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Over the past 6 years in office, I have taken the lead at City Hall on affordable housing, tenants' rights, homelessness, public health, the environment, and senior and kids' issues.

In my first bid for public office, I earned a first place finish and a spot in the runoff with one-third of the general election vote in a field of 17 candidates and was elected Supervisor in a runoff with 81% of the vote. At 28, I was the youngest person ever elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In my first reelection effort, I won a majority of votes against 8 opponents - 34 points ahead of second place.

I currently serve as Chair of the Board's powerful Budget and Finance Committee and am past Chair of the Finance Committee, Budget Committee, and Health and Human Services Committee. I am widely regarded as one of the most effective members of the Board. I am a member of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and as the Chair in 2003 led the effort to reauthorize the half-cent sales tax for transportation projects. I also serves on the Transbay Joint Powers Authority where I have led the charge to develop a new multi-modal transit center with a rail extension to downtown San Francisco.

For 4 years I served as the Board’s representative on the First Five Commission, allocating funds for early childhood development programs and also served on San Francisco’s Health Service Board. I currently sit on the City’s Committee on Information Technology (COIT).

In regional government, I am Finane and Budget Committee Chair for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, fighting for cleaner air in Northern California. I'm also a member of the Joint Policy Committee and the Association of Bay Area Governments and its Regional Planning Committee, where I'm focused on promoting a regional land use policy that favors smart growth with affordable housing and good public transit.

I moved to San Francisco in 1993 as National Coordinator of Empty the Shelters, a non-profit organization of youth and students working to end homelessness. In 1995, I co-founded the Mission Agenda, a local nonprofit organization working with low-income people living in single-room occupancy hotel residents. When fires swept through hotels in the Mission and Tenderloin, I worked with SRO residents to draw attention to their plight and to force the City government to respond to their needs.

I am a strong voice for tenant rights in the fight against displacement. I previously served on the steering committee of the San Francisco Tenants Union and helped organize proactive response to evictions facing long-time residents, nonprofits, artists and small businesses. I am a co-founder of the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, which works to enact sound planning and development policies to preserve the cultural character of San Francisco's Mission district. As a tenant of the historic Redstone Building, I helped call attention to the displacement of nonprofits and small businesses.

My high school valedictorian, I studied the history of social movements at Duke University, where I worked with Habitat for Humanity to build low-income housing, and organized students to force the college to invest millions in affordable housing construction and to save union jobs from privatization. I've been an adjunct faculty member at New College of California. In 1989, I received the Young Americans' Medal for Service, awarded by the United States Congress and presented by the President. I'm also a Maryland 4-H All Star.

I live in District 6 on Stevenson Street with my great wife, Sarah, and 2 year-old son, Jack. When not working, I enjoy spending time with family and playing and watching basketball.