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Chris Daly (born 1972) is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represents District 6, encompassing the Civic Center, Tenderloin and South of Market districts, Treasure & Yerba Buena islands and the northern half of the Mission District (known as Inner Mission). He was elected to the Board in 2000 and re-elected in 2002 and 2006, taking advantage of a legal exception granted by the City Attorney in recognition of having only served two years in his first term. Aside from being a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he also represents San Francisco County in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board of Directors.
Background
A Maryland native, Daly moved to San Francisco during the dot-com boom of the 1990s, having dropped out of Duke University in favor of a career in community organizing. He worked for the NGO "Empty the Shelters" in Philadelphia and in San Francisco. He then entered the world of politics as a housing rights advocate. He was a co-founder of the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, a community group dedicated to fighting the displacement of tenants, artists and poor people in the Mission District caused by gentrification.
Political career
Daly was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in December 2000 with 81 percent of the vote. This election, the first since before 1980 in which supervisors were chosen by district, also saw the election of other progressive candidates.
Housing and Homelessness
Daly's legislative record has been focused primarily on housing development and homelessness. He has had a significant impact upon city development policy, as his district includes the majority of land zones that have been slated for expanded residential development by recent administrations. He worked to require developers to include significant community benefits including affordable housing in their projects. Some of these housing projects have provided the most low-income residents in his district a real path to affordable apartment-style living.
Daly has also sponsored legislation to help low-income tenants of Single Room Occupancy (SRO) residential hotels, many of whom are located in his district. Specifically, Daly sponsored the Uniform Visitor Policy (which banned the practice of hotels charging "visitor fees") and a Sprinkler Ordinance that requires all SRO hotels to have a sprinkler system installed in each room to prevent fires. Daly's advocacy for SRO tenants has prompted Supervisor Sophie Maxwell to call him "the conscience of the Board of Supervisors."
Most recently, Daly negotiated a planned development on Rincon Hill, where the developer was allowed to build above the zoning limit in exchanged for a higher percentage of affordable housing units, and payment to various community organizations . While criticized by some for being a "back-room deal," this proposal was lauded by others as an example of getting more affordable housing built beyond the minimum legal requirements.
Daly has also been a staunch advocate of rent-controlled housing. In 2004, he sponsored an ordinance to prevent the demolition of large rent-controlled apartment complex -- the legislation was vetoed by Mayor Gavin Newsom. In 2006, he sponsored an ordinance requiring real estate brokers to inform potential buyers of tenancy-in-common units if a tenant had been evicted to sell the property. Newsom likewise vetoed this, but Daly placed it on the ballot, and the voters approved it.
Some real estate interests argue that rent control actually raises rents. Supporters of rent control, typically the majority of voters in recent decades, credit Daly with being one of the most consistent champions of San Francisco tenants.
Controversial Demeanor
As the San Francisco Chronicle described it, Daly is "either a hothead or a passionate advocate -- depending on whose side you are on." In 2001, he nearly came to blows with Mayor Willie Brown after Daly brought homeless activists to a meeting that was supposed to be "private." Asked to apologize, Daly replied, "I will apologize that I was lured into the mayor's finger-pointing politics." In November 2004, fellow supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier lodged a petition for censure against Daly after he told a landlord advocate to "fuck off" at a tenants' rights hearing. The petition failed by a vote of 8-2, however, after dozens of low-income tenants attended to testify on his behalf, many sporting bright green stickers that said "Daly fights for us," and "don't diss Chris." In 2001, Daly famously told his colleagues at a supervisors' meeting, "I'm not feeling the love" when they rejected his proposals for balancing the budget, as he stormed out the room. In 2002, Daly was arrested after a confrontation with police over a land use dispute concerning Hastings Law School; no charges were filed.
In 2003, serving as acting mayor while Mayor Willie Brown traveled to Tibet, Daly appointed two anti-Brown members to the Public Utilities Commission. After the City Attorney looked into its legality, one appointment was rescinded -- but the other, Adam Werbach stayed. Mayor Brown said that the appointment "clearly is a conspiracy to, in one manner or another, move away from the traditions, the rules, the customs and the conduct that has been the hallmark of this city, long before I became mayor of this city." But Daly said by way of explanation for his actions, "I'm an activist. I had an opportunity, and I took it."
Resolution calling for Bush's impeachment
In March 2006, Daly introduced a resolution that was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors 7-3 asking the city's congressional delegation to pursue impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.
Question Time with the Mayor
In November 2006, Daly placed a nonbinding advisory measure on the ballot making it City policy to have the Mayor appear at a monthly meeting of the Board of Supervisors to answer their questions. Th measure was modeled after Question Time in the British Parliament. The voters approved the nonbinding measure with with 58 percent of the vote, but Newsom has not agreed to attend a meeting, preferring instead to have monthly meetings with the general public.
Personal
Daly is married, and has a son. He and his wife own a condominium in District Six.
External links
- San Francisco City Government profile page
- Supervisor Chris Daly's Daly blog
- Brown Cries Political Foul: He calls Daly's move to make PUC appointments unethical
- Supes Take Over Policy Agenda
- Cuss and conquer: A more polite, nuanced approach might prove more effective for Supervisor Chris Daly, by Matt Palmquist
- A Walking Embarassment
- Progresive Failure: Why San Francisco Supervisors Who Call Themselves Progressives Should Get the Boot in November
| Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors | ||||||||||
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| President: Rafael Mandelman | ||||||||||
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| See also: San Francisco City Hall • Government of San Francisco | ||||||||||