Organized Labor

Delegates to the SFBCTC voted to endorse Ron Dudum for Board of Supervisors in the Fourth District. Dudum and current Board member Carmen Chu were interviewed Feb. 21. Dudum narrowly lost the race to Ed Jew in 2006. Jew was forced to resign from the Board after being charged with election fraud. He was accused of not living in the home in the District where he said he lived. Carmen Chu was appointed to fill the position by Mayor Newsom.

According to SFBCTC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mike Theriault, "Delegates to the building trades council felt that Mr. Dudum's long involvement and activism in the neighborhoods would allow him to represent the district well on the Board of Supervisors."

Dudum said he was thrilled to get the endorsement of the SFBCTC, saying it was one of the most important in the City. "I'm honored to be recognized by working people of the building trades, especially in my district, which is blue collar district." Dudum said he felt that, "Our middle class values of hard work and playing by the rules can only be represented by a lifelong Sunset resident who understands the concerns of our neighborhood and City."

"I know who I am accountable to: the working families in the District," Dudum told the SFBCTC interview panel. Dudum said he supported appointing union members to City Boards and commissions and would maintain an open door policy to listen to union concerns.

Dudum's says he has dedicated countless hours to community service over the past 25 years. He founded the Westside Democratic Club, served as Vice Chair of the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee and the Landmark Preservation Board, and was a member of former District Attorney Arlo Smith's Hate Crimes Task Force. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of San Francisco Day School and on the International Board of the American Near East Refugee Assistance (ANERA). Dudum's father emigrated from Palestine to the U.S. in 1947.

Dudum said that developing more affordable housing was one of his priorities. He said more neighborhoods for family housing should be built and that San Francisco should support a program that offers low-interest loans and grants for long-term San Franciscans, including public safety workers and educators. "We need to emphasize building neighborhoods for working families without sacrificing the downtown development that keeps our trades employed," he wrote in his candidate questionnaire.

Dudum supports efforts to oblige city agencies to negotiate project labor agreements for SF public works, as well as adequate funding for the Office of Labor standards enforcement.

The SFBCTC made the following endorsements in February:

District One: Eric Mar
District Five: Ross Mirkarimi
District Seven: Sean Elsbernd
District Eleven: Julio Ramos

The SFBCTC has not yet endorsed candidates in the Third and Ninth Districts. In the Third District the SFBCTC interviewed the four candidates hoping to succeed current Board President Aaron Peskin—attorney Joseph Alioto, Jr., internet business owner David Chiu, neighborhood organizer Lynn Jefferson, and attorney Claudine Cheng, president of the Treasure Island development authority.

In District Nine, Supervisor Tom Ammiano is termed out and running for State Assembly, with labor's backing. The SFBCTC interviewed all four candidates— Dolores Street Community Services Executive Director Eric Quezada, public school teacher and School Board member Mark Sanchez, attorney David Campos, and telecommunications technician Eric Storey.

Organized Labor will have more about the endorsed candidates in future issues.