I believe San Francisco’s best days are ahead — if we are willing to do bold and positive things like create Sunset Dunes and build the housing our kids and grandkids will need to stay here.

We must also excel at the basics: safer streets, great schools, and vibrant small businesses.

I’m an urbanist Democrat in favor of more public transit, bike lanes, and housing for every income level including social housing. We can truly be the most progressive city in the world — always welcoming new people and ideas to create our best San Francisco.

My record as a city supervisor:

— Created night markets with community partners

— Led the creation of Sunset Dunes — the largest pedestrianization project in California history

— Legislated ability to create more middle-income and senior housing

— Secured funding for Sunset Boulevard greenway

— Championed “Nexus of Amazement” and “Emerald Necklace” open space concept

— Restored funding for civil legal services and food security for seniors in the city budget

— Delivered relief funds to Taraval merchants

— Legislated ability for homeowners to build and sell small backyard homes

— Successfully fought to bring algebra back to middle schools

— Brought more police protection to the Sunset

— Restored parking access at Lower Great Highway

— Installed signal lights for better traffic flow and safer streets

— Started a new Fourth of July parade tradition

— Launched the Sunset Community Band

[Click to learn more about Joel’s personal background]

Joel is a westside homeowner. He knows many westside residents are looking for new types of housing to meet their needs. Young families want affordable apartments that will allow them to stay in San Francisco. Seniors want the option to downsize to an apartment in an elevator building where they can safely age in place without leaving their neighborhood. Building multi-family housing will help grandparents remain close to their grandkids.

Our future depends on being able to keep seniors, young adults, and middle-income families in San Francisco — along with welcoming newcomers who bring their talents and diversity to our city. We can do this by embracing more multi-family housing (including social housing) that can coexist with single-family homes and complement the westside neighborhoods we love.

Joel also knows housing is an equity and environmental issue. Improving San Francisco’s diversity depends on more than just building new housing. We must also expand rent control so more units are covered by an essential protection that keeps residents housed. To address climate change, we need to drive less and reduce suburban sprawl. This requires building more housing near public transit.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on housing]

As we face climate change, it’s time to invest in many different modes of transportation that fit everyone’s needs while saving the environment:

— A citywide network of protected bike lanes. Safe passage will make biking a viable option for people of all ages, especially with electric and pedal assist bikes.

— A fully funded Muni that is more efficient, robust, and solvent. Public transit is a lifeline for many.

— Build more subway tunnels and bus rapid transit lanes, while ensuring infrastructure projects don’t become boondoggles.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on transportation]

We must protect our open spaces, mitigate the effects of climate change, and reduce carbon emissions to zero. Local actions matter when it comes to global concerns about the health of our planet.

Small actions are important. There are many mini-parks and patches of neglected land sprinkled throughout our neighborhoods. Improving and maintaining these areas is a cost-effective way to create the additional space residents need.

We can do big things, too. Like creating Sunset Dunes, an iconic oceanside park that repurposed the middle section of the Great Highway and became one of San Francisco’s most-visited parks. Sunset Dunes is the largest pedestrianization project in California history. It is good for the environment, our local economy, and the physical and mental well-being of every visitor. Our coast belongs to all San Franciscans and now it is more accessible than ever.

We also have the opportunity to create an “Emerald Necklace” for San Francisco — an uninterrupted 10 miles of green open space. It would flow along the coast from Fort Funston and Sunset Dunes to Golden Gate Park, then inland along the parkland that borders both sides of Sunset Boulevard to Lake Merced, which takes you back to the coast.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on parks and environment]

Every resident of San Francisco should care about schools because our city’s future depends on keeping families here.

Families leave San Francisco for many reasons: cost of housing, quality of life — and schools. Well-run public schools are essential for a city to function and thrive. Good public schools are possible only when we give teachers what they need for success.

Better teacher and paraprofessional pay is a must. To attract and retain the most qualified and motivated educators, we must pay a living wage so teachers can live in the city where they teach. We also need to provide the basics. We have elementary schools that lack heat, soap, and chairs that fit 1st graders.

Academics should be a top priority while acknowledging the social and emotional needs of students. Today’s kids have experienced a level of trauma from pandemic closures to school shootings that their parents and grandparents never had to contend with. Learning for the current generation will require feeling safe and secure. They will need extra support to heal.

