You Don't Know Jeff: SF Mayoral Candidate Jeff Adachi speaks to POOR Magazine's Community Newsroom

p emEditors Note:/em/p p emJeff span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="114"Adachi/span, a mayoral candidate in San Francisco visited POOR Magazine#39;s Indigenous News-making Circle- Community Newsroom./em/p p emCommunity Newsroom at POOR Magazine is open to ALL candidates who would like to speak to the youth, adults and elders in poverty who are part of our family. POOR Magazine doesn#39;t endorse ANY candidate running for office in span data-scayt_word="Amerikkka" data-scaytid="148"Amerikkka/span/em/p p nbsp;/p p ldquo;If yoursquo;re for the status quo, then yoursquo;re probably not going to vote for Jeff Adachihellip;Irsquo;m someone whorsquo;s going to go in and shake it uprdquo;.nbsp; Moments before San Francisco Mayoral candidate Jeff span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="1"Adachi/span uttered those words to POOR Magazinersquo;s Indigenous news-making circle, the sharp pangs of an earthquake sent tremors through its office and throughout the city.nbsp; For POOR Magazinersquo;s indigenous and poverty scholars, having the foundations shake from underneath them is something that is experienced on the daily in the form of span data-scayt_word="houselessness" data-scaytid="3"houselessness/span, sit/lie laws, gentrification, removal and police terror in poor communities and communities of color.nbsp; Jeff span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="2"Adachi/span, smartly dressedmdash;sporting a campaign button on his lapelmdash;accompanied by his aide who was keenly aware of the clockmdash;spoke to our poverty scholars about how he was going to shake things up at City Hall if elected mayor./p p nbsp;/p p emPublic Defender/em/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;ldquo;People who have stolen a loaf of bread, harassed because they were gay or homelessmdash;I have defended themrdquo; said Jeff span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="4"Adachi/span in regards to his work as Public Defender, adding,nbsp;ldquo;As a Public Defender you understand how a person gets to a certain placerdquo;. span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="5"Adachi/span has served in the Public Defenderrsquo;s office for over two decadesmdash;9 years as elected Public Defender (Elected in 2002, reelected in 2006 and 2010).nbsp; In a society in which the machinery of justice is dysfunctional, span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="6"Adachi/span has dedicated his career to the aim of social justice, working with poor communities to improve education and to give those with limited opportunities a chance to start over and reenter the workforce.nbsp; His Clean Slate Program has become a model program for helping people with criminal recordsmdash;roughly 2000 a yearmdash;turn their lives around and find employment and educational opportunities.nbsp; He started the span data-scayt_word="BMAGIC" data-scaytid="9"BMAGIC/span Program in span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="10"Bayview/span Hunters Point mdash;providing backpacks, literacy programs and school supplies for children most in need of them.nbsp; The programrsquo;s success has been duplicated in the Western Addition with the span data-scayt_word="“Mo’magic" data-scaytid="11"ldquo;Morsquo;magic/span program.nbsp; ldquo;My whole career has been dedicated to achieving social justice said span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="7"Adachi/span, citing that his office has helped 25,000 in his tenure.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="8"Adachi/span attributes much of his officersquo;s success to what he terms, ldquo;Participatory Leadershiprdquo;, which lets people most invested in the community help decide policy issues that affect the outcomes.nbsp; An example of this was the SF Retry Councilmdash;which he formedmdash; insuring there were formerly incarcerated people running the panel.nbsp; ldquo;We donrsquo;t do enough of this in governmentmdash;give people most affected by policies and programs the power to legislate policyrdquo;.