Mecke was born and raised in Pennsylvania and earned a bachelor's degree in religion from Dickinson College and a master's degree in public administration from San Francisco State University. He spent two years in the Peace Corps in Niger. In San Francisco, he has held a variety of jobs related to community organizing, public safety, mental health and homelessness. His entree into political life was working on Ammiano's supervisorial campaign in 1998; he worked later in Ammiano's office as an intern. "I know that Quintin's not a nudist or a clown," Ammiano joked Friday, adding that he doesn't plan to endorse anybody in the race. "I think he's going to impress people on the campaign trail because he's very cogent. He has what I call a quiet intensity - he really does believe in and has practical experience in the issues he's talking about."
Niger RPCV Quintin Mecke is candidate in San Francisco mayor's race
Supervisor Chris Daly endorses Quintin Mecke in S.F. mayor's race
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, August 25, 2007
San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly gave his endorsement for mayor Friday to Quintin Mecke, the director of a city-funded public safety group who is active on homelessness issues.
Mecke also has picked up the backing of BART board member Tom Radulovich - raising hope among some progressives that they may have somebody to rally around as a challenger to incumbent Mayor Gavin Newsom in the Nov. 6 election.
But some other well-known progressives, including Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Ross Mirkarimi and former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, are staying out of the endorsement game so far - even though Mecke has worked past campaigns for all three men.
The dozen people running against Newsom - including a nudist, a homeless taxicab driver and a performer who goes by the name Chicken John - have gotten attention mostly for their wackiness. But those who know Mecke say he's a genuine, earnest candidate.
"Quintin Mecke is not just talk," said Daly, an archenemy of Newsom's, in a statement Friday. "He's been working on the important issues facing San Francisco for years. For those concerned about public safety, neighborhood protections, and affordable housing, Quintin Mecke is our best choice for mayor."
Daly, who organized a progressive convention earlier this summer in the hopes of finding a challenger to Newsom, and considered taking on the role himself, did not return a call for further comment.
Eric Jaye, Newsom's campaign manager, said only, "Supervisor Daly has been saying these many months that he would find a candidate, and apparently he has."
Mecke, a 34-year-old registered Democrat and single renter in the Alamo Square neighborhood, is the program director of the city-funded Safety Network Partnership, which works to improve public safety in neighborhoods around the city.
He was president of the Mental Health Association of San Francisco and is a member of the Shelter Monitoring Network, which makes scheduled and surprise visits to shelters for homeless people and reports its findings to the Board of Supervisors.
Mecke said Friday he would have backed Daly, Gonzalez or Mirkarimi for mayor, but when they all bowed out, he decided to enter the race to ensure that progressive ideals were at least discussed.
"I think we need to start thinking about what the city's vision is and talking about public safety, homelessness and the fact that the city is becoming unaffordable for families," he said. "I decided to put my money where my mouth is and make sure these conversations happen."
He said the first thing he would do as mayor is ensure that shelters - many of which lack basics such as beds, soap and toilet paper - have a uniform standard of care, as prisons and hospitals do. He is working with Ammiano to make sure that happens this fall.
Mecke praised Newsom for starting Project Homeless Connect, a bimonthly one-stop shop where homeless people can receive all sorts of services. He said it should be open on a smaller scale much more frequently.
He said that community policing initiatives need to be expanded to help stem the homicide crisis, and that the police department needs to work to repair its relationship with African Americans, who experience violence way out of proportion to their percentage of the city's population.
Mecke was born and raised in Pennsylvania and earned a bachelor's degree in religion from Dickinson College and a master's degree in public administration from San Francisco State University. He spent two years in the Peace Corps in Niger.
In San Francisco, he has held a variety of jobs related to community organizing, public safety, mental health and homelessness. His entree into political life was working on Ammiano's supervisorial campaign in 1998; he worked later in Ammiano's office as an intern.
"I know that Quintin's not a nudist or a clown," Ammiano joked Friday, adding that he doesn't plan to endorse anybody in the race. "I think he's going to impress people on the campaign trail because he's very cogent. He has what I call a quiet intensity - he really does believe in and has practical experience in the issues he's talking about."
Gonzalez said Friday he and his law partners each contributed $100 to several candidates: Mecke, blogger Josh Wolf, physician Ahimsa Sumchai, juvenile probation manager Lonnie Holmes, former Supervisor Tony Hall and Chicken John, a.k.a. John Rinaldi.
The contributions were made in an effort to help a Newsom challenger qualify for public financing, which is available for the first time in this year's mayor's race and would allow a challenger to ultimately qualify for $850,000 in public money. To qualify, a candidate must submit evidence of donations totaling $25,000 from at least 250 residents of San Francisco by Tuesday. Mecke said it'll be close, but he is hopeful he'll reach that baseline qualification in time.
Gonzalez isn't convinced.
"From my cursory look at the candidates, most of them are promoting one or two primary issues that they care a lot about, but I have yet to see somebody with a real comprehensive program," he said. "I would want to see that before I personally made a decision."
Mirkarimi said he knows Mecke well and admires him, but hasn't made up his mind about an endorsement.
"I know that a number of candidates like Quintin Mecke, Tony Hall, Ahimsa Sumchai and others will all do a good job in elevating the discourse, and that's what we need," he said.
Mecke said he wasn't naive enough to believe the endorsements from Daly and Radulovich would be the start of an explosion in popularity like Gonzalez experienced in his last-minute run against Newsom in 2003.
"I'm just really hoping progressives stand up and say, 'Our ideas are better.' I'm not here to make it a protest candidacy. I'm not here to make it me against Gavin," he said. "I'm actually here to have a substantive conversation about the issues that are facing San Francisco."
E-mail Heather Knight at hknight@sfchronicle.com.
