Lighthearted Rosenthal no lightweight: D8 candidate legit. alternative to Dufty, October 2006

By Adam Brody

On the last Friday in September, The Beat sat down with Alix Rosenthal, candidate for District 8 supervisor, at her modest campaign headquarters on the 400-block of Haight Street.

The walls had been freshly painted a yellowish-cream color, with purple plastic tablecloths covering several sets of black metal tables and chairs. A multicolored parasol spun slowly overhead, its handle attached to the motor of a former ceiling fan.

Sitting down at one of the corner tables, Rosenthal discussed her campaign, pulling no punches in her assessment of her main opposition, incumbent Bevan Dufty.

“He is totally out of touch with the district’s values and how it votes,” she said. “District 8 is the fourth most progressive district in the city [according to a statistical index published by Richard DeLeon and David Latterman], and it is represented by one of the most conservative members of the Board of Supervisors. I feel my politics are closer in line with the district’s, particularly on land use and the environment.”

As an example, Rosenthal cited the Healthy Saturdays legislation introduced by District 1 Supervisor Jake McGoldrick that would have closed part of Golden Gate Park to cars on Saturdays for a six-month trial period. Mayor Gavin Newsom vetoed the proposal and Dufty voted to sustain the veto, even though Rosenthal said the voters of District 8 approved similar legislation just a few years before.

“We’re all about car-free Saturdays in the park,” she said, referring to the fact that she is endorsed by major environmental organizations in city.
Her campaign focuses on four main platform areas: housing, transportation, the environment and public safety.

Strongly pushing for the development and protection of affordable housing, Rosenthal said she is interested in writing legislation that would support community land trusts and limited equity cooperatives.

“I’d like to make sure that developers are providing as many community benefits as they can in exchange for the right to develop,” she said. “That includes inclusionary housing. That includes building more affordable housing.”

She admitted that Muni is a “disaster” and needs an influx of cash, one of the reasons why she supports the parking tax measure on the ballot this November.

“When I’m elected, I will make sure [these revenues] go towards improving Muni,” she said. “Once Muni is the fastest way to get around town, more people will take it and we will vastly reduce our carbon emissions and our dependence on foreign fuel.”

Rosenthal also said she believed the city could be doing much more to help save the environment, such as reforming the green building ordinance, as well as requiring contractors to recycle materials after demolition.

“We’re not paying attention to these things at a time when we’re at an environmental crisis,” she said. “I, for one, will not stand by while our environment is in crisis. Local government needs to take more drastic measures to require environmental conservation and sustainability.”

The mayor is offering expedited permitting for some buildings that use a certain amount of recycled materials, but Rosenthal said that is only a baby step in the right direction. “You can’t just pat people on the back for voluntarily choosing to save the environment,” she said. “We need to start requiring people. Most [developers] are not going to choose to be environmentally friendly if they don’t think that it’s profitable.”

In the public safety arena, Rosenthal has served as a violence prevention advocate and treasurer for the Ban Handgun Violence campaign. She has also done pro-bono legal work for the Legal Community Against Violence, a handgun control group. Additionally, Rosenthal supports Supervisor Mirkarimi’s foot-patrol legislation.

“It’s really important that we get cops out of their cars,” she said. “I don’t care if it’s going to increase response time by a couple of seconds. We need to get cops poking their heads into every store on this block. If they’re in their cars, they’re isolated from the neighborhood.”

Aside from mounting her first political campaign since running for student body president in college, Rosenthal is currently serving as the Deputy City Attorney for the City of Oakland and the General Counsel to the Oakland Army Base. She is also the President of the San Francisco chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus, an organization attempting to gain equal numbers of women and men in all levels of politics by the year 2020. However, she said that goal is still quite far off.

“There aren’t enough women on the Board of Supervisors, and it’s because we’re not doing a good enough job of convincing women to jump in the race,” she said. “So I decided to put my money where my mouth is.”

Rosenthal, who is tall and attractive with charismatic vigor, is still in her early thirties, but already has extensive experience writing legislation.

“I negotiate with real estate developers on behalf of the people of Oakland to make sure that the developers are providing a community benefit in exchange for the right to develop on the Army base,” she said. “It is directly related to what I would do on the Board of Supervisors. I think it’s really important that we have more folks with legal training on the Board. My experience writing legislation is what makes me a better candidate then Bevan Dufty. He is one of the least prolific legislators on the Board of Supervisors. I’m confident that I’ll be able to identify problems and write the legislation that will solve them.”

The SF Party Party [see sfpartyparty.com] was initially responsible for persuading Rosenthal to enter the race, and has supplied some of her most active campaign volunteers. “I share their values,” she said. “I think it’s really important that we preserve San Francisco’s culture and nightlife … [that’s] why I moved here. It’s a really fun city, and I’d hate to see it become less fun.”

Actively involved in facilitating Burning Man art installations, Rosenthal said it was David Best’s temple on Octavia Street that inspired her to join the advisory board of the Black Rock Arts Foundation. She has since been involved in bringing “Flock”––the spindly-legged metal creature that seemed to have escaped from a Dali painting––to the grass outside City Hall last year, and “Passage,” a huge mother and child piece, to Pier 14.

“I think it’s really important that we bring more temporary public art pieces to the city,” she said. “Public art is a fantastic way to get the community talking to each other. I would like to explore where we can bring more public art to District 8, even if it’s just on a temporary basis.”

If elected, Rosenthal would be in charge of a district that neighbors much of District 5, and she said her values would remain consistent with those of the Lower Haight.

“I think that the Lower Haight is populated by lots of solid progressives,” she said. “I plan to work very closely with Supervisor Mirkarimi on progressive legislation.”

Rosenthal supports the decriminalization of marijuana and prostitution, and said key swing voters in this election will be in Noe Valley, the Castro and Glen Park, although she is confident that her endorsement by the Tenant’s Union will bolster her popularity throughout these areas. She has also gathered the endorsements of the SF Bike Coalition, the Green Party, the SF Women’s Political Committee, Matt Gonzalez and many others.

However Alix Rosenthal’s main focus simply remains name recognition.
“I think, because this is a progressive district, that once the voters meet me and realize the differences between [me and Dufty], they will vote for me,” she said. “The key is letting them know who I am.”