You Asked the Mayoral Candidates: Part Two

And now, part two of our three part series, in which we pose a dozen reader-submitted questions to the candidates running for mayor of San Francisco!

We submitted a slate of quesions to the sixteen mayoral candidates, and received responses from eleven. In Monday's part one, we asked about Muni, bicycle safety, embarrassing moments, and the worst things about San Francisco. In today's installment, we delve into rampant NIMBYism, favorite neighborhoods, website preferences, and biggest professional mistakes. Here are the candidates' answers, presented in random order.

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Q: Joshua W. asks: All too often businesses are shackled from making any changes due to rampant NIMBYism. As mayor, what do you plan to do to free businesses from being held hostage by the current process?

	Leland Yee: San Francisco has to be a city where it's easy for businesses to thrive and where the community actively participates in growth and change. As Mayor, I'm committed to streamlining the current process and encouraging small business growth. I plan to have neighborhood case workers to help small businesses and work to address neighborhood issues. I’m releasing my Jobs Plan on October 8 and I hope you’ll visit www.lelandyee.com for more information about my ideas on small business. Any changes to neighborhoods do need the input of the community and I will encourage processes that bring all stakeholders to the table so that concerns can be addressed.
	Joanna Rees: As an entrepreneur who has run two businesses in the city and worked with hundreds across the region, I understand what makes our local economy tick, and the challenges of doing business in our community first hand. City hall should not be picking winners and losers, but instead creating an environment that attracts entrepreneurs and puts San Francisco on a level playing field with competing cities and states. I will streamline the regulatory process for our small businesses to make it easier for small businesses to operate in our City.
	Bevan Dufty: When you're a 56-year old Gay man you only put up with so much NIMBY-ism. My success is based upon working with the neighborhoods up front and not surprising them. I've had success with Duboce Park and the Queer Youth Housing Collaborative in the Castro, but it is an issue -- especially with nightlife and I'm willing to fight when necessary.
	Dennis Herrera: As mayor, I intend to make decisions that are in the best interests of all the residents of our city. Of course, if there is a negative impact on a neighborhood which vastly outweighs the benefits of the program, that is not a sound decision either. It will be necessary to look at policies on a case by case basis.
	Cesar Ascarrunz: We have to revamp the planning and business department. They have huge retirement packages, but have yet to deliver the goods. I will make the city departments super friends and super professional. Businesses in San Francisco will have the opportunity to make changes in order to succeed with the changing business climate.
	Ed Lee: My number one priority for San Francisco is creating and retaining good jobs and opportunity and I am working hard everyday to help our business to succeed. In my 17-point economic plan, a Roadmap to Good Jobs & Opportunity, I have proposed a Job Squad to help neighborhood small businesses cut through red tape, and an Invest in Neighborhoods Initiative to focus more resources for the City’s neighborhood commercial districts, reforming the payroll tax, a $5 million Small Business New Jobs Investment Fund and creating new economy apprenticeship programs and a Mid-Career Academy to help retrain mid-career men and women in the skills of 21st century jobs. It is our city’s responsibility to help small businesses grow and thrive, not create needless new legislative hurdles to job growth. I opened my Haight Street campaign field office in a vacant storefront in the Lower Haight, I’ve talked to business owners in the neighborhood on merchant walks and during my pub crawl through the Lower Haight (can’t wait to do another!). I will continue to engage business owners and employees to help them succeed. I am also proposing a Jobs Impact Review for any legislation that will negatively impact jobs and the ability of businesses to compete. This review would engage affected business owners and employees and evaluate impacts and alternatives.
