Speaking to a packed room of seniors at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco last week, two of the city’s four incumbent supervisors cited their ties to the Bay Area Jewish community in an effort to reach their audience.
At the lively discussion Friday of last week, all four incumbent supervisors tackled issues ranging from MUNI service and dirty streets to protecting the city’s small businesses. Supervisors Barbara Kaufman and Leslie Katz (no relation to this reporter) also used the opportunity to present their Jewish backgrounds.
“It’s very nice to be back at the Jewish center,” Kaufman said. “My children went to camp at the Jewish center; they spent a lot of their years at the Jewish center. Having been a part of the organized Jewish community for 37 years, the center is very near and dear to my heart.”
Kaufman, former host of a call-in consumer affairs program on KCBS radio, started fund-raising for the Jewish Community Federation in 1959, soon after she and husband Ron moved to the Bay Area from Arizona. Decades of Jewish communal service followed, including a seven-year stint on the Jewish Family and Children’s Services board of directors.
For her part, Katz talked about being raised in a family with a tradition of community involvement and a commitment to education. Specifically, she cited her mother’s work teaching English as a second language through Jewish Vocational Services in San Francisco.
In identifying major issues facing San Francisco in the near future, Katz — an attorney appointed to the board earlier this year by Mayor Willie Brown — cited the impact of welfare reform legislation. Under the new law, legal immigrants who are not yet citizens could stand to lose government benefits.
“There are almost 5,000 Russian Jewish immigrants who will lose SSI as a result of this reform,” said Katz, a member of San Francisco’s Congregation Sha’ar Zahav and a graduate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s leadership program.
Supervisor Michael Yaki also cited the impact of welfare reform as an issue of major concern to San Francisco, agreeing with Katz that the Russian Jewish newcomers will be especially hard hit, as will immigrants from Asia.
In his comments to an audience convened by Montefiore Senior Center, Yaki focused on the need to address San Francisco’s aging population. “A city designed to be friendly to young people is going to be friendly to seniors,” said Yaki, a former district director for Rep. Nancy Pelosi who was also appointed to the board by Brown. “A street safe for children will also be safe for seniors.”
The fourth incumbent supervisor, Sue Bierman — who is often mistakenly thought to be Jewish — turned the discussion toward keeping the city’s youth constructively engaged.
“I want to try and find ways to find programs to keep kids busy,” said the supervisor, a planning commissioner under Mayors George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein and Art Agnos.
Twenty-seven people are running for six open seats on the 11-member board of supervisors. In addition to Kaufman and Katz, a third Jewish woman, Carolene Marks, is among the candidates.
In Kaufman’s eyes, a Jewish presence on the board is important. “We bring a sensitivity and a sense of inclusiveness that certainly is an important component of being a member of the legislative branch of government,” she said.
After four years in office, Kaufman is perhaps best known for spearheading the campaign to rewrite the city charter, which had been in effect since 1931. Voters overwhelmingly approved the new charter, which unifies government by shortening the term of the appointed chief administrative officer and making that person more directly accountable to the mayor and board of supervisors.
The charter also stipulates that city commissions reflect San Francisco’s diversity — in ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
The new charter, Kaufman said at Friday’s discussion, is “a way to make the city’s government more effective, more efficient and more accountable to the voters.”