Theodore EllingtonTheodore Ellington

SF YIMBY endorses Theo Ellington for District 10 supervisor. We support the commitments he made in his SF YIMBY questionnaire: six-story single-stair buildings, more homes near transit, objective by-right approvals, project shot clocks, and consequences when review deadlines are missed.

We agree with Theo that housing and a modern industrial economy are not an either/or. SF YIMBY estimates that about 11,000 District 10 parcels carry a special exemption from SB 79’s transit-oriented housing rules, most under a "low-resource" exemption, making it harder and more expensive to build much needed homes. Theo has committed to begin a community and economic-development planning process within his first 30 days. SF YIMBY will track whether that process produces real outcomes and homes.

SF YIMBY endorses Theo Ellington for District 10 supervisor. We support the commitments he made in his SF YIMBY questionnaire: six-story single-stair buildings, more homes near transit, objective by-right approvals, project shot clocks, and consequences when review deadlines are missed. We agree with Theo that housing and a modern industrial economy are not an either/or. SF YIMBY estimates that about 11,000 District 10 parcels carry a special exemption from SB 79’s transit-oriented housing rules, most under a "low-resource" exemption, making it harder and more expensive to build much needed homes. Theo has committed to begin a community and economic-development planning process within his first 30 days. SF YIMBY will track whether that process produces real outcomes and homes.

For District 10 Supervisor, the Sierra Club endorses J.R. Eppler as our first choice and Theo Ellington as our second choice. Voters should rank both of them. District 10 sits at the center of the Club's priorities in San Francisco. Its industrial legacy means it faces the City’s worst soil and air pollution. Sea level rise threatens its parks and shoreline. And underinvestment in transit and safe bike lanes has led to some of the longest commutes and highest levels of car dependency anywhere in SF. Transportation and buildings generate 90% of San Francisco's greenhouse gas emissions, so the next supervisor's decisions about transit, streets, and housing in District 10 are critical climate decisions. Two candidates in this race warrant the Club's support, and we encourage voters to rank both. J.R. Eppler is our first choice because his record and positions best align with the Sierra Club.

We recommend voting for Theo Ellington for Supervisor, District 10.

Ellington has spent more than fifteen years working on District 10's problems. As a City Commissioner at the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/08/theo-ellington-supervisor-bayview-san-francisco/), he oversaw the redevelopment plans for the Shipyard, Mission Bay, and Transbay. As the Warriors' Director of Public Affairs, he managed the Chase Center partnership that delivered 3,000 jobs. As homelessness director at the Salvation Army, he built a 50-bed mental health respite center and recovery housing. Today he runs the Bayview Opera House.

"I'm not running to study these problems. I'm running to solve them."

Theo Ellington, Bayview Opera House Director

GrowSF didn't exist yet when Theo ran for Supervisor the last time, but our co-founder endorsed Ellington in 2018 (https://sbuss.medium.com/2018-november-general-election-voting-guide-dc949aae6e6) as the most pro-housing candidate in that race. Eight years later, he still is.

Why vote for Theo Ellington?

1. Get the 20,000 homes built

District 10 has roughly 20,000 homes approved but unbuilt. They're stuck in the "planning pipeline" at Pier 70, the Potrero Power Station, India Basin, the Hunters Point Shipyard, Candlestick Point, and the former Schlage Lock factory, and Bayview's Third Street corridor has not seen a new home built in over a decade (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/questionnaires/november-2026/theo-ellington/).

Ellington's number one commitment is turning that pipeline into actual homes. "Not approved. Not entitled. Built," as he put it in our questionnaire (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/questionnaires/november-2026/theo-ellington/). He wants public timelines with consequences for developers who get approval and don't build. At Candlestick Point, where the Board approved the final map in June and infrastructure work finally breaks ground this summer (https://sfist.com/2026/06/17/candlestick-point-development-to-finally-start-construction-this-summer/) after more than a decade of delay, he says that if the project stalls again the city should enforce penalties and look at recapturing or reassigning the land.

He supports letting small apartment buildings up to six stories be built with one staircase instead of two to make them cheaper to build, setting fees at levels that maximize homebuilding, and negotiating local hiring and community benefits up front instead of letting them become excuses to block development. He also wants round two of the Family Zoning Plan to include District 10, which was left out of the first round, and to add housing capacity along Third Street, Evans, and 16th Street.

2. Public safety

District 10 has the highest gun violence rate in the city (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/questionnaires/november-2026/theo-ellington/), and for Ellington it's personal: his 13-year-old cousin was shot and killed in Bayview. He wants both enforcement and prevention. He supports full SFPD staffing and consistent foot patrols on commercial corridors, which the district does not have today. Unlike his opponent DJ Brookter, Theo Ellington supports arresting and prosecuting fentanyl dealers and the leaders of theft rings. And he wants violence prevention and youth programs fully funded, with D10-specific response times, clearance rates, and trust metrics published so residents can see it's working.

