Adam Kim

Neighbors of the Parkside and Outer Sunset:

Ten years ago, I moved to the Bay Area for its unique career opportunities. What I discovered, however, was diversity far more welcoming than anything I’d experienced in my Midwestern home town.

This was a place that I could truly call home. But that diversity is at stake, and many who call San Francisco home will find themselves kicked by the wayside sooner or later.

What happened to the welcoming diversity? We need look no further than the twin crises of housing unaffordability and homelessness plaguing our City.

With housing and rent prices skyrocketing, residents both new and generations-old are fleeing, some voluntarily but others forcibly, priced out and evicted.

Replacing them, in theory, should be new faces representing various cultures from around the world. But, instead we see real estate brokers and home-flipping speculators; occasionally actual residents move in, but they comprise only the wealthiest, their level of diversity dubious at best.

Almost literally, we’ve sold San Francisco’s soul to the highest bidders.

The most philanthropic companies aren’t going to provide affordable housing or homeless relief without added profit on their bottom lines. Upzoning and trusting big developers to build us out of our crises will only demonstrate how many non-local investors are willing to throw money at new luxury condos.

Meanwhile, our schools’ teachers will be lucky to rent out leftover district property, much less receive any raises; our local shops will be bought out and renovated into big-box stores; and Muni-only lanes will see more ride-share traffic than light rail.

But we can do better, show the rest of the world that these problems of corporatization have public solutions. We can and should affordably house all of our residents. We can and should be providing our residents with complete communities, with easily accessible public transportation, parks and locally owned small businesses.

My local community and political involvement may pale in comparison to other candidates; if you need to vote for a candidate with solid community standing who has lived in the Sunset for dozens of years, vote for Mike Murphy – he’s my second choice, and I have faith in his values.

I’m a firm believer in the power of the people, not in mayoral appointees and incumbents who are out to just play ball with corporations.

What’s left of our collective soul is what I want to save and grow into one worthy of the San Francisco name.

Ours is a city of love, culture, cuisine and the arts. When the rest of the world talks about the wealth of San Francisco, should it be in regards to real estate investments like we’re a West Coast Wall Street or do we help them remember the richness of our communities?

www.adamkimsf.com