Supporters held a joint watch party in downtown Oakland Tuesday night for U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee and Lateefah Siman, who is running to replace Lee.

While Lee's campaign aides attended the party, Lee skipped them. Instead, she said she would fly back to Washington DC to work.

She was disappointed with the outcome of the race and finished in fourth place. Late Tuesday night, CBS News predicted that Lee will not advance to the November general election.

Before the polls closed, Lee joined her volunteers at her downtown campaign office to urge voters to vote for her. Before leaving the campaign office on Tuesday evening, she spoke about the challenges posed by the Senate race.

“You could see the inequality in money, I mean, come on. Establishment money is not going to a black progressive woman. But we have people, we have donors, we have recurring donors, we have people who have never donated to campaigns before,” said Rep. Lee.

She only answered two questions from the press. Reporters asked her about her future plans, to which she gave no answer.

More from CBS News

And Lin

Da Lin is an award-winning journalist at KPIX 5 News. He joined KPIX 5 in 2012 but has covered Bay Area news since 2007. Da grew up in Oakland and covered the news for five years at three other television stations in Texas before returning to the Bay Area. Southern and Central California. He also reported for KRON 4 for five years.

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Supervisors voted to place the ballot in committee Tuesday and the full board is expected to discuss it in the coming weeks. The proposal would come four years after voters approved the largest housing bond in San Francisco history at $600 million. The bond won’t mean increasing property taxes: the city sells the debt, and only issues new bonds when other debt has been retired.

The proposed bond is part of a deal struck between Mayor London Breed and the board this summer to move forward with reducing the share of affordable homes built in new market-rate developments from about 20% to between 12% and 16%, depending on the neighborhood and building type. 

The bond could help San Francisco  meet its housing goals as it continues to struggle to build homes amid one of the most expensive construction markets in the country. Building a single unit of affordable housing is about $1.2 million in some cases, and it can take up to five years or more to approve and build housing projects, in part because of the city’s slow permitting process, which state officials criticized on Wednesday.

Eric Shaw, head of the Mayor’s office of Housing and Community Development, said about $240 million of the bond would largely be used to build about 1,500 housing projects currently in the city’s pipeline. 

Shaw said about $30 million would be used to provide 120 shelter beds for women who are survivors of domestic violence, street violence or human trafficking. The remaining $30 million would be used to preserve about 60 units of the city’s existing affordable housing stock, whether that’s for repairs or rehabbing units. The city would prioritize housing for seniors and placing affordable housing in wealthier areas, according to the proposed measure. 

But the $300 million is only a fraction of the $900 million the city needs to build all the housing units in the construction pipeline, which is about 11,000 units. The city currently relies mostly on local dollars to construct housing since the flow of state and federal dollars can be unpredictable. Shaw said funding is falling short by the billions annually, and with increasing costs for land and construction, the figure will only climb going forward. 

“Nineteen billion dollars in local funds is needed to achieve housing element targets based on current goals,” Shaw said. “High development costs, hard costs, are undermining our goals, so local funding is a critical source of dollars.”

Shaw said the city will likely spend about $120 million to get about half of the 1,500 projects moving in 2024, and then another $120 million in 2025-2026, but that’s contingent on voters approving the bond. Money set aside for preservation will be allocated in 2025-2026 and the 120 survivor beds would come online in 2027 or 2028.

Supporters of the bond will have to convince San Franciscans — who have approved various funding measures in recent years — to approve a new multi million dollar bond to solve the city’s affordable housing crisis. The bond needs two-thirds support for approval, a high hurdle.

Breed has already cautioned that the city is not on track to meet its housing goals. 

Still, Supervisor Aaron Peskin touted the bond measure as a great collaboration between the supervisors and the mayor’s office, which have at times fought over policy in recent years. 

“We still have a long way to go between now and March but we’re off to an auspicious beginning,” Peskin said. 

