Black Women Organized for Political Action

Black Women Organized for Political Action
San Francisco-Peninsula Chapter

Name: Rob Anderson
Candidate Office: District 5 Supervisor
Phone:

Email: rmajora@gmail.com

Please return this questionnaire to Brigette LeBlanc at sanfranbwopa@gmail.com no later than Tuesday, September 2, 2008. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact Brigette LeBlanc at 415-267-3997.

Only candidates who complete this questionnaire and return it by the deadline date will be welcomed to meet BWOPA Executive Committee Saturday, September 6, 2008. Your response to the questions below should be no more than four pages.

Thank you for participating in the BWOPA recommendation process!

What are your qualifications for this office?
My main qualification is that I am not a progressive. (I am a member of the Democratic Party, however) My opponent, the Green Party's Ross Mirkarimi, represents everything wrong with SF progressivism, with his support for the Bicycle Plan and Critical Mass, his apparent indifference to homelessness as an issue, and the help he is giving to the Planning Dept. and developers to overdevelop wide swaths of the city with projects like the Rincon Hill highrise luxury condos, the awful Market/Octavia Plan, and the UC/Evans proposal for a massive housing development on lower Haight Street.

Why is the BWOPA endorsement important to your campaign?
My campaign isn’t based on endorsements but rather on my critique of the seriously deficient SF progressivism that Supervisor Mirkarimi represents so well.

Are you a member of BWOPA? If so, how long?
No, I’m not.

What are you planning to do in office to ensure that Black Women are appointed to Commissions, Boards and key leadership positions within the City Government?
As I already told the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee, I will not support anyone just because she’s a woman, which of course also applies to black women. Surely Senator McCain’s pick as a running mate nicely illustrates the problem. Would his choice have been any better if Palin had been a black right-wing woman? I don’t think so.

What are you going to do to improve the quality of life for Black Women? What do you think are the top (3) issues facing Black Women and people of color?
I wish women of color well, but I have no intention of trying to improve the quality of life for any particular group. If a proposal/project isn’t good for the whole city, I won’t support it.

Who are you, as a candidate supporting in various races? Please explain why you are support these candidates?
I’m not supporting anyone else’s campaign.

What have you done over the last 2 to 3 years to enhance the lives of Black Women?
Nothing (see above)

Who did you support in the DCCC race in June 2008?

Scott Weiner

Please list any endorsers, including organizations or elected officials.

I have no endorsements.

Do you favor capital punishment?

No. Some people surely deserve to die for their crimes, but the possibility of executing the wrong person is too great a danger to make capital punishment acceptable.

Do you support Affirmative Action?

No, I don't. We need to move toward a class-based approach to helping the indigent as opposed to a race-based system.

What did you do to ensure the defeat of Props 75 and 83, thus ensuring a young woman’s right to choose?

I don't remember those particular propositions, but if they hindered a woman's right to choose I voted against them.

Who do you support and/or endorse for the Board of Supervisors in November 2008? (Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11)

No one but myself

Do you support the repeal of prop 209?

I don't remember what prop 209 was about.

What work have you done in the past to promote awareness about issues facing Black Women? What would you do in the future?

None and nothing.

Why are you running and what do you hope to accomplish if elected?

See above

Is there anything, in your view, that sets you apart from the other candidates and/or particular reasons why you think BWOPA should support your candidacy?

I represent a completely different agenda---an unprogressive agenda---than Supervisor Mirkarimi, since I oppose the bicycle fantasy and all the awful development projects he supports.

What, if any, policy issues do you consider as being of special concern to Black Women in the San Francisco Bay Area?

I don't know. You tell me.

How do you reach out to the Black Women in the community and address their concerns? What is your track record of accountability? What program and or project have you worked on that addresses the Black Woman’s concerns?

As I've suggested above, I don't like identity politics, so I won't address issues based on race, gender, or sexual orientation.