We must treat parents like partners and offer the courses and programs that will make parents want to choose public schools. This includes advanced classes for high-performing students — and 8th grade algebra. Parents want more public magnet schools in language, arts and sciences. We need permanent merit-based admissions at Lowell High School and the creation of more Lowells across the city. We also need a school assignment system that lets more kids attend their neighborhood school.

This is the equation we must follow: Support teachers + center students + partner with parents = good schools.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on education]

Joel supports police accountability and criminal justice reform. For it to succeed, residents must feel safe and victims cannot be ignored. Reform and safety go together.

That’s why Joel believes we must:

— Pursue police accountability and criminal justice reform while prosecuting serious crimes and repeat offenders. Put victims first.

— Arrest and prosecute the dealers of deadly fentanyl. Open air drug markets cannot be tolerated in San Francisco.

— Fund crime prevention community programs and give severely mentally ill and drug-addicted people the treatment they need. Offer both harm reduction and recovery services for users suffering from addiction, and compel it when necessary to save lives.

— Recruit a new generation of reform-minded police officers to re-staff the SFPD shortage.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on crime and safety]

Housing is essential for addressing homelessness. We must also address the underlying causes of human suffering on our streets, including mental illness and drug addiction. Successful treatment is dependent on having a safe place to get well.

For people suffering from mental illness, we need enough beds for every level of care: acute, subacute, and community residential. We’re woefully lacking in subacute and community residential facilities. Addressing this will require making it a state and federal priority. We must expand conservatorship laws and support a statewide Mental Health Care Court, while also investing in a new generation of mental health facilities that can provide compassionate treatment.

We need to offer enough beds in shelters and navigation centers so people always have a safe place to sleep, while we build more units of permanent housing of all types. Tent encampments blocking sidewalks are not a viable option. In addition to shelter beds, we need transitional housing combined with supportive programs. The “tiny homes” concept is a good example.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction]

Starting a business in San Francisco can range from maddening to impossible. We must cut the red tape and roll out the red carpet to let every idea have a chance to be the one that saves our local economy.

City Hall needs to streamline the approval process for new businesses, waive fees, and reward entrepreneurs. We need public servants who will foster creativity and innovation.

That’s why Joel created a popular night market with community partners, bringing thousands to the Sunset to support local businesses and prove what’s possible for night markets citywide.

While small business is the backbone of San Francisco, we must also acknowledge we are home to a tech industry that drives a vital part of our economy. The arrival of AI companies offers opportunities and responsibilities. We must ensure a safety harness on AI so it cannot do harm.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on saving small businesses]

San Francisco’s budget is gigantic: $16 billion. It doubled the past decade, far outpacing population growth. If $16 billion isn’t enough to have twice-as-clean sidewalks and twice-as-fast Muni, we have to spend smarter.

That includes investing in city employees and setting them up for success versus relying on contractors that charge more for less accountability. 

We must regularly audit every city department and make sure we’re paying for what works — basic city services must be delivered without compromise. 

We deserve an innovative city government that is fiscally responsible, free from corruption, and fully transparent.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on fiscal responsibility]

Joel is a dog person and he knows that dogs are loved as members of many families. Dogs are good for kids, seniors and our souls. They bring neighbors together and help build community.

We need more shared, open space for families and responsible dog owners to safely play and relax together. This includes areas where dogs can run off-leash and areas for people who do not want to interact with dogs.

We can also be good stewards of the environment without overly restricting where people and pets can go in our parks.

[Click to read Joel's full platform on dogs]

As a gay man, Joel arrived in San Francisco looking for a better life — just like many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who came before him.

When Joel met his husband in San Francisco, they didn't believe they would ever be allowed to get legally married. For Joel and Lionel, it was a triumph to walk down the aisle. But in many parts of the world marriage equality still does not exist for same-sex couples.

In the United States, LGBTQ people can still be denied housing and healthcare in many states. Transgender people continue to face terrible discrimination and violence. Some states have passed laws that try to erase the mention of LGBTQ people in public schools, which will hurt both LGBTQ youth and the kids who have LGBTQ parents.

There is still much work ahead to ensure that all LGBTQ people can live fully and equally, and Joel is committed to leading the fight.

[Click to read Joel's essays on LGBTQ issues]