	Paul Currier: My plan for our Community Public Owned Bank has a second side - a local Glass Steagle firewall, if you will, and this means we create a "San Francisco Community Development Corporation". This new SFCDC will have one task: to replace all the 16 to 25 various permits needed from cash hungry City Hall, with a single San Francisco Business Permit. All the planning, use, zoning, departmental unique permits and all that need to be under one roof and that also should allow access to cash grants, angle funding, venture funding and more, for our new and returning entrepreneurs. This process will remove the Byzantine "Pay to Play" extortion that is practiced at City Hall by Mayor Ed Lee to Supervisor Ed Jew. One is on his way to prison and the other is doing time for extortion. I will end the Pay to Play Corruption immediately and forward.
	Jeff Adachi: Small, family-run businesses add variety to our neighborhoods and keep our city vibrant. Unfortunately, many small businesses trying to open their doors for the first time often face insurmountable fees. The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that a small business owner in the Mission district who was planning to build a bowling alley was forced to reevaluate her entire business plan after learning that she had to pay $44,000 in fees before beginning construction. As mayor, I will invest up to $40 million annually in start-up grants for 1000 micro-businesses that create jobs for San Franciscans. Nurturing local entrepreneurs is crucial to our economic and cultural prosperity.
	John Avalos: I want to promote rampant YIMBYism! As Mayor I’d promote local businesses instead of formula retail – there are fantastic models of local businesses triumphing over formula retail in the Haight & Divisadero area, and we should spread this approach and attitude to all areas of the city. We have to look at the commercial corridors and perfect the standard variety of stores: bookstores, art stores, print shops, cafés, hardware stores, clothing stores, markets, pharmacies... in order to have complete neighborhoods that attract residents and other local businesses.
	Tony Hall: San Francisco has thousands of local small business owners and hard-working entrepreneurs, but instead of helping them provide a stable base of local jobs, San Francisco crushes them with taxes and paperwork, and harangues them with arbitrary and oppressive regulatory enforcement.. As mayor, I will fight to create a healthy business climate by elimination the fees, hidden costs, and unnecessary red-tape currently crippling small business in San Francisco. I will also streamline the permitting process for all start-up businesses and construction projects. If we empower these small businesses, we’ll have a local jobs base that can rebuild our city’s middle class. And we’ll finally have the right policies and real leverage to keep large employers in San Francisco.
	David Chiu: Planning must be streamlined and transparent in order to be a stimulant and not a drag on our local economy. But in San Francisco, we just have too much land use bureaucracy. In addition to the Planning Department, we have the MTA, Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Building Inspection, and other agencies. We need to find a way to consolidate these departments, and create a planning process that make sense for all parties. That means we cannot continue to treat big development projects the same as planting a sidewalk tree or adding outdoor seating to a restaurant. It also means decisions shouldn’t be made by a select few but instead by all citizens – renters, homeowners, business owners, and community leaders alike. Everyone should be able to quickly understand regulations and obtain the necessary permits without bureaucratic hassle.

