The Moral Test of Government

By Shawn P. Reifsteck

San Francisco must do a better job at ensuring our children, seniors, people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations are protected.

The test of San Francisco's elected leaders is how we treat our residents who play fair, work hard and have a desire to improve our community. As your District 7 Supervisor, I will do everything within my power to change the climate and culture of City Hall, and ensure that your faith and trust in your elected officials is both earned and justified.

For Seniors:

Our city and country are facing a generational transition never seen before. As our senior population increases, our policies must reflect ways to capitalize on the innumerable strengths that seniors provide our community, and ensure that no senior live his or her golden years in fear of destitution.

I pledge to work closely with all individuals and organizations to modernize our policies and practices to ensure that seniors are heard and protected. Specifically, I will:

• Create a District 7 Seniors Task Force that makes recommendations to my office on how best to serve the needs of our district's senior population, and provide resources to protect seniors from commercial scams and others;

• Support increased funding for city-sponsored senior centers and programs, including those located in District 7;

• Work closely with the nonprofit and private sector to identify meaningful work and volunteer opportunities for the burgeoning retired seniors' community;

• Support senior advocacy programs such as the Senior Survival School to ensure that low-income seniors' basic needs are met.

I believe that there are no greater assets to a community than healthy children and stable families. As Supervisor, I pledge to do all that I can to ensure that District 7 maintains its long history of being a child-centered and family-focused community. Specifically, I plan to:

• Create and support legislation to ensure that all San Francisco children receive access to shelter, food, education, health care and other basic rights;

• Expand San Francisco's commitment to summer jobs for youth by leveraging new public and private funds;

• Create legislation that encourages and offers incentives to San Francisco employers who subsidize child care expenses for their low-to-middle income employees;

• Identify additional federal, state and private funding to increase San Francisco's Head Start programs;

• Work to ensure that the City adequately supports families in the years before school, through early childhood education, and the hours after school, with youth recreation programs, and private-sector internships and job opportunities;

• Work collaboratively with the San Francisco Youth Commission to expand opportunities for youth to be involved in the political process.

In the 14 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, we have made good progress to ensure that San Francisco is a welcoming home to residents with disabilities. However, more can be done. If elected, I will:

• Ensure that all public facilities are 100% ADA-compliant;

• Help small business owners identify funding resources that enable them to upgrade their facilities to be ADA-compliant without significant costs to the business owners;

• Explore ways in which City contracts can give preference to businesses that have excellent practices for their employees and customers with disabilities.