Supervisor Ahsha Safaí applauded Peskin’s efforts to include amendments that prioritize seniors, women who have experienced violence and others. 

“Calling them out specifically I think is an important point for the city,” Safaí said. 

Reach Aldo Toledo: Aldo.Toledo@sfchronicle.com

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Jenkins thinks voters should back her because she has the most experience as a prosecutor, and is “the one person who is committed to balancing the interests of the need to reform and (the need to) improve inequities within the system,” vowing to be a champion for victims of crime. “I think the majority of the city has reached a point of feeling fed up with the state of things, and the status quo is not working anymore,” she says. In her first seven weeks in office she says she’s made “significant strides in helping to restore things.”

Alioto Veronese says his 22 years as a civil rights attorney, time on the police commission, three-year stint as a San Francisco police officer, and career as an investigator in former San Francisco District Attorney Terrance Hallinan’s office, all prepared him to serve as district attorney . “At the time, I wasn’t as progressive as Hallinan, when, if you remember, he was the ultimate progressive DA,” Alioto Veronese says. Hallinan started some of the first diversion programs for offenders. Alioto Veronese initially opposed the diversion programs but now believes in that work, saying “I’ve come such a long way.”

Hamasaki Believes his 14 years as an attorney and “broad experience within the law” gives him a strong foundation to be the next district attorney. He also touted his time on the San Francisco Police Commission as valuable experience in terms of interacting with San Francisco’s criminal justice system. Responding to Jenkins’ critique that he lacks prosecutorial experience, he says that would be important “if they were hiring a line prosecutor ,” but that the district attorney’s office is “a job opening for a leader.” Hamasaki says he has that experience from the American Bar Association and experience in criminal litigation.

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SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco today announced the results of its 2022 director elections.

FHLBank San Francisco’s members elected Gary L. Trujillo to a nonmember independent director position. Mr. Trujillo is the founder and serves as president and CEO of Southwest Harvard Group, LLC, at an investment firm and family office in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also executive chairman of the Standard Printing Company, Inc.

Mr. Trujillo has been a serial entrepreneur for over 30 years with significant experience as a CEO, financier, founder, operator, and independent corporate board member, including serving on three publicly traded company boards and multiple privately owned company boards in the technology, healthcare , auto, real estate, and financial services industries. Mr. Trujillo is also recognized nationally as a dedicated community leader, having co-founded the Be A Leader Foundation in 2002, an education-focused nonprofit serving more than 14,000 students per year.

The Bank’s California members elected Chang M. Liu as a California member director. Mr. Liu is president and CEO of Cathay Bank and its holding company Cathay General Bancorp, where he serves on both entities’ board of directors. Mr. Liu has over 31 years of experience in the financial services industry. Mr. Liu joined Cathay Bank in 2014 as senior vice president and assistant chief lending officer. He has held various leadership positions of increasing responsibilities, including executive vice president and chief lending officer in 2016 and chief operating officer in 2018.

Before being named president, Mr. Liu was responsible for managing and overseeing all commercial and real estate lending, business development, and various operations. Mr. Liu also serves as a member of the Western Bankers Association board of directors and the American Cancer Society’s CEOs Against Cancer group, on the board of advisors for the UCLA Anderson Forecast, and serves on the board of directors of Foothill Family Service.

The Bank’s Arizona members re-elected Brian M. Riley as an Arizona member director. Mr. Riley is a director for the Oxford Life Insurance Company in Phoenix, Arizona.

Each of these three positions has a four-year term beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2026.

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a member-driven cooperative helping local lenders in Arizona, California, and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity, and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutions-commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions-foster homeownership, expand access to quality housing, seed or sustain small businesses, and revitalize whole neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant, equitable, and resilient.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8e480285-232a-4910-b4a7-15ee401363ce

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b74b0418-d09e-4709-b4a4-b013aa936112

Contact: Mary Long, (415) 572-6717 longm@fhlbsf.com

Copyright 2022 GlobeNewswire, Inc.

