P. Coonan
2024-04-21 19:43:44 UTC
Reply
PermalinkSupervisors, says he is entering the citys already-crowded mayors race
partly because of what he sees as a chaotic governing strategy from
incumbent London Breed.
Peskin, who plans to formally declare his candidacy with the citys
elections department on Friday, told the Chronicle in a Thursday morning
interview that he would be a mayor who loves the city and doesnt beat up
on it for cynical political gain. He criticized Breed for what he
described as an incoherent approach to solving the citys most pressing
problems, including drug abuse, homelessness and housing.
There has been no consistency. There has been no follow-through. This is
an administration that is largely driven by press, Peskin told the
Chronicle. It is not an administration that is being run maturely.
The comments from Peskin were a possible preview of a message he will
promote after he kicks off his long-expected mayoral campaign during a
Saturday morning rally in Chinatown, a storied neighborhood he has
represented in the more than 16 years he has served on the Board of
Supervisors. His entry into the November mayors race comes more than a
month after the Chronicle reported he privately told associates he would
run.
Peskin stands to be a formidable opponent to Breed. He has deep
connections in San Francisco political circles and is likely to capture
significant support from the citys progressive voters, who have shown
little enthusiasm for a field of candidates that lines up to his political
right. But hes also expected to be a polarizing figure among moderate-
leaning voters. Breed and other candidates are already using his extensive
record at City Hall to characterize him as someone who has repeatedly
blocked needed progress, particularly on housing.
We are living in a time that has a disproportionate amount of anger and
hatred, and I think if were going to recover, yes, we need to be firm,
and yes, we have to draw clear lines, but we have to be compassionate and
uniting, Peskin said.
What I see in the other candidates is, rather than taking responsibility,
they are all engaged in finger-pointing and blaming, he said. Theyve
blamed compassion. Theyve blamed nonprofits. Theyve blamed judges. But
at the end of the day, the buck stops with the mayor.
A February poll conducted by the Chronicle found Breed may be at serious
risk of losing reelection, with a majority of San Francisco voters
disapproving of her performance as mayor. Her closest competitors in the
poll, conducted before Peskin entered the race, were moderate candidates
Mark Farrell, a former mayor and supervisor, and Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit
founder and Levi Strauss heir.
The poll found about 40% of the electorate remained undecided, with those
describing themselves as progressives in particular unsure of their vote.
Supervisor Ahsha Safaí is also running for mayor and has been seeking to
attract progressive voters, including by coming out strongly against a
March ballot measure spearheaded by Breed that expanded police powers.
Peskins candidacy adds more uncertainty to the race, particularly in how
San Franciscos ranked-choice voting will influence the results and how
campaign strategies may shift in the months ahead.
Peskin, 59, is a seasoned politician who is intricately familiar with San
Franciscos laws, procedures and history, and he often draws on that
knowledge during policy debates with his colleagues or the mayors office.
Over two separate stints since the turn of the century, he has represented
District 3, which includes North Beach, Chinatown and the Financial
District.
But Peskins long tenure at City Hall could also be a liability. Farrell
and Lurie, who contend that Breed represents the status quo in a city in
need of big changes, are extending that argument to Peskin.
I am committed to doing everything I can to stop Supervisor Aaron Peskin
from becoming Mayor, Farrell said in a statement. Peskin is abusive,
toxic, and a documented obstructionist to the progress San Francisco needs
to make to get back on track.
Breed and her allies in the YIMBY movement, which supports an aggressive
expansion of housing at all income levels, are likely to highlight
Peskins record of opposing or seeking to slow down various development
projects.
Peskin is known for his staunch support of rent control and neighborhood
preservation. Supervisors recently passed legislation he sponsored that
restricted development in parts of his district. Peskin described it as a
necessary correction to an earlier city law that he said unwittingly
allowed for overly tall towers he considers too tall to be built in
historic areas along the northeast waterfront.
Breed vetoed the legislation, saying it passes off anti-housing policy in
the guise of historic protections, but supervisors overrode her veto in
an 8-3 vote last week.
Joe Arellano, a spokesperson for Breeds reelection campaign, told the
Chronicle in a statement that Breed is happy to put up her record against
Aaron Peskins, any day of the week and said Peskin has a well-
documented career of blocking major housing projects.
