Instructions:
1. There are 10 sections to this questionnaire. Each section
corresponds with the 10 Key Values of the Green Party.
2. Each section begins with a written question and ends with several
multiple-choice questions. Please don't skip the written question.
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: Edward Wright
Phone Number: (415) 264-2365
Web site: www.WrightForBART.com
E-mail: Edward@WrightForBART.com
Name of Campaign Manager: Reid Coggins
How much do you expect to spend in this contest: $100,000
Major Endorsements: Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, San Francisco Tenants Union, National Union of Healthcare Workers, American Federation of Teachers 2121, UNITE HERE Local 2, California Working Families Party, San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, San Francisco Climate Emergency Coalition, San Francisco Women's Political Committee, San Francisco Berniecrats, Potrero Hill Democratic Club, San Francisco Tomorrow, Lead Locally, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Board President Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Connie Chan, Supervisor Dean Preston, Supervisor Myrna Melgar, Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Supervisor Shamann Walton, Assemblymember Phil Ting, and many others at www.WrightForBART.com/endorsements
Incumbent whose votes are most similar to the way you would vote: Janice Li
Incumbent who votes least similarly to the way you would vote: Deborah Allen
1) Grassroots Democracy: 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)?
I believe that power should be dispersed, decisions should be democratic, and that people should collectively control the systems that influence their lives. I'm a product of the queer liberation movement, the labor movement, and the intersectional movements for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. I believe in putting people and planet before profits, in results over rhetoric, in organizing over agonizing, and in outcomes over egos.
I root my decisions in my values, in data and expertise, and in community. I feel accountable to youth movements and organizing on the issues that disproportionately affect and activate young people - including and especially our climate crisis - because I myself got involved in local politics and movements when I was in my early twenties.
I am the only renter in this race, and am accountable to the Tenants Union and Tenants Together. I'm the only union member in this race, and hold myself accountable to the labor movement. And as a queer candidate, I am forever accountable to my community at the Harvey Milk Club and to the broader movement for queer liberation and political self-determination.
+ - ?
[ ] [ ] [ ? with electoral / campaign finance reforms] More transit agencies should have elected boards of directors.
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Create a system of public financing for all elected officeholders, including elected transit agency directors
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Create limits on campaign contributions to members of elected transit agency boards
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Regulate contributions to officials who are elected to regional boards
[ ] [ - ] [ ] My campaign accepts corporate contributions
[ ] [ ] [ ? I haven't accepted money from BART lobbyists or contractors, I have not been tracking other registered lobbyists ] My campaign accepts contributions from paid lobbyists or related entities having any interest in City and County of San Francisco or beyond
2) Ecological Wisdom: Please outline your view of the major
environmental and ecological issues facing San Francisco and your proposed
policies to address them.
Our climate crisis is what motivated my career choice to focus on improving, expanding, and supporting public transit. Transportation is one of the top sources of greenhouse gas emissions in San Francisco, overwhelmingly from private vehicle trips, and BART and public transit broadly are essential to reaching our climate goals.
In my years at City Hall, I made climate action and funding a top priority. The very first piece of legislation I worked on abolished San Francisco's minimum parking requirements, for which I was nominated for an American Planning Association award. In 2022, I helped secure $3.3 million - the largest ever general fund investment for the Department of the Environment - to begin the critical work of implementing the City's updated Climate Action Plan (CAP). I also worked with Supervisor Mandelman's office to secure initial funding for a Climate Equity Hub and a long-term financing plan for the CAP.
I supported the declaration of emergency for our climate crisis, advocated for amendments to the CAP to enact more aggressive climate policies, supported the all-electric new buildings ordinance and the ban on gas-powered landscaping equipment. I also helped commission a report and organized a hearing on building decarbonization, organized a hearing on our urban forestry plan, wrote and helped pass a resolution calling for a just transition to a fossil fuel-free future for California, and spent two years developing a carbon tax proposal to tax big polluters and fund climate action. That tax proposal inspired a measure that will be on the ballot in Berkeley this November.