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;emA new crop lost/em/p p nbsp;/p p Jeff span data-scayt_word="Adachi’s" data-scaytid="14"Adachirsquo;s/span grandparents came to San Francisco from Hawaii in 1890, settling in span data-scayt_word="Bernal" data-scaytid="16"Bernal/span Heights, surviving the rsquo;06 Earthquake before moving to Stockton where they farmed the land.nbsp; World War II shook the span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="12"Adachi/span familyrsquo;s foundation when they were given 48 hours to get rid of everythingmdash;bringing only what they could carrymdash;as they were ordered to relocation centers where they were then sent to interment campsmdash;span data-scayt_word="Adachi’s" data-scaytid="15"Adachirsquo;s/span mother to Gila River in Arizona and his father to span data-scayt_word="Rohwer" data-scaytid="17"Rohwer/span in Arkansas.nbsp; ldquo;They had a new crop that they lostrdquo; said span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="13"Adachi/span, remembering the stories related by his parents.nbsp; ldquo;My parents taught me that anybody at any time can lose everythingmdash;thatrsquo;s reality, it happens all the time nowrdquo;.nbsp; The experience of his parents and grandparents served as a catalyst in his struggle for social justice.nbsp; ldquo;They taught me not to be bitter about what had happened to them, to get an education and stand up for what you believe inrdquo;.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p emThe best thing was the worst thing/em/p p nbsp;/p p I asked Mr. span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="18"Adachi/span, ldquo;What was the best thing you ever did, professionally or personally?rdquo;nbsp; He became introspective. Slowly he wasnrsquo;t the guy with the suit and the campaign badge and campaign talking points--none of that--but a human being who had connected deeply with another. nbsp;nbsp;ldquo;The best thing was the worst thingrdquo; he answered, looking down as if trying to visualize the moment and the emotions stirring through him at the time.nbsp; He recalled his first murder case, a case he lost in which an 18 year old African Descended man was sentenced to life in prison.nbsp; He recalled John span data-scayt_word="Tennison" data-scaytid="26"Tennison/span crying, declaring that he was innocent, that he was nowhere near the scene of the killing.nbsp; ldquo;I could always feel his (span data-scayt_word="Tennison’s" data-scaytid="28"Tennisonrsquo;s/span) presencerdquo; said span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="19"Adachi/span, who stayed with the case for nearly two decades, exhausting appealsmdash;putting up money along with span data-scayt_word="Tennison’s" data-scaytid="29"Tennisonrsquo;s/span mothermdash;which was used to file a petition in pro per (span data-scayt_word="ie" data-scaytid="30"ie/span: on his own behalf).nbsp; The result: The verdict was overturnedmdash;the judge issuing a 100 page decision finding that the prosecution and the homicide inspector--who later went on to become San Franciscorsquo;s chief of police--suppressed evidence.nbsp; After a settlement was reached with the city, span data-scayt_word="Tennison" data-scaytid="27"Tennison/span went to work in span data-scayt_word="Adachi’s" data-scaytid="25"Adachirsquo;s/span office as a clerk.nbsp; ldquo;The day he got out was one of the happiest days of my liferdquo; says span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="20"Adachi/span. As Public Defender, span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="21"Adachi/span has stood up to the police. Earlier this year he launched an investigation of illegal searches by police in SRO Hotels, finding that police had illegally entered single occupancy hotels by intimidating hotel managers and clerks to obtain master keys and falsifying sworn police statements. Said one Mission SRO resident who asked not to be identified, span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="22"Adachi/span is like Roberto Duran, he ain#39;t got no fear. nbsp; The experience of his family and their loss has given span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="23"Adachi/span insight and empathy when dealing with the fragile nature of human interaction and circumstances.nbsp; ldquo;If yoursquo;re not connected and you donrsquo;t feel the suffering and you donrsquo;t connect with it, then itrsquo;s not your sufferingrdquo; observes span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="24"Adachi/span.nbsp; ldquo;Thatrsquo;s what we do in society, we see a homeless person, and to us that person is invading our space.nbsp; Or we see a person without a home or a family without a home and we think, well, they should be out there working.nbsp; We impose our belief system on othersrdquo;.