Scott Wiener

Scott Wiener
Member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
from District 8
Assumed office
January 8, 2011
Mayor Gavin Newsom
Ed Lee
Preceded by Bevan Dufty
Personal details
Born (1970-05-11) May 11, 1970
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Political party Democratic
Residence San Francisco, California
Alma mater Duke University
Harvard Law School
Occupation Politician
Profession Lawyer
Religion Jewish[1][2]
Website Supervisor Scott Wiener

Scott Wiener (born May 11, 1970)[3] is a Democratic Party politician currently serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 8.[4][5] Wiener serves as chair of the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee, and as a member of the Budget and Finance Committee.[6] He also serves as vice chair of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, represents San Francisco as a commissioner on the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission and represents San Francisco as a director on the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District Board.

In July 2015, Wiener declared his candidacy for California's 11th State Senate district to replace termed out incumbent Mark Leno. The district includes all of San Francisco and portions of northern San Mateo County, including Daly City, Colma, and part of South San Francisco.

Early life and career

Wiener was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in southern New Jersey, the son of small business owners. He graduated from Washington Township High School, received his bachelor's degree from Duke University, studied in Santiago, Chile, on a Fulbright Scholarship, and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. He clerked for Justice Alan B. Handler on the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

In 1997, Wiener moved to San Francisco to work as a litigation attorney at Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe. During his time at Heller Ehrman, Wiener sued a Mexican human rights organization on behalf of his clients, Lester Olmstead-Rose and Greg Merrill, officers at CUAV. The suit resulted in Olmstead-Rose and Merrill being forced to resign; Heller Ehrman ended its work on behalf of CUAV. In 2016 a permanent exhibition about this case, "Targeting Latinos," highlighting Wiener's role in this episode, opened at the Museo Mexicano (The Mexican Museum) in Mexico. In 2002, he went to work as a deputy city attorney under San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera.[4]

Before running for the Board of Supervisors, Wiener served as chair of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. Issues he has worked on since being elected include working with David Campos to support ensuring low-cost access to Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV; he has announced that he himself takes the drug for this purpose.[7]

San Francisco Supervisor

Wiener was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on November 2, 2010, carrying 42.4% of the vote in the first round of ranked choice voting.[8] After the two lowest candidates were dropped, Wiener won election with 18,239 votes, or 55.4%, over the second-place finisher, attorney Rafael Mandelman.[8]

Wiener was re-elected on November 4, 2014 on the first round of ranked choice voting, carrying a large majority of the vote.[9]

Public Spaces

Some of Scott Wiener's highest-profile actions as a legislator have involved the use of public space.

In 2012, Wiener sponsored controversial legislation criminalizing nudity at unpermitted events, which was eventually passed by the Board.[10] Wiener stated that "[t]his is what local government is for—to respond to the issues affecting citizens where they live." [11]

In 2013, the Board of Supervisors passed another controversial bill by authored by Wiener making it illegal to be in San Francisco parks at night. The supervisor claimed the ban was needed to combat vandalism and illegal dumping. Critics said it was unfairly aimed at the homeless.[12]

Wiener has also been active in promoting (although also regulating) food trucks. In 2013, Wiener's legislation establishing guidelines for San Francisco's food truck industry was passed by the Board of Supervisors.[13]

Another of Wiener's policy focuses has been increasing government spending on parks, including supporting the expansion of park patrol in budget negotiations.[14] Wiener also authored legislation to have the city government purchase a parking lot on 24th Street and turn it into a public park.[15]

On the Budget Committee, Wiener has advocated for adding government funding for maintenance and "safety" in San Francisco’s parks and other public spaces.[16] He has also been involved in efforts to increase municipal spending on street resurfacing[17] and maintenance of street trees and park trees.[18]

Transportation

Wiener has focused much of his policy work on San Francisco's public transportation, He has criticized the lack of investment in transit in San Francisco, and has advocated for additional funding measures.[19] His proposals include changing the transit-impact development fee[19] and a ballot measure to tie Muni funding to population growth.[20] The latter measure, Prop B requires 75% of increased funding to improve Muni reliability and 25% of the funding to improve street safety.[21] Prop B was passed on November 4, 2014.[9]

Wiener has also encouraged increases in the number of taxis in San Francisco[22] and has supported expanding access to car-share programs.[23]

In 2013, the full Board of Supervisors passed Wiener's legislative package to streamline pedestrian safety projects.[24] The legislation included creating a centralized Street Design Review Committee, making it easier for developers to implement pedestrian safety projects as gifts to the city, and amending the Fire Code to provide more leeway for sidewalk extensions.[24]