The voters of San Francisco shouldnt be fooled. Aaron Peskin is the
architect of obstruction on the Board of Supervisors, Arellano said.
Hes led the Board during five different mayoral administrations and the
divisiveness in city government has continually ramped up over the years
to the fever pitch where it now resides. Now, hes seeking the Mayors
Office to try and finish the job of turning San Francisco into a NIMBY
state and the City of No.
In his interview with the Chronicle, Peskin defended his record on housing
policy and said he supported building more affordable homes for middle-
class families instead of a wall of 200-foot luxury housing towers for
the international elite along the Embarcadero. He said other candidates
reactions to his campaign so far showed they have something that they are
scared of.
Peskin has worked with Breed in some areas, collaborating with her on
legislation to lower affordable-unit requirements in housing developments,
promote office-to-housing conversions and allow police to access live
feeds from privately owned surveillance cameras. But hes also expressed
frustration with her leadership on the fentanyl crisis, notably
confronting her at a 2023 hearing he called in United Nations Plaza, where
he argued she hadnt done enough to shut down the citys drug
supermarkets.
Peskin and Breed also backed dueling housing measures on the November 2022
ballot. Both failed.
Peskin has not been immune to controversy during his time on the board. In
2021, he entered treatment for alcohol abuse after some elected officials,
department heads and others accused him of being visibly intoxicated on
the job and of bullying colleagues and lower-level government staff
members.
Theres no question that, in the last 24 years, I have behaved poorly,
and I have apologized for those things, Peskin told the Chronicle.
Stopping drinking alcohol has been a remarkable change in my life three
years ago that I am deeply grateful for.
Peskin indicated he would draw on his experience recovering from alcohol
abuse while campaigning for mayor, saying that he thought San Francisco
needs to recover from its current crises and he thought his new lease on
life makes him uniquely qualified to accomplish that.
His extensive time in office may turn off many voters eager for fresh
leadership in City Hall. Such criticism is especially likely from Lurie,
who is trying to position himself as an outsider with a moderate agenda
who would bring much-needed new perspective to the mayors office.
Tyler Law, a consultant for Lurie, said in a statement that Peskins
candidacy would prompt the chattering class to cover the mayors race as
a fight between moderates and progressives but that completely misses
the point. He said Luries campaign stands in stark contrast to the gang
of City Hall insiders who have failed to get the job done.
The people who got us into this mess are not equipped to get us out of
it, Law said.
Safaí, meanwhile, said Peskins decision to become Breeds fourth major
challenger shows that she faces unusually stiff competition in her bid for
another term.
I think Aaron getting in is more of a statement about London Breed,
Safaí said Thursday. But its a democracy, and if hes choosing this
journey in life, God bless.
Peskin first won election as District 3 supervisor in 2000, as part of a
wave of progressives who defeated moderate former Mayor Willie Browns
allies. Peskin had risen to prominence in the late 1990s, when he helmed a
powerful neighborhood group called the Telegraph Hill Dwellers.
By the time he finished his first two terms on the board in early 2009,
Peskin, labeled by some as the Napoleon of North Beach (he once remarked
that he stood 5 feet 4 on a good day), had become a polarizing political
figure who often clashed with Brown and then-Mayor Gavin Newsom. But he
also commanded respect.
Peskin was under consideration to become the citys appointed mayor after
Newsom won election as lieutenant governor in 2010. But he was one of
several people passed over by the Board of Supervisors in favor of Ed Lee,
then the city administrator.
After Peskins District 3 successor, David Chiu, won election to the state
Assembly in 2015, Peskin staged his return to the Board of Supervisors.
Peskin was reelected to represent District 3 in 2016 and 2020. He served
four years as board president in his first stint as supervisor and
regained the presidency in an upset in January 2023 after the former board
president, progressive Supervisor Shamann Walton, was unable to secure
enough votes for another term.
Peskin plans to frame his City Hall experience as an asset in his campaign
by arguing that his deep familiarity with the myriad levers of San
Franciscos sprawling bureaucracy would make him an effective mayor. Hes
also trying to present himself as a dealmaker.
I fight hard, but in the end, I bring people together, he said. I think
that I can spread some joy and some unity.
Reach J.D. Morris: ***@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @thejdmorris
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/aaron-peskin-blasts-london-breed-
enters-s-f-19382066.php