The old, tired saying is that San Francisco politics are a knife fight in a phone booth. We can do better. A fist fight in a Waymo? A yelling match at the famously tiny Black Horse London Pub on Union Street?
The mayoral candidates claim they will usher in a kinder era of San Francisco politics, without the name-calling and petty back and forths on social media.
As part of our “Ask the candidates” series, we collected questions from readers about the city’s most significant issues and are publishing the responses in the leadup to Election Day.
Reader David B. wants to know:
“The polarization of politics — NIMBY vs. YIMBY, techies vs. arts, and everyone pointing blame instead of working together — is holding San Francisco back. What will you do to bring people together and foster real community?”
Mayor London Breed: More fun, less fighting
The city leader is known for not holding back when it comes to saying what she really thinks during policy fights. (Watch this heated exchange with Supervisor Dean Preston from last year.)
But Breed told The Standard she has also reached out to those who disagree with her, pointing to the appointment of Ivy Lee — once a staffer for the mayor’s political nemesis Jane Kim — to the Community College Board in 2018. She also blamed social media, the “fractured” press, and the pandemic for worsening polarization.
The mayor said she has been fighting against divisions in the city by promoting fun, feel-good events like Skrillex and Fred Again at Civic Center, street markets, and festivals.
Channeling Kamala Harris, Breed wrote in her questionnaire: “One of my goals over the last two years as we’ve really emerged from this pandemic has been to create more joyful public spaces where people can gather.”
Daniel Lurie: No more excuses
Nonprofit executive Lurie has cultivated his (arguable) outsider status to differentiate himself from his competitors, all of whom have long histories at City Hall. That includes what he describes as “constant finger-pointing and excuse-making” that needs to cease.
Lurie paints himself as a consensus builder during his nearly two decades as leader of the nonprofit Tipping Point Community.
“Throughout my career, I have been a coalition builder who brings people together to find common ground and get big things done such as building affordable housing and shelter with a unanimous vote from the Board of Supervisors, and a Superbowl that brought $240 million in economic activity to the region,” he wrote in his questionnaire. Lurie also said it is important to “be bold and spend political and social capital” when there is a stalemate on an issue.
Aaron Peskin: Working across the aisle
Board President Peskin knows a thing or two about a feisty political battle, having been accused of bullying and alcohol-induced tirades. (Peskin has since sought alcohol treatment.) That has left him with plenty of political adversaries.
But Peskin claims he’s capable of bringing people together, citing Prop. M, a tax reform measure that he and Breed, along with many supporters, were able to push forward.
The ballot measure is a balance between helping small and big businesses, Peskin said, a “difficult challenge” on which to thread the needle.
“We may disagree, especially during election season, about the best way to move San Francisco forward, but when it comes time to govern, we must put that bickering aside and do what is best for the voters and tax-payers for whom we work,” he wrote in his questionnaire.
Mark Farrell: Listening tour
“I don’t believe in YIMBY vs. NIMBY or progressive vs. moderate — I believe in results,” Farrell wrote in his questionnaire.
Farrell said he has a history of working with all types of lawmakers during his time at City Hall in the 2010s.
“From working with my progressive colleagues to pass historic policy to compel treatment for the most severely mentally ill, to strengthen owner-move-in protections, to expanding ADUs that were subject to rent control citywide — I know what it takes to get things done,” he said.
If elected, Farrell plans to launch a mayoral “Listening Tour” in his first 100 days at City Hall. The meetings would take place in all 11 supervisor districts “to listen directly to residents and businesses about their priorities and concerns.”
Want to read each candidate’s entire response on political polarization? Click here.