Over his tenure as a Supervisor, Wiener has advocated against widening streets.[25] In 2014, this led to a public disagreement with the San Francisco Fire Department around street design at new developments at Hunters Point and Candlestick Point.[25] The Fire Department sought to widen streets in these developments to be 26 feet wide, which is 6 feet wider than the legal requirement.[26]

Housing

In 2011, after a string of fires caused by arson in the Castro district, Wiener authored legislation allowing residents temporarily displaced by fires or natural disasters to rent other apartments at below-market rates.[27] Previously, landlords willing to rent out apartments to tenant on a temporary basis could not offer lower rents without locking these rates in at that rate under rent control.[27]

In 2012, Wiener passed legislation encouraging the production of student housing while restricting the conversion of existing rental stock to student housing.[28] That same year, the Board passed legislation to allow the construction of residential units as small as 220 square feet, known as micro-apartments.[29]

In 2014, Wiener introduced two measures to allow the construction of new in-law units in San Francisco: the first allows units to be built within the Castro neighborhood [30] and the second allows owners of buildings undergoing seismic retrofit to add in-law units.[31]

Nightlife and Culture

Early in his first term, Wiener requested a study of the economic impacts of entertainment and nightlife, a big issue in his first campaign.[32] The study, completed by the San Francisco City Economist, found San Francisco nightlife generated $4.2 billion in economic productivity in 2010.[33]

In 2013, Wiener authored legislation to make it easier for businesses to get permits for DJs, and to offer a new permit to allow for live music in plazas.[34]

PrEP Use and HIV Issues

In September 2014, Wiener announced in an online essay on the Huffington Post that he was taking Truvada, a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that reduces the risk of HIV infection.[35] Wiener stated that he disclosed his usage of PrEP in an effort to reduce the stigma around taking the HIV prevention medication. Wiener also cited the need for more awareness and expanding access as other keys for making PrEP successful.[36]

As a member of the Board’s budget committee, Wiener has advocated for HIV/AIDS services, especially around restoring lost federal funds. [37]

Soda Tax

In 2014, Supervisor Wiener introduced a ballot measure that would have imposed a two cents per ounce tax on the distribution of sodas and other sweetened beverages, and used the money to fund "healthy choices" in San Francisco.[38] The measure, which was also sponsored by Supervisors Malia Cohen, Eric Mar, John Avalos, David Chiu and David Campos, aimed to reduce soda consumption and increase programs to combat the rise of diabetes and other related diseases in San Francisco.[39]

The endorsement list for San Francisco's sugar beverages tax, Prop E, featured much of San Francisco's local political establishment, including all its state legislators, and many health organizations,[40] but voters in the November 4, 2014 election did not give the measure the ⅔ super-majority required to impose a new tax.[9] The American Beverage Association, much criticized by Wiener during the campaign, spent over $9 million to defeat Prop E,[41] which was also opposed by the Libertarian Party of San Francisco. Ultimately the measure garnered 55.6% of the vote,[9] a little over 10 percentage points below the threshold needed.

Fox News incident

When asked to comment by a Fox News Channel correspondent on July 13, 2015 over the shooting death of Kate Steinle in San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant whom the city sheltered as part of its sanctuary city policy, Wiener gave the following response: "“Fox News is not real news, and you’re not a reporter. I talk to real news only. Fox News is not real news”.[42] Also, when asked if he was upset that President Obama didn’t reach out to the Steinle family, he answered, “Fox News is not real news," refusing to answer the question and shutting his office door.[43]

State Senate Campaign

On July 1, 2015, Wiener announced that he was running for California's 11th State Senate district to replace termed out incumbent Mark Leno.[44] The district includes all of San Francisco and portions of northern San Mateo County, including Daly City, Colma, and part of South San Francisco. Wiener announced several endorsements, including the incumbent Senator, as part of his campaign announcement.[44]

