Instructions:
1. There are 10 sections to this questionnaire. Each section
corresponds to the 10 Key Values of the Green Party.
2. Each section contains one or more written questions and ends with
several multiple-choice questions. Please don't skip the written
questions.
3. The multiple-choice questions are answered by checking the box in the
appropriate column to indicate which is closest to your position:
+ = Support / Agree / Yes
- = Oppose / Disagree / No
: = Undecided / Don't know / No opinion
4. The world is too complex to always break down neatly into
yes/no/maybe choices, so feel free to clarify any answers to multiple
choice questions with a few words.
Candidate Name: Sharon Lai
Phone Number: (415) 580-0293
Web site: sharonlaisf.com
E-mail: sharon@sharonlaisf.com
Name of Campaign Manager: Charles Deffarges
Are you receiving public financing: Yes
Signed voluntary spending limit: No
2nd, 3rd endorsements in District: TBD
Major Endorsements:
United Educators of San Francisco, Community Tenants Association, Teamsters Joint Council 7,
IFPTE 21, SEIU 1021, AFT 2121, SF Rising, SF Berniecrats; Sheriff Paul Miyamoto,
Assemblymember Phil Ting, Assemblymember Evan Low, former State Senator Mark Leno (#2);
BART Board Directors Janice Li and Beavan Dufty; Supervisors Shamann Walton, Aaron Peskin,
Connie Chan, Catherine Stefani, Myrna Melgar, Rafael Mandelman, Ahsha Safai & Hillary Ronen;
Community leaders Norman Fong, Gail Gilman, Ivy Lee, Jodie Medeiros, Janelle Wong, Amanda
Eaken, Stefanie Cajina, Fiona Hinze.
Incumbent Supervisor whose votes are most similar to the way you would vote:
Incumbent who votes least similarly to the way you would vote:
If the election were held today, who would you support as Board President:
Who would be your second and third choices:
Who did you endorse for Mayor in 2019 (all 3 choices, if applicable):
1) Grassroots Democracy:
A) What are your thoughts on Instant Runoff Voting, and District Elections? How have they worked to date? What would you change in the future? What about Proportional Representation?
I am in support of Instant Runoff Voting and believe that San Francisco elections have served as a
model of how to run RCV elections and save cost on elections. I also believe that education is a
challenge to ensure that voters understand RCV and are able to fill out their ballots in an informed
manner. I support the Department of Elections efforts to educate voters, especially traditionally
disenfranchised populations about the details and virtues of RCV.
District elections have worked well to date, especially in giving minority voting blocks a voice on our
Board of Supervisors, but have shown themselves vulnerable to the redistricting process which is at
risk of being politicized every year. I think we should keep district based elections but look carefully
at how to reform our redistricting process to insulate it from political interference.
I am not sufficiently informed about proportional representation, particularly in the local context, to
take a position on the matter at the moment. I would not support multiple Supervisors for each
district, but am open to supporting it at the national level.
+ - ?
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Sub-government such as Neighborhood Assemblies, Networks or District Councils
[ ] [ ] [ ] Voters' right to recall elected officials
I believe in voters' right to recall elected officials in extreme cases such as corruption or
malfeasance, but think it has been used too readily as a political lever in recent cycles.
[x] [ ] [ ] Residency requirements for elected officials should be strictly enforced
B) What strategies would you employ to reduce corruption in San Francisco government?
+ - ?
[ ] [x] [ ] Ethics Commission should be disbanded
[x] [ ] [ ] Ethics Commission meetings should be televised
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Ethics Commission should prioritize investigating violations from well-funded campaigns
[ ] [ x ] [ ] My campaign is supported or promoted by a Super PAC
[ x ] [ ] [ ] My campaign has attended events sponsored by "Neighbors for a Better SF", "TogetherSF", "GrowSF" and/or "YIMBY"
We have not received any support from any of these groups, but have attended a candidate forum
hosted by SF Yimby and others.
[x] [ ] [ ] Remote public comment at board and committee meetings
2) Ecological Wisdom: Please outline your view of the major environmental and ecological
issues facing San Francisco and your proposed policies to address them.
Sea level rise - seawall project and funding, expanding climate technology locally and
globally. My current full time job is working with a nonprofit to accelerate, provide support and
bring climate hardware technologies to San Francisco.
