Critics say congressional candidate and Supervisor Connie Chan impedes housing in San Francisco. Chan says they distort her record.
Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle
Regarding “Connie Chan’s critics call her a roadblock. She calls herself a voice for her S.F. community” (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, Aug. 26): I was surprised by Connie Chan’s quote: “We cannot simply agree to demolish San Francisco for the sake of meeting a state mandate legislated by a single-minded legislator based on unproven housing ideology.”
Building housing is not an unproven ideology. Many studies show that increasing housing production decreases the cost of housing and improves availability for everyone. For example, a Pew Research study found that prices went down after Austin, Texas, instituted reforms that added 120,000 units of housing over nine years.
Building more housing of all levels of affordability is the answer to our crisis.
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I’m also surprised that Chan considers herself a voice for her community because the majority of her district supports more housing. In a 2025 poll by GrowSF, 82% of District 1 voters approved Mayor Daniel Lurie’s “Family Zoning” plan (which Chan voted against).
As a renter and new parent raising my family in the Richmond, I expect my supervisor to make evidence-based decisions and represent the people who live here. I’m disappointed on both counts.
Sachi Takahashi-Rial, San Francisco
Painting removal is hasty
Regarding “Kehinde Wiley painting removed from embassy after officials call it ‘woke’” (Arts & Exhibits, SFChronicle.com, Aug. 25): Now, in addition to medical advice from unqualified folks in the Trump administration, we have petty State Department officials demonstrating total ignorance of art as they remove a major artist’s work in a U.S. embassy.
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Kehinde Wiley is a treasure to America and the world. His exhibition at the de Young was stupendous, thought-provoking, prescient and hauntingly beautiful. Using Senegalese figures, Wiley turned the “Western art canon” upside down with his historical and familiar images and sculptures.
Wiley’s portrait of President Barack Obama is a constant reminder of his stature.
The State Department’s decision to remove Wiley’s work from its embassy in the Dominican Republic is a tremendous loss.
Buffy Francisco, San Francisco
System is broken
Regarding “Off-putting name” (Letters to the Editor, Aug. 24): Democratic socialists are not turning off voters, as the letter suggests. In reality, voters are rejecting the mainstream Democratic Party that won’t defend the needs of working people.
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However, democratic socialists believe that capitalism can be reformed to a certain extent through the ballot box. This plays into the hands of the Democrats and Republicans.
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Real socialists want to get rid of capitalism and replace it with a system that prioritizes the needs of the many, not the few.
Polls show a rising number of people favor socialism. The profit system does not work, so let the people speak.
Amy Gray-Schlink, member, Bay Area Freedom Socialist Party, Oakland