grew up in and where my parents still live. i had gone through the public education system and went to neighborhood schools throughout the sunset district. so, had gone to francis scott key elementary school, hoover middle school, lowell high school and am just so proud to be able to come back full circle to support a lot of those schools that i went to and be part of that community in a very integral way. >> so, you spent most of your life in san francisco. why did you choose to live in the city? >> well, first of all, my parents decided to move us to the sunset district because they really wanted my brother and i to have a really good and safe r growing up. there were a lot of children and families in the sunset district and i think they felt like it would be the best environment for us to grow up. so, we ended up staying out there and fell in love with it and have a lot of pride after especially working for the sunset district as the electricity i have aide to supervisor chiu for over five years.

and working with -- very intimately with a lot of community members, the merchants, our local residents who have, you know, interest in things such as public safety or public transportation, our school communities, our parks and play grounds, just really been such a wonderful experience working with them. so, i just really enjoyed that work experience as well as my own experience growing up there. >> how has your experience as aide to supervisor chiu prepared you for the board of supervisors? >> i think that i probably don't have a learning curve on having worked in the district so long and having grown up there. i think that it's been really beneficial knowing who to go to to ask certain questions, or, you know, learning how to read pieces of legislation, for example, knowing what the issues are that the city has faced. i think that those have all been really helpful experiences during this transition. >> what motivated you to get involved in politics? >> i've always wanted to be

involved in whichever community i'm in. for example, what ix in school i was in student government and, so, working in city hall was one of my first jobs, actually, out of college. and, so, i have been doing -- i have been working at city hall for over six years now and i just feel very much pride in working for the city that i live in. >> where do you place yourself on the political spectrum, are you progressive, centrist, or more on the conservative side? >> i think i'm probably more of a moderate person. i think that our district, again, lots of families and children, seniors, immigrant community, and i think that we tend to be more classified as, you know, fiscally responsible, i would say. and, again, having my experience in working for the mayor's budget office, for example, prior to working for the board of supervisors, i think that gave me a really great background in terms of how the city works, how the city's budget is put together. and those really -- that

experience has really influenced my decision-making process. >> and speaking of the city's budget, the city just enacted a two-year budget and it seems the city is always dealing with complicated issues including whether or not to raise taxes and fees. how will you approach these tough choices? >> i think that when we talk about raising fees or taxes, we always have to come at it from a very balanced approach. we have a lot of homeownerses, we have a lot of tenants in the city. and, so, again balance is really key. i think we also have to approach the budget and some tough fiscal issues looking at the city-wide budget as a whole and not just looking at specific sectors or issue areas that we real have i to look at the city's financial standing as a whole for the long term. that's really important and that's definitely what drives a lot of my decision-making process. and i think it's also tougher in san francisco because we really are held to a very high standard where we have to balance the budget every single fiscal year. we cannot run into a deficit in the new fiscal year. we cannot print more money.

we are held to a high standard by our charter and, so, i think that's why these tough decisions are made every year rent. >> what other issues do you feel are facing san francisco? >> i think for san francisco and also elsewhere, one of the biggest issues right now is really how do we ~ attract economic development and spur job creation. and those are two things that really go hand in hand and really is what makes the city vibrant and a place where people want to live and can afford to live. and i think that keeping those city-wide goals in mind, to really want to try to also make sure that locally we support our small businesses and all merchants, for example, give economic benefits and help create jobs as well. >> what are your thoughts on the city's economic development? do you feel we're on the right track? >> i think we're on a very exciting time right now in san francisco where we have a lot of energy in terms of businesses and especially the tech industry wanting to locate in san francisco and that's

something that we really haven't seen as much in the past after the dot-com boom. and, so, we are in a very exciting time and we really see a transformation going on in our city because of that. >> what would you like to see change about the city's approach to developing its economy? >> i think that really depends on the changing times. and there isn't sort of one solution for the entire city. it real i depends on kind of what the dynamics are going on with the economy as a whole in the region. not just looking at san francisco, but really as a regional body. >> sometimes district issues are different than zvi issues. what do you feel are some of the biggest issues facing your district? ~ city >> i think because we have a lot of children, families, seniors in our district, they care a lot about your quality of life issues, right. and it's the reason why people choose to live there. they want to make sure that your streets are repaved, that our potholes are filled, that public transportation works for you, that, you know, your parks and play grounds are safe for