Energy transition including vehicles and buildings. I have in the past championed building
and transit electrification and will continue to lead energy transitions locally. Currently, I'm
working on bringing curbside EV charging to the city.
Housing- people living close to jobs. I worked as a professional urban planner advancing
TOD and mixed-use projects, and a houser including market-rate, affordable and homeless
housing. We need to bring more housing to transform San Francisco into a city where people
can live, work and play without commuting. I am the only candidate who has worked on and
delivered any housing in San Francisco and I will be bringing my expertise to lead on
housing in the future by creating enabling environments to support housing development of
all types.
Natural resource consumption and establishing circular frameworks to mitigate waste. We
need better culture, incentives and consequences to drive circular economies and more
environmentally friendly practices. For example, I'm currently working on advancing waste
water treatment and nature based solutions for soil remediation. I've also in the past written
about the culture of wasteful practices that can be addressed with changing institutional
policies, 'Fast Furniture Is Ruining Our Climate Agenda.' I intend to bring my climate
expertise to drive real solutions instead of green washing policies.
+ - ?
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Phasing out all diesel and biodiesel transit (e.g., Muni, tour, shuttles)
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Public Power with 100% local/regional clean energy mandate and elected utility
board
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Install local/regional clean energy, efficiency, and battery storage and microgrids to
supply 100% of our electricity by 2035
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Reducing or eliminating parking minimums in new housing and commercial
developments
[ ] [ ] [x ] In the Bayview and on Treasure Island, halt all US Navy land transfers to the city or
developers, and halt all development, until all sites are retested and cleaned to Residential
Standards
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Non-native Tree Removals
[ ] [ x ] [ ] Use of herbicides in public parks
[x ] [ ] [ ] Artificial turf on City-owned athletic fields (while managing surface runoff issues)
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Managed retreat, Coastal Zone protection, and restoring wetlands in response to
Global Warming
3) Social Justice:
A) What is your assessment of homelessness in San Francisco, and what solutions do you propose?
Leaving people to languish in tents on the sidewalk or leaning on our expensive ER and jail system
to address homelessness is inhumane and ineffective. San Francisco's homeless response system
needs to work as a continuum to move people off of the streets into temporary shelter which has the
necessary social service supports for exits to permanent housing placements.
In district 3, we have seen homelessness change, including more unsheltered homelessness in the
lower Polk area. As our legislative branch of government, our Board of Supervisors needs to do a
better job of ensuring our current spending on homelessness is effective, while adequately
resourcing outreach, shelter, and permanent supportive housing so that people can enter our system
and exit to positive outcomes.
So many things we can be doing to make better use of the $700M+ we spend on homelessness
annually. Name off a few:
Expand shelter capacity and innovate to reduce cost. My work at Dignity Moves's tiny homes
led to new capacity in record speed and low cost.
Increase mental health capacity at all levels of acuity, so that we're not turning 50% of
referrals away.
Invest in new permanent supportive housing citywide.
Eliminate PSH vacancies. We have hundreds of vacant units that cost ~$1M each to build,
that's a lot of wasted assets annually.
Streamline and consolidate our many many street teams and response teams so that they
can effectively move people to better outcomes.
Staff our street teams with mental health professionals when answering calls.
Resource necessary conservatorship placements so that people who are not able to help
themselves can get responsive care.
Recalibrate our coordinated entry systems so that placements match individual clinical
needs.
Our current work around homelessness is so often bogged down by political infighting and reactive policies. The Board of Supervisors needs to put politics aside and work with the Executive as well as
our City Departments so that folks on our streets have access to real, positive, sustainable
outcomes.
+ - ?
[x] [ ] [ ] Project Homeless Connect
[x] [ ] [ ] Care Not Cash
[x] [ ] [ ] Healthy SF
[x] [ ] [ ] Housing As A Right
[x] [ ] [ ] Housing First for Homeless, Addiction, Mental Health
[ ] [x] [ ] Law against sitting or camping on SF sidewalks (not without adequate alternatives)
[x] [ ] [ ] I support more homeless navigation centers in my district
B) What are your views on housing affordability, what public sector strategies have worked, which have failed, and what are your proposals?
