FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, July 16, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

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MAYOR LONDON BREED APPOINTS VALLIE BROWN TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Brown to serve as District 5 Supervisor

San Francisco, CA—Mayor London Breed today appointed Vallie Brown to serve on the Board of Supervisors representing District 5, which includes the Fillmore/Western Addition, Hayes Valley, Lower Haight, Haight-Ashbury, Japantown, Alamo Square, North of Panhandle, Cole Valley and Inner Sunset neighborhoods.

Brown is filling the seat vacated by Mayor Breed, who was elected Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco in the November 2018 election. Brown currently works with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development as a Project Manager developing affordable housing. Brown previously served as a Legislative Aide for then-Supervisor Breed from 2013-2016 and former Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi from 2006-2013.

"I’ve known Vallie for 15 years. She has fought for our neighborhoods for decades. I’m excited to appoint her as Supervisor because I know she will take the fight that she has fought in our neighborhoods to City Hall," said Mayor Breed. “This isn’t about politics--this is about our community. This is about ensuring that our neighborhoods have a representative who is responsive to their needs. Vallie Brown is the leader who will ensure that D5 residents have a voice, and I am proud to appoint her today.”

“As a Legislative Aide in my office, Vallie took the lead in writing and passing Neighborhood Preference legislation to allow for local residents to have priority access to new affordable housing,” Breed continued. “I know that she will continue to deliver for the people of District 5 as Supervisor.”

In 2004, Brown founded the Lower Haight Neighborhood Association and worked with merchants to form the Lower Haight Merchants Association. Through these organizations, she led successful efforts to clean commercial corridors, including securing funding to plant trees on Haight Street protected by tree guards designed by students from John Muir Elementary School.

After these successful efforts, the organizations became further involved in issues of local concern. Brown worked with the City to bring employment opportunities to low income residents in the Lower Haight during the economic downturn, and worked with the San Francisco Police Department to introduce beat cops to the neighborhood to ensure a strong community connection between residents and law enforcement.

"I’m honored to be appointed by Mayor Breed today to represent District 5 at the Board of Supervisors. I am your Supervisor today, but first and foremost, I’m your neighbor," said Brown. "I grew up under challenging circumstances--my sister and I were raised by my mother and my grandmother, and we never knew my father. I was raised in poverty and experienced housing insecurity until well into my adult life. I am committed to focusing on the issues that affect our community every day: housing affordability, homelessness, and clean, safe streets. Those will be my top priorities as Supervisor.”

“Throughout her years of service to our community, Vallie has found herself on the right side of every issue regardless of political correctness,” said Reverend Arnold Townsend, Vice President of the San Francisco NAACP. “She has always cared about people and not politics.”

Brown moved to San Francisco in 1985. As an aspiring artist, she lived in empty warehouse spaces with other artists until eventually, she and other artists in the community pooled all their resources to purchase a home in the Lower Haight. Brown worked in the non-profit sector, at first teaching art at the Hunters Point Boys & Girls Club. She has been a leader at various local non-profits focusing on educational and environmental activism.

Brown will serve until the next scheduled election in November 2019.

To view Mayor Breed’s live remarks regarding the appointment of Brown, visit her Facebook page at Facebook.com/MayorLondonBreed

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