On Tuesday, transgender youth activists, transgender advocates, community leaders, parents, and education advocates came together to support a resolution being introduced by District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, which condemns attacks on the trans and LGBQ+ community and calls for further protection of transgender youth and adults. The resolution was presented by the San Francisco Education Alliance to the Board of Supervisors ahead of pro-trans youth mobilizations and the Transgender District’s Transgender Week of Visibility, which is slated to kick off with a youth-led march on March 25th. Preston’s resolution is being cosponsored by the entire Board of Supervisors.

With enough unspent rent relief funds to help more than 3,000 households avoid displacement, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Supervisor Dean Preston’s legislation to extend eviction protections by 60 days.

As the Board of Supervisors prepares to vote tomorrow on significant mid-year increases to the San Francisco Police Department’s (SFPD) budget, Supervisor Dean Preston, Chair of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee, today announced an audit of the department’s usage and internal controls on overtime. Preston’s call for an audit comes on the heels of a new report, released this afternoon, by the Board’s Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA), which offers new and alarming insight into blatant overspending by the department.

Citing constituents’ concerns about street safety and security in the Tenderloin, District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston introduced an emergency supplemental budget request on Tuesday for the neighborhood. The proposed emergency supplemental will fund several non-police public safety interventions and programs in the Tenderloin, adding more tools for the City to make improvements to public safety.

As the city contemplates an end date to the local COVID-19 State of Emergency – a move that would terminate existing bans of eviction for COVID-related hardship – Supervisor Dean Preston introduced today a 60-day extension to allow for a wind-down period to ensure San Franciscans don’t lose their homes.

In response to the impending hunger cliff caused by emergency CalFresh benefits expiring, Supervisor Dean Preston introduced a resolution today urging the California State Legislature to act quickly and provide supplemental CalFresh benefits to keep households fed.

A SOMA property with six long-term families, an SRO with 64 homes badly in need of repair, a North Beach apartment building where tenants have lived for 30-plus years – these are just a few of the properties that were acquired and turned into permanently affordable housing, thanks to Prop I affordable housing funding approved in November 2021.

Today, Supervisor Dean Preston and Walk SF unanimously passed their resolution calling for a citywide recommitment to Vision Zero which will push the City closer to achieving its Vision Zero goals. The resolution calls for the Vision Zero Task Force to resume regular meetings immediately, with the first Vision Zero Task Force meeting confirmed for March 16, for departments to coordinate on VZ priorities, and for the implementation of urgent measures including quick build projects and a speed management plan to decrease death and serious injury on our streets.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution today condemning the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 9, titled “Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism,” and urging Congress not to engage in the practice of “red-baiting.” Supervisor Dean Preston, a Democratic Socialist who represents District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, called on his colleagues to take a stand after the congressional Resolution passed the United States House of Representatives with bipartisan support, including that of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Today, Supervisor Dean Preston and Walk SF are calling for a citywide recommitment to Vision Zero, and announcing a new effort to push the City closer to achieving it's Vision Zero goals. At today’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Preston will introduce a resolution calling for the often dormant Vision Zero Task Force to reconvene immediately, for departments to coordinate on VZ priorities, and for the implementation of urgent measures including quick build projects and speed reductions to decrease death and serious injury on our streets.

Nearly 15 years ago, the city created special development rules to allow additional building capacity at 555 Fulton Street in exchange for allowing a neighborhood-serving grocery store. Now, with 139 condominiums fully built and operational, but with no movement on a city-approved plan to bring in a grocery store on the ground floor, District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston is demanding answers.

Democratic Socialist Supervisor Dean Preston, who represents District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, is calling on his colleagues to condemn a congressional resolution introduced by Republican Maria Elvira Salazar (FL), entitled “Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism.” The Resolution was introduced in t he United States House of Representatives and passed on February 1, 2023, with bipartisan support-– including that of San Francisco Representative Nancy Pelosi.

As the city navigates a path toward post-pandemic economic recovery, a potentially game changing tool – the creation of a publicly-owned municipal bank – took a major step forward today, with the City’s Reinvestment Working Group (RWG) announcing detailed draft plans.

In an effort to invalidate a broadly-popular ballot measure to tax empty homes, a group of real estate lobbying organizations filed a lawsuit today in San Francisco Superior Court.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved Supervisor Dean Preston’s ordinance to ban the Mayor and other City leaders from requiring their appointed commissioners to submit undated resignation letters. The legislation responded to revelations that Mayor London Breed required undated resignation letters from appointees as a condition of their appointment to various Commissions, a practice that threatened to undermine their independence.

Following the third devastating fire on the Divisadero Corridor in the last five months, District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston called for a city hearing on residential apartment building fires. The hearing will explore strategies for fire prevention and give the public an opportunity to learn about the City’s protocol for responding.

On the same day the Board of Supervisors approved significantly increased affordable housing goals, the Board unanimously approved a resolution to create 100% affordable housing on the current site of the San Francisco DMV field office.

Amid serious concerns that the city will not meet significantly increased affordable housing goals, Supervisor Dean Preston announced a law today that would create legal consequences if the city fails to meet the new targets.

Amid questions on the city’s seriousness about reaching new affordable housing goals, District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston released a report (PDF) today detailing opportunity sites in his district, calling on the city to dramatically step up affordable housing production.

This past June, Mayor London Breed, Budget Chair Hillary Ronen and Supervisor Dean Preston reached an historic agreement to allocate $112m to boost affordable housing development, including $40m for site acquisition and $12m for teacher housing. Nearly seven months later, with the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) refusing to move forward, at least one potential site acquisition is dead, and a teacher housing project in the Mission may be in jeopardy. The obstruction comes as the City will vote next week on adopting a new Housing Element, which includes significantly increased targets to produce affordable housing.