Bay Area Reporter Endorses Theresa Sparks for District 6 Supervisor

Theresa Sparks has just received the endorsement from the 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.

Among the more than dozen candidates running for the seat, we think Theresa Sparks is a good fit for the district. While some of her opponents have tried to paint her as the "conservative" in the race, nothing could be further from the truth. Sparks, currently the executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, is an out transgender woman who has a wide variety of experience – in business and government – that will enable her to quickly assume her new role on the board. A former CEO of Good Vibrations, Sparks knows what it takes to run a business and balance a budget. She also served as co-chair of the Alice Club.

Equally important is her public service work, most important of which was serving on the high-profile Police Commission and two terms as its president. In that capacity, she oversaw the hiring of Police Chief George Gasc—n, which involved numerous public hearings to solicit community comment about what residents wanted to see in a new chief. Sparks has a solid working relationship with Gasc—n and agrees with his reform efforts that are currently under way.

In another example of how Sparks can appeal to both progressives and moderates, Mayor Gavin Newsom supports her supervisorial bid. When she was elected Police Commission president, the mayor was not pleased that Sparks, who was appointed by the supervisors to the panel, secured the needed votes over his preferred candidate.

"I've tried to get beyond ideology," Sparks told us.

She's also someone who can compromise, and that is an art in politics. "I believe if you get 80 percent of what you want, it's a win," she said. "I think that's really required on the Board of Supervisors."

Original Article: http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=5128