References

  1. ↑ Knight, Heather (December 30, 2010). "Scott Wiener's persistence pays off in District 8". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  2. ↑ Bajko, Matthew S. (August 13, 2009). "Political Notebook: Spanjian tries to break gender barrier in D8 supervisor race". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Scott Wiener, District 8, Castro - San Francisco Supervisor Candidate Profile". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Knight, Heather (December 30, 2010). "Scott Wiener's persistence pays off in District 8". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  5. ↑ Joshua Sabatini (December 27, 2010). "Scott Wiener no stranger to city politics". The San Francisco Examiner.
  6. ↑ "Chiu names Farrell as budget chair, Wiener as head of land use," Marisa Lagos, City Insider, 12 January 2011.
  7. ↑ Barro, Josh (September 17, 2014). "San Francisco Official Says He Takes Truvada to Prevent H.I.V., and More Gay Men Should, Too" (The Upshot blog). The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 "Official Ranked-Choice Results Report November 2, 2010 Consolidated Statewide Direct Primary Election Board of Supervisors, District 8". San Francisco Department of Elections. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "SFDOE Results". San Francisco Department of Elections.
  10. ↑ "Scott Wiener naked ban passed in San Francisco". ABC Local News. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Scott Wiener on San Francisco's Ban on Public Nudity". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Supes vote to close S.F. parks midnight to 5 a.m.". 'San Francisco Chronicle'.
  13. ↑ "New San Francisco food truck regulations approved". San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. ↑ "Supervisors wrap up budget negotiations early". 'San Francisco Chronicle.
  15. ↑ "San Francisco poised to purchase land, make new park in Noe Valley". 'San Francisco Examiner'.
  16. ↑ "It's Down to the Wire for San Francisco's Budget". San Francisco Examiner.
  17. ↑ "Street fight is brewing over San Francisco's Road Repair Bond". San Francisco Examiner.
  18. ↑ Wiener, Scott (July 18, 2011). "Maintaining San Francisco's Trees". Huffington Post.
  19. 1 2 "Misconceptions Fuel Non-Profit Opposition to Crucial Muni Funding Reform". Streetsblog SF.
  20. ↑ "Supes Approve Wiener's Population-Based Transit Funding Measure for Ballot". Streetsblog SF.
  21. ↑ "Transit gets a boost from election results". San Francisco Examiner.
  22. ↑ "Supervisor Scott Wiener Hails Plan for More Cabs". San Francisco Examiner.
  23. ↑ "Plan to boost car-sharing at new housing". San Francisco Chronicle.
  24. 1 2 "Board of Supervisors Unanimously Passes Wiener?s Ped Safety Reforms". SF.Streetsblog.org.
  25. 1 2 "Fire Departments are standing in the way of good street design". City Lab?.
  26. ↑ "Supervisor Scott Wiener steps up heat on S.F. Fire Dept.". San Francisco Chronicle.
  27. 1 2 "Board of Supes Gives Initial Approval to Tenant Displacement Legislation". SF Appeal.
  28. ↑ "Board Restricts Ability to Convert Rental Housing". San Francisco Examiner.
  29. ↑ "S.F. Supervisors Back Micro-Apartments". San Francisco Chronicle.
  30. ↑ "Board Restricts Ability to Convert Rental Housing". San Francisco Magazine.
  31. ↑ "Idea would allow new in-law units during seismic work". San Francisco Chronicle.
  32. ↑ "Wiener proposes economic study on nightlfe". San Francisco Bay Guardian.
  33. ↑ "San Francisco Nightlife Generated $4.2 Billion in 2010: City Finally Embraces Industry". Huffo Post San Francisco.
  34. ↑ "Proposal makes it easier for businesses to host DJs". KGO ABC 7.
  35. ↑ "Coming Out of the PrEP Closet". Huffington Post”.
  36. ↑ "San Francisco Politician Goes Public With His Choice To Take Anti-HIV Drug". National Public Radio”.
  37. ↑ "Lee to Restore All HIV/AIDS Funds". Bay Area Reporter.
  38. ↑ Colliver, Victoria (February 1, 2014). "United front in S.F.'s war on sodas, other sweet drinks". San Francisco Chronicle.
  39. ↑ Knight, Heather (November 30, 2013). San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Experts-back-nanny-state-health-efforts-5022777.php. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  40. ↑ "United front in S.F.'s war on sodas, other sweet drinks". Choose Health SF.
  41. ↑ Steinmentz, Katy. "Big Soda Fights Bay Area Tax Proposals". Time.
  42. ↑ ‘Fox News Is Not Real News!’: See What Happened When Fox Reporter Confronted San Francisco Officials, The Blaze, Jul. 14, 2015 11:10pm
  43. ↑ O’Reilly Continues Push for Kate’s Law, Sees Reporters Scolded By SF Officials, Briebart.com by Ian Hanchett14 Jul 201
  44. 1 2 Emslie, Alex. "S.F. Supervisor Scott Wiener Announces State Senate Run". KQED.

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