Nine candidates are on the Nov. 3 ballot for San Francisco's District 10 seat on the Board of Supervisors, the sprawling southeastern district that runs from Potrero Hill through the Bayview and Hunters Point to Visitacion Valley. KQED's voter guide calls it a race shaped by legacy issues, especially the contaminated Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, and by the area's huge development potential.

Who is running

KQED lists these candidates and their occupations:

  • Theo Ellington, executive director of the Bayview Opera House
  • Dion-Jay "DJ" Brookter, former CEO of Young Community Developers
  • J.R. Eppler, a small business attorney and Potrero Hill resident
  • Pearci "PJ" Bastiany, a graduate student and small business owner
  • Deandra Bryant, an emergency-housing case manager
  • Ellsworth "Ell" Jennison Jr., a carpenter
  • Mike Trouble Lin, a small-business consultant
  • Jamo Muhammad, CEO of the We Got Winners Big Brother Program
  • Shawn M. Richard, head of Brothers Against Guns

GrowSF's guide also lists a tenth name, Jessica Pessecow, a nurse and legal representative.

Who has the endorsements

As of Oct. 10, 16 of the 26 San Francisco voter guides tracked by the site BayBallot named Ellington as their first choice, compared with seven for Brookter, four for Eppler and one for Bastiany. According to KQED, Ellington's backers include the San Francisco Democratic Party, former Mayor Willie Brown, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council. Brookter is backed by Supervisors Shamann Walton and Connie Chan, the California Working Families Party and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club. Eppler has the Sierra Club, the teachers union United Educators of San Francisco and the SF League of Pissed Off Voters.

The shipyard cleanup

Every candidate told KQED the Navy's cleanup of the old shipyard has to be more transparent, but they differ on what comes after. Ellington, who lives inside the shipyard's footprint, says land should not be transferred until testing is independently verified, and he wants health screening for residents. Brookter says the "burden is on the government to prove" the land is safe and wants an independent review. Lin says no permits or groundbreaking should happen until independent inspectors prove the soil is safe. Jennison argues the rest of the site should go to industrial and green-energy uses, "not housing." Eppler says the work should not be rushed and that areas near homes must meet the highest standards.

Housing, transit and safety

GrowSF, which endorsed Ellington, says the district has roughly 20,000 homes approved but not yet built at sites including Pier 70, the Potrero Power Station, India Basin, the shipyard and Candlestick Point. Ellington says he wants public timelines with consequences for developers who don't build. GrowSF's comparison table says Brookter opposes a CEQA environmental-review exemption for market-rate housing, and Eppler does too.

On transit, Eppler wants signal priority so the T-Third light rail can get riders from Sunnydale to Chinatown in under 40 minutes, while Ellington wants T-Third trains every 10 minutes at peak hours. Richard lists public safety as his top priority and says he would open at least one satellite district office. Brookter's priorities are housing stability, economic opportunity and schools.

How the vote works

San Francisco elects supervisors by ranked-choice voting, so District 10 voters can rank several candidates. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.