Angela Alioto is a former San Francisco supervisor and the daughter of former mayor Joseph Alioto. She’s also passionate about art history, mainly Italian art from 1300-1600, which she studied in college. (Transcript of interview.)
Positions:
- Advocates for increasing funds for the arts, whether it be public or private funding.
- Likes idea of artist housing where rent is based on percentage of income.
- Feels a mayor could use power to push for increases in arts education funding.
Supervisor London Breed
Currently the president of the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor London Breed was born and raised in San Francisco’s Western Addition. One of her first jobs after college was serving as executive director for the African American Art & Culture Complex, where she raised over $2.5 million to expand the facility and install an art gallery, a theater space and a recording studio. (Transcript of interview.)
Positions:
- Pushed to increase funding to the arts from the city’s hotel tax.
- Wants the city’s larger arts institutions to collaborate with smaller organizations.
- Thinks artist housing should be subsidized by private funding.
- Feels arts education for youth should come from public schools and nonprofits.
Supervisor Jane Kim
Representing San Francisco’s District 6, Supervisor Jane Kim moved to San Francisco in the late ’90s and has spent most of her professional life in advocacy and grassroots organizing, working with groups such as the Greenlining Institute and the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC). Before becoming a supervisor, she was the first Korean American to be elected to San Francisco’s Board of Education. She’s also a civil rights attorney, has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and used to play bass guitar. (Transcript of interview.)
Positions:
- Supports increased funding to the arts from the city’s hotel tax.
- Feels arts education isn’t simply an elective and deserves more support.
- Wants the city’s institutions to become more involved in local arts education, but also feels the city could help fund those collaborations.
- Thinks the city could also find solutions to issues with artist housing.
Mark Leno
Mark Leno is a veteran of California politics who began his career in 1998, when he was appointed to the SF Board of Supervisors by then-Mayor Willie Brown. After serving as a supervisor and as a member of the California Assembly, Leno became the first openly gay state senator when he was elected to represent the state’s 3rd district in 2008. Before terming out in 2016, Leno authored several bills, including the California Universal Health Care Act and the Fair Education Act. He’s also a fan of musicals, and recently opened up to J. Weekly about his relationship, in the 1970s, with San Francisco Symphony musical director Michael Tilson Thomas. The two remain close friends. (Transcript of interview.)
Positions:
- While a state legislator, worked to replenish funding for the California Arts Council.
- Feels local arts industry is essential to tourism.
- Wants to tax landlords who keep buildings empty and thereby contribute to local housing shortage.
- Supports increase to arts funding from hotel tax.
