Homeless people told us their picks for San Francisco mayor

Homelessness is a top issue in the San Francisco mayoral election for voters who live in homes. It’s also front of mind for voters who don’t: the people who sleep on city streets, in vehicles, and in tents. 

The Standard canvassed 10 homeless people this week to find out who’s got their vote for mayor in November. 

Of the 10, only three knew details of the candidates; The Standard walked the others through the options. Just one was registered to vote, according to public records. 

But most agree that they want a mayor who won’t throw away their belongings and will get them into housing.

Here’s what they had to say.

Several people said a recent uptick in encampment sweeps, overseen by Mayor London Breed, has made it harder to escape homelessness. 

For that reason, they said, they’re more likely to vote for Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose website criticizes the approach of moving homeless people from block to block. 

Breed and Peskin’s campaigns didn’t respond to requests for comment by publication time.

Dan Laughlin said he’s lived in an RV in San Francisco for 27 years and was recently ticketed for illegal parking for the first time. Laughlin said he’s a registered Green Party voter and will likely vote for Peskin. 

“When you start having all these laws against us, it doesn’t help,” Laughlin said. “There’s not going to be enough shelter for everyone.”

Tugboat Rainwater, who lives in a tent on the streets of SoMa, said he got involved in the election after Republican candidate Ellen Lee Zhou approached him while he was panhandling. 

Rainwater said he was holding a sign that read “homeless hungry veteran” near a freeway off-ramp when Zhou pulled over in her campaign van and promised to house him if elected.

“She goes, ‘If you vote for me and I get inducted as mayor, I promise that we’ll get as many homeless people off the street as want to get off the street,’” Rainwater said, pulling Zhou’s campaign card from his wallet. 

In a phone interview, Zhou said she often stops and talks to “non-Tenderloin” homeless people as part of her religious practice — but not for campaign purposes. 

She said that if she becomes mayor, she’ll call an emergency declaration to fingerprint every homeless person, allowing her to determine whether they are homeless by choice. 

Those who are “professional homeless,” as she puts it, would be reprimanded. Everyone else would receive around-the-clock care.

“Once I fingerprint and facial recognition each person in San Francisco who claims to be homeless, then we were able to root out the problems,” Zhou said. “If they are professional homeless, and they choose to be homeless, then we have to give them a warning.”

Rainwater, who said he is from Alaska, became homeless after his little brother stole his car, leaving him stranded in the city three years ago. He’s frustrated by politicians and social workers, who’ve repeatedly broken promises to house him, he said. 

“I jumped through every one of their hoops, and they never called me back,” Rainwater said. “I don’t trust anyone. But I like what [Zhou] says and the way she says it.” 

Rick Lint, who has been homeless at various times over 29 years in the city, said critics don’t understand how difficult it is to find a job once you’ve become homeless.

Lint dreams of working as a chef, cooking beef Stroganoff, halibut, and oysters, he said. But the city’s shelters don’t offer job training or sufficient rehabilitation services to help him accomplish his goal.

“We just get moved along, tossed into the garbage,” Lint said. “The uppity type, upper-echelon people think, ‘Oh, they can go get a job.’”

He was unfamiliar with any of the candidates running for mayor. But when The Standard showed him a list of the candidates and their positions, he made his pick: Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit founder and heir to the Levi’s fortune.

“His connections would help the city out tremendously,” he said.

Lurie’s plan to combat homelessness includes auditing nonprofits and expanding shelters.

“The City Hall insiders rubber-stamped billions in unaccountable contracts and failed to get results for our communities and unhoused neighbors alike,” Lurie said in a statement. “If they want more of the same, there will be plenty of that on the ballot, but if they want accountable, results-driven leadership, I hope to have their support.”

Kali Donlin said she lived in an apartment near 19th and Valencia streets for 26 years before being evicted six months ago. Since then, she’s been cited for illegal lodging, had her tent confiscated by the city, and woke up with men sleeping next to her, forcing her to sleep with a knife under her pillow. 

Donlin, who lost her husband in 2021 and survives on disability benefits, said the Mission has become unaffordable, leading her to choose Peskin because of his promise to stop evictions. 

“If they’re ticketing people for not having a home, shouldn’t they give us a home?” Donlin said. “They need to add more affordable housing in the Mission. That’s what it used to be all about. This was the affordable neighborhood.”

None of the 10 people polled by The Standard named Mark Farrell, Ahsha Safaí, or Breed as their pick for mayor.