The 2015 municipal election is just days away, but Tenderloin voters have one more opportunity to grill mayoral candidates on an issue of high importance to the neighborhood.
The Tenderloin Votes Coalition and Faithful Fools are hosting a mayoral debate at 1:30pm tomorrow, Oct. 30th in Demonstration Gardens (333 Golden Gate Ave.). The discussion will center on how the candidates plan to handle the city's rising homeless population — and the displacement of homeless residents of the Financial District during Super Bowl — if elected to office.
Mayoral candidates Amy Farah Weiss, Reed Martin and Stuart Schuffman are confirmed, and the organizers are still working to compel Mayor Ed Lee, Kent Graham and Francisco Herrera to participate as well, said Sam Dennison, Faithful Fools' minister of finance and the moderator for tomorrow's debate.
Co-hosted by Tenderloin Votes, a resident led-organization that aims to drive more Tenderloin residents to the polls, the event is also a way to show City Hall that Tenderloin constituents matter.
The coalition focuses its outreach efforts on persuading homeless and low-income residents, people with histories of incarceration, those who think they are ineligible and anyone who is simply discouraged to vote to do so.
In a rally led by Tenderloin Votes, Tenderloin residents marched to City Hall last week to cast their votes early.
"Our goal is to register and activate enough voters so that politicians and city representatives feel like they need to come to the Tenderloin to vet their policies and ideas," Dennison said of Tenderloin Votes.
Which hasn't been the case in the past, she argues. "Aside from Jane Kim who is very good about connecting with us—we're her constituents—very few of the city leadership really seems to feel a need to hold hearings in our neighborhood, or to connect with individuals in our neighborhood. Many service organizations actively engage with City Hall, but I don't think City Hall really seeks out the actual residents of the Tenderloin."
For the mayoral candidates who choose to accept the invitation, tomorrow's forum will be "less of a competitive debate and more of a creative moment," Dennison said. Poets who live and work in the Tenderloin — including Tenderloin Votes leader Jesse Johnson — will join the mayoral candidates in answering questions, giving voters the opportunity to explore the issue from both political and creative perspectives.
For updates on tomorrow's debate and future Tenderloin Votes events, follow Faithful Fools, Tenderloin Votes and Demonstration Gardens on Facebook.