San Francisco and the Bay Area are threatened by air quality emergencies driven by fossil fuel pollution and wildfires exacerbated by climate change, and I was proud to write and help pass a first-in-the-nation law providing paid leave to vulnerable workers during air quality emergencies. In addition, San Francisco is contending with sea level rise as our planet warms. I served as a member of the Ocean Beach Coordination Team, providing critical oversight and coordination support for the complex, nuanced, and multi-jurisdictional series of projects connected to the Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Through this role, I gained firsthand experience coordinating across departments, agencies, and stakeholder groups on one of the most ambitious climate adaptation projects in San Francisco.
Robust, accessible, and frequent public transportation is one of the most powerful tools we have to combat the climate crisis. Yet at the same time we should be expanding public transportation, our old model for funding and operating it is failing.
BART is a critical climate action technology-it keeps hundreds of thousands of cars off the road, and since 2022 it has run on 100% clean energy. Thousands of low-income residents and communities of color rely on BART to travel to and around the Bay Area.
What BART needs most right now is a progressive funding scheme to close the $385 million annual budget deficit that is projected to hit in 2026. What it needs is a plan to restore the 57% of ridership we have lost since before the pandemic.
My early focus when elected will be improving the system, increasing ridership, and building the political support to secure permanent progressive funding to maintain and expand service.
+ - ?
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Reducing or eliminating parking minimums in new housing and commercial developments
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Congestion tolls on Doyle Drive
[ ] [ ] [ ? not now, perhaps in the future ] Livermore BART extension
3) Social Justice:
A) Did you take a public position on the Oakland Airport Connector?
Please explain.
I did not take a public position on the Oakland Airport Connector.
B) How often do you ride BART? What would you change about the way
BART handles fare evasion?
I ride BART several times a week. The fare gate modernization program should allow us to shift away from fare enforcement, and reimagine the staff resources dedicated to it as station attendants or community ambassadors.
+ - ?
[ + ] [ ] [ ] BART directors should focus on maintaining the existing system as opposed to building extensions
[ ] [ - shouldn't be necessary with new fare gates ] [ ] Hiring more fare evasion teams
[ + support fare gates, not fences ] [ ] [ ] Current policy of installing new fare gates and more fences inside BART stations to prevent fare evasion
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Fences around BART property to prevent camping or illegal sidewalk sales
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Current policy of using cleaning chemicals with strong odors in downtown stations to deter loitering
4) Nonviolence: What are your solutions for improving the accountability of
the BART police force while making the system safer? Do you think the BART
police force should exist? Do you think BART police officers should carry
guns and/or tasers?
Since 2020, under the leadership of then-Board President Janice Li, BART has taken important steps towards progressive policing strategies and safety solutions that center community. I will prioritize sustainable funding to continue and expand this work; including ambassadors, elevator and station attendants, and crisis intervention specialists
+ - ?
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Disband the BART police
[ + already exists ] [ ] [ ] Create a BART police force citizen oversight committee
[ + already exists ] [ ] [ ] Create an office of the Independent Police Auditor for the BART police
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Automated surveillance of BART system to alert police of illegal activities
5) Decentralization: In general, the Green Party supports the principle of
decentralization. What is your proposal for making our Bay Area transit
agencies at once decentralized and at the same time efficient, affordable,
and appealing?
I support the goals of Seamless Bay Area, and will advocate for them on the BART Board - which was notably the first transit board to endorse the Seamless Transit Principles in 2020. In my current role as a transit advisor for the City and County of San Francisco, I am actively engaged in efforts to improve coordination and consistency in wayfinding, signage, and transfers for transit operators across the Bay Area.
Transfer discounts are happening, and should be continued; and BART needs to continue its leadership in regional coordination. I'm proud to have the sole endorsement of BART Board Director Janice Li, who spearheads this work as BART's representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's (MTC) Regional Network Management Committee.
I am also a huge supporter of the BayPass program, which provides fare-free access to all 27 transit operators that use Clipper. Expanding BayPass will be a priority for me when elected. Beyond securing more contracts with colleges and universities to expand access for students, outreach should include public and private employers to expand access for workers and building owners and property managers to expand access for tenants.
+ - ?