your children to play in, students can go to local schools. i think that those are all important issues facing district 4 and will continue to. >> how have you balanced the needs of your district versus the needs of the city as a whole? >> i think that as a district supervisor, we play that balancing act every single day in our jobs. and we respond to all of the constituent needs, whether they doll us, whether they e-mail us or talk to us in person about a problem, we try to sort of bridge the resources that are in the city and help connect them with whichever department it is they might need to be connected with to resolve their issue. ~ but also at the same time we are city-wide representatives and we vote on legislation every week that impact everyone in the entire city. i think that when we take those votes, for example, we keep our district interests in mind and how they might want us to best represent them on city-wide issues. >> you mentioned transportation and muni earlier. what do you see about transportation for your constituents, is there enough needed service?

>> i think especially given the fact the sunset district is located so far from the central portion of the city, that transportation is difficult for them. and as you know, there are some issues with switch backs for example on muni and folks feeling like, you know, they don't have adequate service down to the end of the line. so, i have worked with mta and we're trying to figure out solutions to address that. but i think overall our residents really just want to make sure that they can get from where they need to go from the sunset district or back home via public transportation. >> what about parking and traffic? >> i think that the sunset district typically has a little bit more pricing than some other districts. there are always pedestrian safety issues we have to watch out for. our district has boulevard, we have sunset boulevard. we were also have 19th avenue and great highway. and, so, those are actually state highways that -- except for sunset boulevard, but the three are state highways that run through our district.

and, so, when you have that, we have seen some fatalities along some of those corridors and, so, we work very closely with the state agency, our local agencies to see what sort of pedestrian improvements can be made to help make it more safe for feev l. so, for example, maybe it means that we install more pedestrian countdown signals or install sidewalk build outs so that we can shorten the distance for pedestrians to cross the streets. or lowering of speed limits. so, all of those things we try to look at comprehensively throughout the district to people can travel safely whether you're a pedestrian, cyclist or driver. >> speaking of safety, what are your thoughts on how the city is dealing with crime, especially in your district and how do you think the police department is doing? >> we work very closely with our local police station which is terraville police station. we have community groups in the sunset.

they have formed out of response to concern of public safety in the neighborhood and i think that generally speaking the sunset district has lower crime levels than many of the other parts of the city. however, because we are bordering ocean beach and golden gate park, we do have pockets of problem areas. and, so, our neighbors are the first to alert us and the police station when there are issues and the police has been very responsive to that. >> what kind of issues are you having with ocean beach or golden gate park? >> i think that because it's so far from the center of the city and because there is so much open space, we do see a lot of encampments in those areas. some neighbors express issues with safety and feeling safe in their neighborhood and, so, they have worked very closely with our terraville station to make sure they monitor those regularly. >> what are your thoughts on the city's economic development? >> so, in terms of economic development, i think our city is in a very, again, exciting time right now where we are

able to attract a lot of businesses who want to locate here in san francisco. you know, we have seen a recent wave of technology companies that have located here in our downtown core area and it's really transformed our neighborhoods. and i think that as we continue to keep drawing talent and those kind of companies that are city's economic state will continue to grow. >> speaking of growth in our city, how do you feel about the role of the warriors coming to san francisco and the plans for the new stadium? >> so, the warriors and the plan for the new stadium, you know, the project approvals and the environmental review report will actually have to go through the board of supervisors. so, i'll have to make my decision then. but the prospect of something like that would be very exciting for the city, i think, not only as an economic engine but also in terms of san francisco's cultural history. >> to a degree, do you feel the city should subsidize the team? >> i think that negotiations are still to be sorted out and

