Candidate Name: Ryan Khojasteh
Phone Number: 415-542-8363
Web site: www.ryanforsfda.com
E-mail: info@ryanforsfda.com
Name of Campaign Manager: Ashley Budelli
Signed voluntary spending limit: There is none for the DA's race
Major Endorsements: United Educators of San Francisco; American Federation of Teachers Local 2121; National Union of Healthcare Workers; Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club; San Francisco Tenants Union, Chinatown Community Tenants Association, San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters; 10 District Attorneys nationwide
1) Who else have you endorsed in other contests this November? Aaron Peskin for Mayor; Connie Chan, Sharon Lai, Dean Preston, Jackie Fielder & Stephen Torres; Cheyanne Chen & EJ Jones for Supervisor.
2) What do you think of the Death Penalty? I do not believe in the Death Penalty
3) How would you support the work of the Innocence Commission? I will re-start the work of the Innocence Commission, which has currently come to a halt in San Francisco under Jenkins.
4) Under what circumstances, if any, would you request cash bail? Pre-trial detention should never be based on ability to pay, but rather on public safety risk or flight risk. Therefore, pre-trial detention will be used consistent with California Constitution Article 1 Section 12 or Article 1 Section 28. In all other circumstances, we will utilize non-financial conditions of release, consistent with the law.
5) Under what circumstances, if any, would you try a juvenile offender as
an adult? I do not believe kids should be charged as adults, because they are not adults.
6) We understand the District Attorney's office has a limited budget
and staff. How would you address the current backlog of open
criminal cases in San Francisco? We will make reasonable plea deals & utilize Collaborative Courts and diversion programs. Then, we can focus on the most serious and violent offenses for trial.
7) How should the Sheriff's Office address the extreme staffing shortage? If we stop arresting and prosecuting drug users, we will have less people in custody at county jail, languishing in the de facto detox center. That has made deputy sheriffs less safe.
8) Would you prosecute the possession and/or sale of more than 5 grams of
fentanyl as a misdemeanor or a felony? I do not believe it is responsible to prosecute possession for personal use. When it comes to possession for sale, by law those offenses are all felonies.
9) How would you use community justice courts? I will utilize them, as I have in the past as a former Assistant District Attorney. Currently, referrals to these courts are down 70% under Jenkins, which is irresponsibly adding to the backlog of cases at the Hall. It's not the judges' fault (as Jenkins claims), it's the mismanagement of her office coupled with the wrong priorities.
10) What do you think of closing 850 Bryant? We already closed county jail 4. I do believe we need a new Hall of Justice - this is a seismically unsafe and dilapidated building. We also need more courtrooms.
11) What do you think of SF closing our Juvenile Hall? Juvenile Hall can no longer be closed with the Governor's closing of DJJ (youth prisons). Closing of youth prisons is a good thing, but that means that now serious and violent juvenile offenders will be placed at juvenile hall and closer to home. I do believe we need to re-implement our youth camp, as San Francisco is currently the only county in the state that no longer has a youth camp as an alternative to juvenile hall.
12) What do you think of current police staffing levels? This is not for me to decide, as I have no jurisdiction over police policy.
13) Do you believe body cameras are working to prevent police misconduct
in San Francisco?Yes - I have uncovered numerous incidents of police misconduct through body cameras.
14) How would you address local government corruption? Investigate and prosecute. The special prosecutions division under Jenkins has been gutted. We need a DA who will be independent of the mayor and will actually fully go after corruption in government - including bribery, abuse of power, and dereliction of duty.
15) How would you enforce laws regulating powerful local tech companies
such as Airbnb, Uber, Lyft and Doordash? Depending on the circumstances, our special prosecutions unit will investigate and hold everyone accountable under the law.
16) Please state how you intend to serve victims of crime, be they
property crime victims or the families of murder victims. I plan on bolstering our victim services division with culturally competent victim advocates who reflect the diversity of San Francisco that will proficiently be trained on Marsy's Law.
17) What do you think of the concept of restorative justice? What
specific plans do you have to implement your ideas? Restorative justice is incredibly effective for youth at juvenile hall. I have utilized this approach in cases while working as a prosecutor at juvenile hall and plan to restore this programming as an alternative to incarceration for youth.
18) What standards do you support for police use of force? Are there
any "less-lethal" weapons that you support arming the police with? I do not have any jurisdiction over police policy. However, excessive use of force will be prosecuted by my office. Currently, Jenkins has dropped charges in all police shooting cases in San Francisco which is unacceptable.
19) DA Gascon had a policy of only charging cases that he thought he'd
easily win. What standard will you apply? By law, we must only charge cases we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. When it comes to high profile cases, I will take them to the grand jury to seek indictments.
20) In 2005 an 'Environmental Justice Unit' was created within the
DA's office but was rarely used and no longer exists. If elected
will you create an independent Environmental Justice Division, and
if so, how would you use that division to force a cleanup of the
toxic and radioactive waste sites on Treasure Island and in the
Bayview Hunters Point? Yes, I will restart this unit and right away have an attorney begin working on this specific case.
Your positions (at the time) on selected current and past Propositions
(skip any for which you didn't live or vote in SF, or didn't take
a position at the time):
+ - :
[ ] [ ] [ ] March 2024 Prop E (More Police Chases) -- Oppose
[ ] [ ] [ ] March 2024 Prop F (Drug Test Poor People) -- Oppose
[ ] [ ] [ ] June 2022 Prop C (Recall Reform) -- Support
[ ] [ ] [ ] June 2022 Prop H (Boudin Recall) -- Oppose
[ ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2020 Prop G (16-17 y.o. voting, local elections) -- Support
[ ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2020 Prop I (Real Estate Transfer Tax) -- Support
[ ] [ ] [ ] June 2018 Prop F (Eviction Defense) -- Support
[ ] [ ] [ ] June 2018 Prop H (Tasers for SFPD) -- Oppose
[ ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop D (Vacancy appointments) -- Don't Recall This Specific Measure
[ ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop N (Non-citizen voting, school board) -- Support
[ ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop Q (Prohibiting tents on public sidewalks) -- Don't Recall This Specific Measure
[ ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop 62 (Ending Death Penalty) -- Support
Due Date: Friday, August 23, 11:59 pm
Please submit by email to cc@sfgreens.org. For more information, call
Barry Hermanson at 415-255-9494. Please return your answers in plain
text (not HTML, PDF, or Word format), so that we can post all
candidates' answers in the same format.
The SF Green Party will invite selected candidates who return
completed questionnaires on time to speak and answer questions at our
candidate forum and endorsement meeting. To be given time on our
agenda, each candidate needs at least two active Green Party members
to request their invitation. This will be a hybrid meeting, so
invited candidates may also speak with us via Zoom.
Our endorsement meeting is scheduled for Wed, August 28 from 6:30-9:30
pm at our office, 2973 16th St, #300, SF - note that this is across
the street from our old office in the Redstone Building. The first
two hours will be for interviews of selected candidates, and the last
hour will be for decision making.
Completed questionnaires will be posted on our website,
https://sfgreenparty.org.