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Create one regional, elected transit agency
[ ] [ ] [ ? ] Create a system whereby a portion of sales and property taxes assessed by transit districts must be spent in those transit districts
6) Community Based Economics: What are your views on Transit-Oriented
Development and efforts to create affordable housing?
I strongly supported - and was a signature gathering captain for - San Francisco's Tenant Right to Council ballot measure, which extended free legal representation for tenants facing eviction. As Chief of Staff for Supervisor Gordon Mar, I worked on and supported innovative projects and programs to expand access to affordable housing, including San Francisco's first 100% affordable educator housing project, ADU expansion, securing Small Sites funding for acquiring private properties with tenants facing eviction into permanent affordable housing, and advancing the Sunset's first 100% affordable housing project for working families.
There is no silver bullet solution to the decades of divestment that caused our housing crisis, and we need an all-of-the-above approach to provide housing for all. That means funding and focusing on affordable housing; combating displacement, gentrification, and speculation; and bringing an end to housing segregation, exclusionary zoning, and bureaucratic barriers to affordable housing.
Under existing law, San Francisco needs to produce over 80,000 units of housing in the next eight years, over half of it affordable. To get there, we need to let the regulated market build what it can in as many places as possible, as affordably as possible. That means undoing the racist scourge of redlining by increasing zoning capacities, cutting through some of the bureaucratic red tape slowing down housing permits and construction by years, while protecting inclusionary housing requirements and expanding them when feasible.
And we know the private market will never meet everyone's housing needs. We need to make 100% affordable housing buildable by-right everywhere, increase funding for affordable housing production through our existing nonprofit housing partners, and increase affordable preservation through programs like Small Sites, and community based models like land trusts and co-ops. We need to expand our capacity by seeding new nonprofit housing developers, and get the government back in the business of building housing through new social and public housing programs.
As BART is a landowner with potential to support more housing development, it's a critical stakeholder for increasing our affordable housing stock. I believe public land should be used to maximize public good, and that means housing the highest number of people otherwise priced out of the market. This is why I support both 100% affordable projects and mixed income projects that maximize the number, rather than the percentage, of bedrooms and units offered below market rate. A 100 unit project that's 20% affordable offers more affordable housing access than a 10 unit project that's 100% affordable, and public land near public transit is exactly where we should be maximizing both density and affordable housing.
+ - ?
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Local hiring requirements should be enforced
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Downtown transit assessment fee
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Citywide transit assessment fee
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Prop 13 limits on tax increases should apply only to residential properties
7) Feminism: Women continue to be underrepresented in government. Why do
you believe this is the case? Is this a bad thing, and if so, what would
you do to remedy this?
Women are underrepresented because of systemic sexism and individual bias, both conscious and unconscious. Aside from being a moral imperative, intersectional feminism is vital to BART's success. BART is critical to our racial equity and economic equity goals and disproportionately serves low-income riders and communities of color. Ensuring that BART's service not only continues to survive, but thrives, is critical to ensuring an equitable transportation option for the diverse communities of the Bay Area. And by prioritizing safety, access, and reliability of BART to improve ridership experiences women, especially transwomen and women of color, we can make BART safer and more accessible for everyone.
+ - ?
[ + ] [ ] [ ] The City should help provide more quality childcare to working parents
8) Respect for Diversity: Do you think there is a disproportionate
racial impact of new fare gates, additional fare inspections, and other
current BART policies?
In general, we should be making transit more accessible, not less accessible, to people who cannot afford to pay fares. BART's discount program for low-income riders is a good start, but doesn't go far enough. I think the BayPass model is a better approach for expanding fare-free access to transit, and could use a conscious and intentional equity framework for expansion plans. The new fare gates should reduce police interactions and fare enforcement generally, and allow us to shift those resources to other uses like attendants and ambassadors. Like speed safety cameras, fare gate modernization is a way to move an enforcement mechanism away from law enforcement, and in that way, I think it offers an alternative to the racial disparities present in law enforcement.
+ - ?
