Matthew Craig Haney (born April 17, 1982) is an American politician from
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
currently serving as a member of the
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The A ...
from the
17th district, covering the eastern portion of the city. A
progressive member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, Haney had represented
District 6 District Six is a place in Cape Town, South Africa.
District Six may also refer to:
:Government divisions
* District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
* District 6 (New York City Council), in the United States
* VI District, Turku, in Finland
* Distri ...
on the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2019 to 2022 and previously served as a commissioner on the
San Francisco Board of Education
The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and federal laws, an ...
from 2013 to 2019.
In 2022, Haney won a
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...
to the California State Assembly to succeed
David Chiu, who resigned six months prior to become
City Attorney of San Francisco
The City Attorney of San Francisco is an elected position in the City and County of San Francisco, California. While city-county consolidation resulted in the unified government attaining both a city attorney and a district attorney, the two po ...
. He placed first in the
primary election and defeated former supervisor
David Campos
David Campos (born September 28, 1970), is a politician who is Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party. In 2008 he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represented San Francisco's District 9 (Bernal Heights, P ...
, a fellow Democrat, in a runoff. He was sworn in on May 3, 2022.
Early life and education
Haney was born and raised in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
and attended public schools in
Albany, California.
His mother, Kris Calvin, served on the
South Pasedena School Board
A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution.
The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...
.
He has a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 2005 from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and an
LL.M
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
in human rights from the
National University of Ireland
The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...
, where he was a Senator
George Mitchell Scholar.
He has a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in 2010 from the
Stanford Graduate School of Education and a
JD in 2010 from
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...
.
Haney worked at both the
Stanford Design School and at the JFK School of Law, and Sociology at
Palo Alto University
Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private university in Palo Alto, California that focuses on psychology. It was founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology.
Palo Alto University offers two undergraduate degree programs: a Bach ...
, where he taught education law. Haney taught Education Law at the JFK School of Law in addition to teaching Sociology at
Palo Alto University
Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private university in Palo Alto, California that focuses on psychology. It was founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology.
Palo Alto University offers two undergraduate degree programs: a Bach ...
and served as a Fellow and Adjunct Faculty at the Stanford Design School.
Early career
After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2005, Haney was a
legislative aide for
California State Senator
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
...
Joe Simitian
Saren Joseph Simitian (born February 1, 1953) is a California Democratic politician. From 2004 to 2012, he was the State Senator representing California's 11th State Senate district, which encompasses all or part of 13 cities in San Mateo, Sa ...
.
He was the Executive Director of the
UC Student Association
The University of California Student Association (UCSA) is an active 501(c)(3) unincorporated association, purposed as a student association of all University of California (UC) students. Its charter states that it "shall exist to: serve the inte ...
.
Haney is the former National Policy Director for
The Dream Corps.
In 2015, he co-founded
#cut50, an Oakland-based national nonprofit designed to end mass incarceration, with
Van Jones
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and c ...
and
Jessica Jackson
Jessica Jackson is an American human rights attorney and Chief Advocacy Officer at REFORM Alliance. She is also the co-founder of Dream Corps JUSTICE, a national bipartisan effort aimed at reducing America's incarceration rate. She served as the ...
.
San Francisco School Board (2012–2019)
In April 2012, Haney announced his candidacy for the
San Francisco Board of Education
The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and federal laws, an ...
election for one of four open seats.
He was elected in the
November 2012 San Francisco general election, placing fourth behind three incumbents. Haney replaced
Norman Yee
Norman Yee (, born July 29, 1949) is a former American elected official and educator in San Francisco, California. He served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing Supervisorial District 7 from 2012 to 2021 and wa ...
, who forwent re-election to run for the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Upon his election, Haney was the youngest member of the commission and one of the only members of an urban school board in California under the age of 35.
Prior to his election, he served two years on
San Francisco Unified School District’s Public Education Enrichment Fund Community Advisory Committee and Restorative Justice Committee.
Haney,
Sandra Lee Fewer, and
Shamann Walton
Shamann Walton is an American politician from San Francisco. He has been a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2019, representing District 10, and was elected President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 8, 2 ...
authored a resolution that required the district's food vendor to disclose the origin of their food products. It passed with a unanimous vote in May 2016.
While serving as president of the school board, Haney proposed on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that
George Washington High School should be renamed to honor poet
Maya Angelou, an alumna of the school. He cited objections to
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's role as a
slaveowner. He also
proposed removing but not painting over the ''
Life of Washington'' mural by
Victor Arnautoff
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff (born Uspenovka, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire, November 11, 1896 – died Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, March 22, 1979) was a Russian-American painter and professor of art. He worked in San Francisco and ...
inside of the school. He cited his objection to its depiction of slavery and dead Native Americans. Haney and Commissioner Stevon Cook co-authored a
resolution in 2018 to establish a panel to examine which schools to rename.
Haney introduced a resolution calling for the end of the current all-choice-based student assignment system.
President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
endorsed Haney during his re-election campaign in 2016. It was one of the 150 endorsements he made the weekend prior to the
2016 United States elections. Haney was previously a volunteer for Obama's
2008 presidential campaign but had not sought out the endorsement.
