NOVEMBER 2024 VOTER GUIDE
DISTRICT 11 SUPERVISOR
What is the Board of Supervisors?
An 11-member body that governs the affairs of the city
Each supervisor represents the roughly 80,000 residents who live in their district
Supervisors hold a significant amount of power to create or block policies and programs that impact the City
Supervisors can serve two consecutive terms of four years, and serve staggered terms so that every two years, either the even or odd districts are up for elections (this year, the odd districts are up for election)
The salary and benefits of this full-time position total $140,000 per year
Why You Should Care
Your supervisor represents you at the local level, and has the power to fix many of your day-to-day quality of life issues in your neighborhood. They are also powerful enough to solve citywide problems, particularly through their control of the budget which they pass annually after a series of deliberations. While the budget can be effectively used as a tool to implement policy, it can also be spent wastefully on items that are either performative or unaccountable to the voters. Examples: $61,000-per-tent encampments for the homeless, or $250,000-per-unit public restrooms often repurposed as drug injection sites.
Our Vision for the Board of Supervisors
They work with the Mayor and City Departments on the nuts and bolts of making our city better, with measurable outcomes, instead of performative and overly bureaucratic policies.
How We’re Evaluating Candidates’ Records
😍 Perfect 😃 Great! 😐 Fine or not enough info 🤔 Questionable 😩 Quite bad
When making endorsements, we judge candidates based on their political experience, managerial experience, and dedication to our issue areas. We came to our endorsement decisions after conducting interviews with candidates, deeply researching their records, and collecting our community’s input.
Why we’re voting for him: San Francisco’s elected officials can act pretty childish sometimes—so it’s a good thing Michael Lai made a career in early childhood education. Lai founded the micro-daycare network TinyCare, whose true innovation was realizing that good teachers are hard to find, and provided subsidized housing for educators and their families to attract quality teachers. While he’s new to politics, joining a recent wave of results-driven entrepreneurs trying to fix the city, he’s gained a remarkable amount of support in a short period of time. We support Michael Lai because he’s proven to be a successful, competent manager whose ideas are all in the right place.
Political Experience 😐
A rising star in San Francisco politics
Michael Lai is just starting his political career, but he’s already one-for-one—he won his first race ever for the Democratic County Central Committee in March. After a career spent in the private sector, he pivoted to public service after selling his company in 2023. Lai joined the board of Wu Yee Children’s Services, San Francisco’s biggest Head Start and Early Head Start provider, working to expand services in District 11. Lai inspired hundreds of people to volunteer for his DCCC campaign, and his events for the District 11 Supervisor seat are well attended and energetic. This all points to how well Lai’s message and campaign resonate with San Francisco voters.
Past Policy 😃
A great fit for his district
So far, Michael Lai’s political positions have overwhelmingly aligned with both District 11 voters and TogetherSF Action. Like the majority of District 11 voters, Lai supported the successful February 2022 recall of three San Francisco Board of Education members, supported the successful June 2022 recall of then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and opposed Prop B’s “Cop Tax” in the March 2024 primary. District 11 has been historically neglected by the city, but residents there want the same things as everyone else—clean streets, working street lights, neighborhood beautification projects, etc. Lai would be an effective advocate for residents, and keep the district’s best interests at heart.
Proposed Policy 😃
Efficient policy that boosts small business
Lai’s ideas are in the right place, and line up well with District 11 voters. He supports fully staffing San Francisco’s police department, and promotes new housing development (including often-overlooked middle-income housing). And as you’d expect given his background, Lai’s small business proposals are the most fully developed, with a focus on efficient policies. Lai wants to recruit marquee businesses like a theater or nightclub to bring more people to the quieter neighborhoods of District 11, which would give a boost to existing businesses. He supports legislation to reduce permit fees and red tape for new businesses, and wants to restructure San Francisco’s tax code to exempt small businesses. San Francisco is currently dealing with record-high retail vacancy rates—Lai’s proposals are aimed in the right direction.
Don’t Forget
Lai’s campaign demonstrates the value of a strong network. Lai has mobilized a grassroots army of friends, family, and neighbors to volunteer for his campaign. Most of these people aren’t dedicated political operators, they’re just ordinary folks who believe in Michael’s campaign and want him to succeed. Good supervisors can inspire voters while also working diligently to craft legislation—Lai has proven that he has both traits needed to succeed.
District 11 includes Crocker Amazon, Excelsior, Ingleside, and Mission Terrace.
Paid for by TogetherSF Action (tsfaction.org). Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.
