District 4 Candidate Series Finale: A Conversation with Supervisor Alan Wong

Disclosure: My husband, Christian Kropff, is Supervisor Alan Wong's campaign manager. Every candidate in this series was made aware of this connection before recording. The questions in this episode are the same ones asked of every candidate throughout the series.

This is the final episode of The Sunset Connection's District 4 Candidate Series.

Over the past several weeks, I've spoken with every candidate running for District 4 Supervisor - asking the same questions, in the same format, each time. The goal has always been the same: to give Sunset residents the chance to hear directly from the people asking for their vote, in their own words, before the race gets condensed into slogans and sound bites.

In this final conversation, I'm joined by Alan Wong, the current appointed Supervisor for District 4. Alan is a lifelong Sunset resident who has served the community as a union organizer, District 4 legislative aide, National Guard officer, City College Trustee, and director of a children's nonprofit. He was appointed by Mayor Daniel Lurie to serve as District 4 Supervisor.

We discuss his personal connection to the district, what motivated him to run, how his experiences have shaped his approach to leadership, and what success would look like in his first year - along with the same scenario question asked of every candidate in the series.

Thank you to every candidate who participated in this series, and to every listener who took the time to hear them out. Local elections are decided by small margins, and informed voters make stronger communities.

Previous episodes in this series:
1. Albert Chow
2. Natalie Gee
3. David Lee
4. Jeremy Julian Greco
5. Alan Wong (this episode)

About this series:
This is a non-endorsement candidate interview series. All participating candidates were asked the same questions in the same format to give District 4 residents direct access to how candidates think, not to persuade or advocate for any outcome. Any personal political views or activities of the host are separate from the podcast and do not affect participation or coverage.

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Transcript

Introducing Alan Wong

Jessica J. Ho 0:02

Okay. Before we dive in, I want to share a quick disclosure. My husband, Christian Croft, is Supervisor Alan Wong's campaign manager. So I want to put that out there right up front. Every candidate in this series was made aware of that connection before we hit record. That said, my questions are the same ones I've asked every candidate, and this series has always been about one thing: giving voters a chance to hear directly from the people running in their own words so you can make up your own mind. Welcome back to the Sunset Connection. This episode continues the District 4 candidate interview series, where I'm speaking with everyone running for supervisor and asking the same questions in the same order each time. It's still early in the District 4 race, and early is when it's often easiest to hear house candidates think before ideas get condensed into slogans and sound bites. And with that, let's get into it. I'm very excited to welcome back the current appointed supervisor for District 4, Alan Wong. Alan Wong is a lifelong Sunset District resident and the current appointed supervisor for District 4. He was appointed by Mayor Daniel Lurie in 2025, making him the only candidate in this race who is already serving in the role. Before becoming supervisor, he served as an elected city college board president, a National Guard officer, a union organizer, and a policy director at the Children's Council of San Francisco.

Alan Wong 1:35

Hello, Jessica. You're so you're so impartial to all the candidates on your podcast that you don't even let my campaign manager your husband in here. Like another candidate.

Jessica J. Ho 1:45

Yeah, exactly. Um yeah, so so we talked about your personal connection to District 4 in a previous podcast episode. So I think we don't need to beleaguer that point. Um, but I would be very curious to learn more about what specifically made you decide that this was the moment to run for supervisor.

Why He Stepped Into The Race

Alan Wong 2:06

For me, being appointed supervisor was sort of a surprise. I actually wasn't thinking about applying for the position. There were a lot of people that had brought up to me, told me, Oh, Alan, you should consider it, especially after the previous one previous supervisors proposed proposition K, and people were not so happy. A lot of people were actually bringing that up to me and beginning in 2024. But I was actually like, oh, you know, I don't think I'm gonna be doing anything like that anytime soon. Um I got military duty, I've got all these other things happening in my life. So I I was I wasn't actually thinking about it, but then um I was actually out on military duty from July through September um while the supervisor was going through that recall process. And so I was um far, far away and people were still calling and bugging me. And I was just moving through through my life, and then later on I I came back and I saw a list of rumored people that were being considered, and I just thought, oh wow, I'm better qualified and Mull Running than almost all these candidates. I should just put my name in there. So I did, and ultimately I was selected. I didn't really know Mary Leary a that well before, so you know, I I didn't really have my my hopes set set that high, but you know, I felt that as very well qualified and just put my name in there and through that process. I was appointed to be a supervisor for for District 4, and it's the greatest honor of my life to be able to serve as supervisor for the neighborhood I was born and raised in. And now that I've been appointed, the funny thing is I signed up for a job job where you need to immediately run for election. So in June, I have to run to finish the remainder of Ingario's term. And I also need to run in November to have a brand new four-year term as well. So I signed up for this crazy job. Uh, but I'm, I think out of the entire field, I'm the most prepared for it and the most well-rounded to be able to lead an office while also running an election at the same time.

Jessica J. Ho 4:36

That's a great segue into my next question. How do you think your previous experiences have prepared you to serve as District 4 supervisor?

