Board of Supervisors President and State Assembly hopeful David Chiu will answer questions about his campaign in a Reddit Ask-Me-Anything thread starting at 2:15 p.m. Monday. AMAs allow Reddit users to engage in direct question-and-answer sessions with politicians, celebrities and other members of the online community.
Chiu is following in the footsteps of his competitor for the Assembly seat, David Campos, who hosted his own AMA in April.
In his AMA post, Chiu says he has "changed the tone at City Hall" during his tenure as the Board's president. He also nods to the San Francisco affordability crisis and says he is running for an Assembly seat "to make sure Sacramento delivers our City, and to make San Francisco a place where we come together to find innovative solutions to our problems."
He also says, "I'm not here to talk about Rampart," perhaps in reference to a 2012 AMA with Woody Harrelson that went awry. We're not sure what Chiu has to do with Harrleson's failed PR strategy — but maybe someone will ask him during his AMA.
Chiu has answered questions about the housing crisis and his preferred local coffee roaster, but dodged one regarding his support of fellow Supervisor Jane Kim.
The Board of Supervisors' decision to reinstate Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi following his 2012 domestic violence conviction has been a contentious one between Chiu and his opponent, Campos. Campos supported Mirkarimi's reinstatement, while Chiu opposed it. However, Campos has called attention to Chiu's support of Kim in her re-election campaign, despite the fact that she voted in favor of Mirkarimi.
A Reddit user asked, "Why do you use David Campos' vote to retain Sheriff Mirkarimi as an attack against him while standing by Jane Kim, who voted the same?"
Chiu called the decision to vote against Mirkarimi "an easy one," but did not mention his endorsement of Kim.
As of 4:00 p.m., Chiu has ended the AMA, but says he will try to answer more questions over the next several days.