Shamann Walton

Shamann Walton is an American politician from San Francisco. He has been a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2019, representing District 10, and was elected President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 8, 2021. Walton earlier served on the San Francisco Board of Education and was its president immediately prior to his election as supervisor.[1] He is a former director of the Potrero Hill Family Resource Center and executive director of Young Community Developers, a non-profit in Bayview–Hunters Point.

Shamann Walton
Shamann Walton (official portrait, 2019)
President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Assumed office
January 8, 2021
Preceded byNorman Yee
Member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
from District 10
Assumed office
January 8, 2019
MayorLondon Breed
Preceded byMalia Cohen
Personal details
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceSan Francisco, California
EducationMorris Brown College (BA)
San Francisco State University (MPA)
OccupationPolitician
WebsiteBoard of Supervisors: District 10

Early life

Walton was raised by his mother in Vallejo, California. His teenage years were often troubled, having been expelled from the Vallejo City Unified School District and served in juvenile hall numerous times.[2][3]

Walton graduated from Morris Brown College in 1998.[2] He received his master's degree in public administration from San Francisco State University in 2010.[4]

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Walton was elected supervisor for District 10 on November 6, 2018, receiving 9,550 first preference votes (41.22 percent of all valid votes).[5] After allocation of preferences from eliminated candidates in San Francisco's ranked-choice voting system, Walton received 63.07 percent of final-round votes, compared to runner-up Tony Kelly's 36.93 percent.[1][6] He was sworn in at the Board of Supervisors' January 8, 2019 meeting, replacing Malia Cohen, who was ineligible to run for re-election after two four-year terms and had been elected to the California Board of Equalization.

Housing

Walton was the only San Francisco Board of Supervisors member to explicitly reject a potential plan to allow fourplexes in San Francisco in areas previously restricted to single-family housing (which had been implemented in the neighbouring city of Sacramento).[7] He stated that the Sacramento bill "would speed up the gentrification" and "this policy is bad for San Francisco."[7]

Policing

In December 2018, Walton and supervisor Hillary Ronen put forth legislation calling to close San Francisco's youth detention center by December 2021.[3]

In June 2020, during the nationwide George Floyd protests, he introduced a resolution to ban the San Francisco Police Department and Sheriff's Department from hiring officers with a history of serious misconduct.[8] In October, he introduced the CAREN act, which would make fraudulent emergency telephone calls motivated by racism illegal.[9]

Racial issues

In February 2020, Walton put forth a resolution calling for reparations for the city's African American population. The resolution itself forms a working group that will further develop the plan.[10]

Transportation

In July 2020, Walton and supervisor Aaron Peskin opted to not introduce a $100 million sales tax measure into the November 2020 ballots to finance Caltrain, which has seen a 95% reduction in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California. Ride fares account for 70% of the service's operating budget. The supervisors cite the lack of shared authority on the Joint Powers Board over the train line's management, which is currently operated by the SamTrans, and the regressive nature of the sales tax to fund operations for a service whose customer base has a mean income of $120,000 as pain points to supporting the measure. However, Peskin mentioned that the measure can still be introduced by the mayor or other supervisors if they wanted to.[11][12] The supervisors later changed their minds when Caltrain pledged to make changes to its structure, making it more independent from SamTrans.[13]

Personal life

Walton is a Christian.[2] He is a father of two.[3]

References
  1. Thadani, Trisha (November 28, 2018). "SF declares supervisor race winners: Stefani, Mar, Haney, Mandelman, Walton". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  2. "Vallejo A&E Source Unique Spotlight: Shamann Walton". Times-Herald. April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. Eskenazi, Joe (April 15, 2019). "Shamann Walton's deeply personal quest to shut down Juvenile Hall". Mission Local. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  4. "PACE Program Updates | School of Public Affairs & Civic Engagement". pace.sfsu.edu. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  5. SF Elections 2018a.
  6. SF Elections 2018b.
  7. "San Francisco is one of California's most conservative cities - when it comes to housing". SFChronicle.com. January 23, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  8. Fracassa, Dominic (June 3, 2020). "SF supervisor wants ban on hiring police officers with records of misconduct". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  9. Yancey-Bragg, Miriam Fauzia and N'dea. "Fact check: San Francisco's CAREN Act will make racist, nonemergency 911 calls illegal". USA TODAY. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  10. Bay City News Service (February 12, 2020). "Supervisor Walton introduces reparations plan for city's African American residents". SFGate. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  11. Graf, Carly (July 15, 2020). "Caltrain's future in jeopardy after supervisors block sales tax measure". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  12. Swan, Rachel (July 15, 2020). "Caltrain might have to shut down after supervisors scuttle sales tax measure". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  13. Ruggiero, Angela (August 7, 2020). "It's official: Caltrain tax measure will be on the ballot after last-minute vote". The Mercury News. Retrieved August 21, 2020.

Sources
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