Experience That Shapes His Approach

Goals By December: Safety And Schools

Alan Wong 4:46

I think everything that I've done in my life led me to this moment. When I was in high school, I interned in then supervisor Fiona Ma's office. And she actually likes to tell me that I'm her only intern that ever got elected to public office. And yeah, I went from District 4 intern to district four supervisor. I also obviously had worked in the District 4 office previously in Supervisor Mars office. And before that, I was a union organizer, which trained me to be able to be an advocate for issues and be able to be a strong leader and community organizer. Serving in the military for 16 years and going has taught me to be a stronger leader. I think in in the past I was a little bit more shy, a little bit more quiet. I still am, but at the same time, uh I've I've learned to be able to also go out of my shell at the right moments to take on leadership roles and also think about things in a more operational way, because a lot of times people are very philosophical and in politics. And I think when you're in the military, you learn how to be operational and pragmatic. You need to do what works, not what the book says, because people's lives are at stake. And serving as city college board president as an elected official, twice elected, I've been able to run for elections and handled the politics of being able to manage a community college district and being able to listen to issues from stakeholders. And then as policy director at Children's Council, work in the nonprofit field, helping support families to get access to childcare. So I do think that my lived experience as a born and raised sunset kid, as somebody that's been a policy director of children's nonprofit, union organizer, veteran, district four legislative aid, and so many more in my history has really put to all that put together has led me to this one moment to be District 4 supervisor.

Jessica J. Ho 6:59

By December 1st of this year, what would you have liked to accomplish if you were to continue your term as supervisor?

Balancing Conflicting Community Voices

Alan Wong 7:06

I want to show strong leadership on public safety issues. In our city, we have brazen drug crime and also retail theft. And people in our neighborhoods don't feel safe, and it also hurts our economy and prevents businesses from flourishing in our city, which impacts our entire city. The other thing is there's issues of traffic safety. Um, traffic safety is not not being enforced in many areas. And I'm constantly hearing concerns from neighbors about increasing safety on our streets because the people are speeding, not stopping at stop signs, going too fast in our neighborhood. Other thing about public safety is also disaster preparedness. We are in a tsunami zone. We are potentially going to have a next earthquake. Also, PG ⁇ E has failed us, and we need to prevent any sort of future disasters from happening. As a National Guard officer, I've sent to the campfire where the entire city burnt down, and I never want to see something like that. So we need to be prepared for all those potential disasters. And so I put all of those things under the umbrella of public safety. For cutting red tape, I like to see us propose less rules and regulations for small businesses and everyday people. And I want to get rid of dumb laws that are on the books so people can live simpler lives and small businesses as as well, so that they can flourish and move forward with what they do best. For our schools, I'll be I'm going to be a cheerleader for our local public schools. I'm going to be showing showing up to the community events. And I think what success means is people having confidence and faith in our schools by having good quality uh programs. And I'm going to be supporting them from the board of supervisors and encouraging people to be going to local public schools.

Jessica J. Ho 9:23

Great. When community voices conflict, which they often do, how do you decide who do you prioritize?

Alan Wong 9:32

I need to listen to everybody. I think that a lot of times in our government and civic life, people are so polarized and folks are so righteous about their own opinions. I'm never quite righteous about things. I think that there are people with different values and different perspectives. And it's not necessarily I'm right and you're wrong, but what people prioritize and and support based on their lived experiences. And there's so many stakeholder groups and interest groups across the city that will be advocating for different points of view. And ultimately, it's up to me as an elected official to be able to put together my lived experiences and also my constituent feedback and also listening to all the different perspectives to come up for a decision on votes that I have to take. And I I do my best to listen to everybody with an open mind and be able to have nuance in policy making.

Jessica J. Ho 10:42

The sunset is changing demographically, economically, and politically. What changes do you welcome and which ones concern you?

Alan Wong 10:51

I've noticed some changes in in the sunset. So growing up in the sunset, I ate in Cantonese restaurants, and I had my dim sum and and other other stuff, Chamin. And I noticed that there are all these new restaurants popping up, like Xiang Bao, Hot Pot, Sichuan food. And when I went to those restaurants, I was like, oh, I've never tried this in my life. I thought I was Chinese, but apparently not Chinese enough. So I I think that there's been a change in uh the demographics of the Chinese community in the sunset as well. And China is a big country. So there's like different parts of Chinese culture that are coming into neighborhood too. And it's uh for me, it's uh uh I get to experience all the food. So I've been enjoying that. And I think that as a city, there's constantly changes in in our community, right? There are different shifts in immigration, there are different shifts in in the the community and the country as as well. And we are subject to to that. I think one thing that concerns me is affordability in our community. The average price of a home in San Francisco is $1.7 million. And I should have said actually sunset. So I I think that that's a big concern, and I want to be able to support affordability in our our city, supports more opportunities for for people to live in the city, and the cost of living is so high in in San Francisco, and it's hard for young families to move to a home and start a family. The cost of having childcare is more than the cost of a college education. So there are all these prohibiting factors for for people to uh stay in the city and live in the city and uh the sunset specifically.

