Here is Part 2 of The Voice’s interview with newly appointed Supervisor Stephen Sherrill in which he discusses the city budget, transportation, housing, and more, including the importance of arts and culture in the city’s economy. If you missed Part 1, which covered his new role outside of the mayor’s office, the drug crisis, and business taxes, read it here.
How do you think the budget process will go? It seems like previous years kept postponing the real pain —
It’s going to be tough. For me, there are obvious priorities, especially for my district. One that stands out is the Office of Victim’s Rights — incredibly important, but people are being turned away. Heartbreaking. Making sure that our police department is fully funded and staffed. We must also be creative about looking at organizations like Urban Alchemy that have done great work. Going back to the fentanyl legislation, I think this is one of the reasons why it’s so important to increase the private sector’s ability to contribute to addressing some of these issues. We’re in such a horrible budget situation.
The SFMTA has not had a good year. Parking revenue is a big problem because robotaxis and rideshares are eating it away. What direction should transportation policies take in these challenging times to get more people onto transit without these revolts or recalls?
One important thing for people to know is when the MTA talks about a loss of parking revenue; it’s driven by the big parking garages downtown that they operate and not by meters. So that’s a critical thing for people to understand and realize, and it’s another reason why it is so important for us to work hard to get downtown humming again. The other thing with transportation policy going forward is that the traditional model of relying on Monday through Friday, morning to nighttime, point A to B commuters is over. We need to be flexible and dynamic. And the number one way to do that is to work closely with communities.
To me, the situation with the proposed expansion of meter parking in Cow Hollow — which has been tabled, by the way, because of the community response — was that SFMTA approached the community with a solution and said, here’s what we’re gonna do, thank you. They did not come forward and say, “We believe, based on your feedback, that there is a problem here. Can you help us talk about the problem and then potential solutions?” People did not feel like they were listened to, and that’s a challenge that I’ve spoken with SFMTA about. They’re very open to it. And many of my colleagues really want to push on how [do] we make that engagement earlier in the process? It’s impossible to talk to everyone, but how do we make sure SFMTA knows more community leaders to speak to and engage with them upfront about these issues so that they can understand where to be focused?
Both of your predecessors have supported and shepherded several housing developments in the district. They’re still in the pipeline after many years. Very slow-going projects. What’s your take on how the city will be able to meet its housing goals?
There are a huge number of stalled projects in the pipeline. Some of them are stalled because of macroeconomic forces that are beyond the city’s control. But there are a lot of things that are under our control. And when it’s the permitting process or all the different little factors hindering people, I think we must ensure that buildings that are eligible to be built can be built.
I was just talking with Dan Adams at the Mayor’s Office of Housing, and interest rates are starting to come down, so there is some opportunity there. If we look at 30 Van Ness, for instance, we voted on some changes Tuesday; there are ways that we can help developers build. We must keep looking at all those to unstick the specific projects you discussed, especially at UCSF and CPMC. Market conditions are tough for those, but I think those will be moving.
Back to revitalizing downtown — as it turns out, your wife, Sarah, is head of West Coast business development at Christie’s; she’s a serious arts professional. Do you see a continued emphasis on the arts contributing to downtown revitalization?
My wife is absolutely involved in the arts community. She had an art and technology startup and worked at the Berggruen Gallery, which is located near SFMOMA. Her presence makes my life incredibly tied to the arts community here, but it’s also something that I believe in personally.
Right now, arts and culture account for about seven or eight percent of the city’s economy. But it should be closer to 11 or 12 percent. When discussing San Francisco’s revitalization and increased vibrancy, we need to continue with Mayor Breed’s investments in these areas. Is there something we can continue to do with the streetscape? The Institute of Contemporary Art is moving in on California Street, a cool, new part of San Francisco that wasn’t alive before. I also think supporting our existing cultural institutions is essential — having the Asian Art Museum so close to City Hall is so cool.
But we can’t forget it’s not just about the existing cultural institutions. Affordability in this city is crushing our arts community because we don’t have young artists or young creators here as much. When I’m going to see many of my friends who are artists, I’m going to Oakland or L.A. They rarely have studio space here. Minnesota Street is an incredible project, but philanthropic dollars aren’t going to do it all on its own.
What’s your favorite movie that takes place in San Francisco?
Mrs. Doubtfire has to be at the top. There you go. It’s funny; when I first moved to San Francisco, I remember driving down either Broadway or Steiner, I did a double take, and I was like, oh, wait, no, that’s it. That’s the house. In my district! Number two, The Rock, is an awesome film. And then [The] Princess Diaries is pretty great. That’s a good three. Can I get a cutoff with three? Though my dad will kill me if I don’t mention the Dirty Harry films!
Anything else you want to add?
Sure. When we talk about helping SFMTA work more directly with the community, it is going to be a big theme for me. We’re trying to make living in San Francisco easier for people, families, and small businesses. The only way to do that is to generate policy with residents, community associations, and communicators. I aim to work very closely with our community leaders to do that. I think of it as how we generate the policy in the district that gets fed into City Hall and not the other way around. It’s also more fun, frankly, because there are just so many damn smart people in this city. That’s why I’m excited about it.