Jane Kim facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jane Kim
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| Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from the 6th district |
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| In office January 8, 2011 – January 8, 2019 |
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| Preceded by | Chris Daly |
| Succeeded by | Matt Haney |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jane Jungyon Kim
July 9, 1977 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (2008–present) Green (before 2008) |
| Other political affiliations |
Working Families (2022–present) |
| Domestic partner | Goodwin Liu |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) University of California, Berkeley (JD) |
| Signature |  |
Jane Jungyon Kim, born on July 9, 1977, is an American lawyer and politician. She made history as the first Korean American elected official in San Francisco. From 2011 to 2019, she served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. This group helps run the city, like a city council.
Before that, Jane Kim was part of the San Francisco Board of Education, even becoming its president. This board makes decisions about schools in the city. She also ran for other important political jobs, like State Senator and Mayor of San Francisco.
Kim has also worked as a political director for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. Today, she is the executive director of the California Working Families Party. This party works to support working families.
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Jane Kim's Early Life and Education
Jane Kim was born in Manhattan, New York, on July 9, 1977. Her parents came to the U.S. from Seoul, South Korea, in 1971. Jane grew up speaking both English and Korean.
Her mother owned a clothing store. Her father joined a global cosmetics company later on. At age 14, Jane started learning taekwondo and earned a black belt. She cared a lot about community issues, like homelessness.
While at Spence School, she stopped saying the Pledge of Allegiance. She felt that the words "liberty and justice for all" were not true for everyone, especially for LGBT people.
Kim went to Stanford University and earned a degree in Political Science and Asian American Studies. She then moved to San Francisco. She studied law at the UC Berkeley School of Law and became a lawyer in 2009.
Jane Kim's Career Beginnings
After college, Jane Kim worked as a Fellow at the Greenlining Institute. Then, she became a Youth Community Organizer at the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC). She successfully led a program for young volunteers in San Francisco Chinatown for six years.
In 2005, Kim was elected president of the San Francisco People's Organization (SFPO). This group included many important San Francisco activists. SFPO worked on issues like health care and affordable housing for city residents.
Serving on the San Francisco Board of Education
In 2003, Jane Kim noticed that Asian Americans were not well represented in San Francisco politics. So, in 2004, she decided to run for the San Francisco Board of Education. She didn't win that first time.
In 2006, Kim tried again and won! She received the most votes among 15 candidates. In 2007, she became the first Korean American elected official in San Francisco. Her election helped bring a more liberal approach to the school board.
JROTC Program Discussion
In 2006, the school board discussed the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program. This program had been in San Francisco high schools for 90 years. The board voted to slowly end the program.
Kim felt the JROTC program should not be in San Francisco schools. This was because the U.S. military had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy at the time. This policy did not treat LGBT people equally. In 2008, Kim suggested an alternative program. It was called Student Emergency Response Volunteers (SERV). This program would train students in emergency preparedness. However, the vote to remove or replace JROTC failed in 2009.
Restorative Justice and Ethnic Studies
In 2010, Jane Kim became president of the Board of Education. She had to deal with big budget cuts for San Francisco schools. She created the first district-wide Restorative Justice Program. This program aimed to reduce suspensions and expulsions of African American students.
She also helped start ethnic studies classes in all San Francisco public high schools. Kim believed these programs would help the district save money by keeping more students in school.
Becoming a San Francisco Supervisor
Kim moved to District 6 in San Francisco in 2009. She then ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to represent that area. District 6 includes many well-known neighborhoods like Union Square and Tenderloin.
Kim announced her plan to run in January 2010. She won the election, which was a surprise to many. When she took office, she became the first Korean American supervisor in the country. She worked hard by meeting many people in her district. She got a lot of support from Chinese American residents and young people in San Francisco.
Pledge of Allegiance Stance
When Kim became a supervisor, she stood during the Pledge of Allegiance at meetings. But she did not say the words. She had made this decision when she was younger. She felt that "liberty and justice for all" was not yet true for many people in the U.S. This included people of color, the LGBT community, immigrants, and women.
On July 10, 2013, the Supreme Court made a big decision about marriage equality. After this, Kim began to recite the Pledge with the other supervisors. She said that the previous law had shown the unfairness in American justice.
Twitter Tax Break Initiative
When Kim started as supervisor, Twitter was located in her district. In 2011, Twitter thought about moving out of San Francisco because it needed more space. Mayor Ed Lee wanted Twitter to stay.
So, Kim led a team to create a plan. She suggested a six-year tax break for Twitter. This would happen if Twitter moved into the mid-Market Street area of her district. This area needed economic help. This plan would apply to any large company willing to move there.
