John Avalos
Encyclopedia
John Avalos is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...

 representing District 11. The district consists of Crocker-Amazon
Crocker-Amazon, San Francisco, California
-Location:Crocker-Amazon borders the Excelsior District. Crocker-Amazon covers the area south of Mission Street and Geneva Avenue, extending toward suburban Daly City. The neighborhood is adjacent to Crocker-Amazon Park, named after the Charles Crocker land holdings that once made up the area, and...

, Excelsior, Ingleside, Oceanview, and the Outer Mission
Outer Mission, San Francisco, California
Outer Mission is a small residential neighborhood on the south edge of San Francisco.-Location:The Outer Mission is a neighborhood in Southeast San Francisco with boundaries of Interstate 280 to the west, Geneva Avenue to the north, and Mission Street and the Daly City border to the south...

 districts. He was elected on November 4, 2008 in the 2008 San Francisco elections
San Francisco Board of Supervisors elections, 2008
The 2008 San Francisco Board of Supervisors elections occurred on November 4, 2008. Seven of the eleven seats of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors were contested in this election...

 and took office on January 8, 2009.

Early life

Avalos was born in Wilmington, California. His mother, an office manager, and his dad, a member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii and Alaska, and in British Columbia, Canada. It also represents hotel workers in Hawaii, cannery workers in Alaska, warehouse workers throughout...

, raised seven children.
His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother cared for them on her own. Avalos moved to Andover, Massachusetts
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...

 as a teenager and graduated from Andover High School in 1982.

After graduation, he moved back to his home state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. As the first person in his family to graduate from college, Avalos earned a bachelors degree in English from University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...

, and a masters degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...

.

Early Political and Organizing Work

Avalos worked as an organizer for Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth in San Francisco's Excelsior District, and on the Justice for Janitors Campaign for Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...

 (SEIU) Local 1877. Avalos worked as an educator and counselor for the Columbia Park Boys and Girls Club, Mission Neighborhood Health Center, and San Francisco Conservation Corps.
For four years before being elected to the Board of Supervisors, Avalos was a legislative aide for Supervisor Chris Daly
Chris Daly
Chris Daly is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represented District 6, on which he served from 2000 to 2010...

.

San Francisco Supervisor

On November 4, 2008, John Avalos won the election for San Francisco District 11 Supervisor with 28.23% of the total votes in round 1 and 52.93% in round 4, under the city's instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

 system.
District 11 includes the Outer Mission, Excelsior
Excelsior
Excelsior is a Latin and archaic English word meaning "ever higher". It may refer to:- Literature and music :* "Excelsior" , a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...

, Oceanview, Merced Heights, Cayuga, and Ingleside
Ingleside
Ingleside may refer to:in Australia*Ingleside, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.in Canada*Ingleside, Ontario, a town in Ontario, Canada.in the United States*Ingleside, San Francisco, California...

 neighborhoods.

As Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee in 2009 and 2010, John Avalos led the Board of Supervisors' effort to approve budgets closing deficits of over $500 million. In January 2011, Avalos was appointed to serve as Chair of the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee.

In June 2010, Avalos introduced a resolution condemning "Israel's military attack on the freedom flotilla"
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

On Tuesday, December 14, 2010, Avalos' local hiring
Local hiring
Local hiring is a goal or requirement to hire people who live close to the place of work. This aim is often more specifically structured as a requirement for contractors awarded certain types of publicly-funded projects to recruit a certain proportion of the people working on the project from a...

ordinance passed with an 8-3 vote. This legislation mandates that up to 50% of labor hours on San Francisco public works projects go to San Francisco residents. Requirements start at 20% in the first year, building up to 50% after seven years.

Candidacy for Mayor (2011)

On April 18, 2011, Supervisor Avalos filed to run for Mayor of San Francisco as a Progressive candidate.

Personal life

Avalos is married to Karen Zapata, a public-school teacher, and they have two children. Avalos is a third generation Mexican-American, Zapata a first generation Peruvian-American.
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