has been really active and not only being out there and enforcing the law, but doing what police are not required to do, offering opportunities for services. and, so, i think san francisco is an incredibly compassionate city. and i think our police department has been compassionate. i think our fire department has been compassionate. but also we have to make sure that we are really aggressively making sure that folks are not breaking the law in terms of selling drugs, in terms of using drugs, in terms of just the kinds of things that happen when you break the law. i mean, people who are hanging out, they're just hanging out. there is a.m. nothing wrong with hanging out. i hung out a lot. kids hang out. young people hang out. homeless people hang out. the question is when someone makes it, you know, more than just hanging out and it messes it up for everyone else. so, we have to make sure as a city that we deal with those things appropriately, but we also offer alternatives so that we're not just pushing the homeless issue from one place to the next. but we're actually making sure

we're taking care of people and offering them alternatives. so, it's going to be a challenging issue and an ongoing issue and one that i'm committed to working with the mayor's office to help address and manage. >> what are your thoughts on the city's economic development? do you think we're on the right track? >> i think we're on the right track, but i think that unfortunately it allows the rich to get richer and it doesn't have a place for the middle class and the poor in our city. and i think that part of what we have to do as a city when people are interested in economic development opportunities in our city, they need to be a part of our city. and it's not just about giving out free gifts or giving out free turkeys or giving out free anything. it's about what type of job opportunities, what type of internships, what type of commitment are you going to have to the most vulnerable residents of our city? how are we going to impact lives? you're basically -- this is a great economic opportunity maybe for you and the city, but

how does this directly impact residents of the city? so, i think we have to do a better job in making those connections. >> let's talk a little about the issue of sports, the role of sports in the city's economic future. are you supportive of the plans for the new warriors stadium? >> i'm supportive of a plan that includes the residents of this city. specifically, with the warrior stadium, i think it could be a great opportunity for san francisco. but i want to make sure that in the agreement that there are some requirements that make sure that people are not just employed for construction opportunities. they're employed for management opportunities, they're employed for concession opportunities, they're employed with the warriors team. i mean, there's a whole 'nother franchise of opportunities that exists as a result of this particular team. and who are they going after, what folks are they mentoring,

or what are -- who are the people that are going to be long-term working with the establishment? and, so, i'm more interested in what the long-term relationship is between the warriors and the community, and not just we're going to build a stadium, we're going to be here, we're going to do our thing and everyone is going to go home. what does this mean long-term and how do the residents benefit and how are they connected to this great opportunity? so... >> to what degree do you feel the city should subsidize the team? >> i don't see the city subsidizing the team from my perspective, from what i've seen in terms of the deal. other than potentially the land, which they will pay for eventually. maybe not the entire amount, but i don't think there are any plans for the city to give up anything financially from my perspective. other than potentially land that wasn't going to be used in the first place. but i appreciate the fact that the warriors are focusing on

private fund-raising and i prefer that they stick to that. i don't think the city should be -- with the situation we're in now, we should be really investing in that and the warriors seem to be committed to privately fund-raising for it and i'm happy that they're stepping up to do that. >> exciting change. >> yes. >> we're almost out of time. but are there any other issues that concern you that we haven't discussed or anything that you plan to concentrate on as your term of supervisor? >> i think one of the things that i really want to concentrate on is making sure that we are collaborating more. because as a city, we're growing. resources are being stretched. and it's going to be important that organizations collaborate. city departments collaborate. that we don't just operate in our own little departments, our own little sections of the city, but how do we come together to make sure that, for example, upper haight with a lot of great businesses, lot of great opportunities for

internships for young people to grow and work in these particular businesses. so, my goal as supervisor is to begin the process of connecting people so that, you know, we have folks who are living in the community, working in the community, growing in the community, and supporting one another. it's one of the things i care about most and i'm really looking forward to bringing people together as supervisor. >> great. well, it looks like we're out of time so we're going to have to wrap up. but thank you so much for joining us today on sfgov-tv's meet your district supervisor. >> thank you for having me. >> we've been talking to supervisor london breed for district 5. watch for the next episode of meet your district supervisor when we'll be back with another round of our 11 city supervisors. for sfgov-tv, i'm nona melkonian. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> hello, welcome to the meet your district supervisor. i'm nona melkonian and we're here with supervisor katy tang for supervisor 4 which includes central and outer sunset. supervisor tang was appointed by mayor ed lee to serve as district 4 representative replacing previous supervisor carmen chu after she was appointed assessor reporter that same month. before her appointment she served as legislative aide to supervisor chiu. today you'll get to know her and the issues facing the city. welcome, supervisor. thank you for join using us. >> thank you for having me. >> let's start with a little about your background. where you grew up, went to school and what kind of jobs you had in the past. >> sure, i grew up in the sunset district. still live there. spent about 20 years living in

the sunset district and just am so proud to be able to represent the district that i 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. ♪

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