It was 6 p.m., Friday night in the mayor’s office at San Francisco City Hall, almost 24 hours since a political misstep muddied all their boots, tarnishing the mayor’s reputation in the Sunset District.
Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz, 29, had resigned from her seat on the Board of Supervisors just eight days after her appointment, mired in controversy.
As the festive LED lights strung across Civic Center blinked into Room 200, the mayor’s inner sanctum, Lurie’s senior staff strategized about what would come next.
Chief of Staff Staci Slaughter, Deputy Chief of Staff Aly Bonde, Press Secretary Charles Lutvak, and Deputy Communications Director Annie Gabillet sat around the mayor in a semi-circle, laptops at the ready. Han Zou, the head of communications, was traveling and attended by speakerphone.
They had been in constant communication since Thursday evening; now it was time to hear the game plan. As he sometimes does when he is fixated on a problem, Lurie donned his glasses and rested his hand on his chin.
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The need for an overhaul of the vetting process was obvious. Headline after headline revealed the neophyte supervisor’s unsavory backstory. Alcaraz ultimately lasted less than 200 hours in her role. Her rodent-infested pet store held a nightmarish collection of dead animal carcasses; she allegedly scammed her friends out of dinner money'; and she admitted in text messages to paying people under the table (opens in new tab).
It was a rare public misstep by Mayor Daniel Lurie, one so glaring it prompted an equally rare public apology. It informed the urgency of the meeting.
Here’s the new plan Lurie heard in the meeting with his inner circle, as pieced together by sources on background with knowledge of the meeting.
Perhaps the most transformative difference in the mayor’s vetting process will be a simple piece of paper.
When the mayor’s office looked into potential supervisor appointees before, they kept with the standard practice of past administrations: looking into public records obtainable about the appointee, asking around about their reputation, and interviewing candidates who led the pack.
Now, however, they’ll also give them a written questionnaire, one that will dive into their professional history, public persona, owned businesses, and more — in hopes of discovering any skeletons in closets that the press may later reveal.
Another change? Who’s in charge.
Previously, Zou, the communications and public affairs director, had oversight over the selection process, which included a paid firm to research candidates. But Zou learned of some key facts about Alcaraz too late for it to make a difference.
Text messages from Julia Baran (opens in new tab), who bought the Animal Connection pet store from Alcaraz, show Zou learning of the horrid conditions of the pet store in the days following the appointment — and after she first gave the same communications to The Standard. The texts with Zou were first obtained by Mission Local.
“Thank you for sending the videos and confirming I’ve received them. I’m making sure the appropriate people from our office are aware,” Zou texted to Baran. That was the first time the office had seen those videos, sources with knowledge confirmed. Baran called them out for “appointing someone like this without doing any proper due diligence.”
Now, Adam Thongsavat, the mayor’s liaison to the Board of Supervisors, will be in charge of overseeing the vetting process. Thongsavat deals with the board daily, giving him an insider’s view into the qualifications needed for a new appointee.
Lastly, while previously the mayor’s office took community organizing as a bonus, now they’re treating it as a requirement. If community leaders aren’t willing to go to bat for the candidate, they aren’t going to pass muster.
Jason Elliot, a longtime advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and who served in his mayoral administration, told The Standard this new level of scrutiny is unheard of under City Hall’s dome.
“This is a more in-depth written screening than anything I’ve seen for mayoral appointments, supervisors, commissions, jobs,” he said. “I understand why they’re going to this length. They obviously missed something in the process in choosing Ms. Alcaraz, and I’m certain they want to hold themselves to a higher level now.”
Friday night, when Lurie and his team finished debating the finer points of the plan, he dismissed the majority of his crew and thanked them.
“Let’s get back to work,” he said.