Candidate Questionnaires

As the 2015 election season in San Francisco approaches, make sure you know where the candidates stand on all matters related to walking.

Walk SF asked all official candidates, who may be elected by the voters of San Francisco, about their stances on the issues that matter to the members of Walk San Francisco, as well as their past performance on Walk SF issues (if they had previously served in office).

However, to help ensure all the candidates support the priorities that matter to you, Walk SF has submitted and collected comprehensive candidate questionnaires in advance of the November 3rd, 2015 election.

You can learn more about the candidates through highlighted statements and completed questionnaires below (Note: candidates who did not respond to Walk SF’s questionnaire are indicted by “n/a”), including their positions on making walking safer and more enjoyable, as well as encouraging more trips by foot. 

Regardless of how you vote, make sure you vote, and when you do, Walk SF encourages you to walk to your polling place or the nearest mailbox.

City Attorney

• Dennis Herrera believes “Providing counsel to ensure the implementation of Vision Zero projects, that my clients enact, will be a top priority for me, because I know they reflect a critically important public safety imperative.” – full questionnaire.

Community College Board

• Wendy Aragon – n/a
• Alex Randolph states “I am not too familiar with automated speed enforcement policies so I have to research this strategy in more depth before making a judgment. That being said, I would like to explore especially how we can increase the safety for pedestrians and our students on Ocean Avenue at our main campus, as it can be very difficult and not always safe to walk from Balboa Bart Station to and from class.” – full questionnaire.
• Tom Temprano shares “I am a proud supporter of Vision Zero. Achieving Vision Zero by the city’s stated goal of 2024 will require sacrifices to be made – though no sacrifice is too great to justify making our streets free of pedestrian deaths. Removing parking and vehicle lanes is acceptable, particularly if we doing this in conjunction with increased public transportation service. As a member of the Board of Trustees I would be an active advocate for Vision Zero projects on and around City College’s nine neighborhood centers” – full questionnaire.
• Jason Zeng says Yes [I support the goal to steadily increase the percentage of all walking trips and walking trips for commuting in the next 5 years], but I think the improvement will only be marginal.” – full questionnaire.

District 3

• Julie Christensen states “I will continue to support programs like Safe Routes to School – Walk and Roll to School. I have and will continue to advocate funding for organizations that partner with Walk SF to execute these important programs. I want to use our whole arsenal of options – bulb-outs, daylighting, enhanced crosswalks, scrambles, etc. – to find appropriate solutions that make walking safer and more pleasant.” – full questionnaire.
• Wilma Pang – n/a
• Aaron Peskin writes “We already know what needs to be improved to save lives – it is a question of political will to get it done. We don’t need another Pedestrian Strategy or WalkFirst Plan. We need our city agencies to share resources and partner to get the projects into the ground as quickly as possible…It took the death of 77 year old Ai You Zhou to spur the city to consider long-term improvements at [Kearny and Clay]. This is unacceptable. The City should be doing more to press the State Attorney General and our state legislators to allow automated speed enforcement, at the very least in known high-­‐injury corridors and intersections.” – Full Questionnaire.

District Attorney

• George Gascon responds “As DA, I have played an active role in implementing traffic safety campaigns. Also, when appropriate, I have ensured my office prosecute those compromising traffic safety.” – full questionnaire.

Mayor 

• Francisco Herrera answers “For the future of San Francisco, I see electric cars and electric buses that will be equitably funded by already existing taxes and fees.  As mayor, I would place a high priority on keeping our streets clean, safe and in good condition. I would encourage street beautification projects and thus create incentives for people to enjoy being outdoors and enjoy the experience of walking in their communities. Additionally, affordable housing throughout the city will allow people to live close to – and walk to -where they work.” – full questionnaire.
• Kent Graham – n/a
• Edwin Lee states “Vision Zero projects engineer safety into our high-injury streets and require the necessary funding and project implementation to be built. San Francisco is a multi-modal city and we need to balance the needs of all street users while using a data-driven approach to address trade-offs that may arise……I have worked with the State Legislature to support additional tools for sensible speed management including automated enforcement near our most vulnerable populations: schools and senior centers…I will continue to work with the community and State legislators to address these challenges.” – full questionnaire.
• Reed Martin believes “It’s…important to embrace, on a more broad level, concepts of shared space and pedestrian-only districts…Pedestrian-only commercial districts work well with exactly the sort of density and mix of retail we find in San Francisco. We can support these visions with specific action: Neighborhood Sundays, closing certain neighborhood streets every Sunday to anyone but local traffic. Night Plazas, closing certain streets in nightlife-heavy zones like Polk Street to cars after 8pm. Walking Weekends, turning certain commercial corridors like Haight Street or Columbus Ave. into pedestrian plazas during the day on weekends. Starting with simple, temporary concepts allows us to grow these concepts into a grander vision for permanent public space in San Francisco.” – full questionnaire.
• Stuart Schuffman says “Since I was 18 I’ve only owned a car for 6 months. I’m 34 now. I also am not a cyclist, which means I end up walking pretty much everywhere. I always credit this for keeping me from losing my lovely figure. Any company that “disrupts transit” (uber/Lyft) should pay a certain tax that exclusively goes into keeping Muni up to date and to pedestrian safety improvements. – full questionnaire.
• Amy Farah Weiss answers “I whole-heartedly support this goal [to steadily increase the percentage of all walking trips and walking trips for commuting in the next 5 years]. To increase walking trips the City should support Vision Zero projects, strengthen transit-first policies, prevent traffic congestion through collaborative regulation of transit network companies, support pilot projects like your walk/bike to school idea, and increase the number of tickets given to drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians who put others at risk and impede right of way through risky behavior on our streets and sidewalks.” – full questionnaire.

Sheriff

• Vicki Hennessey states “[To ensure the implementation of Vision Zero] I would like to provide assistance to the police in a number of areas that would allow them to concentrate resources to ensure the success of Vision Zero.” – full questionnaire.
• Ross Mirkarimi – n/a
• John C. Robinson – n/a