I support the creation of all types of housing and BOS should work to streamline the approval
process of permitting. However, the main issue is housing affordability and the government has a
social responsibility to provide safety nets to all. As Supervisor, I will primarily focus on enabling
resources to build low income and middle income housing.
As a city, we have to continue to make the financing of affordable housing feasible. The passage of
Proposition A in March 2024, which I was a champion of, provides funds for building affordable
housing, and is a positive step towards addressing the city's housing needs. It is essential to ensure
that these funds are effectively utilized and allocated towards housing development projects in
alignment with the city's goals and priorities. I have also championed other past tax and bond
measures that lead to more critical public infrastructure including the Homelessness Prop (Big) C in
2018, Universal Childcare (baby) Prop C in 2018, and all recent transportation bonds and sales tax
measures.
Future revenue measures such as the regional housing bond, will be critical to bring San Francisco
the resources we need to address our critical shortage of affordable housing.
With new resources the Board of Supervisors can focus on strategies we know to work to expand
and preserve affordable housing such as:
Supporting thoughtful projects reflecting community needs, like the proposed 100%
affordable senior housing project in chinatown
Leveraging public land to reduce the cost of affordable housing
Preserving affordable and rent controlled housing through rehabs and acquisitions
Expanding co-ops, community land trusts, small-site acquisitions
Supporting office conversions to housing in our downtown areas
At the state level, San Francisco needs to work closely and cooperatively with the California
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to ensure that the
implementation of San Francisco's Housing Element focuses on affordable units first. In
building that housing, I believe the local government is the right authority to control land use
regulations. While exemptions from certain regulatory requirements can be beneficial, we
need to have community engagement throughout the process.
Robust outreach efforts should be conducted to ensure that community members have a
seat at the table and that housing for our low income residents is viable and sustainable.
+ - ?
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Building more market rate housing will lower housing costs for current SF residents
While I believe that market rate housing production can eventually lower prices to a degree, I don't
believe that those price drops will be anywhere close to our immediate housing affordability needs,
which is why it is critical for the government to step up to provide affordable options and to expand
subsidies.
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Impacts of all new development should be paid for in advance by fees on
developers
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Community Land Trusts, Housing Co-ops
[ ] [ x ] [ ] Rent Control is too strong
[ ] [ ] [x ] Waive Environmental Review to build Moderate and Low Income Housing
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Social Housing (similar to https://www.sfcommunityhousingact.com/)
[ ] [ ] [ ] Ban on Airbnb and other short term rentals
[ ] [ ] [ ] Vacancy tax on residential property and "pied-a-terre" homes
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Flipping taxes on housing speculation
[ ] [ ] [ x ] 10-year waiting period before corporate and nonresident owners can sell purchased
housing properties
[ ] [ ] [ ] Condo conversion is currently too difficult
4) Nonviolence: What are your solutions for SFPD accountability while making the streets safer?
Many of our vulnerable community members including students still do not feel safe interacting with
Police. Police officers need to be trained with a focus on community policing, de-escalation, and
cultural competence in mind to avoid potentially fatal interactions.
We need to evaluate and change the way policing is conducted, including expanding de-escalation
methods and relying on alternatives to policing such as clinician-led teams, community ambassadors
and community liaisons where possible. Restructuring current police staffing to use civilians for work
currently being done by sworn officers, expanding community policing would all help towards better
outcomes.
Finally, oversight and accountability at a commission and civilian level are critical to ensuring our
police force adhere to our policing standards and are held accountable when they do not.
+ - ?
[x] [ ] [ ] Prioritize SFPD enforcement of moving violations
[x] [ ] [ ] Support expansion of foot patrols
[x] [ ] [ ] Demand stricter accountability in future MOUs with the SFPD
[ x ] [ ] [ ] The Board of Supervisors should be able to set policies and priorities for the SFPD
through legislation
[ ] [ x ] [ ] Support a public safety program modeled after NYC's "Stop and Frisk"
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Prosecution of SFPD officers involved in violent attacks on, and fatal shooting
deaths of, SF residents and visitors
[ x ] [ ] [ ] End cash bail for nonviolent crimes
[ ] [ x ] [ ] Cut police funding and increase social program spending, and establish community
control of neighborhood policing. (I support increasing funding of social programs and community
policing)
5) Decentralization:
A) What are your thoughts on the Kaufman Charter of 1996? Does it need revisiting? Would you support replacing the Strong Mayor system with commissions where the majority of members are appointed by the Board of Supervisors, or directly elected?
