Newsom Neglects Tenderloin In Endorsement of Black

by Casy Mills, Beyond Chron (reposted)

Thu, Aug 3, 2006 9:27AM

In a press release declaring his support of District 6 candidate Rob Black, Mayor Gavin Newsom displayed a poor understanding of the district’s make-up. Newsom describes District 6 as including “Downtown, the Financial District, the Upper Mission, South Beach, SOMA, and Treasure Island.” The description somehow neglected to mention the Tenderloin, the most densely populated and lowest income neighborhood in the area. It also mentions the ‘Upper Mission,’ a term you’d be hard pressed to find a single District 6 resident using, as the Mission is divided into its Inner and Outer portions. Downtown and the Financial District have suddenly become two different neighborhoods, and the real estate industry-created “South Beach” neighborhood elevated to prominence. Can Black and Newsom convince District 6 residents that they understand and care about the area when they reveal little understanding of its most basic characteristics?

Black has quickly made his strategy clear – to capture enough votes in certain rapidly gentrifying areas in the South of Market, where he can tap into upper and upper-middle class homeowner’s disaffection with Daly’s commitment to the poor, to overcome the incumbent. Including ‘South Beach’ in the press release is an attempt to cement that area as a distinct neighborhood with a different identity that the lower-income areas around it, and galvanize the area for Black.

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