time to unwind, it’s spent with Korean soap opera “Crash Landing On You” on Netflix, but it’s clear that it’s tough to find moments to herself. Halfway through our video interview over Zoom, her young son popped his head into the frame, nuzzling up against her side.
“Work life balance is going to be the hardest [part of the job]. I’ve been an aide in city government in the past. It’s a job that’s great, it’s challenging, but anything can happen at any time and it takes a lot of investment of time and energy, and your brain space.”