San Francisco Supervisor (2019–2022)
In September 2017, Haney filed to run in the
2018 San Francisco Board of Supervisors election to represent District 6.
Haney was elected Supervisor for District 6 on November 6, 2018, receiving 14,249 first preference votes (56.24 percent of all valid votes). After allocation of preferences from eliminated candidates in San Francisco's ranked-choice voting system, Haney received 63.12 percent of final-round votes, compared to 36.88 percent for runner-up Christine Johnson, a former planning commissioner. Haney was sworn in at the Board of Supervisors' January 8, 2019 meeting, replacing
Jane Kim
Jane Kim (born July 9, 1977) is an American attorney and politician, and the first Korean American elected official in San Francisco. She represented San Francisco's District 6 on the Board of Supervisors between 2011 and 2019. She is a member ...
, who was ineligible to run for re-election after
two four-year terms.
A progressive majority was created upon his and
Gordon Mar
Gordon Mar is an American politician from San Francisco. He has been a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2019, representing District 4. He is the brother of former District 1 supervisor, Eric Mar.
District 4 includes the w ...
's election to the board.
Haney resigned as supervisor prior to his swearing in as California State Assemblyman for the 17th district on May 3rd, 2022.
Mayor London Breed appointed
Matt Dorsey
Matt Dorsey is an American politician and communications professional. Dorsey has served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 6 since his appointment by Mayor London Breed on May 9, 2022. He previously served as the Hea ...
to fill Haney's spot as supervisor.
Housing
Haney's views in housing shifted during his time on the Board of Supervisors, becoming increasingly supportive of additional housing and regulatory streamlining for housing construction.
During the 2018 campaign for Supervisor, Haney ran against a leader of the
YIMBY
The YIMBY movement (short for "yes, in my back yard") is a pro-housing movement in contrast and opposition to the NIMBY ("''not'' in my back yard") phenomenon. The YIMBY position supports increasing the supply of housing within cities where hous ...
movement and questioned the need for every neighborhood to build housing, stating "I'm not going to pick fights on the other side of the city."
Haney initially opposed state bill
SB 35, which streamlined housing production in cities that were falling short of state-mandated minimums, but later came to support the bill. In 2021, Haney supported state action to ensure cities allow the construction of more housing, and supported a local bill to legalize
fourplexes on lots zoned for
single-family homes.
In October 2021, Haney supported the construction of a 495-unit apartment complex on a parking lot next to a BART station, but was the proposal was voted down 7-4 by his colleagues. That same month, Haney voted against the construction of 316 micro-homes in Tenderloin, 13.5% of which would have been designated as affordable housing.
Business
In 2020, Haney authored the nation’s first ‘Overpaid CEO Tax’ (Proposition L). The tax charges companies in San Francisco a 0.1% surcharge on their annual business taxes if their top executives earn more than 100 times more than their ‘typical local worker’. The measure is one of the first in the country to address growing income inequality between workers and CEOs in the United States. This Proposition was passed during the 2020 elections with 65.18%.
Haney wrote an
opinion piece
An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.
Editorials
Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...
in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'' endorsing a No vote on
2020 California Proposition 22.
The proposition would have granted app-based transportation and delivery companies like DoorDash, Uber, Lyft and other gig-economy companies an exception to
Assembly Bill 5 by classifying their drivers as "
independent contractors
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...
".
New Department of Sanitation
Haney introduced Proposition B, which amends San Francisco’s Charter to form the Department of Sanitation and Streets by splitting it from the
San Francisco Department of Public Works, in 2020. It would also create the Sanitation and Streets Commission and a Public Works Commission to provide oversight to the departments. The Board of Supervisors placed it on the ballot with a 7 to 4 vote. Proposition B passed in the November 2020 elections with 200,251 votes or 60.87%.
Healthcare
Haney supported opening a
safe injection site
Supervised injection sites (SIS) are medically supervised facilities designed to provide a hygienic environment in which people are able to consume illicit recreational drugs intravenously and prevent deaths due to drug overdoses. The legality ...
in his district by the Tenderloin district. Haney represents the Tenderloin and
SoMa
Soma may refer to:
Businesses and brands
* SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects
* Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems
* SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...
, two districts most impacted by fatal
drug overdoses within the city.
California State Assembly (2022–)
Election
Haney ran to serve for the remainder of
David Chiu's term, who vacated the seat upon his appointment to
City Attorney of San Francisco
The City Attorney of San Francisco is an elected position in the City and County of San Francisco, California. While city-county consolidation resulted in the unified government attaining both a city attorney and a district attorney, the two po ...
. Haney and former supervisor
David Campos
David Campos (born September 28, 1970), is a politician who is Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party. In 2008 he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represented San Francisco's District 9 (Bernal Heights, P ...
garnered the most votes in the primary election on February 15, 2022 but neither had more than 50% of the vote (Haney's 36.44% to Campos's 35.67%). Therefore, both candidates headed to the
runoff election on April 19, 2022. According to the ''Wall Street Journal'', the election centered on the issue of "Which candidate wants to build more housing."
Haney won the runoff with 62% of the vote, and was sworn in on May 3, 2022.
Personal life
Haney has a brother and a sister. His sister, Erin Haney, is senior counsel for #cut50, a nonprofit he co-founded.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
2009 opinion piece for the ''Fog City Journal''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haney, Matt
1982 births
Living people
San Francisco Board of Supervisors members
21st-century American politicians
Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Stanford Law School alumni
School board members in California