Leadership Legacy He Hopes For

Jessica J. Ho 13:04

Great. Well, uh what would you want residents to say about your leadership when this term ends? Even if they didn't vote for you.

Alan Wong 13:15

I think what I would like people to say about me is somebody that took the opportunity to listen to different perspectives, somebody that is and from the sunset, somebody that cares deeply and strives my best to be an independent thinker.

Jessica J. Ho 13:46

Alright, so now we're going to go on to the scenario, which is something that I've asked every candidate the same scenario so listeners can better understand how they approach problem solving. What if a small business owner came to you for help with a parking issue, but SFMTA was unwilling to make the requested changes? How would you advise the business owner?

Alan Wong 14:07

I would have to understand the issue more clearly because it's a little bit general, but I if a business owner came to me about parking, I'd review the situation myself and get an understanding of the pros and and the cons based on my my own experience and the experience of the person that brought it up. And then I would consult with SFMTA on the history of the changes and also get feedback from some of the different stakeholder groups, uh, whether it be neighbors and different groups that are in the in the neighborhood as well, whether it be community groups, transit-oriented groups, and others that care about the parking issue. And ultimately, as supervisor, I would have to decide whether or not to advocate on behalf of the person that brought it up based on all of these different factors.

Jessica J. Ho 15:16

So what would success look like, in your view, six months down the road, if we were still in this hypothetical situation?

Alan Wong 15:26

Like the scenario that you believe in.

Jessica J. Ho 15:29

Let's say that now it's six months later, what would success look like?

Organizing Tactics And Pragmatism

Alan Wong 15:33

It's it's hard to, since it's a hypothetical scenario without a specific specific example of what the parking situation is, it's hard to hard to tell. But I think if I believe that the business owner had a case, then the ideal situation would be for MTA to change it and for my advocacy to be successful. If in the case that I I think that MTA did did the right thing with the change, then I would work to cooperate with the uh the business owner to see what uh what other alternatives are and I I think I approach these uh transit issues in our city from a very pragmatic perspective. Uh it seems like there's a lot of people that have very strong opinions about things like speed bumps, bicycle lanes, all all these things relating to transit in our neighborhood, it really provokes strong feelings. And I I approach it from a very pragmatic perspective. If there's a a place in need of any of these things, I'll support it. If there's a place that doesn't necessarily need these things and adding it might be a more of a burden, then I won't support it. So I would like to approach these things from a very pragmatic perspective rather than just being one-sided one way or another.

Jessica J. Ho 17:13

Great. Just let's say that SFMTA did not resolve this business owner's concerns. What would what would you do instead? What would you do next? If I believed in the business owner's hypothetical case that the business business owner had a reason to ask the SFMTA to change something.

Alan Wong 17:35

And they still didn't change it?

Jessica J. Ho 17:37

The SFMTA did not want to change it.

Alan Wong 17:40

If I supported the business owner's case, then I may take a tack from some of my union organizing background and help support the neighborhood in organizing to conduct advocacy.

Jessica J. Ho 17:59

Great. Thanks. That's a very clear answer. Alright, so before we close, uh, you get two minutes to talk about anything you want to, and that's what I'm giving every candidate. So I will time you.

Two-Minute Closing Pitch

Alan Wong 18:14

Thanks for the two minutes. Being appointed to this role to serve as the Sunset District Supervisor is the greatest honor of my life. I'm so grateful to know that people have faith in me to serve in this role. And I want to be able to continue to be a strong advocate for the Sunset neighborhood, as I have through my entire life. I think that my experiences as a policy director at the Children's Council, at Children's Council, as a veteran, as a union organizer, as a past district for legislative aid, as a past elected official at City College, all these experiences put together provide me the strengths and the skills to be a strong leader for for the neighborhood. We've had so many supervisors change in the last few years. I want to provide stability for the neighborhood, and I believe that my temperament and also my political acumen and policy knowledge gives me the right experience to lead and also avoid extremes as as well. I think that in my in my race, you know, there's somebody to my left, there's somebody to my right, and I think I'm right in the middle and just right for the district in the Goldilocks zone. And I would like to be able to work with everybody in the sunset to bring people together and listen to everybody. I want to be able to continue to serve, and it's again, it's the greatest honor of my life, and I'm happy to be here.

Series Wrap And Listener Sendoff

Jessica J. Ho 20:11

And that's time. All right. Thank you so much. And just like that, now we have heard from every candidate running for a district force supervisor. Over the course of this series, I sat down with Albert Chow, Natalie G, David Lee, Jeremy Julian Greco, and now Alan Wong. I asked each of them the same questions in the same order so that you, the listener, could hear how they think and compare their answers for yourself. I started this series because I believe the best time to get to know your candidates is early, before the mailers and sound bites take over. I hope the conversations gave you something useful as you make your decision for the election that is coming in June. If you want to go back and listen to any of the other interviews, you can find them all on the Sunset Connection wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening and thank you to every candidate who sat down with me. Until then, take care of each other and yourselves because if you won't, who will? And I'll see you in the neighborhood.