SAN FRANCISCO – Local civil rights attorney Joshua Arce, who is vying for the District 9 supervisor seat, has recently secured several key campaign endorsements as he seeks to bring change to the Board of Supervisor’s representation of the Mission District, an area where the city’s affordable housing issue has taken center stage.
Arce, who has many local, prominent Democratic players in his corner, has locked in the endorsements of Lt. Governor and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as well as that of Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State; California Democratic Party Chair John Burton; and State Assemblymen David Chiu and Phil Ting among others. The District 9 Supervisor spot now held by Supervisor David Campos, who will term out in November, includes the Mission, Bernal Heights and Portola seat.
“San Francisco is at a crossroads,” Arce, who moved to San Francisco to earn his law degree nearly 20 years ago from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, told the Northern California Record. A San Fernandino Valley native, Arce is now a resident of the Mission District.
“Long-time residents are anxious about expensive housing, pollution and income inequality in District 9 and beyond,” he said. “I believe we can change this. I am running for supervisor because I believe we can tackle these big issues and that I have the experience to deliver the changes our city needs.”
Arce, who is up against six other candidates currently in the running for the District 9 seat, hopes his background as a civil rights attorney and his track record in the district will resonant with voters.
“As a civil rights attorney and board member of our district’s oldest and largest affordable housing, I know what it takes to get affordable housing built. In fact, we are building more affordable housing right now than has been delivered in the past decade,” Arce said. “Affordability is about more than just housing. A few years ago, I successfully championed the nation’s most successful local hire policy. This program requires 30 percent of all construction projects to employ people who actually live here. As supervisor, I plan to expand the program to health care and the biotech industries.”
As the 2016 election cycle has proven to be one of the most contentious in decades for both local and national races, Arce wants the end result to be the community coming together and working to put politics aside.
“In recent years, we have allowed our differences to define policy positions around too many critical issues,” Arce said. “Our city needs leadership, our city needs to bridge these divides to ensure that all San Franciscans secure an equitable fair share of the city’s future.”
Arce currently serves as a community liaison for the Laborers Union Local 261. He continues to work as a civil rights attorney for low-income and limited English-speaking residents of District 9 and throughout San Francisco. He is the founder of Brightline Defense, a civil rights and environmental justice nonprofit group.
“My upbringing taught me the value of hard work and the importance of social and economic justice,” Arce said. “If elected, these are the values that I will bring to City Hall.”