i think that all of that is in the works. but it's something that i'll pay close attention to. >> what would you like to see change in the city's approach to developing its economy? >> you know, i think that san francisco is a very creative city and we tend to be on the cutting edge of issues, right? and i think that to that extent of our administration and our various departments such as the office of economic and work force development have always thought of creative approach he that might be new for the region to, for example, attract new businesses or, you know, other sorts of financing mechanisms. and i think that we will continue to do that in san francisco. >> well, are there any other issues that you plan to concentrate on throughout your term as supervisor? >> yes, i believe that having worked, you know, for many years in the district 4 office and now as supervisor, over time we have felt that, you know, many times we are very reactive to a lot of the problems that are presented our way and i want to really make sure that during my term i

would love to do some long-term planning for the district to make sure that we think maybe 5, 10, 15 years out and think ahead, you know, now and start the planning work and laying the foundation for things we want to do in the future. >> what are some of your ideas? >> i will be engaging in a community process where we focus on some of our key issue areas that we care a lot about in the district and working with them to kind of layout the groundwork for what we envision for our district in the future. >> we're almost out of time. but it's been great chatting with you. thank you so much for joining us today on sfgov tv's meet your supervisor. >> thank you for having me. >> we've been talking to supervisor tang from district 4. watch for the next episode of meet your district supervisor when we'll be back with another round of our 11 city supervisors. sore sfgov-tv, i'm nona melkonian. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hello, welcome to meet our district supervisor. i've neon norm from district 7 which includes accident twin peaks and san francisco wood and other neighbors neighborhood today, we'll get to know him and talk about the tough issues.

welcome supervisor thank you for joining us let's talk about our background. i was born in san francisco and i grew up in the north area and basically went to the public schools and jean parker and san frays parker. i lived in this area and from there, i went to city college then i went to cal and received my bachelors in civil engineer and worked there for about a decision that's not where my passion was so i left the job and went back to school and never turned back.

that's what i've been doing pretty much all my life in the classroom or working on organizations that will focus on children and families. that's a little bit about my bathed >> born and raised san franciscan good for you. why did you choose to stay in the city >> i love the city. i'm very passionate about the city. i made the decision to focus on children and the families. i keep on asking the same question when i was younger why would i want to focus my efforts in san francisco. are there other places in the world where i could make a difference. i'm talking about the late 50s

and 60s. there was at that time, a lot of population coming in from china. it was an opportunity for me to help people that were struggling in awe second amendment and getting used to things over here. >> what motivated you to get involved in politics. >> part of my motivation i guess you have to look at where i started. i as i mentioned he earlier i wanted to help people and at the time it was children and family. after many, many years of serving people i realized in providing services that somehow, i have to impact the decision-makers so i started advocating on issues i cared

about. i was somewhat effective and wouldn't it be nice if i could do something different i ran an organization for 20 years. i felt i needed to grow as much as the impact i made the decision to leave the organization and asked myself now what. i want to make a bigger impact that's when i ran for the school board. people said you you've been involved in the issues and being in the classroom and one that grew up and having two daughters it seems like a natural thing to get into. i judgment into being an elected

official >> you've worked on the school board house has that prepared you. >> there's a couple of of things that prepared me to be on the board of supervisors. number one i not only came in there the ranks vs. the youth director and tutoring uneven he run your organization and you can't miss like running the organization especially, when you're faced with cuts how do you handle the cuts. and in better years when you get some center funding how can you use that funding effectively. so those opportunities helped me

to be on the school board. for 8 years on the school board we had to talk about kit because of state funding. again, it grew my experience in how do you handle this and work with the community to make those. and once you do that how to you articulate that. those experiences lend themselves really well. >> we're going to talk about the budgeting but what did you learn about campaigning. it was really interesting on the school board you have to

campaign citywide. and when you do it citywide you can talk about the issues by nobody confessors about the same issues. you have to do it at two levels. one you need to focus on the district issues at the same time there's a lot of special interest groups that are not focused on those issues but we're on the citywide issues. you have this tension how do you balance it so people who care about the citywide issues what makes sense to them. i made a decision citywide issues are also going to be there but if i'm going to run i

