Is Mayor Gavin Newsom's Preferred Candidate for District 6 -- Theresa Sparks?

Theresa Sparks

Any way you look at it, it's been a hell of a year for Theresa Sparks. The former president of the Police Commission went from being unemployed and searching for jobs far from San Francisco to landing a $167,000-a-year gig as executive director of the Human Rights Commission.

Is her next step Supervisor Sparks? The 60-year-old was seen strolling around Saturday's "Taste of South Beach" event with Mayor Gavin Newsom's appointments secretary, Jason Chan, in tow. According to witnesses, Chan eagerly introduced Sparks to every mover and shaker he could find.

Meanwhile, a local source with the Democratic party tells SF Weekly that he, too, saw Chan and Sparks together last week -- and Sparks told our source she was interested in running for District 6 supervisor. "I've heard it from other people, too," said the source. "She's obviously been making calls."

Chan did not return our messages. Reached by SF Weekly's Lauren Smiley, Sparks didn't shoot down any talk of running for the board of supervisors.
 
"I've heard that rumor myself," she said with a laugh. "I haven't made any direct move to do that, but I'm not ruling anything out."

Sparks rents an apartment atop Nob Hill, which is well outside District 6 -- but heart problems have led her doctors to tell her that serious cardiovascular activity, such as walking up Nob Hill for example, is ill-advised. In the last week, she and her realtor have looked at condos near Civic Center, Opera Plaza, Downtown, near Union Square, in SoMa, and in the Castro. Of those locations, all but the Castro are in District 6, which is essentially composed of the Tenderloin and SoMa and currently represented by Chris Daly.

Chan, according to Sparks, is "an old friend." And Sparks emphasized that her first concern was to move somewhere flat -- and, depending upon where that flat locale is, she might run for office to represent it.

"If I do live in District 6, I might consider [running for supervisor]," she told SF Weekly. "I worked in District 6 for more than 10 years."

Regarding SoMa, Sparks noted "I like it there. I like the air, it's flat, and I like the vibe. But it's damn expensive ... I'm not sure if I can afford to run for supervisor. I'd have to take a 35 percent pay cut."