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Non-citizen residents should be able to vote in all local elections
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Full rights for transgender persons
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Boards and commissions now reflect the ethnic diversity of San Francisco
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Boards and commissions now reflect the political diversity of San Francisco
[ + ] [ ] [ ] My campaign reflects the diversity of San Francisco
9) Global and Personal Responsibility: What ideas do you have to
convince Bay Area residents to ride BART more instead of driving,
at a time when more workers are working from home?
To put it simply, green options need to be the best options for getting around. The most effective strategy for shifting modes of travel from single occupancy vehicles to public transit is making sure transit service is fast, frequent, clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and accessible, and that will be my priority on the BART Board.
In my role as a strategy and communications advisor for Muni, I see the impact of service improvements in bringing more riders on board every day, and I would bring that same focus to BART. Muni's customer satisfaction rate is the highest it's been in decades. Investing in routes and seeing ridership grow just proves that when transit service is excellent, people take it.
While BART's customer satisfaction has dramatically improved from its all-time low right before the pandemic, the system faces the same ridership challenge Muni Metro does: high office vacancies and a shift towards remote work that have significantly eroded public transit ridership numbers. To recover, BART needs to provide consistent, frequent, and reliable service to drive mode shift for non-commute trips, including evening, weekend, and off-peak service.
[ ] [ ] [ - ] BART should hire outside help to negotiate union contracts
10) Sustainability: The current funding crisis on most transit systems
demonstrates the problem with relying on passenger fares to fund
transit. What ideas do you have for raising operating revenues needed
to run more frequent and reliable service? How will you use your
position to advocate for these changes?
The biggest challenge facing BART is its structural deficit, and it's facing such dire financial challenges because of how the system is funded and how ridership has shifted. Before the pandemic, BART got over 70% of its operating revenue from fare payments. This was once considered the gold standard of sustainable funding for transit, but made BART uniquely vulnerable after the pandemic decimated its ridership. BART's ridership today is less than half what it was pre-pandemic, stagnating at about 43%. This tracks with the office occupancy rate, and how much BART's ridership historically depended on office commuters. The Bay Area has one of the highest work-from-home rates in the country, and the shift to remote work has dramatically shifted travel patterns in the Bay Area.
We need to modernize BART's funding model - treating it like the public service it is with public subsidy, rather than treating transit like a private or self-funding business. This means building the political support needed to run and win a regional funding measure or measures in 2026. To do that, BART needs to rebuild ridership by ensuring it is affordable and accessible, clean and safe, and vibrant and welcoming.
We cannot balance BART's budget on the backs of its workers or riders. An austerity approach would only further impact BART's ridership and make its fiscal outlook worse, not better. What we can do is activate BART stations, plazas, and properties, and improve BART's fare policies to increase revenue. This will be my early focus on the BART Board.
Additional ideas I have for increasing revenue in the near term include:
Reforming BayPass to be revenue-positive from contracts with large private employers
Shift highway funds at the state and regional level to support public transit operations
Consider reopening agreements with San Mateo County to pay their fair share for the BART system
State legislation and/or rule-making to allow transit districts to be recipients of funding for homeless services (e.g. the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Grant Program), offsetting current operational spending
+ - ?
[ + ] [ ] [ ] BART should be funded greater levels and be free to the rider
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Muni should be funded greater levels and be free to the rider
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Higher residential construction along neighborhood transit corridors, which may include raising height limits by two to three stories.
[ ] [ ] [ ? I support highest # of affordable units, which can be mixed-income ] All housing developments on/near BART property should be 100% affordable housing for families making less than $120k per year (80% of the Area Median Income for a family of 4) and should be majority low income.
[ + ] [ ] [ ] State law change that lets bicycles treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs
[ + ] [ ] [ ] I ride Muni, bicycle and/or walk instead of driving on a regular basis
[ ] [ - ] [ ] Allow residents to park on the sidewalk without getting a ticket, unless their neighbors complain
[ ] [ ] [ ? unsure what this refers to ] Congestion pricing for parking
[ ] [ ] [ ? would prefer EVs ] 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
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Support expanding parking meter hours to include later evening hours and weekends
[ + ] [ ] [ ] Remove parking spots and car lanes to create dedicated bike and bus lanes or wider sidewalks
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.