Newsom endorses challenger Rob Black for District 6

Neighborhood residents gather before Tehama Street Mural as site of endorsement.
Photo(s) by Luke Thomas

July 30, 2006

Copyright fogcityjournal.com 2006

By Pat Murphy

Mayor Gavin Newsom this afternoon endorsed challenger Rob Black for November election to the Board of Supervisors District 6 seat.

Both Black and Newsom portrayed Black as the best contender to lessen divisiveness in District 6 representation.

Incumbent Supervisor Daly appeared with Daly supporters at the event praising incumbent record.

Supervisor Daly passes out green Mardi Gras beads to supporters. Inside City Hall green beads represent 'Spirit of District 6.' Outside City Hall green beads signify 'Re-Elect Chris Daly.'

David Villalobos, chair of the Community Leadership Alliance, passes silver beads to Rob Black supporters signifying 'Liberate District 6 From Daly.'

David Leidner hands out green beads on behalf of Chris Daly 2006 campaign.

Newsom described the mayor's preferred standard for public service.

"You are held to a real standard in terms of being responsive to everybody's needs, not just one particular segment of a community," stated Newsom.

"You don't get to say, 'You know what? I'm going to turn my back to all of you because you're not important to me.'

"That's not the way you govern.

"And that's really why I'm so enthusiastic about Rob Black and his candidacy in this district.

"This district is changing dramatically and it's changing for the better, but we've got to harness that change in an appropriate way and brings this community together," Newsom said.

"Not try to divide it based on ideological lines. Not try to divide it because 'you're not one of us - you're one of them.'

"That's the stale politics of the past.

"It's a divisive kind of politics that's not helped the City. I believe it has hurt the City.

"So I am very enthusiastic about supporting Rob in his quest for this seat and I look forward to working with all of you in the course of the next hundred or so days to make his passion and his dreams represent yours."

Black pledged inclusive representation, more middle class housing, and street improvements in safety and greenery.

"Thank you to the Tehama Street neighbors and thank you so much for the work you are doing to really reclaim this street for your families and for your children," Black began.

Rob Black

"I look forward to being able to work with you in the future, to be able to work with other neighborhoods throughout District 6, to make sure that we are being inclusive but at the same time really looking at where we are when we talk about housing - making sure we're creating family housing, making sure that we're doing things with the mayor to make sure our streets are safe, our streets are clean, our streets are green.

The challenger said he is more supportive of some public safety issues than the incumbent.

"We do need to be looking at getting more beat cops on the streets. Security cameras is another issue the current supervisor does not support but I know that this neighborhood has been asking for it.

"Folks in the Tenderloin have been asking for it for this new park that's going in and they want to make sure that park is safe for their kids," Black stated.

"I think that we need a change in both tone and perspective," Black told the Sentinel.

"Supervisor Daly represents a very narrow group of people in the district and a lot of people go unrepresented. I think this particular neighborhood is an example of that.

"When people reach out to you and ask for your help as the elected official it is incumbent to be responsive to that.

"This neighborhood, and their process they went through with their cannabis club, is a demonstration of how that did not happen."

In a speech Wednesday, Black spoke of the Tehama Street cannabis club Supervisor Chris Daly's office responded to the speech with 'Medical cannabis dispensaries in SOMA.'

Black elaborated on his call for more middle income housing.

"What we've done is we've gotten very good at building luxury housing and low-income housing with nothing in the middle.

"We've created an hourglass and we need to fill out that middle bit of the hourglass so that as people start to step up - as our job training classes begin to work and are working - that they can buy a piece of property in their neighborhood and not be dislocated to Vallejo or to the East Bay."

The event took place before the Tehama Street Mural, a work in progress by area neighbors and sponsored by Cingular Wireless.

A Cingular spokesperson explained sponsorship decision.

"Our network team is in this building," Cingular director of public relations Lauren Garner told the Sentinel.

"We spent a lot time painting over the graffiti and when Sharon and Laura approached us to do the mural we knew it was a perfect solution because we really wanted to be a good corporate neighbor with the community because we work here as well."

Sharon Anderson, a six-year resident of Tehama Street, related mural history.

"My neighbor Laura Weil saw the wall and saw that it needed to have something here in this open space, so we've been talking for a couple of years about what to do and how to do it," Anderson opened the press conference.

"At some point I realized, 'Hey, I'm an artist - I can do this.'

"But we needed a lot of help so between Laura and I... we just began slowly getting the Tehama Street Neighbors Association involved and we approached Cingular.

"So between Cingular, Tehama Street Neighborhood Association, we came up with the mural which features shapes and forms from the neighborhood.

District 6 incumbent Supervisor Chris Daly praised creation of the mural and noted his efforts on behalf of the arts.

Supervisor Daly reviews progress of Tehama Street Mural.

"I think community arts projects are real important," Daly told the Sentinel.

"That's why along with Supervisor Tom Ammiano, I am the biggest supporter of community arts programs in San Francisco. Tom brought together the Arts Task Force which made great recommendations... our budget included about $1.5 million in additional money for
community arts.

"I had to sit on the Redevelopment Agency to make them keep their promise to return Bindlestiff Studio, the nation's only Filipino black-box theater, to Sixth Street.

"It's good news. I think this is a good day."

Daly declined comment on challengers by name.

"I think this again is going to be a campaign on my record and my record is strong which isn't going away. I think that signatures in lieu of filing are probably a pretty good indicator of depth and breadth of support in the district."

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFO

Rob Black
P.O. Box 410594
San Francisco, CA 94141
Email: info@robblack2006.com
Website: robblack2006.com

Chris Daly
1346 Stevenson Street B301
San Francisco, CA 94103
Email: superdaly@yahoo.com
Website: daly2006.com

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