Matt Dorsey

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Matt Dorsey
Official portrait, 2022
Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
from the 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 9, 2022
Appointed byLondon Breed
Preceded byMatt Haney
Personal details
Born1964 or 1965 (age 60–61)
Political partyDemocratic
EducationEmerson College (BS)
WebsiteCampaign website
Board website
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese麥德誠
Simplified Chinese麦德诚
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinmài dé chéng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingmaak6 dak1 sing4
[1]

Matt Dorsey (born 1964 or 1965)[2] is an American politician and communications professional.[3] Dorsey has served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 6 since his appointment by Mayor London Breed on May 9, 2022. He was elected to a full term in the November 2022 election. He previously served as head of communications for the San Francisco Police Department.

Career

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Dorsey worked strategic communications for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera for 14 years.[4] From 2020-2022, Dorsey worked for the San Francisco Police Department, where he served as Head of Strategic Communications.[4][5] He defended the police department for its decision to withdraw from a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the District Attorney's office, which assigned itself as lead investigator in police use-of-force incidents.[6]

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

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On May 9, 2022, Mayor London Breed appointed Dorsey to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to replace outgoing District 6 supervisor Matt Haney for the remaining few months of his term. Haney had resigned from the Board after being elected to fill a vacancy in the California State Assembly.[7]

Dorsey ran for a full term in November 2022. He defeated Honey Mahogany, a former aide to Haney. Dorsey was supported by GrowSF, among many other moderate Democratic organizations.[8] District 6 was redrawn in redistricting in 2022; it no longer includes the Tenderloin, which was moved to District 5.[4][5] The new District 6 has 76,000 residents and consists of South of Market (SoMa), Rincon Hill, South Beach, Mission Bay, Mid-Market, The Hub (near Market and Octavia) and Showplace Square (southwestern SoMa).

Public safety

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Dorsey and Mayor Breed decided not to march in San Francisco Pride in 2022 after the organizers banned police officers from marching in uniform.[9] After Pride reached a compromise with the police, Dorsey and Breed agreed to march.[10]

As a supervisor, Dorsey has faced criticism for his support of a documentary on San Francisco's police department, which he began promoting during his time working for the department. Critics viewed the documentary as a waste of limited police resources.[11]

Dorsey criticized the city's harm reduction approach to drug use, calling for mass-arrests of drug users in the South of Market neighborhood and placing them in "compulsory detox and treatment" in 2025.[12]

Personal life

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Dorsey is gay,[4] HIV-positive[4] and in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Knight, Heather; Qin, Amy (2024-02-18). "No, Your Honor, You Can't Call Yourself 'High Justice' on the Ballot in Chinese". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  2. ^ Knight, Heather (March 2, 2024). "'I'm Matt.' For Some Politicians, Addiction Battles Drive Policymaking". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  3. ^ "MattDorsey.com". MattDorsey.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e Gaus, Annie (2022-05-09). "Mayor Breed Taps Matt Dorsey, a Police Spokesperson and Longtime Civil Servant, to Lead District 6". The San Francisco Standard. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  5. ^ a b Bollag, Sophia (2022-05-09). "Who is Matt Dorsey? What we know about Mayor Breed's new appointee to the S.F. Board of Supervisors". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  6. ^ Balakrishnan, Eleni (2022-02-03). "DA responds: 'not one iota of evidence' of misconduct". Mission Local. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  7. ^ Saracevic, Al (9 May 2022). "Breed taps Dorsey to replace Haney on Board of Supervisors". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  8. ^ Morris, J.D. (2022-11-14). "Breed appointee Matt Dorsey wins S.F.'s District Six supervisor race". SF Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  9. ^ Swan, Rachel (2022-05-23). "S.F. Mayor London Breed won't march in Pride over parade organizer's decision to ban uniformed police officers". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  10. ^ Burkett, Eric; Laird, Cynthia (June 2, 2022). "After SF Pride, police reach compromise, Mayor Breed, gay supe Dorsey to march in parade". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  11. ^ Zhou, Yujie (2022-12-03). "Supe Matt Dorsey pushing for SFPD doc: 'The Real Streets of San Francisco'". Mission Local. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  12. ^ Madden, Monica (January 2, 2025). "EXCLUSIVE: SF supervisor calls for 'compulsory detox and treatment' for drug users". KGO-TV. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  13. ^ Eskenazi, Joe (2022-05-09). "Mayor to tap Matt Dorsey for D6 supervisor, triggering high-stakes political brawl". Mission Local. Retrieved 2022-05-27.