have to look at the interesting issues. so i listened to people. it was early on i made the decision to start knocking on doors and asking people and say i'd like to hear about your issues. it's really difficult to do that after awhile because people asked what's our platform. i didn't have a platform i listened to people my platform was on what people are interested in >> i mentioned that citywide issues are different. >> there are many issues one of the things is counts economy in san francisco is improving a lot. we didn't take a hit like the

rest of the country. i look at the stats today and how are the wider margins in cal how do we sustain, you know, that growth so everybody can prosper. it shouldn't be just for the wall street folks but it should be for the mainstream. so that's one of the things it's always a challenge in the city to make sure there's prosperity for all >> san francisco is always facing cuts and whether or not to increase taxes how will you

approach those. well, that first of all, i'd like to say as i mentioned earlier when i was the executive director of an organization and being on the budget committee for 8 years. one of the things i've learned from being an administrator i does not - my values would be we don't spend more than what we have and if we don't have enough there's two things you can do you can cut things or look for more revenues. for me, i would be taking the same approach how to generate more revenues for the services the city needs. and if we need to cut we don't have the revenues where do we cut. those are some basic things i believe we need to protect the

safety net forepeople that are the most vulnerable and education issues would be very high on my priority particularly childcare. the services for zero to 5. it's a benefit for not only the young but also for the working parents >> you mentioned varies needs for people that are vulnerable in the city what do you think about the housing needs and what should is about addressed. >> the housing needs are growing and where do we meet the grouth growth. district 7 that there's a tendency for anywhere to say yes, we understand we need growth but don't change my

neighborhood. i'm sorry for me, i feel like everywhere in san francisco needs to be a part of the solution and that if there's opportunity to provide some growth in housing we should do that. there's always being to be tension of don't do it here. i'll listen to folks is this too much, too little and still be part of the solution. part of it you allow for some growth and have you have to be smart. how do you work with the community. it's important for me that my you type of development to ask this is what we're envisioning what adjustments do we need to

make? i've seen that on ocean avenue forensic they built a supermarket and by the time you - they went through a process where the community was satisfying but it - and i think i'm supportive of last year's proposition where we're going to be able to have more funding that's part of the solution. can we make sure there's other housing stock in san francisco so we want to keep the university here. almost everybody wants i don't care where you are people want a

diverse society in san francisco that's not just begin about affordable housing >> and what are your plans on park merced. >> there was a lot of discussions and i could have gotten engaged in a hypothetical. there's also a lawsuit that's pending so let's play that out because i have no influence, you know, under any decision or lawsuit that the court is hearing. so my commitment to the residents out there as i look at the agreement and there were

some promises to the occurring residents and i said my commitment is i said i will do everything in my power to make sure those commitments are made. they could have been skeptical but a lot of the residents believed me and there's been - been asked to leave several times over the last 2 decades and each time i've stepped in and working in partnership with the school itself to help it stay there. that example was very powerful for the residents there >> i mentioned a little bit about your district what are

some of the other issues. >> it's interesting there's going to be many, many issues but when i look back at what i did in terms of what my platform was about. equivalent when i heard enough peoples concerns it was about safety in general. of course, there's crime there's crime all over the place but the major thing is pedestrian safety. another issue i choose to focus on would be to help as much as possible small businesses in the neighborhoods. so i define it as in the neighborhood. sometimes we're talking about 1 hundred employees or less that's not our neighborhood business.

so for pedestrian safety the first thing i did do the first meeting i asked for a meeting. it was very timely. it's really unfortunate that i have to say that thought fatalities in san francisco 3 of them were in district 7. so i feel the time is right to talk about that and what are some of the solutions. we found that we have thirty or 40 people in district 7 to come out and testify. i told people i'm very commented to this to get something done >> what else do you hear from your constituents about the transportation situation. the vast majority of people in district 7 are cabins their