James Coleman, in his news release proclaiming victory in a tight race where he defeated Mayor Richard Garbarino, 17-year member of the City Council, declared he was “the youngest, first openly queer, and first democratic socialist to get elected to the South San Francisco City Council.” Hard to believe this happened in South City, in north county, where there are no term limits and councilmembers serve for decades without fear of challenge.
But things are changing. Even though the expected blue wave didn’t happen nationally and in Orange County, California because the nation is more conservative than democrats anticipated and because moderates in swing congressional districts were falsely targeted as socialists or even worse for wanting to defund the police, this may not be the case on the Peninsula, now leading a blue progressive wave. District elections have made it easier for newcomers to win and harder for some incumbents to hang on. Karyl Matsumoto, one of the longest serving councilmembers on the South San Francisco council, will not seek re-election. Garbarino decided to go for it and came up short by several hundred votes.
Coleman was born in Stanford Hospital in 1999 and has lived in South San Francisco all his life. He attended public elementary and high school there. He received a full scholarship to Harvard University, is now a senior, and is studying from home. His major is human development regenerative biology; his minor, government. His father, who died five years ago after a series of debilitating accidents which left him paralyzed from the waist down, worked for FedEx. His mom is a lab assistant at Kaiser. Coleman is Asian American. His mother is Chinese; his father white.
While at Harvard he got involved in the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign. Sanders’ message really connected, “why isn’t government working for everyone?” More action needed on climate change, affordable housing and racial justice. He campaigned for the senator in Massachusetts, had a leadership role in Harvard for Bernie and organized trips to New Hampshire.
At home because of COVID, Coleman started paying more attention to what was happening in his city and decided there needed to be change at the local level. He was affected by the George Floyd uprising and found instances of police misbehavior in the city and not enough movement for reform. He joined with friends from high school, now college students at home, to launch ChangeSSF. Members frequently spoke during public comment periods of City Council meetings. Some councilmembers objected to the extended time public comments were taking from other business so they shut down the virtual participation. That was the tipping point for Coleman. He decided to run for City Council (the council lifted the ban after two months).
Coleman thought he had a decent chance to win with district elections. He didn’t need as much money. His campaign raised $16,000. Instead of expensive signs, his campaign used social media and advertised on Facebook and YouTube. He made a professional video for YouTube. His volunteers texted and called voters and dropped literature throughout District 4. His agenda for change in South San Francisco is the progressive agenda. He will finish his senior year at home while serving on the council. He will live at home and hope to get a job in biotech after graduating.
According to Hector Camacho Jr., South San Francisco member of the San Mateo County Board of Education, “I do think there’s something budding in South City. Endorsements alone are no longer a viable match when pitted against a coordinated get out the vote campaign. Phone banking for James was a major strategy ... and voters really appreciated the personal contact. Those phone bankers were overwhelmingly young (like 18-25) and they were very excited to be a part of a small campaign where they knew they could make a noticeable difference.
I know of a lot of young people and young families in South San Francisco that are very frustrated with the status quo. Growing up and staying in South City is no longer viable unless one is interested in living with their parents for the rest of their lives. So is James Coleman an isolated case? Not necessarily. I’ve already heard of some other young candidates ready to file for upcoming openings on council and the school board. I think the conversation about public safety and the role of police is going to keep this demographic engaged for at least the near future.”
Meanwhile, in Santa Clara County, 25-year-old Alex Lee was just elected to the State Assembly, the first to represent Generation Z, those born after 1996.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
(1) comment
Good article and agree....that our municipalities’ leadership has been mostly elders who grew up in the 20th Century...and...managing our cities with old time metrics
We are almost 21 years into the 21st Century and we must stop casting into concrete 20th Century metrics
Not all age based, but their mentality or awareness of the change that MUST be in order to allow your young to live their own lives
I grew up both in San Mateo (Home and schooling) and South San Francisco (family store and worked there after school and weekends through college)
Painful to see how San Mateo Stuck in the 20th Century vs SSF’s mentality move forward into the 21st Century. Of course not an absolute, there are bits here and there, but the major changes has one city move forward at a greater pace and level than the other.
TOD and designated high density developments, Vision Zero application, understanding that we are returning to become a renters society, etc.
This was polar opposites at one time, but with the influx of younger minded council members and city’s upper management staff telling...of course IMHO based on my empirical data
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