We recently completed processing the records of Councilmember Kshama Sawant, including seven different record series. Sawant served on City Council from 2014 through 2023, first in a citywide position and then representing District 3 after a charter amendment reorganized the council into geographical districts. She was associated with the successful push for a $15/hour minimum wage and an ordinance banning caste discrimination, along with advocacy for rent control, labor unions, and a millionaire’s tax.
The largest series is her Subject Files (Record Series 4679-02), with 4.8 cubic feet of paper records and over 11,000 digital files. Her work on landlord-tenant law, including winter eviction regulations and rent control proposals, is well documented. One file includes materials about a rent control debate at Town Hall. Labor issues are heavily represented, including minimum wage laws, secure scheduling, union activities, and the Office of Labor Standards. Other topics include homelessness and encampments, taxation and progressive revenue, police accountability and funding, housing, taxis and TNCs, zoning and land use, transportation, and issues specific to District 3.
Another series of note is Posters and Flyers (Record Series 4679-07), consisting of posters, flyers, leaflets, placards, and other materials promoting causes including rent control, labor rights, $15 minimum wage, a caste discrimination ban, and progressive taxation, as well as more general pro-socialist messages. Some seem to have been created specifically for labor union rallies at Starbucks, Amazon, and PCC Markets. Records include both paper and digital files, and a selection is viewable in Digital Collections.
Other record series document the work of council committees Sawant chaired, including the Energy and Environment Committee and the Sustainability and Renters’ Rights Committee. Records include agendas, presentations, memos, reports, and sign-in sheets.