In a nod to his being the first LGBTQ progressive leader elected to the District 9 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors covering the Mission, Bernal Heights, and Portola neighborhoods, gay former supervisor Tom Ammiano administered the oath of office to queer District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder at the community swearing-in ceremony the young progressive politician held at Mission High School.
First elected to the board in 1994, Ammiano won election to his district seat in 2000 when the supervisors stopped being elected citywide. Gay former supervisor David Campos, who held the seat between 2008 and 2017, succeeded him.
Ammiano, who also was a state legislator, was one of the more prominent supporters of Fielder's 2024 bid for the board seat. He told the Bay Area Reporter it was an honor to be asked by her to preside over her ceremonial oath, which he had Fielder write specifically for the moment and take with her left hand raised, saying, "Enough of this right crap." (The winners of the supervisorial races in November for the odd-numbered seats on the board were officially sworn in on January 8 at their inaugural meeting at City Hall.)
He also said Fielder "is off to a great start," having secured unanimous support among the 11 supervisors for her resolution recommitting San Francisco as a sanctuary city for immigrants introduced last week ahead of President Donald Trump's return to the White House on Monday. Amid threats of sweeping raids to expel undocumented immigrants, supposedly targeting those who have committed crimes, Trump signed an executive order January 20 stripping the children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrant parents of their American citizenship, which was immediately the subject of a lawsuit filed by 19 state attorneys general.
"It is very gratifying to know there is a voice on the Board of Supervisors for these disenfranchised communities," said Ammiano. "We need to make sure the community has her back. There is a lot of negativity out there."
In her oath, Fielder pledged to "support and defend the vibrancy, inclusion and working people of District 9 in San Francisco against all detractors, foreign and domestic," and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the grassroots organizers that have laid the groundwork before me." She also vowed "to fight for the elders, the youth, and the planet."
Among those attending the January 17 event was Roma Guy, a longtime lesbian activist and former San Francisco health commissioner. She and her wife, Diane Jones, are co-parents with Ammiano to a daughter and the grandparents to three girls.
Like Ammiano, the couple live in District 9 and voted for Fielder to be their new supervisor. Guy told the B.A.R. that seeing Fielder win election with 60% of the vote across the district's three neighborhoods was "stupendous and over the top."
She also said she is thrilled to see an out woman again on the board. It has been more than a decade since appointed bisexual District 5 supervisor Christina Olague stepped down on January 8, 2013, after losing her bid the previous fall to retain the seat.
"It is inspiring to old people like me. For older queer people like myself, it is inspiring because of the context we are living in," said Guy, 82, noting that Fielder will be a fighter for social justice. "She is attractive to the next generation of young leaders we know she will lead."
Noted LGBTQ historian, author, and transgender studies scholar Susan Stryker, Ph.D., also lives in District 9 near Bernal Heights and voted for Fielder. She supported her candidacy, explained Stryker, because she felt Fielder would represent her values at City Hall.
"I just think as the city's politics shift to the right, she is a rare beacon of hope," said Stryker, adding of the 30-year-old politician, "it is thrilling to see her success at such a young age with great things to come."
Fielder is the youngest LGBTQ community leader to win a seat on the Board of Supervisors. She is also now the third out supervisor to represent District 9 and succeeds former supervisor Hillary Ronen, a former aide to Campos and straight ally who was term-limited from running again in last November's election.
Fielder's victory in her board race resulted in her becoming the first out woman elected to the board since 1996 and the first out Latina to represent District 9. She traces her family roots to Monterrey, Mexico.
And with ancestral ties also to the Lakota and Hidatsa tribes of South and North Dakota, Fielder is the first Native American elected member of the city's governing body and only second known to serve on it. (The first was appointed District 5 supervisor Vallie Brown who lost her 2019 race to continue serving in the seat.)
"My journey proves that you don't need to be an extraordinary person to do extraordinary things. You don't need to come from a powerful family. You don't need to have lobbied for powerful organizations or have powerful connections to step up for your community," said Fielder, who had a traditional Aztec dance troupe based in the Mission kick off the ceremony. "If you believe in public service. If you can imagine a different world from the one that you see around you. If you are impatient enough for change that is all you need to make a difference."
She joins a historic bloc of four out members, serving alongside gay Supervisors Matt Dorsey of District 6, Joel Engardio of District 4, and Rafael Mandelman of District 8, whom Fielder helped unanimously elect as the new board president. Mandelman is the first gay supervisor to serve in the powerful role since Ammiano gave up the gavel in 2003.
Mandelman attended Fielder's ceremonial swearing-in, as did progressive Supervisors Connie Chan of District 1, Chyanne Chen of District 11, and Shamann Walton of District 10. Moderate Supervisors Stephen Sherrill of District 2 and Danny Sauter of District 3 also were on hand, as were former supervisors Ronen and Dean Preston of District 5.
Mayor Daniel Lurie also dropped by the ceremony to give brief remarks before heading to another commitment. Acknowledging he and Fielder are unlikely to be in agreement on every issue, Lurie nonetheless pledged to work with her as he has done with all 11 members of the board.
"We are not going to agree on everything. But we can disagree without being disagreeable," said Lurie, expected to be even more moderate than his predecessors, later telling Fielder, "Congratulations on this historic victory. You deserve it, and I look forward to working with you."
He noted that he had already "snuck over" to greet Fielder in her City Hall office last week and inquire how she was doing. Such unannounced visits he plans to continue with the supervisors.
"I know it is a shock," said Lurie, alluding to the political divisions of the past that led to rocky relationships between moderate and progressive city leaders. "It is a new day in San Francisco."
He pledged to work with Fielder "to ensure the Mission District gets what it needs." And Lurie rearticulated his pledge that "the LGBTQ-plus community and immigrant community have an ally in me, and I know they have an ally in Supervisor Jackie."
In her remarks, Fielder pledged to be a champion "for a better world" beginning in the city. She pointed to housing, homelessness, and health care as areas she plans to focus on to ensure the policies coming out of City Hall benefit not just the wealthy.
"And in San Francisco's most vital, vibrant districts, I intend to lead with a positive vision for the future, which is what we as San Franciscans have always believed in," said Fielder. "Whether you are a single mother struggling with housing insecurity. Whether you were born and raised here and are fighting to keep your family here. Whether you are someone who migrated here, worked multiple jobs to send money back home to your family. Whether you are a homeowner working to put your children through college, I believe you deserve a District 9 and a San Francisco that works for you."
Political Notes, the notebook's online companion, returns Monday, January 27.
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