3. Finish the Shipyard cleanup

Decades of power plants, freeways, and contaminated Shipyard land have left Bayview-Hunters Point with some of the city's highest rates of cancer and asthma. This hit Ellington's family personally. After he and his wife bought a home at the Shipyard, they learned the soil was not safe, because the contractor hired to certify it had lied. The Ellingtons were one of the two families who brought the 2018 case (https://www.cpmlegal.com/news-Hunters-Point-Shipyard-homeowners-announce-lawsuit-against-developer-say-we-were-duped), which won a $6.3M settlement from the developers (https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/hunters-point-shipyard-residents-radiation-settlement/) for failing to warn buyers. Claims against the contractor itself ended on August 4, 2026 (https://sfist.com/2026/08/05/judge-says-federal-law-protects-navy-contractor-in-botched-hunters-point-shipyard-cleanup/), when a federal judge ruled that a nuclear-liability law bars homeowners from recovering for lost property value. As Supervisor he wants full retesting of the fraudulently certified parcels with independent oversight, a proper clean up, permanent public air-quality monitors in Bayview and Visitacion Valley, and real enforcement against illegal dumping.

4. Treatment that leads somewhere

At the Salvation Army, Ellington built the kind of recovery infrastructure the city keeps saying it needs: a 50-bed mental health respite center and recovery-based transitional housing. His rule is simple: never release someone from treatment back onto the street without a stable next step. He would end the distribution of pipes and foil while keeping evidence-backed public health interventions like clean needles, and he supports citations for public drug use paired with a treatment offer at every point of contact.

Where the candidates stand

On other issues

Transit: He wants the T-Third running every 10 minutes at peak with signal priority, a fix for the Islais Creek Bridge closure, restored late-night service for workers, and an additional Caltrain station with expanded water transit. He is honest that Bayview and Visitacion Valley remain car-dependent, and says bike infrastructure should be built where it genuinely connects people to destinations rather than as a blanket mandate.

Small business: His plan for Third Street and Evans includes guaranteed permits for code-compliant businesses, letting multiple small businesses share storefronts, pop-ups in vacant spaces, and a District 10 Small Business Investment Fund. As he told us, "Opening a business should not feel harder than running one."

Why not the other candidates?

J.R. Eppler is trying to sell himself as a pro-housing candidate, but his record tells the real story. As president of the Potrero Boosters he appealed a 127-home building at 88 Arkansas (http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2016/05/boosters-appeal-of-potrero-development-denied.html) on a unit-mix technicality the Board of Appeals rejected 4-0. He opposed 450 homes at 300 De Haro (https://www.potreroview.net/hill-residents-unhappy-with-planned-300-de-haro-street-residential-complex/), objecting that the project used state pro-housing law. He would also exempt shelters and affordable housing from CEQA but not market-rate housing (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/questionnaires/november-2026/jr-eppler/), which leaves the appeals process intact for most of what District 10 needs. In a district with 20,000 approved but unbuilt homes, a supervisor who supports housing in principle and appeals it in practice is the wrong fit.

Source (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/san-francisco-voter-guide-november-2026-election#supervisor-district-10)

San Francisco Board of Supervisors District 10 – Theo Ellington

SFWPC PAC Committee recommends Theo Ellington for District 10 Supervisor. Ellington is a third-generation San Franciscan who grew up in the Bayview and is now raising his family in the same community he grew up in. He’s a public servant who’s served on multiple City Commissions and a demonstrated community advocate, serving in roles from the Salvation Army to the Executive Director of the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House. District 10 Bayview-Hunter’s Point remains one of the last Black neighborhoods in San Francisco, and Ellington is committed to ensuring that the residents can afford to stay and thrive in the neighborhood that their families and themselves have grown up in. Ellington is also committed to building partnerships with UCSF and neighboring healthcare providers to address the disparities in black maternal health and to improve healthcare access in the District. His work addressing the environmental and health impacts of toxic pollution at the Hunters-Point Shipyard sets him apart from other candidates, and we hope Theo can continue to draw attention to this issue and make progress in cleaning up the Shipyard.

While we appreciate Ellington’s demonstrated ability to build a broad coalition of supporters, we are concerned that big tech and other moneyed interests with whom we do not align are part of that coalition. Ellington’s long history of advocacy within District 10 has earned our trust, and we look forward to working with him to ensure that his work and tenure on the Board continues to center the District’s needs, livelihoods, and those who need his advocacy most.

Source (https://sfwpc.org/pac-recommendations-for-candidates-for-november-2026-election)

Theo Ellington is running for District 10 to bring the Bayview and the city's southeast the same focus, urgency, and investment the rest of San Francisco takes for granted. Ellington’s platform (https://www.theoellington.com/commitment) includes investing in commercial corridors and bringing jobs to D10, ensuring the district has safe and clean streets, and supporting the community’s art and culture scene. Ellington’s background makes him well-equipped to take on these priorities.

