Rep. Barbara Lee, the veteran Oakland congresswoman who is vying to succeed the late Dianne Feinstein in the Senate, stopped by the Mission District today for a quick tour of the neighborhood, speaking with business owners and local leaders about the cost of living and purchasing a souvenir along the way.
She emphasized the importance of the Latino vote in her campaign, saying having been born and raised in El Paso, she knew well the difficulties faced by Latinos in the United States.
“The Latino vote is extremely important,” Lee said. “It’s important to me because I want to win. But it’s more important to me because I really want it to be your voice.”
Flanked by an aide and accompanied by members of the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club, which hosted the congresswoman, Lee started her tour at La Placita. The site at 24th and Capp streets, is one of two opened by the city to house the sidewalk vendors who once lined Mission Street.
“These are very nice, very nice,” Lee said repeatedly as she walked down the La Placita, inspecting wares and greeting vendors one by one.
Wearing a black N95 mask, she spent some 15 minutes under the large outdoor tent covering the vendors’ stalls, shaking hands and complimenting vendors. There are now nine vendors at the site, which is fully occupied, selling clothes, wallets, crafts and other goods.
Until the congresswoman’s visit, however, very few shoppers had come through La Placita that day, a vendor said. Lee made one of today’s only purchases, a purple poncho for $60. Susana Rojas, the executive director of Calle 24, took the poncho and attempted to buy it as a gift — but Lee insisted on paying, and her aide handed over cash.
For Cesar, the vendor who sold the poncho, Lee’s was his only sale today.
Lee then made a quick stop at the vaccination center next door to La Placita and thanked the workers at the site, before moving onto Silverstone Cafe on 24th Street. Lee listened attentively to cafe owner Nancy Gutierrez and followed up by asking about the cost of living in the area.
“The cost of living is high. And a lot of people have family, Gutierrez said. “To be able to pay for housing and what not, it takes a toll when things are taken away from the wrong people. Some end up homeless and it’s not fair.”
Other business owners also spoke about the cost of living and Lee listened for about half an hour, recounting her own past struggles with finances.
“As a single mother, I didn’t have any money, trying to take care of my children and get through school. I know what it feels. Especially for women of color,” she said.
Gaza, housing, and the war on drugs
After a closed session with Latino community leaders, Lee proceeded to Bissap Baobab at 2243 Mission St. for a discussion on the upcoming election. A dozen people attended, sitting in a circle and asking Lee about her opinion on Gaza, public education, affordable housing, healthcare, drug enforcement and young voter engagement.
Lee kicked off the night by speaking about Israel’s war on Palestine. She started by recalling her days living in Lebanon in late 70s and early 80s, and how that deepened her understanding of the Middle East.
“I was one of the first to call for a ceasefire,” Lee said firmly. “We should condemn terrorist attacks whenever they occur.”
Kevin Ortiz, co-president of the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club, asked about housing affordability and the income gap — what could help a city like San Francisco reckon with spiraling costs.
“Out of the box” thinking, answered Lee, such as increased federal funds for home ownership and a housing trust fund. “Raise not only minimum wage, but get to a living wage,” she added.
Proposition 13, which keeps property taxes low across California, should have been repealed “a long time ago,” Lee said. Student loan debt should be canceled, she added, and the federal government should increase spending on public schools and universities.
Asked about the war on drugs in San Francisco, Lee said drug users are helped by intervention, “not by putting people in jails.”
“We have to look at it from a public health perspective,” she said. “But not a criminal one.”
And asked about the importance of cultural district like Calle 24, Lee said the district was a “model in San Francisco” that “should be replicated throughout the country,” calling the Mission “the heart and soul of this city.”
Maybe Lee should worry less about violence in Gaza and more about violence in her own back yard, Oakland?
This single story may be “feel-good”, but it’s the highlight news of the day. Barbara Lee is an extremely rare politician, her decades of service testament to her unimpeachable integrity. A true progressive who walks the talk. If elected she would breathe some life into the cowardly, shameful senate. Thank you Xueer Lu for reminding me there is someone to vote for.
I remain baffled as to why Barbara Lee is running for the Senate. She has absolutely no chance of moving forward and she gave up a very secure seat in the House of Representatives. This just seems pointless.
blasé
leftie
nutter
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3words
Another ancient Boomer politician who should retire.
Ask her why she has never accomplished anything in the House.
Rep Barbara Lee can most certainly win with voters of color and progressives supporting her, just as Karen Bass became Los Angeles mayor with 1/10 campaign funds of her opponent. She is endorsed my more than 100 California elected leaders and won the most votes at the California state democratic caucus for endorsement. Her seat is solidly Democrat in Oakland. She will be replaced by a Democratic, whereas Porter’s seat will probably go Republican.
With Republican President Bush, she developed the mulitimillion dollars law for HIV/AIDS (Pepfar) that saved 15-20 million lives in Africa. Bipartisanly she has legislated for birth control to be available through Medi-cal so that middle class and poor women can have access to this critical healthcare. She has passed many laws to improve health, quality of life and decrease violence both in the U.S. and Throughout the world.
I am glad to see that Barbra Lee left the war zone of Oakland and came to colorful 24th st. in the Mission.
She mentioned the repeal of Prop. 13. I worked on it many years ago with Howard Jarvis because my taxes doubled in one year and I lost an assessment appeal. If it were not for Proposition13 many of us seniors would be living in tents under the Duboce freeway. There is no limit to wasteful spending by San Francisco and Sacramento do gooder politicians but we ordinary people end up paying the bill. You young people reading these letters ought to take notice and stop a lot of bad things before they really get out of control.