Editor:

August’s DNC has many of us in SF hopeful for the direction of our country – with a prevailing sentiment that we’re all in this together and as one unified nation, we deserve a leader who supports the people first.

That’s the feeling that has emerged at the local level in District 1 and that’s why Marjan Philhour should be elected to the Board of Supervisors in November.  It’s time to oust the incumbent Supervisor Connie Chan as she firmly exemplifies how the district has been mishandled at City Hall by her small band of activists who claim progressivism as their platform but whose inexperience, naivete and misguided idealism achieve no real results for residents.

The leader we elected in 2020 (by a mere 123 votes) to lead this community we love continues to disappoint us. With little experience she remains impotent to addressing the mounting problems before her. Citywide issues continue to bleed into the neighborhood. Whether it’s soaring housing costs and a lack of new development, the deadly open-air drug-crisis, or the lawlessness that has driven away tourists, residents and small businesses alike, we’ve witnessed a leader who has only exacerbated our biggest problems: homelessness, crime and economic insecurity. The recent small positive shifts we’ve seen are a testament to frustrated neighbors finally taking action themselves, in-spite-of, not because-of any actions or policies by the sitting supervisor.  

A pandemic response required more than Chan’s track record could deliver as a former legislative aide and translator.  Her failures and squandered opportunities are pitted across the neighborhood – the shuttered and languishing Alexandria Theater, dangerous encampments advertising “free fentanyl” near schools and parks, kids and seniors not feeling safe to ride the bus due to violence, a 50% depleted local police force, and neighbors at battle over public street changes. She had countless opportunities to lead on all of these pressing issues, but instead of leadership, action plans and results, we got delays, division and deterioration.          

The Richmond can no longer afford an ineffectual city leader who is visible and vocal only during election season, one who regularly votes against the will of the residents, choosing instead to vote with the City’s entrenched non-profit activists who oppose results-oriented civic governance. 

Connie opposed the DA and School Board recalls. She aligned with the Coalition on Homelessness to hinder encampment cleanups. She fought the use of new police technologies. She was the public face of a failed “Cop-Tax.” She blocked development of the Alexandria Theater at every turn, threatening historical protections to strong-arm the owner into hanging a banner on the marquee to suggest housing was coming soon, when in fact, it’s not coming anytime soon on her watch.           

We need a qualified leader in City Hall who is focused on its people and its problems, one who advocates for practical solutions that get implemented, not sweeping proclamations, photo-ops,  non-answers, and a litany of unreturned emails and phone calls. Moreover, we need a leader who will invigorate and energize our neighborhood in new ways – attract investment and energy, activate public spaces, bring neighbors together with joy, improve public safety while representing and listening to all Richmond district neighbors, not just those who vote for her.  

The thousands of neighbors who know Marjan Philhour have seen her doing these things her entire career. She’s the candidate who conceded to Connie in 2020 because she held the interests of the Richmond District higher than her own.

Results matter. It’s time for our neighborhood and our city to move forward. Let’s not make the same mistake twice. 

Mark Dietrich