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Q: Sarah asks: If you had to pick one neighborhood in the City as your favorite, which would it be and why?

	Leland Yee: The Sunset because it's where my family and I live. But I also have sentimental feelings about Chinatown. It's where I grew up when I moved to SF at 3 years old. The people there are great. The food is fantastic. The traffic is horrible – but the people and food make it an amazing place for me.
	Joanna Rees: My opinion constantly evolves on this because there are so many unique neighborhoods that have a lot to offer. I like the energy, creativity and artistic nature of the Mission district.
	Bevan Dufty: I love the Lower Haight, my neighborhood -- but I'd go with the Mission -- it's such a wild mix.
	Dennis Herrera: I would pick my own neighborhood of the Dogpatch. In the 18 years I have lived there, I have seen this neighborhood go from obscure to quaint, with a thriving artist population, great restaurants, and a real community feel. If I could pick one neighborhood in the City to live in today, it would still be the DogPatch.
	Cesar Ascarrunz: The Mission District. Such a wide array of people and cultures. Amazing food and wonderful business owners.
	Ed Lee: Did not answer.
	Paul Currier: When I lived in a Cabin on top of the roof of a old building next to the Transamerica Pyramid, that was the best. It was four or five blocks to Broadway, Chinatown, the Waterfront, the Swim Club, and one block to the Embarcadero. But that is gone now. I liked the Haight when we could get flats for $200 a month and each flat had tons of room. I liked the Castro in 1978 - 1980 as no Police would even come into our neighborhood then. I loved Bernal Heights for a few years, and the views up by McLaren Part and the Bayview are really steller. Saint Francis Woods was nice, and I should have bought the place in the early 1980's. The Tenderloin is home for me in many ways. There are so many with the disease of alcoholism there and I love alcoholics. Outer Richmond is near the beach and I love that. Sea Cliff is too ritzy. I liked the drinking times in Pacific Heights, and North Beach to the Wharf. Now? Maybe I should get a place near City Hall if elected to be walking distance to work. I have always wanted to live on a real boat also. If it's in San Francisco, it's home to me. My favorite coffee is at Caffe Puccini.
	Jeff Adachi: Golden Gate Park and West Portal. I enjoy riding bikes with my daughter in Golden Gate Park, and I love most of the restaurants in West Portal, which I can walk to.
	John Avalos: Where I live in the Excelsior. Really good, down-to-earth, everyday people.
	Tony Hall: I'd have to say North Beach because I think it best exemplifies the diversity and flavor of this city.
	David Chiu: It of course has to be the Polk Street and Russian Hill neighborhoods where I’ve lived for all 15 years since I moved here after law school. I’ve had my good times in the Haight (and the Mission...and the Fillmore...but I digress...), but I represent District 3 in the northeast on the Board of Supervisors and would put our neighborhoods up against any in the 7x7 miles of SF.

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Q: Jennifer wants to know: What three websites do you visit most frequently?

	Leland Yee: 1. SFGate 2. The Usual Suspects - sfusualsuspects.com 3. Rough & Tumble - rtumble.com
	Joanna Rees: - joinjoanna.com - sfgate.com - huffingtonpost.com
	Bevan Dufty: towleroad.com, joemygod.com, and my new favorite, accidental bear!
	Dennis Herrera: http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com, http://www.pandora.com, and http://herreraformayor.com (shameless plug)
	Cesar Ascarrunz: 1. aol.com, a man has to check his email! 2. Facebook - I need to keep up with the people of San Francisco, and besides on the streets, they are talking on Facebook. 3. Foxnews.com to keep up with the nations politics.
	Ed Lee: 1) SFGOV.ORG – the main portal to San Francisco City and County Information and Resources. I like to make sure our City Government is making information and services available and online, updated, all the time. Frankly, some departments do a better job than others and we need to raise the bar. 2) Google News – I get constant updates about what’s going on in San Francisco but Google helps me stay abreast of the latest news outside San Francisco in the rest of the state and world. 3) ESPN.COM – I have to keep up sports (golf, football, basketball, ping-pong, tennis, you name it) – it’s my one diversion from the daily issues and serious matters I have to focus on as Mayor at City Hall. 4) Though I admittedly don’t get the chance to visit it much, I know Haighteration is a great site as well for news and info about the Lower Haight and every neighborhood deserves such a great online resource about the neighborhood. Good job!
	Paul Currier: (1) Facebook; (2) Google/Youtube; (3) MayorCurrier.com
	Jeff Adachi: www.sfgate.com, www.sfusualsuspects.com, www.sfexaminer.com
	John Avalos: Sfgov Alternet MLB.com
	Tony Hall: www.tonyhallsf.com, www.sfgate.com, and www.sfexaminer.com.
	David Chiu: Great question! You mean other than www.davidchiuformayor.com? I’d have to go with Pandora, SFUsualSuspects, and Hulu.

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Q: An anonymous reader asks: What's your proudest professional achievement, and biggest professional mistake?

