A Message from Theresa Sparks

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. 

Community Activist 

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 my personal history.  I experienced firsthand the kind of discrimination a different life-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, with whom I now had a special kinship. This experience led me to becoming a vocal community activist for basic civil and human rights within the City. 

As Co-Chair of Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and Board Member of the Horizons Foundation, I was successful in building coalitions inside and outside of government. Consequently, I was recognized as a national leader in the fight for LGBT civil rights and was honored by several groups, including the Human Rights Campaign and Equality California. I was named among100 LGBT Leaders in the United States by Out Magazines, Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature, and Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade. 

As your District 6 Supervisor, I will continue to work to ensure San Francisco remains a beacon for basic civil and human rights.  I will push for legislation that strengthens our ability to serve and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Business Leader

I understand what it takes to create a prosperous business and its importance to San Francisco’s economy. I have created jobs, balanced priorities, and managed thriving organizations during periods of both economic expansion and market contraction. I’ve experienced government policies that supported and sustained growth and those that hindered business development. 

My most recent and most difficult business challenge was restructuring Good Vibrations, the thirty-year-old iconic and wholly woman-owned San Francisco company. Starting as a seasonal temp employee and ultimately emerging as President and CEO, I introduced a more traditional business approach that allowed its continued presence and the retention of more than 70 employees.  

I was GREEN before the concept was popular.  I founded Resource Technology Inc. and developed and marketed patented technology used to recycle used oils, antifreeze, and wastewater.  I was CEO of Evergreen Environmental, which developed numerous recycling technologies and brought them to market in California and internationally.  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. 

San Francisco needs the creativity, capital, hard work, and willingness of thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and business people who choose our City.  

As your District 6 Supervisor, my number one priority will be to help rebuild our economy with the help of the business community. 

Public Servant

I began 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 handle LGBT people in the criminal justice system. 

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 reflected my belief that public safety and human rights are not in conflict. I ledthe fight for more academy classes to get the SFPD to full staffing, to address a growing homicide rate, particularly in communities of color. I supported more transparency and accountability in the SFPD.  

Based on the strength of my leadership and hard work, I was elected President of the Commission -- the first Board-appointed commissioner to ever serve as Police Commission President.   My ascension to this position was hailed by members of the City’s progressive community as a milestone for more transparency and accountability in the SFPD.  For two years as Commission President, I worked aggressively to bring City government to the people of San Francisco by having more public meetings in the community than any other commission in the City’s history; established a cooperative style of leadership by working respectfully with commissioners appointed by both the Mayor and the Board resulting in major reforms of the SFPD; and, oversaw the recruitment of a new Chief of Police, Chief George Gascón. 

I was named by Mayor Newsom Executive Director of San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission in 2009. In its 45th year, the Human Rights Commission is one of the oldest government human rights agencies in the United States.  It is the agency that ensures that the City lives up to its promises; does not discriminate in City contracting; manages the City’s minority, women, and local business enterprise ordinances; enforces all local non-discrimination ordinances; mediates intergroup tensions throughout the City; and investigates hundreds of housing-discrimination complaints annually. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is the custodian of the San Francisco values held dear and is part of San Francisco’s historic legacy.

My Commitment to San Francisco & District 6 

As your District 6 Supervisor, I will work to ensure San Francisco remains a beacon of hope for those who suffer from discrimination. I will push for legislation that strengthens our ability to serve and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves. 

As your District 6 Supervisor, my top priority will be to develop policies and legislation that attract, support, and retain the kinds of businesses that make San Francisco economically viable.  I will work with you to find creative ways to repair our economy, put people back to work, and solve San Francisco’s structural budget problems.  

As your District 6 Supervisor, I will use my experience as a community activist, business owner, and public servant to bring common sense and practical thinking back to City Hall. I believe the solutions to the problems facing our City are to be found by listening to the very people who face these challenges on a daily basis. 

Let’s make San Francisco work again—for all of us.