Mayoral candidates on City College issues: David Chiu

September 26, 2011February 25, 2020 The Guardsman

By Valerie Demicheva
The Guardsman

President of the Board of Supervisors David Chiu has a diverse resume: He received his juris doctorate from Harvard Law School, was a criminal prosecutor for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, and founded Grassroots Enterprise, a technology company for political campaigns.

When Gavin Newsom was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of California, Chiu became mayor of San Francisco for one day, a default role Chiu played as President of the Board on January 10, 2011. Today he aims for election to a full term in order to implement his “Blueprint for a 21st Century San Francisco” – more on that later.

Chiu is a very busy Supervisor. It’s 9:00 PM on a Wednesday night, the Glen Park Mayoral Forum is over, and Chiu is off to his next meeting with District 3 community organizers at Lush Lounge. Chiu has 30 minutes to chat with The Guardsman as he’s driven in a rickety burgundy Nissan Altima. The car idles at a bus stop near the bar. Locals from the Lower Polk Neighbors Association recognize Chui and update him on the latest progress toward moving a Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary into 1222 Sutter Street. Chiu advises on the safety conditions necessary to open the club. Two minutes later the landlord of a building on Polk and Sutter comes to visit with Chiu, still seated in the passenger seat of the Altima, a bit like a throne. The man doesn’t give his name, but tells Chiu that his son went to Galileo and is now living in Washington D. C., working in politics. Chiu says a few words in Mandarin as he gives the man his card to pass onto the man’s son. A slovenly bar patron interrupts the two as he shouts, “Hey Polk King Supervisor!”

“I’m just sitting here,” Chiu laughs. “This is what I do.”

In the recent budget passed by Mayor Lee, only $250,000 of the $2.1 million requested by City College was approved. Is it the City’s responsibility to take care of City College, and what kind of monetary commitment will you make if elected mayor?
As I’ve discussed with the chancellor of City College, I absolutely think there’s a role for the City to assist City College with the dire financial situation, and I supported that this year during the budget process. Our local City government, as well as the City College system have been significantly challenged by the bad fiscal decisions made by Sacramento leaders over decades.

We at the City and County level are struggling just as City College is. Over the past four years we’ve had to balance budget deficits totaling over $ 1.4 billion. And these are very challenging times. In the scheme of things, it’s important for the City government to assist our college system at the same time that we are balancing our budget.

Has Mayor Lee been collaborative with the Board of Supervisors?
I’m proud of the work we’ve done this year at City Hall. We carried out policies that were proposed and championed by the Board of Supervisors such as: moving forward the Americus Cup, keeping . companies like Twitter, Zenga, and Yelp in San Francisco, promoting local hiring and balancing the budget.

Has your age hindered you in your campaign for mayor?
I’m five years older than Gavin was when he became mayor. I hope folks understand that where I may look younger than other candidates, my record as a civil rights attorney, a criminal prosecutor, a founder of a small business and as President of the Board of Supervisors, shows I have the skills of bringing people together to make the City work.

What kinds of challenges will Ed Lee face if elected Mayor?
He’s going to need to do significant work to rebuild trust.

Based on your experience as COO of Grassroots Enterprise, what advice can you give to young entrepreneurs and new college graduates coming into the workforce?
We’re in the most challenging economy since the Great Depression, and it’s critical that students get as much education as they can before coming into the workforce because San Francisco has lost 30,000 jobs in the last two years.

How will you grow San Francisco’s economy if elected mayor?
I think I’ve got the most robust set of policy papers. We need to do a better job of nurturing the 80,000 small businesses here. We need to do a better job of growing and cultivating new companies in green tech, bio-technology, and digital technology. We need to use the City’s purchasing power of hundreds of millions of dollars a year that often go to non-San Francisco businesses. We need to keep that money here in the city. We need to improve on our workforce programs, to bring young people into job training programs here so they aren’t forced to go elsewhere to find employment.