San Francisco Board of Education President Jane Kim
today announced her candidacy in the 2010 race for District 6 Supervisor.
Photo by Luke Thomas
By Luke Thomas
January 19, 2010
Ending months of speculation and rumor, San Francisco Board of Education President Jane Kim today confirmed her candidacy in the 2010 race for District 6 Supervisor.
In a statement released to FCJ, Kim, a Progressive, said, “I am proud to be running as a candidate to represent the residents of District 6 on the Board or Supervisors. I look forward to discussing the issues important to the community, making our streets safer, creating long-term affordable housing and ushering in a renewed focus on anti-poverty work.”
Kim filed papers with the San Francisco Ethics Commission on Thursday to open an exploratory committee, to legally begin a fundraising campaign ahead of today’s official announcement.
Responding to FCJ inquiry, Kim said she will tap the same donor base that aided her election to the San Francisco School Board in 2006. In that election, Kim placed first among voters in District 6, having garnered over 1,000 more votes than her closest competitor.
She said she expects to qualify for public campaign financing up to the maximum allowed ($143,000).
Kim is the only elected official running for the seat to succeed Supervisor Chris Daly who will be termed out of office in January, 2011.
“She is a formidable campaigner and typically generates a good amount of grassroots energy,” said Daly, who has yet to formally endorse his successor.
Kim, who moved to District 6 in January 2009, said her work as a community organizer – working with families and immigrant communities – will help to establish her candidacy.
With 17 candidates already declared, the District 6 race is expected to become contentious and more crowded. Kim pledged to work with the frontrunner candidacies of Jim Meko and Debra Walker, to ensure a progressive candidate retains the District 6 seat.
“I am really hoping that we can work together and support one another,” Kim said. “One of us is more likely to win if all three of us are working together and working really hard to support one another.”
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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February 25, 2010 at 8:45 pm
I am really concerned that we have yet another person running for Supervisor that has proven to be Fiscally irresponsible to the public. Kim is currently supporting the initiatives of any group that will get her elected, and yes she is chair of a board that is cutting 113 million bucks! How many teachers will Kim sacrifice for her elective to the Board of Supervisors?
February 5, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I’m voting for Elaine Zamora. She’s actually been active in the community getting things done for years. I’ve never even heard of some of these other people.
January 25, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Theresa Sparks has just filed papers to run for supe in district six, according to an article in the Ex.
The big question on my mind is whether the surrogates of Chris Daly, the incumbent in district six, will launch an effort to demonize Theresa Sparks, in order to help Jane Kim, Debra Walker, or Jim Meko.
There’s ample precedent for this sort of behavior by Daly’s surrogates. An example was their behavior in demonizing Sophie Maxwell when the Six Guys Club closed ranks and shut her out of the position of board prez. As David Campos triumphantly boasted, the Six Guys saved the position “for one of our own.”
This sort of behavior works at the supes, which runs itself according to the Peskin Principle (“Payback is a bitch.”)
But elections are a different matter, especially with the ranked-choice system of voting.
The smart thing would be for all the candidates across the board to lay off demonization and to run positive, even inspiring, campaigns.
However, politicians don’t always do the smart thing.
January 21, 2010 at 8:58 am
I was wondering about that capital “P” in “Progressive” too.
Anyone who lost their City job, bus line, shelter, or whatever to budget cuts this year can look to our own mayors/RDA/Board of Supes’ 10+ year collaboration with the Miami-based Lennar Corporation, which is not only a big industrial homebuilder, but also a big predatory lender, pushing and inflating the prices of its own properties, http://www.sfbayview.com/2010/this-bailout%E2%80%99s-for-lennar/, and then lobbying for public assistance that the rest of us aren’t getting, http://www.sfbayview.com/2010/lennar%E2%80%99s-trickle-up-%E2%80%98profits%E2%80%99/
Whether I get out to do any of the grunt work that actually gets people elected—walking precincts, distributing lit, and putting up signs—will depend on whether or not any candidates in any district advocate bringing the RDA under control of the elected Board and propose a process for doing so.
January 20, 2010 at 10:13 am
The rats are leaving the sinking Green Party ship, but what happened to the People’s Organization?
http://district5diary.blogspot.com/2005/06/left-dreams-of-unity.html
And are we supposed to capitalize “progressive” now?
January 19, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Well, thanks to Jane, progressives now have a lot of candidates to choose from. I can only hope that conservatives have as many choices as we do. Clearly, Rob Black and Theresa Sparks are not enough. We need another credible mod/conservative to elaborate a more nuanced view of the pro-business/clean streets agenda, lest those voters be starved for choices.
January 19, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Brian, Kim is a former Green Party registrant who is now a registered Democrat according to the SFBG.
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?page=3&entry_id=9646&catid=&volume_id=452&issue_id=467&volume_num=44&issue_num=15
January 19, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Point of clarification, please. Is Jane Kim a member of the Green Party or is she a Democrat?
January 19, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I can’t believe the Examiner got the scoop on this.
Anyway, I wonder why Kim felt that Walker and Meko are so unsatisfactory that she would feel compelled to run … and to wait so long before making a god damn decision, thus, leaving supporters and organizations that made or will make endorsements and commitments — both financially and emotionally — in the lurch and the awkward position of potentially having to rescind early endorsements and support — either overtly or silently. It’s hard to believe Walker and Meko would feel any genuine reason to run along side Kim without some bitterness and forced grins.
Also, this issue of only being able to choose three candidates in a field of dozens needs to be addressed. It is entirely undemocratic and unacceptable that voters are still forced to vote strategically in spite of IRV.
January 19, 2010 at 9:22 am
Congrats to Jane Kim for throwing her hat into the supe race for district six, now represented by Chris Daly. It’s wonderful news to see that one of Kim’s concerns will be “making our streets safer,” which was never much of a priority for the current incumbent.
The three leading contenders for district six are now Jane Kim, Debra Walker, and Theresa Sparks, all women.
This development is good news. It means that the next supe from the district will not likely be a testosterone-wired, foul-mouthed knuckle-dragger.
Imagine that!
January 19, 2010 at 8:56 am
In my effort to be equally supportive of the major progressive candidates for D6 Supervisor, let me say that James, Jane, Jim, and Debra all bring unique strengths as candidates for Supervisor. I look forward to adding my support to the strongest progressive campaign later this year. Thanks.