South San Francisco grapples with shifting political landscape

Vice Mayor Mark Nagales, who first proposed directing financial aid to residents struggling due to COVID-19, acknowledged South City’s political composition is shifting.

“There has definitely been a more progressive approach,” said Nagales.

A devout affordable housing advocate, Nagales established a reputation while serving on the city’s Planning Commission for doggedly pressing residential developers to build additional below-market units.

Initially motivated to save others from the struggles his family faced, Nagales said concerns with the cost of living locally have only grown since the pandemic arrived. And with economic disruption disproportionately punishing low-income families, Nagales felt an ever greater obligation to creatively assist those with the greatest need.

Drawing from a pilot program launched in Stockton, Nagales last month raised the idea of directing $500 each month for one year to 400 residents who have demonstrated financial hardship during the pandemic.

Though the program is a departure from the truest definition of universal basic income, South San Francisco councilmembers unanimously approved further exploring the concept.

“We all agreed we need to help those affected by COVID in some way,” said Nagales.

Councilmembers also shared universal consensus in mandating grocery stores and pharmacies to pay an extra $5 per hour in hazard pay to grocery and drugstore employees facing significant exposure to COVID-19 every time they go to work.

The decision was the first in San Mateo County, and since then the discussions have become increasingly common throughout the Peninsula, with San Mateo and Daly City following suit to require the raises.

Though the financial aid and hazard pay proposals raised some eyebrows among some residents, Mayor Mark Addiego said critics’ nerves could be soothed relatively easily by framing the initiatives appropriately.

“It was easy to chat with them about COVID and how it has ground down the people on the bottom rung of the social ladder. And we have the financial ability to help raise people up so they don’t become a forever social problem,” said Addiego.

One of the Peninsula’s longest tenured elected officials, Addiego has served more than two decades on the South San Francisco City Council. With a breadth of experience, he noted too the distinct shift in his community’s political headwinds.

Broadening the scope to the school district where officials recently agreed to reconsider an agreement placing police officers on campuses and did away with a mascot using Native American imagery, Addiego said the decisions are reflective of an evolving community’s priorities.

That transformation is reflected in the composition of the South San Francisco City Council as well, said Addiego, who noted the political views of some of his more progressive colleagues are shaped by their age.

“The world is a much different place for people of that generation in terms of navigating housing, raising a family and keeping a career,” he said. “I think there is a lot of frustration in that age group and that is part of the natural change in the political dynamic.”

One of those colleagues is newly-elected Councilman James Coleman, a political neophyte who unseated former mayor Rich Garbarino last fall to represent District 4.

A South San Francisco native who left home to attend Harvard University, Coleman gained regional notoriety for being an Asian member of the LGBTQ+ community who was affiliated with the Democratic Socialist party and backed by local advocacy agency Change SSF.

For his part, Coleman concurred that emerging interests are shaking up the landscape in the traditionally docile suburb.

“I think that is because the typically underrepresented groups are getting more involved in local politics,” said Coleman, who noted voter participation surged after the city aligned its election calendar on an even-year cycle.

Additionally, he observed that Millennials and members of Generation Z growing old enough to defend their own interests has molded the policy conversation in South San Francisco.

Those voices were heard loudly when officials weighed a proposal to upzone single-family neighborhoods and allow for construction of duplexes in areas previously fenced off from such development.

Deeply frustrated with the rising cost of living, advocates favor the upzoning proposal as a means of rebalancing the lack of housing relative to the job growth driven by the city’s booming biotech sector.

Also concerned about affordability issues which have pushed many of his friends and loved ones out of the area, Coleman said he felt obligated to at least weigh the proposal’s potential benefits.

Nagales — who voted alongside Coleman and newly-appointed Councilman Eddie Flores to further explore the initiative — agreed.

“I think we should have that conversation and see what we can do,” Nagales said. “If it comes back and a study says it doesn’t make sense, then it doesn’t make sense. But at least we asked the question.”

Addiego maintained a more skeptical perspective.

“When it comes to single-family homes, they’ve touched the third rail of politics,” said Addiego, who voted against exploring upzoning with Councilwoman Flor Nicolas.

Councilmembers have since tabled the upzoning proposal temporarily, while observing how the issue evolves in discussions among regional and state officials.

Addiego anticipated that officials who so far have faced little resistance in advancing a progressive slate of policies are due for a rude awakening. Already hearing rumblings of potential recall campaigns targeting fellow elected officials, Addiego acknowledged the community’s brewing ire.

“I haven’t seen this many angry white people since a Trump rally,” he said.

Further, Addiego speculated that his colleagues underestimated the vigor with which property owners will fight to defend their quality of life.

“It was just ill conceived and there wasn’t a lot thought about how it would play in every neighborhood,” he said.

Nagales offered a different perspective, nodding to the conversation among state lawmakers who are considering legislation that may overhaul single-family home zoning regulations throughout California.

He bolstered that perspective by noting that South San Francisco, despite an aggressive push by officials to facilitate residential construction over recent years, is still behind the state’s housing construction expectation.

With that mark expected to rise in the next Regional Housing Needs Allocation cycle, Nagales said officials are compelled to consider all the options to boost the housing stock. Coleman agreed, and suggested South San Francisco exercise local control in housing decisions rather than risk exposure to mandates from Sacramento.

But while cognizant of the power struggle standing to shape the future of South San Francisco, Nagales also acknowledged residents who may be feeling bewildered by their community’s direction.

“I love South City. But if we don’t want to try and tackle these issues, we are not going to move forward as a city,” he said. “And that is a difficult conversation to have.”

austin@smdailyjournal.com