Ellington is a third-generation San Franciscan (https://www.theoellington.com/about) and Bayview native - the first in his family to graduate college. He is now raising three young sons with his wife, a UCSF nurse, in the district. Ellington has both private and public sector experience and has a track record of delivering results. As the Golden State Warriors' first public affairs director, he helped bring (https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/08/theo-ellington-supervisor-bayview-san-francisco/) the Chase Center to SF, boosting the City’s economy and creating thousands of jobs. He then later served as Salvation Army San Francisco (https://www.theoellington.com/)’s Director of Homeless Initiatives and Community Development, spearheading the organization’s Covid-19 response and launching the successful recovery-focused The Way Out Program (https://westernusa.salvationarmy.org/san_francisco/the-way-out/), which helps those in need get off the streets and into treatment. Additionally, he’s served multiple City commissions under different Mayors, including the Commission on Community Investment and Infrastructure. During his tenure on that commission, Ellington promoted (https://www.nba.com/warriors/news/warriors-name-theodore-ellington-director-public-affairs) projects in the Bayview Hunter’s Point, Mission Bay, and Transbay neighborhoods to build more housing.

Today, in addition to his day job working in public affairs, Ellington serves as the Executive Director (https://sfbayview.com/2026/06/the-cultural-renaissance-of-black-sf-is-underway-at-ruth-williams-opera-house/) of the Ruth Williams Opera House (formerly Bayview Opera House), a cultural landmark in District 10 that has flourished under his leadership. Ellington’s experience and community connections has earned him a wide array of endorsements (https://www.theoellington.com/endorsements) including Mayor Daniel Lurie, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, Assemblywoman Catherine Stefani, D6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, SF Democratic Party Vice Chair Cedric Akbar, and more. A vote for Theo Ellington is a vote for a revitalized District 10.

Source (https://www.sfblueprint.org/advocacy/november-2026-voter-guide)

District 10 Supervisor - Theo Ellington

In District 10 there is a clear choice.

Theo Ellington stands far out front from the rest of the pack. Theo has a vision for District 10 that includes a vibrant 3rd Street commercial corridor, new housing of all income levels, and propelling major development projects, like Pier 70, Candlestick Point, and the Shipyard, over the finish line.

Theo most aligns with our stance and emphasis on public safety. He supports and is a leader in the drug-free housing movement.

He strongly supports  growth in District 10, including expanded housing production and creating  new jobs, while still being cautious and mindful about displacing existing residents.

His top District 10 priorities include:

• Moving proposed waterfront developments across the finish line,
• Establishing a formal community and economic development plan for the district, and
• Launching a school-to-career pipeline, so students can have clearer pathways to jobs.

Below are a few attributes that make Theo a strong candidate.

• He was a leader in spearheading “The Way Out” program at The Salvation Army
• He will prioritize developing a vibrant 3rd Street corridor that “you can plan your life around” and would include a full-service grocery store, housing, and a team of beat officers.
• He grew up and has lived in the Bayview for 30+ years; he is deeply ingrained in the community.

Where does Theo stand on this November’s ballot measures?

• Proposition B: Yes
• Proposition C: Yes
• Proposition D: Yes
• Proposition E: Yes
• Proposition F: Yes
• Proposition H: Yes
• Proposition I: No

Source (https://www.connectedsf.com/2026-voter-guide#district10)

Announced he would call for a pause on new data centers in District 10 pending an environmental review. Limited on AI safety and regulation, strong on data center opposition, strong public voice on AI.

In District 10 there is a clear choice.

Theo Ellington stands far out front from the rest of the pack. Theo has a vision for District 10 that includes a vibrant 3rd Street commercial corridor, new housing of all income levels, and propelling major development projects, like Pier 70, Candlestick Point, and the Shipyard, over the finish line.

Theo most aligns with our stance and emphasis on public safety. He supports and is a leader in the drug-free housing movement.

He strongly supports growth in District 10, including expanded housing production and creating new jobs, while still being cautious and mindful about displacing existing residents.

His top District 10 priorities include:

• Moving proposed waterfront developments across the finish line,

• Establishing a formal community and economic development plan for the district, and

• Launching a school-to-career pipeline, so students can have clearer pathways to jobs.

Below are a few attributes that make Theo a strong candidate.

• He was a leader in spearheading “The Way Out” program at The Salvation Army

• He will prioritize developing a vibrant 3rd Street corridor that “you can plan your life around” and would include a full-service grocery store, housing, and a team of beat officers.

• He grew up and has lived in the Bayview for 30+ years; he is deeply ingrained in the community.

Where does Theo stand on this November’s ballot measures?

• Proposition B: Yes

• Proposition C: Yes

• Proposition D: Yes

• Proposition E: Yes

• Proposition F: Yes

• Proposition H: Yes

• Proposition I: No