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Real Leadership For District 6

Welcome to the Theresa Sparks For District 6 Supervisor website.

It's time for a change. It's time for proven leadership. Theresa Sparks is the only candidate for District 6 Supervisor who has the skills, vision, and ability to make transformative and substantial change. She is a leader who will effectively represent all residents of the district and bring needed change to help the district and it's residents thrive.

  • Stuart Milk & Theresa Sparks

    "Theresa Sparks is this generation’s Harvey Milk"

     -- Stuart Milk        

  • Stuart Milk & Theresa Sparks

    Endorsed by Senator Mark Leno

  • Stuart Milk & Theresa Sparks

    Endorsed by Bevan Dufty

    “Few people bring the experience of leading a major city department to the Board of Supervisors. Through her leadership of the Human Rights Commission, Theresa has demonstrated the skills directly relevant to District 6; meeting diverse needs, expanding small business, growing new jobs, and ensuring a vibrant community.” --Bevan Dufty

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  • Stuart Milk & Theresa Sparks

    "She is so powerful, such a badass. But also so warm and funny."

    --Margaret Cho

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"Thank You" from Theresa

 

To my friends and many supporters of the SPARKSfor6 campaign,

 
These last 12 months running for political office have been an incredible experience for me.  I have learned so much about San Francisco.  I have a better understanding of the issues facing this City and particularly District 6 than I had before embarking on this campaign last December.  They are many and they are daunting; but certainly solutions exist and they lay squarely within the neighborhoods of the district and the individuals who live in those neighborhoods.  My advice to everyone in District 6, and every district of this City, is to get involved and make your voice heard.   

This election showed that voters want real change in this City.  We almost achieved a moderate majority on the Board with the election of Mark Farrell, Scott Weiner and Malia Cohen who will be joining Carmen Chu and Sean Elsbernd.

Personally, this journey has been both extremely rewarding and very challenging.  I have met hundreds of wonderful people from every neighborhood in District 6 and have found they have much more in common than not.  Quality of life, real solutions to personal safety, affordable housing, the economy, sustainable jobs and livable neighborhoods are significant issues from the Tenderloin to Mission Bay, from Civic Center to Western SOMA.  These issues sometimes mean different things to different people and the solutions and approaches vary wildly, but everyone wants the same end-result.  And, it was reinforced to me many times that, in San Francisco, the process is every bit as important as the ultimate conclusion. 

I sincerely appreciate the support I received from the elected officials and many organizations that endorsed my candidacy, shared my vision and supported my solutions to our civic challenges.  I want to especially thank the support I received from Gavin Newsom, Mark Leno, Sean Elsbernd, Bevan Dufty, Michela Alioto-Pier and Lawrence Wong.  I also want to thank the amazing coalition of organizations that came together to support my candidacy, the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Plan C, the Raoul Wallenberg Jewish Democratic Club, SEIU-UHW, the SF POA, the SF Police Officers Pride Alliance, Fire Fighters Local 798, Deputy Sheriff’s Association, BOMA, Small Business Alliance, Coalition for Responsible Growth, IBEW Locals 1245 and 6, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 38, SF Association of Realtors, Coalition for Better Housing, SF Apartment Association, Rescue MUNI, African American Democratic Club, Westside Democratic Club and the Chinese-American Citizens Alliance.            

I have also met many new friends with whom I hope to spend time in the future.  Thank you for your unrelenting support and the incredible number of hours you spent volunteering with the campaign. 

I want to congratulate Jane Kim in her election as the new Supervisor for District 6 and wish her good fortune in addressing the many diverse and extremely complicated issues facing this district.

Frequently Asked Questions

SPARKS FOR 6 – FAQ

BACKGROUND

 

Q. Tell us about yourself and your background. 

A. I understand business from the inside out having started numerous small businesses and building them into market leaders. I founded Resource Technology Inc, a company that marketed patented technology I developed to recycle used oils, antifreeze and wastewater.  I was CEO of Evergreen Environmental, a company that developed numerous innovative recycling technologies and bought them to market in California and internationally. And I was president of Greenfield Environmental, a multi-faceted environmental services company that cleaned up the San Diego Harbor, managed municipal waste from several Southern California cities and counties and serviced the household hazardous waste needs of millions of California homeowners.   I created Green companies long before the concept of a Green company was made popular.
 
My most recent, and possibly most difficult business challenge, was turning-around Good Vibrations, a thirty year-old woman-owned, iconic San Francisco company.  Starting as a seasonal temp employee and ultimately emerging as president and CEO, I brought to the organization a more traditional business approach allowing its continued presence and the retention of more than 70 jobs. 
I came to activism in the 1990s, after making a very personal decision that would alter my life forever.  In doing so, I lost a home, family, friends, job, financial security and, to a great extent, even my history.  I experienced firsthand the kind of discrimination that leading your life down a different path can engender.  I felt that I had no choice but to speak up to create change in both people’s attitudes and the laws that adversely affected many disenfranchised communities, with which I now had a special kinship. That feeling led me to becoming a vocal community activist for basic civil and human rights within the City.
  
