Joel Engardio
District 4 Supervisor
District 4 includes the Central Sunset, Outer Sunset, Parkside, Outer Parkside, Pine Lake Park, Lakeshore, Merced Manor, and the Farallon Islands.
Elected
November 2022
Won by 469 votes.
Up for Re-Election
November 2026
Joel Engardio is the Supervisor for San Francisco's District 4. Before he was elected, he was a journalist and worked with the ACLU to legalize gay marriage nationwide, he later became executive director of Stop Crime SF, an organization dedicated to preventing crime and advocating for crime victims.
Engardio's win made history twice over:
- Engardio defeated incumbent Supervisor Gordon Mar, which was the first time an elected incumbent was defeated since district elections were enacted in 2000
- Engardio is the first openly gay Supervisor to ever be elected on the West Side of San Francisco
Policy positions & priorities
Supervisor Engardio's top priorities include:
- Shutting down the fentanyl drug markets
- Recruiting high-quality candidates to solve SFPD's officer shortage
- Improving our public schools by restoring merit admissions at Lowell and offering more advanced placement classes
- Auditing the city's $14B budget to root out corruption and wasteful spending
- Lowering the barriers to entrepreneurship by cutting bureaucratic red tape
- Making it easier to build more housing at all income levels by reforming byzantine permitting rules
Key votes and actions
Safety & Policing
Before joining the Board of Supervisors, Engardio was executive director of Stop Crime SF, an organization dedicated to preventing crime and advocating for crime victims.
Supported the recall of progressive former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and supported current DA Brooke Jenkins, the only actual prosecutor running for the position, in 2022.
In office, Engardio was one of the few supervisors to vote against the rushed re-appointment of a former public defender, Cindy Elias, to the Police Commission. Critics noted Elias's conflicts of interest, including a spouse who was actively litigating against the SFPD.
Supported supplemental budget funding for police overtime, to help keep officers on the streets during the city's police staffing shortage.
Supported an initiative to improve police effectiveness by reducing officers' paperwork requirements, giving police greater ability to use surveillance technology, and easing restrictions on car chases, among other reforms.
Education
Helped lead the successful recall of three incompetent school board members in 2022.
Supported reinstating merit-based admissions at Lowell High, San Francisco's flagship public high school.
Introduced a ballot initiative to allow 8th graders in SF public schools to take algebra, like many other cities in the Bay Area.
Fun
Supported additional Outside Lands concerts.
Spearheaded a first-of-its-kind San Francisco night market.