Four years ago, bisexual South San Francisco City Councilmember James Coleman shocked his city's political establishment by defeating the city's then mayor for the newly created District 4 seat on the governing body. At the same time, he was finishing his undergraduate studies at Harvard.
He did so as traditional campaigning tactics were largely mothballed due to the COVID pandemic. His victory that November made Coleman, then age 21, the youngest person on the five-member council and its first out member.
Now 25, Coleman is serving as the Peninsula city's ceremonial mayor and aiming to avoid the same fate as the person he defeated in 2020. This time, a who's who of local Democratic electeds in both San Francisco and San Mateo counties have endorsed Coleman's November 5 bid for a second, four-year term.
Among them are Congressmember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco), whom Coleman unsuccessfully had sought to succeed in the state Assembly in 2022; state Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who is gay, and Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), and Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco). His council colleagues Eddie Flores, the city's current vice mayor, and Mark Nagales have also endorsed Coleman.
"I am feeling very positive and very optimistic," Coleman told the Bay Area Reporter Monday as he headed into the final week of the campaign.
Should he secure a second term, Coleman would remain one of the youngest LGBTQ elected leaders not only in the Bay Area but in the U.S. He has already knocked on 2,500 doors in his district and expects to have hit 3,000 come Election Day.
"We will see. That is what, 100 a day? It is possible," said Coleman, who since January has worked as an organizer for the California Working Families Party.
The same reasons he first ran for the elected office, such as wanting to address climate change, public safety reforms, and affordable housing, are motivating his candidacy this year, said Coleman. While the City Council has been able to tackle those issues and more during his first term, there is still work to be done, he told the B.A.R.
"What motivated me to run for City Council was I wanted to make sure my community had a voice," said Coleman. "I didn't want to see us just sweeping these issues under the rug but tackling them head on."
Over the last four years the council has secured $28 million toward an 800-unit housing development that will set aside 160 as affordable, allocated $9 million to build a new child care center, and has opened new pools and other civic facilities, noted Coleman.
Two years ago, the city adopted a measure that allows it to build social housing, something Coleman is a big supporter of doing. The council and city staff are in the process of identifying city-owned sites suitable for such projects and how to finance their construction, something he wants to assist with in his second term.
"We have done a lot of great work but there is more to be done," said Coleman, adding he is "blessed" that the city council and staff work together as a "good team" on various issues. "We need to make sure we move forward in a progressive direction and continue to make progress on issues that matter to South San Francisco families the most."
Challenging him for his seat is South San Francisco Housing Authority Chair Avin Sharma, who emigrated from Fiji nearly two decades ago at age 15 and settled in South San Francisco in 1997. He is raising two daughters with his wife and works as a finance manager for Stanford University.
Sharma has focused on the city's fiscal outlook as a key issue in his campaign for the seat. Several of the city's former mayors have endorsed his candidacy, including Richard Garbarino, who lost to Coleman four years ago.
"Our budgetary challenges may impact the high-quality services our residents have come to rely upon and we need leadership to ensure that our city gets back on track," Sharma has contended.
Coleman told the B.A.R. that the council could be facing a $5 million deficit it will need to address in its fiscal year 2025-2026 budget. The city has a total general fund budget of $145 million, plus $70 million in a reserve fund.
A recent budget update found better than projected property tax revenues, estimated at $14 million more than the city had expected, noted Coleman. Plus, city officials are hopeful residents will pass Measure W next week to update its business license tax and bring in $2.6 million a year for the budget.
"We will reevaluate what the fiscal conditions are early next year and reevaluate what the budget should be moving forward," said Coleman.
As for him having an eye on seeking higher office again, Coleman told the B.A.R. he anticipates serving his full second term. There isn't expected to be an open legislative or congressional seat in 2026 as there had been in 2022 when he launched his Assembly bid.
"I am committed to South San Francisco for the next four years, at least," said Coleman, who is not term limited from running again for his council seat in 2028. "I enjoy doing the work on the City Council, and what we have begun, I want to see through."
No regrets
He has no regrets about his decision to seek the Statehouse seat, said Coleman, as it helped introduce him to leaders across the county and region. Those connections have paid dividends not only for his role as a council member but also as a candidate seeking reelection.
"It has given me a more regional and statewide outlook when it comes to state policy and local government," he said. "I am glad I did it. I learned a lot from that experience."
As is tradition with his city's mayoralty, he was allowed to host one big event during his 12-month tenure and opted to do a Pride celebration in June. As part of it, Coleman put together the first-ever drag show held at the town's City Hall.
"People emailed me and said they never imagined they would see that in South San Francisco. They were very proud to be a part of our city after that," recalled Coleman, who will hand over the mayor's gavel in December. "It really provides a good platform to stand up for issues that matter most to people."
The biggest surprise to being mayor, he told the B.A.R., is the amount of email he has received.
"A lot of people will email you. If they don't know who their councilmember is, their default is to email the mayor," said Coleman, who also acknowledged he wasn't prepared for how busy his schedule would be serving in the role. "There is a multitude of events you are invited to and asked to speak at. It is definitely exhausting but also a good experience and definitely rewarding."
Coleman's mother emigrated from Taiwan to the U.S. and at first lived in Ohio, where his father, who was white, was from. His parents moved to the Golden State shortly after having Coleman, who is an only child.
His mother works as a lab assistant at Kaiser. His dad, who died in 2015, had worked for FedEx and became paralyzed from the waist down due to an accident. His injury had Coleman thinking he would seek a career in neurosciences.
But he pivoted toward a career in politics. Last year, he worked as a political director for the campaign of bisexual Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose) as he laid the groundwork to seek a third term this year.
With it clear last December after the filing deadline for the March primary that Lee was all but assured of being reelected, Coleman resigned and sought the position with Working Families where his boss is former San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim.
"We get pro-working-class champions elected to local and state office. We also train local officials to be effective," said Coleman. "Of course, after the election we will change gears toward supporting our elected officials who win."
A key to his own political success, said Coleman, is his being a collaborative person.
"We can disagree on one issue but work together on the next issue," he said. "I have been able to build bridges over the last four years with people I do not necessarily agree with on everything."
Coleman now hopes those connections will power him to victory Tuesday night.
"I want to make sure South San Francisco remains a high-functioning and forward-thinking city," he said.
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column looked at how six CA GOP House incumbents seeking reelection scored on an LGBTQ report card.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!