Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party County Central Committee; San Francisco County; Assembly District 12

Mary Jung is considered a moderate by San Francisco standards. However, when she was first active politically in Cleveland, Ohio, she was considered a liberal and a progressive. Mary believes there is a fine line that differentiates the democrats in San Francisco. For her, the line is at pragmatism and fiscal responsibility.

The most recent example of fiscal pragmatism would be the gun control measure that the Board of Supervisors placed on the ballot in 2005. Even though Mary is pro gun control like the majority of San Franciscans, she voted against this ballot measure because there was general consensus among the legal experts that the bill was flawed and would not hold up to a legal challenge by the NRA. Because the City was already in financial trouble, she did not want the City to spend upwards of $1 million defending ourselves on a measure that would eventually get thrown out by the courts, including the possibility of having to reimburse the NRA for their legal expenses. She thought this was a waste of money and thought the money should be used for needed services instead. She believed there were other ways to make a statement on gun control without spending money on an expensive lawsuit that the City's own attorney thought we were sure to lose. In 2008, the State Supreme Court knocked down the measure and the City did end up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees.

Mary believes strongly in public education and thinks that quality education would eventually help solve many of the troublesome issues in San Francisco. As a way of helping, she has assisted many schools with fundraising to help shore up their programs.