Some people thought this plan was a change from Kim's usual progressive ideas. They worried it wouldn't help the city's budget. But the Board of Supervisors approved the plan in April 2011. Two weeks later, Twitter signed a lease for a building in mid-Market. Other tech companies also used this tax break.
Street Renaming Efforts
In March 2013, a Polish leader named Lech Wałęsa made comments that were seen as anti-gay. Kim then announced that she wanted to rename a street in San Francisco that was named after him. The street was originally called Ivy Street but was changed in 1983 to honor Wałęsa.
Kim suggested honoring Gay Games co-founder Tom Waddell instead. The Tom Waddell Health Center was located on that street. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to change the name as Kim suggested.
Promoting Bicycling Safety
Jane Kim has worked on several issues about bicycles in San Francisco. When she was on the Board of Education, she supported new bike racks for schools. She also promoted Bike-to-School Day.
Kim learned to ride a bike later in life. This helped her understand bicycle safety concerns. She supported the Yerba Buena Street Life Plan in 2011. This plan included new bike paths and more bike parking. In 2014, Kim and other supervisors asked the city to adopt a safety plan called Vision Zero. This plan aimed to prevent all traffic deaths and serious injuries. During her time as supervisor, Kim helped create 18.6 miles of protected bike lanes.
Reforming Environmental Impact Appeals
San Francisco supervisors had tried to change how people could challenge building projects. People could use the 1970 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to say a project would harm the environment. In 2012, Supervisor Scott Wiener suggested new rules to limit these challenges.
In 2013, Kim suggested her own set of reform rules. These rules were seen as more supportive of environmental protection. Wiener and Kim worked together to combine their ideas. The Board of Supervisors passed this new plan in July 2013. Kim said the new rules would still let the public share their thoughts on construction projects.
Protecting Tenants from Evictions
In September 2016, Kim wrote a bill called "Evictions Protections 2.0." This bill aimed to protect renters from "no fault" evictions. These evictions happened when landlords wanted to rent places at higher prices. Many landlords were evicting tenants for small reasons, like leaving shoes in the hall.
The new law stopped landlords from evicting tenants for minor rule breaking. It also allowed more roommates in apartments. This bill was passed in October 2015.
Working for Affordable Housing
In April 2015, the San Francisco Giants baseball team and Mayor Lee proposed a big development project called Mission Rock. This project would replace parking lots near the baseball park. It needed voters to approve it.
The Giants said that 33% of the project would be for affordable housing. Kim felt that more affordable housing was needed. She created her own plan for voters to consider. This led to talks between Kim and the Giants. They agreed to increase the affordable housing to 40%. Kim then dropped her own ballot plan.
In 2021, Kim was involved in discussions about a new apartment complex. She argued against it because it didn't have enough affordable units for low-income residents.
Free Tuition at Community College
In April 2016, Kim suggested that tuition should be free at City College of San Francisco (CCSF). The college had lost many students and funding. Senator Bernie Sanders supported the idea of free college tuition.
To pay for this, Kim proposed a new real estate tax. This tax would be on large real estate sales. Voters approved this idea in November 2016. In January 2017, CCSF's accreditation was confirmed. The next month, Mayor Lee and Kim announced a deal. The city would pay for CCSF tuition for San Francisco residents.
This program, called Free City, also gave money to low-income students for books and transportation. PBS described Free City as the first time a U.S. city made community college tuition free for all its residents. When the program started in September 2017, enrollment at CCSF went up a lot. Sanders praised the program as a "model" for the whole country.
Other Elections Jane Kim Ran In
In 2016, Kim ran for the 11th California State Senate District against Scott Wiener. Kim got slightly more votes in the first election. But in the final election, she was defeated by Wiener.
Kim also ran for mayor in the 2018 San Francisco mayoral election. This election happened after Mayor Lee passed away. Kim was one of the top candidates. She finished in third place.
Jane Kim's Personal Life and Media
Jane Kim plays electric bass guitar. She has performed with an all-female indie rock band called Strangely. In 2000, she helped start Locus Arts in San Francisco's Japantown. This was a non-profit gallery to support Asian American art. She also helped save Bindlestiff Studio, a place for Filipino arts.
Kim sometimes judges poetry slam competitions for Youth Speaks. She has been featured in magazines like 7x7, SF Weekly, and KoreAm. In 2012, she talked about her favorite drinks, like wine and single-malt whiskey.
In 2016, it was reported that Kim was dating California Supreme Court Associate Justice Goodwin Liu.
