One of her pet proposals is to raise the agency's minimum contribution to affordable housing from 20 percent to 50 percent of the agency's budget. Napoli likes to say that she worked her way through San Jose State University and she paid back her loans. She is even financing her own campaign, though to a much lesser degree than the Texas tycoon. Napoli boasts that because she's financing her campaign, she won't owe anything to contributors like developers and land-owners. Even those who think they don't like her find themselves surprised by Napoli's appeal.
People admire that.
Despite her reputation for being the political equivalent of a stun gun, Napoli insists she's an old soul who never had a wild streak, even as a teenager. She drives a '97 Corvette, but points out it's an automatic. Of course, that's why the city's opinion-leaders can't stand her. She won't win. At a certain point, you've got to do more than stake a position that is no to everything.