San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: [email protected] 

DATE: May 10, 2025

***San Francisco Latino Democratic Club blasts outsider “Drug‑Free Sidewalks” rally, demanding investment in housing and care over arrests***

Mission District and Latinos Need Help, Not Harassment

San Francisco, CA - The San Francisco Latino Democratic Club condemns the “Drug‑Free Sidewalks” stunt orchestrated by Lily Ho, Cedric  Akbar, Trevor  Chandler, and Lanier Coles, members of the San Francisco Corporate Democratic Party. Members of their rally attempted to storm church grounds, and harass The Gubbio Project, an organization that offers sanctuary, rest, and dignity to our most vulnerable neighbors. Speakers of their rally demeaned unhoused residents with racist slurs like “methed out cholos” and tough‑on‑crime fantasies straight from the failed War on Drugs. This only reaffirms our decision to leave the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, to be affiliated with fear mongers and poverty pimps is deplorable. 

Most rally‑goers were outsiders and non-residents—few Latino voices, with zero neighborhood credibility.  Our communities will not be used as a political prop.  Calling for mass arrests while peddling lies about “nonprofits hyping up fentanyl dealers” is outlandish, cowardly, and cruel. 

We also condemn the physical confrontations that followed.  Vigilantism endangers everyone and solves nothing.

The San Francisco Latino Democratic Club demands:

1. Investment, not incarceration. Fund housing, harm‑reduction, and community‑based mental‑health services that actually make streets safer.
2. Inclusion. No decisions about safety on 16th Street—or anywhere in La Misión—without Latino residents and organizations at the table.

We stand with The Gubbio Project, with our unhoused neighbors, and with every Mission resident disgusted by this cynical spectacle. You can make a donation to the Gubbio Project here. 

Our fight is for dignity, equity, and real public safety - never for public spectacles.

The San Francisco Latino Democratic Club

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The San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club membership unanimously endorses the community-led recall effort against Supervisor Joel Engardio. While recalls are a serious undertaking and not a position we adopt lightly, this moment demands clarity and accountability.

Supervisor Engardio has demonstrated a disturbing disconnect from the needs and will of his own constituents, particularly with his tone-deaf push to close the Great Highway despite overwhelming opposition from the residents of his district. The Great Highway has long served as a vital transportation corridor and recreational resource, and the residents of District 4 made it abundantly clear with their votes to keep it accessible for everyone. Engardio's refusal to heed that call reflects a broader failure in responsive leadership.

It is especially telling that Supervisor Engardio was a key proponent of not one, but two previous recall efforts- recalls our club opposed due to the absence of corruption. Yet today, he finds himself at the center of a remarkably similar dynamic: calls for his recall for ignoring the voices of the people he was elected to serve. There may be no corruption here either, but there is a clear betrayal of representation. In that sense, the current recall effort is not only justified—it is poetic justice, and why the SFLDC supports the recall of Supervisor Engardio.

The San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club believes elected officials must be held accountable when they govern by the ideology of Recall for Thee, Not for Me,  instead of listening to their constituents. District 4 deserves a Supervisor who will lead with integrity, humility, and respect for District 4’s voice.

- San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club

The San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club (LDC) rejects GrowSF’s irresponsible statement mischaracterizing the LDC’s reasons for departing from the San Francisco Democratic Party (SFDP).