Welcome to “Meet the Candidates,” where Mission Local asks supervisor hopefuls questions in the lead-up to the November election. In District 7 — which includes the Inner Sunset, Parkmerced and West Portal — Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin-Pinto are running against incumbent Myrna Melgar.
This month, the city will enforce parking restrictions along multiple streets between the eastern shore of Lake Merced and the Stonestown Galleria, where many residents are living in RVs. This means that these residents, nearly 200 people, will have to find someplace else to go.
This week, we asked the candidates: Is this the right response? How should the city address this situation?
Myrna Melgar
- Job: District 7 supervisor
- Age: 56
- Housing: Homeowner
- Transport: Bike
- Languages: Spanish, French, Swedish
- Education: Bachelor’s degree, Excelsior College; master’s degree in urban planning, Columbia University
- Residency: Living in Ingleside Terraces since 2011, and lived in District 7 while in college at SF State between 1987 and 1991
There has been a dramatic increase in people living in vehicles all over SF, so this is a bigger issue than District 7 alone can handle; we need a comprehensive plan and safe parking options. Winston and Lake Merced are roads, not designed for living, and it is unsafe for the community and the folks living there. The Department of Homelessness has placed 38 families into housing in the past 24 months, but more vehicles have come to take their place. We must get people into housing and offer services, but it is now time to enforce parking restrictions.
Endorsed by: SF Labor Council, SF Tenants Union, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Supervisor Connie Chan, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Supervisor Catherine Stefani, Senator Scott Weiner, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins … read more here
Stephen Martin-Pinto
- Job: Firefighter/major, U.S. Marine Corps reserves
- Age: 46
- Housing: Tenant in SF, property owner and landlord in Lemon Grove, California
- Languages: Spanish, Russian, Georgian
- Education: University of California, Davis
- Residency: Living in District 7’s Sunnyside since 2014 and, earlier from 1983 to 1998
Firstly, I support the Grants Pass ruling, which corrected a radically restrictive interpretation of the Martin v. Boise ruling. That being said, it is time that parking restrictions are strictly enforced. We cannot have a system in which the law is applied unequally to different groups of people, regardless of social status. Furthermore, what is often pejoratively described as “sweeps” is actually a coordinated response between Department of Public Health, Homeless Outreach Teams, and Law enforcement. This has been done before in 2019 on De Wolf Street in the Outer Mission. We did it before, we can do it again on Winston Avenue.
Endorsed by: Former District 7 Supervisor Tony Hall, former Planning Commissioner Michael Antonini, former Police Chief Tony Ribera, drug policy advocate Tom Wolf, BART Board Director Debora Allen … read more here
Matt Boschetto
- Job: Small business owner
- Age: 35
- Housing: Homeowner
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Saint Mary’s College of California
- Residency: Living in District 7 since 2014
Did not respond.
Endorsed by: San Francisco Police Officers Association
The order of candidates alternates each week. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar.
Do you have a question for the candidates? Let me know: kelly@missionlocal.com
Read the rest of the series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