I don't have enough information on this topic to give a position at this time. I believe there's room to
make San Francisco government function better and would be open to considering ways to do so.
+ - ?
[ ] [ ] [x] Elected Rent Board
[ ] [ ] [x] Elected Public Utility Board
[ ] [ ] [x] Bring the Housing Authority under the Board of Supervisors
[ ] [ ] [x] Will you create formal district councils to advise you?
B) The city currently uses non-profits to provide social services. Do you think this is an appropriate model? Why or why not?
While non profit organizations can often provide services faster and cheaper than they would be in
brought into the City, there are deficiencies with this model:
Staffing: Many of our non profit organizations are understaffed, we need to make sure that
these critical jobs are attractive and can bring in and retain talent.
Accountability: There are real inefficiencies in our contracting process and delivery of
contract services. I believe that our nonprofits need to be held accountable to clear delivery
metrics set by the City.
Complexity: Contracting processes differ across our dozens of City departments, making
applying for and delivering on contracts unnecessarily complicated. Streamlining and
centralizing our contracting processes would make it more efficient, and allow us to set clear
success benchmarks for our non profit partners.
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Expand Participatory Budgeting to at least 5% of the District Budget
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Charter amendment allowing voters to choose the replacement of an elected official
being recalled on the same ballot as the recall vote
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Immediately implement open-source voting system for SF elections
6) Community Based Economics: What economic policies, including taxation and land use, would you propose that would drive capital into our communities and keep that capital here for residents?
+ - ?
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Legislation limiting formula retail outlets/chain stores
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Conditional Use permit required for big box stores
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Municipal broadband as a public utility
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Neighborhood cooperatives prioritized as a local supply chain for legalized
marijuana
[ x ] [ ] [ ] I support recreational marijuana stores opening in my district
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Local hiring requirements should be enforced and expanded to include private
projects
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Strong preference for union jobs
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Conversion of some golf courses into soccer fields
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Conversion of some golf courses into wild open space
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Prop 13 limits on tax increases should apply only to residential properties
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Commercial Rent Control
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Transition all residential and small business rental properties into not-for-profit
trusts and co-ops
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Vacancy and flipping taxes on local small business property
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Transaction/Flipping taxes on all asset speculation to increase city budget
[ x ] [ ] [ ] San Francisco Public Bank by 2027
7) Feminism: Do you believe women are underrepresented in city government? If so, why do you believe this is the case? Is this a bad thing, and if so, what would you do to remedy the situation?
Women are underrepresented on our Board of Supervisors. I am running because I believe that
women, and in particular, mothers, need to have adequate representation in our local legislative
body.
+ - ?
[x] [ ] [ ] The City should help SFUSD provide child care for children of working parents
[x] [ ] [ ] The DPH should provide reproductive health services to both residents and visitors
[ ] [x] [ ] Require parental consent for minors seeking an abortion
[ ] [x] [ ] Require parental notification for minors seeking an abortion
8) Respect for Diversity: Tell us what you believe are the best and the worst aspects of San Francisco's diversity. How would you try to protect the best while trying to change the worst?
I'm running for office to ensure that the API community is represented. As the sole Chinese and
female candidate running in my District's race, which includes Chinatown, and where citywide there's
over 1/3 API population, I would be proud to double the API representation on the SF BOS and be the
first native chinese speaker to represent District 3.
+ - ?
[x] [ ] [ ] Multilingual government and public education
[x] [ ] [ ] Undocumented immigrants should have equal access to education and health care
[x ] [ ] [ ] Non-citizen residents should be able to vote in all local elections
[x] [ ] [ ] Full rights for transgender and non-gender-binary persons
[ ] [x] [ ] Boards and commissions now reflect the ethnic diversity of San Francisco
[ ] [x] [ ] Boards and commissions now reflect the political diversity of San Francisco
[x] [ ] [ ] My campaign reflects the diversity of San Francisco
[ ] [x ] [ ] End Drag Queen Story Hour and K-12 School Education on Gender Spectrum
Differences
9) Global and Personal Responsibility:
A) What are your thoughts on the Board of Supervisors taking positions on state, national and international issues?
