District 9 contenders tackle Mission street vending in forum
Six candidates for District 9 supervisor. From right to left: H. Brown, Stephen Torres, Jackie Fielder, Roberto Hernandez, Jaime Gutierrez, and Julian Bermudez.
Publication: Mission Local
Date: June 5, 2024
Perhaps the most telling moment of Tuesday night’s District 9 candidate forum came at the end when moderator, Maria Antonieta Mejia, asked a final question that came from an unnamed woman.
The woman had been evicted and was living in a difficult place, struggling to find somewhere to live. What would the supervisorial candidates say to her?
Roberto Hernandez said to let her know that there were “40,000 vacant units in San Francisco right now,” and Stephen Torres said it “hit really hard” hearing of the woman’s plight, because of his own experiences in which landlords had tried to evict him. Most of the others launched into talking points around the need for more housing.