	Leland Yee: I have several professional achievements I'm proud of. Two that come to mind are coauthoring Assemblyman Mark Leno’s historic marriage equality bill and passing emergency legislation to reinstate funding for domestic violence shelters after Gov. Schwarzenegger eliminated all their state funding. My biggest professional mistake is likely a vote I made several years ago on the Board of Supervisors regarding health coverage for transgender surgeries. If I knew then what I know now, I would have absolutely voted differently. In the time since then, I've apologized, reached out to the transgender community and advocated for transgender rights, including fighting to keep Lyon Martin open. Of all the votes I've ever taken, this is the one I've learned the most from.
	Joanna Rees: My proudest achievement is successfully founding a venture capital firm with no venture capital experience in a male dominated industry. Anytime I have been disappointed in outcomes professionally, it is because I didn’t follow my gut feeling. The most important thing is to be comfortable with the decisions you make.
	Bevan Dufty: Proudest achievement might be my staff work for Congressman Julian Dixon enacting a provision requiring the U.S. to consider the economic inefficiency of apartheid before approving any International Monetary Fund loans to South Africa. It was a hard fought win, I got to work with Bishop Desmond Tutu, and the following year the Dellums Economic Sanctions against South Africa were adopted. Biggest mistake was when I worked on a campaign more than 20 years ago. A campaign strategy memo was taken from me and leaked. Once again, bad experiences can teach good lessons. 'Nuff said.
	Dennis Herrera: My proudest professional achievement was bringing the suit which made gay marriage legal in California (later overturned by Prop 8, which my office is now in the process of challenging). I would tell you my biggest professional mistake, but I am constrained by attorney-client confidentiality!
	Cesar Ascarrunz: Moving my business, Cesar's Latin Palace, from North Beach to the Mission District was one of my proudest achievements. The Mission District at one point was a darker place, and because of businesses like Cesar's Latin Palace, we made it the upbeat neighborhood that it is today. I am very proud of that.
	Ed Lee: Did not answer.
	Paul Currier: On professional achievement, when we had built the new Digital Radio (a huge CNN size facility of Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty) at the old Czech Parliament Building in Prague, I was a lead Project Manager, and I made the phone call to the previous 45 year headquarters in English Garden in Munich, and I told them to shut down the power for the campus and go give the keys back to the German Government. That was cool. My second biggest thrill was when my Wireless Telecom was up and running in San Francisco from our base antennae hub on the Fairmont Tower. We lit up then Pac Bell Park for our first customer - Jerry Yang (founder of Yahoo!) and he showed the future to Paul Allen of Microsoft - that was cool also. My biggest professional mistake was to ask a gentleman who was the Lead Tech-operations Director on the West Coast, of WorldCom, who went on to be one of the top dogs at Covad, my mistake was to ask him to join me to work with my new business here in the City - the Communication Bridge. I wanted to end the digital divide. He wanted to make billions. He claimed falsely to be the CEO and took that business into a false bankruptcy and more that involved a seven year anti-trust battle that raged up and down to the California and United States Supreme Courts. I ended up living on the streets of San Francisco, sleeping in the bushes of the Presidio, and foraging in garbage cans and the soup lines to cut the hunger.
	Jeff Adachi: My proudest professional achievement was when my office received the American Bar Association’s top award for the best public law office in the country in 2007. My biggest professional mistake was underestimating what it takes to fight the political machine in this town; but I’m ready this time!
	John Avalos: Proudest = the passage of the 2009 budget. Closing a $500 million dollar budget deficit while restoring money for public health, rec & parks, and senior & children’s services. (And getting publicly harangued for ten minutes, in Committee, by my good friend Chris Daly.) Biggest mistake = Believing for a couple of months that Ed Lee wasn’t gonna run.
	Tony Hall: My proudest professional achievement was winning the international song festival in Europe. My biggest mistake was agreeing to go to Treasure Island.
	David Chiu: Proudest professional achievement - founding a technology company that I ran for 9 years. Biggest professional mistake - spending half of my college years finishing pre-med requirements.

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That's it for part two! Thanks to all the candidates and their campaign teams for participating. Stay tuned for part three, coming next week!