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Matt Dorsey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matt Dorsey
Member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
from District 6
Assumed office
May 9, 2022
Preceded byMatt Haney
Personal details
Born1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materEmerson College[1]
WebsitePersonal 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

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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.[3][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

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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.[3][4] 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

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Dorsey is gay.[3] He is HIV-positive[3] and is in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "MattDorsey.com". MattDorsey.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  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. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Balakrishnan, Eleni (2022-02-03). "DA responds: 'not one iota of evidence' of misconduct". Mission Local. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  6. ^ Saracevic, Al (9 May 2022). "Breed taps Dorsey to replace Haney on Board of Supervisors". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  7. ^ Morris, J.D. (2022-11-14). "Breed appointee Matt Dorsey wins S.F.'s District Six supervisor race". SF Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Zhou, Yujie (2022-12-03). "Supe Matt Dorsey pushing for SFPD doc: 'The Real Streets of San Francisco'". Mission Local. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  11. ^ Eskenazi, Joe (2022-05-09). "Mayor to tap Matt Dorsey for D6 supervisor, triggering high-stakes political brawl". Mission Local. Retrieved 2022-05-27.