Matt Dorsey Explained

Matt Dorsey
Office1:Member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
from District 6
Term Start1:May 9, 2022
Predecessor1:Matt Haney
Party:Democratic
Alma Mater:Emerson College[1]
Website:Personal Website
San Francisco District 6

Matt Dorsey (born 1964 or 1965)[2] is an American politician and communications professional. 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 2022 San Francisco Board of Supervisors election. He previously served as the Head of Communications for the San Francisco Police Department.

Career

Dorsey worked strategic communications for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera for 14 years.[3]

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

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Dorsey was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on May 9, 2022, by Mayor London Breed to replace outgoing District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney for the rest of his term. Unlike his predecessor, Dorsey will not represent Tenderloin, San Francisco, which was moved to District 5 after redistricting in 2022. District 6 has 76,000 San Francisco residents and consists of South of Market, Rincon Hill, South Beach, Mission Bay, Mid-Market, The Hub (near Market and Octavia) and Showplace Square (Southwestern SoMa).[6]

Dorsey ran for election in November 2022. He defeated Honey Mahogany, a former aide to Matt Haney. Dorsey was supported by GrowSF, among many other moderate Democratic organizations.[7]

Dorsey and London Breed decided to not march in San Francisco Pride 2022 after the organizers banned police officers from marching in uniform.[8] After Pride reached a compromise with the police, Dorsey and Breed agreed to march.[9]

Dorsey faced criticism for his support for a documentary on San Francisco's police department, which he began promoting during his time working for the police department and supported as a supervisor. Critics view the documentary as a waste of limited police resources.[10]

Personal life

Dorsey is gay. He is HIV-positive and is in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MattDorsey.com . 2022-05-26 . MattDorsey.com . en-US.
  2. Web site: Knight . Heather . March 2, 2024 . 'I'm Matt.' For Some Politicians, Addiction Battles Drive Policymaking. . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240302101259/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/02/us/drug-addiction-san-francisco.html . March 2, 2024 . March 18, 2024 . The New York Times.
  3. Web site: Gaus . Annie . 2022-05-09 . Mayor Breed Taps Matt Dorsey, a Police Spokesperson and Longtime Civil Servant, to Lead District 6 . 2022-05-26 . The San Francisco Standard . en-US.
  4. Web site: 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 . 2022-05-26 . San Francisco Chronicle . en-US.
  5. Web site: Balakrishnan . Eleni . 2022-02-03 . DA responds: 'not one iota of evidence' of misconduct . 2022-12-21 . Mission Local . en-US.
  6. Web site: Saracevic . Al . Breed taps Dorsey to replace Haney on Board of Supervisors . 2022-05-27 . San Francisco Examiner . 9 May 2022 . en.
  7. Web site: Morris . J.D. . 2022-11-14 . Breed appointee Matt Dorsey wins S.F.'s District Six supervisor race. 2022-12-21 . SF Chronicle . en-US.
  8. Web site: 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 . 2022-05-26 . San Francisco Chronicle . en-US.
  9. News: Burkett . Eric . Laird . Cynthia . After SF Pride, police reach compromise, Mayor Breed, gay supe Dorsey to march in parade . June 8, 2022 . . June 2, 2022.
  10. Web site: Zhou . Yujie . 2022-12-03 . Supe Matt Dorsey pushing for SFPD doc: 'The Real Streets of San Francisco'. 2022-12-21 . Mission Local . en-US.
  11. Web site: Eskenazi . Joe . 2022-05-09 . Mayor to tap Matt Dorsey for D6 supervisor, triggering high-stakes political brawl . 2022-05-27 . Mission Local . en-US.