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p emWersquo;re losing the heart and soul of the city/em/p p nbsp;/p p ldquo;We#39;re losing black families, Latino Families, Asian span data-scayt_word="familes…we’re" data-scaytid="48"famileshellip;wersquo;re/span losing the heart and soul of the cityrdquo; says Jeff span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="31"Adachi/span on the subject of gentrification.nbsp; Citing the fact that 12% of the cityrsquo;s residentsmdash;the same percent applying to childrenmdash;live in poverty, span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="32"Adachi/span recognizes the effect the bad economy has had on families.nbsp; Joblessness, lack of affordable housing for working class people and seniors and limited support for small businesses are issues that span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="33"Adachi/span plans to tackle if elected mayor.nbsp; He pledges that an span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="34"Adachi/span administration would take 40 million dollars from the general fund to invest in small businesses for women and people of colormdash;all San Franciscans who want to start or expand a business.nbsp; According span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="35"Adachi/span, small businesses are suffering and the city is notnbsp;doing enough to support them.nbsp; He gives an example of a woman who wanted to start a bowling alley who was assessed a $44,000 fee.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="36"Adachi/span says he would have deferred the fee.nbsp; In regards to housing, span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="37"Adachi/span says he would try to create 10,000 units of supportive housingmdash;utilizing buildings that are not being used--in a public/private partnership between apartment owners and program providers that render services.nbsp; He expresses his support for the Occupy movements in San Francisco and throughout the country.nbsp; ldquo;Banks have done nothing to alleviate the distress that homeowners have experiencedmdash;losing their homes.nbsp; I do support a tax on banks that choose to foreclose properties in San Francisco.nbsp; They should have to pay a fee a fine before foreclosingrdquo;.nbsp; One hot issue that span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="38"Adachi/span took on was the issue of pensions for city workers.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="39"Adachi/span and his supporters gathered 50,000 signatures to place proposition D on the ballot.nbsp; Prop D is in favor of what span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="40"Adachi/span calls, ldquo;reasonablerdquo; pensions that wonrsquo;t bankrupt the city.nbsp; According to span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="41"Adachi/span, pension costs have risen from 200 million dollars 4 years ago to 473 million dollars.nbsp; The costs are projected to rise to 829 million in 4 years.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi’s" data-scaytid="47"Adachirsquo;s/span plan would have city employees contribute to their pension costs.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="42"Adachi/span sees the issue as one of fairness, citing a police officer who earned more than the president of the United Statesmdash;516,000 a year and retired at the age of 56 with a $240,000 a year pension.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="43"Adachi/span says that this is not reflective of all city employees but says that when one looks at the rolls of the fire and police department, the top 100 employees of each of those professions earn $240,000.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="44"Adachi/span says that the issue has caused him vilificationmdash;being asked to leave a firefighterrsquo;s funeral.nbsp; Why?nbsp; ldquo;Because I had the audacity to suggest that higher paid city employees contribute towards their pensionsrdquo;.nbsp; span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="45"Adachi/span says that Prop D is a fair plan--it exempts lower paid employees, has a graduated percentage that people would pay; it doesnrsquo;t, says span data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="46"Adachi/span, take anyonersquo;s pension away, or attack anyonersquo;s collective bargaining rights.nbsp; ldquo;Itrsquo;s just about making sure wersquo;re all contributing when these pension costs are going uprdquo;. nbsp;nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p emYou Donrsquo;t know Jack/em/p p nbsp;/p p We also discussed his documentary on Jack span data-scayt_word="Soo" data-scaytid="49"Soo/spanmdash;Asian American singer, comedianmdash;who played Detective span data-scayt_word="Yamana" data-scaytid="52"Yamana/span on the sitcom Barney Miller.nbsp; He was fascinated by Jack span data-scayt_word="Soo" data-scaytid="50"Soo/span by the fact that span data-scayt_word="Soo" data-scaytid="51"Soo/span did not let his ethnicity limit his professional success.nbsp; The documentary ldquo;You Donrsquo;t Know Jackrdquo; tells span data-scayt_word="Soo’s" data-scaytid="53"Soorsquo;s/span story, bringing to light the fact that he was the first non-black artist signed to Motown.nbsp; I then asked him if he had a favorite quote.nbsp; ldquo;By any means necessaryrdquo; he said, ldquo;By Malcolm X, one of my heroesrdquo;./p