My visibility as an activist led me to becoming Co-Chair of Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and to sit on the on the Board of the Horizons Foundation, using these positions to build coalitions with other groups inside and outside of government.  Through this work, I have been recognized as a national leader in the fight for LGBT civil rights and have had the fortune to be honored by groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, Equality California and named Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade, one of the OUT Magazines 100 LGBT Leaders in the United States and named Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature.
 
I began my formal work as a public servant within City government in 2001, when in recognition of my effectiveness as a human rights activist, I was appointed to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. During my time on the Commission I chaired the Task Force on Environmental Racism in Bayview/Hunters Point, held the first-ever hearings in the US after 9/11 on Violence Against People Perceived of Arab-American Descent and created a task force with members from the SFPD and the LGBT community to discuss how police deal with LGBT people in the criminal justice system, most notably transgender people.
 
Then, in 2004 after the passage of Prop H -- the police reform ballot measure -- I was appointed to the newly re-constituted Police Commission by the progressive Board of Supervisors. As a member of the Commission, I took positions that embodied my belief that supporting public safety and supporting human rights are not in conflict.  I lead the fight for adding more academy classes to get the SFPD to full staffing, addressing our growing homicide rate, particularly in communities of color and bringing more transparency and accountability to the SFPD.   In 2009, I was named Rights Commission. 
 

Long Road To Acceptance For Man Who Became Woman

From San Francisco Chronicle, Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer,  Saturday, May 8, 2010

He was a family man and a guy's guy, running companies and keeping the wife and kids in million-dollar homes. He collected cars, souped up his pickup truck and wore diamondback snakeskin cowboy boots when riding his Harley.

Theresa Sparks Goes National Part II: Theresa On NPR

After recent article on the New York Times, meet Theresa Sparks and Adam Sparks on All Things Considered and take a more personal look at  Theresa, from rejection to acceptance, as a father, a friend, a c

Back to The Beginning...

Back in March, our campaign kicked off with it's first fundraiser held at Divas. Please join Theresa Sparks, Candidate for District 6 Supervisor for the final lap fundraiser and get together, back where it all started…

 

for more information and to RSVP please email
amym@sparksfor6.com

 

Location

Diva's Nightclub
1081 Post Street
San Francisco, CA
When: 
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
GMap Popup Text: 

 For more information and to RSVP please email

amym@sparksfor6.com

Making History in District 6!

A Call to Action: A Message from the leading candidate for District 6 Supervisor, Theresa Sparks...

Dear Friends,

WOW...what a week for our campaign on the endorsement front

First, I was honored by not one but THREE of the major newspapers in San Francisco - the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner and the Bay Area Reporter.  This editorials are a clear sign of how we are making history in this race!

Second, we had two new members join Team Sparks with the endorsements of IBEW Local 6 and IBEW Local 1245. We are honored to be endorsed by these two great labor unions representing electrical workers throughout San Francisco.  We are proud to have them as part of our growing coalition which includes SEIU-UHW (22,000 Home Health care workers), BOMA, Small Business Advocates, Plumbers Local 38 along with elected officials such as Senator Mark Leno, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Supervisors Bevan Dufty, Michela Alioto-Pier and Sean Elsbernd.

Third, our campaign fundraising has taken us to a new level with an amazing group of individual donors across San Francisco.  But, with the spending cap raised by the City again this week, we need YOUR HELP to get us over the finish line!

A Message from Theresa Sparks

San Francisco is a world class city and beloved for its beauty and unique spirit.

Like you, I care about San Francisco, and I’m concerned about its future. I envision a city where our diversity is not merely a slogan but our greatest strength and the engine of our creativity and economic recovery; a city that is family-friendly with safe neighborhoods for children, seniors, and people of all socio-economic levels; and a city that encourages everyone to engage in civil conversation about City government.  I am the only candidate in District 6 with a track record of successful leadership, government service, business experience, and community activism that can make this dream reality. 

This campaign is about giving back to the City and helping to move San Francisco forward.  My term on the Board of Supervisors will be about creating jobs, strengthening the economy, and helping to rebuild District 6 without sacrificing the values that make San Francisco great.  My strength as a candidate is proven leadership. 

San Francisco Chronicle Endorses Theresa Sparks for District 6 Supervisor

District Six loops in the gritty Tenderloin and then runs through the gleaming condo towers of South Beach and the warrens of lofts South of Market.

Bay Area Reporter Endorses Theresa Sparks for District 6 Supervisor

Theresa Sparks has just received the endorsement from the Bay Area Reporter:

Bay Area Reporter

Theresa Sparks in District 6

District 6, which includes South of Market and the Tenderloin and Polk Street areas, will get a new supervisor this year because Chris Daly is termed out. After a decade of Daly's tantrums and boorish behavior (though to his credit he did accomplish many good things, including housing projects and restoration of AIDS funding), many voters are ready for a change.

Theresa Sparks: The Transgender Harvey Milk

The last years have been fantastic for LGBT politicos. One would be hard put to think of New York politics without New York City Council President Christine Quinn quickly coming to mind. Then there is the amazing and historic victory of Mayor Annise Parker in Houston. Now in San Francisco, history is on the verge of being made one more time.

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