Myrna Melgar

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Myrna Melgar

| image = Myrna Melgar, 2025.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2025

| office = Member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
from District 7

| term_start = January 8, 2021

| 1blankname =

| 1namedata =

| predecessor = Norman Yee

| successor =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1968|3|16}}

| birth_place = El Salvador

| nationality = American

| party = Democratic

| residence = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| occupation = Politician

| website = [https://sfbos.org/supervisor-melgar-district-7 Board of Supervisors District 7 website]

| alma_mater = Excelsior College
Columbia University

}}

Myrna Melgar (born March 17, 1968) is an American politician currently serving as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for District 7 since January 8, 2021.{{Cite web|title=District 7 {{!}} Board of Supervisors|url=https://sfbos.org/supervisor-melgar-district-7|access-date=2021-04-15|website=sfbos.org}} Melgar is the first woman elected to represent District 7.

Early life and education

Melgar was born in El Salvador. Her family fled during the Salvadoran Civil War when she was 12 and settled in San Francisco. Later on, she attended San Francisco State University and graduated from Excelsior College, earning a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and a master's degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University.{{cite web |last1=Rudick |first1=Roger |title=Q&A with S.F. Supervisor Myrna Melgar - Streetsblog California |url=https://cal.streetsblog.org/2023/06/07/qa-with-s-f-supervisor-myrna-melgar |website=cal.streetsblog.org |publisher=Streetsblog California |access-date=11 September 2024 |language=en |date=7 June 2023}}

Career

Melgar formerly worked as the executive director of the Jamestown Community Center, Deputy Director of the Mission Economic Development Agency, Director of Homeownership Programs at the Mayor's Office of Housing during the Newsom Administration, and served as President of the City Planning Commission and Vice President of the Building Inspection Commission. Melgar also served as a legislative aid to Eric Mar.{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Heather |date=2012-03-29 |title=Friend of Mirkarimi's wife: family 'destroyed' |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Friend-of-Mirkarimi-s-wife-family-destroyed-3442312.php |access-date=2021-12-17 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Melgar was elected Supervisor for District 7 on November 3, 2020, with 18,561 total votes after ranked-choice allocations, garnering 53.1% of the vote.{{Cite web|title=Myrna Melgar|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Myrna_Melgar|access-date=2022-01-26|website=Ballotpedia|language=en}} She was sworn into office on January 8, 2021, replacing former Supervisor and President of the Board Norman Yee, who endorsed her as his successor.{{Cite web|url=https://sfbos.org/former-supervisor-yee-district-7|title = Former Supervisor Yee - District 7 | Board of Supervisors}}

Melgar chairs the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the Board and serves on the Youth, Young Adult, and Families Committee, and the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee. Melgar is also a Commissioner for the County Transportation Authority, Bay Area Air Quality District, and the First Five Commission.{{Cite web|title=Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District {{!}} Golden Gate|url=https://www.goldengate.org/|access-date=2022-01-26|website=www.goldengate.org}}

Melgar has advocated for the expansion of the "Free Muni for Youth" program to all youth in August 2021.{{Cite web |title=Youth Can Ride SF Muni for Free Starting Mid-August |url=https://www.kqed.org/news/11881120/free-muni-for-all-youth-ages-18-and-under-to-begin-on-august-15 |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=KQED |date=14 July 2021 |language=en-us}}

= Housing =

In 2021, Melgar voted to block construction of a 495-unit apartment building with 25% affordable housing on the site of a valet parking lot. The controversial vote prompted an investigation of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors by California state officials.{{Cite web |date=2021-10-29 |title=‘Absurdity’: San Francisco leaders stall SOMA housing project to preserve parking lot |url=https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/absurdity-san-francisco-leaders-stall-housing-project-in-soma-to-preserve-a-parking-lot/ |access-date=2022-03-27 |website=The San Francisco Examiner |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Heather |date=2021-10-30 |title=S.F.’s real housing crisis: Supervisors who took a wrecking ball to plans for 800 units |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/S-F-supervisors-complain-about-our-housing-16576412.php |access-date=2022-03-27 |website=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en-US}}

In 2023, Melgar voted to halt the conversion of a single-family home in Nob Hill into ten townhomes over concerns of contaminated soils.{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=J. D. |date=2023-06-28 |title=S.F. halts project that would replace single-family in Nob Hill with 10 homes |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s-f-officials-refuse-greenlight-nob-hill-18173838.php |website=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en-US}} In 2024, she voted against anti-housing legislation that would restrict housing supply in San Francisco's Northern Waterfront.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-27 |title=YIMBYs on their heels as race for mayor heats up |url=https://sfstandard.com/2024/03/27/yimbys-on-their-heels-after-lawmakers-kill-housing-veto/ |website=The San Francisco Standard |language=en}}

Personal life

Melgar resides in the Ingleside Terraces neighborhood with her partner, environmental lawyer Sean H. Donahue, and three daughters. She is of Jewish descent.{{Cite web|url=https://jweekly.com/2020/12/22/sf-board-of-supervisors-welcomes-first-latina-a-jewish-immigrant-from-el-salvador/|title=SF Board of Supervisors welcomes first Jewish Latina, an immigrant from El Salvador|date=December 22, 2020|first=Maya|last=Mirsky|work=The Jewish News of Northern California}}