by Garrett McAuliffe
Mayor Gavin Newson up turns the first dirt at the site of the Transbay Transit Center. He stands among supporters of the project. The Transbay Transit Center will be a new home for 2,600 families, it will serve more than 100,000 transit passengers per day, and will have parks and a retail main street. (Photo by Dania Patricia Maxwell)
Despite his seeming accessibility, strong grassroots support and involvement in a highly visible, competitive election, many residents of the Mission District and Bernal Heights still consider the newly elected member to the Board of Supervisors David Campos, a relatively unknown figure politically.
“Whereas (Eric) Quezada and (Mark) Sánchez had strong ties as community organizers, Campos seems to have come out of nowhere,” said Steven Pazarek, who has lived on the south side of Bernal Heights for the past six years, referring to the other two strong contenders who ran against Campos to fill the supervisor seat for District 9.
Many in the neighborhood can outline his inspiring biography: After entering the country from Guatemala with his family at the age of 14, undocumented and speaking only Spanish, Campos eventually earned scholarships to study at Stanford and then Harvard Law, before becoming involved with local politics as a city attorney and, more recently, as a police commissioner and member of San Francisco’s Democratic Central Committee.
But beyond background facts, some in the neighborhood still wonder exactly where he fits along the city’s left-leaning political spectrum.
“City government has to work for everyone, including those who have the least, and I think oftentimes those are the people who are forgotten,” Campos said to El Reportero. “That’s how I see the essence of the progressive movement, and I feel I am a part of that and proud to be a part of that.”
He elaborated, “That said, I think, especially in these tough budget times, you have to transcend the labels while remaining true to your core principles. We need to reach out to people who may not agree with us and figure out a way of working together to really address what we are facing, which is a crisis, an economic crisis, that is now affecting San Francisco. We have to figure out a way how we, as an elected family, can work together to collectively address that.”
The worsening state of our economy also adds concern to one of David Campos’ priorities, improving public safety.
“We know that crime can increase during tough economic times,” he explained. In Campos’ opinion, understanding the systemic causes of crime, social and economic, is vital to addressing this issue.
“I think why people get in trouble, especially young people, is that they don’t have much going on in their lives,” he said. “If you give them something to do, I think that that will go a long way to keeping that person out of the criminal justice system. That’s why we need to invest in programs that give, especially young people, job opportunities, internship opportunities.”
Campos highlights the need for community involvement and connection in any proposed programs, an emphasis that extends to his vision of a more engaged, receptive police force.
But some residents have expressed doubts regarding any belief that police can have a significant role in improving public safety.
“I don’t think increased police presence alone has ever had much effect in reducing violent crime in a neighborhood,” said Antonio Román-Alcala, an urban gardener with a background in community organizing and youth projects, who grew up and continues to live in the Mission.
While recognizing that public safety is not just a policing issue, Campos does advocate increased foot patrols and closer connections and understanding between police and the community.
Campos remains particularly proud of his efforts while police commissioner to implement more cultural competency programs for officers.
“We had police talk with someone who was undocumented and explain the experience of being someone undocumented in the Mission, and the language barriers that go with that,” he explained, adding, “I think new officers are receptive.”
While training in cultural diversity is important, Campos emphatically believes city resources should not be devoted to enforcing federal criminalization of undocumented workers.
“Our status as a sanctuary city helps to make our city safer,” he said.
“It’s an issue that I think can define who we are as a city and I think we need to protect our sanctuary status. That’s going to be a priority for me, making sure that the rights and interests of immigrants in this city are respected and are addressed.”
One such right, which Campos supports, would allow undocumented immigrants to become eligible for driver’s licenses.
In response to questions regarding the continued confiscation of vehicles in the city for the sole offence of not holding a license (an infraction that calls for a 30-day impound and often costs upwards of $1500 to retrieve), Campos cited the unfairness of such a policy that regularly targets immigrants.
The law regarding vehicle impounds, which El Reportero has been focusing on for the past month, has also faced increasing scrutiny recently over objections of unreasonable seizure.
In light of these objections, Los Angeles and a few counties in the state have placed a moratorium on confiscations.
“That’s one issue I’m going to look into,” Campos said. “We feel that it’s consistent with the spirit of the sanctuary ordinance for us to place a moratorium as well. To the extent there’s any legal room, we should do that.”
This subject will be covered more deeply in a series of articles over the next few weeks. El Reportero will continue to engage David Campos and other supervisors, sharing statistics and working towards a more reasonable and just policy regarding the local enforcement of this law.