I believe that the Board of Supervisors should weigh in on state and national issues to the extent that
they impact our constituency, San Franciscans.
+ - ?
[ ] [ ] [ x ] City government cooperating with the PATRIOT Act
[ ] [ x ] [ ] City government cooperating with ICE/Secure Communities
[ ] [ ] [ x ] City government should boycott Israel until it complies with UN resolutions and
international law
[x ] [ ] [ ] SF supervisors should take a position on offshore oil drilling outside CA
[ ] [ ] [x ] SF should refuse to purchase PG&E's nuclear power
B) Please describe how you make your political decisions. What is the main basis for your decision making (e.g., consultation with your constituents, political consultants, colleagues, unions, businesses, donors, or your gut feelings)?
As a decision maker, I center collaboration and consensus building towards pragmatic solutions and
I value understanding all sides prior to establishing final positions. My track record of collaboration
and delivering change is clear, including:
Reforming SFMTA's language translation protocols to better serve minority communities
Bringing back community bus lines such as the 8AX/BX to connect the Bayview with
Chinatown
Tripling the public safety budget on MTA
Delivering success in homeless housing by piloting tiny homes project in SF at record low
cost and record speed, and increasing transitional housing capacity for California
Shepherding thousands of housing units in San Francisco Working with a group of
stakeholders to recover San Francisco's economy.
+ - ?
[ ] [ ] [x] Fleet Week and the Blue Angels flyover
[ ] [x] [ ] JROTC in the public schools
[ ] [x] [ ] In a severe recession, environmental regulations should be suspended to create
jobs
[ ] [ ] [x] Business taxes are too high
10) Sustainability: What does the Transit First City Charter provision mean to you? How has Transit First fared in recent years, and how would you enforce that Charter Provision if elected?
+ - ?
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Muni should be funded sufficiently to replace most car use, and be free to the rider
[ ] [ ] [ ] Downtown Transit Assessment Tax to support Muni
[ ] [ ] [ ] Citywide Transit Assessment Tax to support Muni
[ x ] [ ] [ ] More weekend closures of streets in/near my district to cars (e.g., Car-Free GGP)
[ ] [ x ] [ ] State law change that lets bicycles treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as
stop signs
[ x ] [ ] [ ] I ride Muni, bicycle and/or walk instead of driving on a regular basis
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Bus Rapid Transit expanded to all major transit corridors in SF
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Car hailing services like Uber and Lyft should be regulated as taxis, or banned
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Scooter/similar vehicle rentals should be required to store vehicles on private
property
[ ] [ x ] [ ] Allow residents to park on the sidewalk without getting a ticket, unless their
neighbors complain
[ ] [ ] [ x ] Congestion pricing for parking
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Power more City vehicles using biofuels (e.g., corn-based ethanol)
[ ] [ ] [ ] Residents should be allowed to park in the street in front of their own driveway for
free
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Support expanding parking meter hours to include later evening hours and
weekends
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Remove parking spots and car lanes to create dedicated bike and bus lanes or
wider sidewalks
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):
+ - ?
[ ] [ x ] [ ] March 2024 Prop E (More Police Chases)
[ ] [ x ] [ ] March 2024 Prop F (Drug Test Poor People)
[ ] [x] [ ] June 2022 Prop C (Recall Reform)
[x] [ ] [ ] June 2022 Prop H (Boudin Recall)
[x] [ ] [ ] Nov 2020 Prop G (16-17 y.o. voting, local elections)
[x] [ ] [ ] Nov 2020 Prop I (Real Estate Transfer Tax)
[ x ] [ ] [ ] June 2018 Prop F (Eviction Defense)
[ ] [ x ] [ ] June 2018 Prop H (Tasers for SFPD)
[ ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop D (Vacancy appointments)
[ x ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop N (Non-citizen voting, school board)
[ ] [ x ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop Q (Prohibiting tents on public sidewalks)
[x ] [ ] [ ] Nov 2016 Prop 62 (Ending Death Penalty)
Due Date: Friday, June 21, 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 three 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, June 26 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.