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Voters Face Big Choices in November

San Francisco voters have a lot on their plate in November. Two contested supervisor races, three School Board seats and competing slates for Community College Board are joined by many high profile ballot measures. And if that’s not enough, November could also have a DA’s race between Brooke Jenkins and Chesa Boudin.

Here’s our early forecast.

D4 and D6 Supervisors

D4

Earlier this year I noted that despite belief in Gordon Mar’s D4 vulnerability that no strong challengers had emerged. Two now have, Leanna Louie and Joel Engardio.

If this remains the field of major candidates Mar faces a very tough race. Every debate will have two candidates challenging him while avoiding criticizing each other.

Louie is a relative newcomer to San Francisco politics but is said to be a tireless campaigner. Engardio ran a strong race in D7 in 2020 only to have his home redistricted to D4. He is a very strategic activist. He will do his best to ensure that his supporters and Louie’s make each other their second choice vote. A well coordinated ranked choice vote could overtake Mar’s likely lead in first place votes.

A Louie or Engardio victory would replace a solid progressive with the Board’s most moderate member.

D6

I earlier saw the Matt Dorsey-Honey Mahogany race as a tossup. Nothing has changed. The politics of the substantially changed D6 electorate remain unclear. There’s new district lines and so many incoming residents since 2018 that it’s a heavily changed electorate.

Mahogany backs policies similar to those promoted by Matt Haney. Dorsey has been aligned with Mayor Breed’s positions. Which do D6 voters prefer? We’ll know more as the campaigns unfold.

Local Ballot Measures

Returning Cars to JFK Drive

It’s been years since San Francisco has had so many high-profile ballot measures. Pre-vaccination COVID prevented signature gathering for initiatives but those days are gone.

Some measures are already easy to predict. This list starts with the measure to reopen JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park to cars—it will lose big.

It will lose big because Walk SF, the SF Bike Coalition, and thousands of activists have fought too long and too hard to allow a ballot measure to open JFK Drive to cars. No local campaign will have more volunteers than the “No” campaign against reopening JFK to cars.

Ending off-year elections

Another easy prediction is passage of the charter amendment to shift all local elections to even-numbered years. While opponents claim it connects labor contracts to mayoral elections and eliminates an election cycle for bonds, voters in many cities have backed this move. I urge this shift in Generation Priced Out because odd year elections inflate the voting clout of older white anti-housing homeowners while reducing the tenant vote.

This charter amendment must still be approved by six supervisors but it seems Mayor Breed is the only public opponent. If successful, the shift adds a year to her term.

Homeless Commission

I can also predict passage of the charter amendment creating a commission to oversee the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH). Sponsored by Supervisor Ahsha Safai, the measure is long overdue.

HSH was created without a commission despite its programs being previously under the Human Services Commission or the Health Commission. The lack of a commission has restricted public input into city homeless policies. It has also empowered unaccountable city staffers over those with far more knowledge and experience in the field.

Thanks to Safai’s leadership, voters will install a commission over homeless programs.

Vacancy Tax

Initiated by Dean Preston and the city’s DSA chapter, the vacancy tax should easily win. While some criticize its exclusion of vacant single family homes, potential supporters will not vote against it because of this omission.

While the vacancy tax marginally increases affordable housing funding, it’s been overhyped as a meaningful strategy for addressing San Francisco’s affordability crisis. It’s politically easier to pass a homeowner-protected vacancy tax than to try legalizing new apartment buildings in their neighborhoods.

Housing Wars

A coalition of pro-housing groups got tired of waiting for the city to expedite its housing approval process and qualified the Affordable Homes Now (AHN) measure for the November ballot. Mayor Breed and state housing champion Scott Wiener have endorsed it. The measure reduces San Francisco’s slowest in the state approval times from four years to six to twelve months. This is critical for improving the city’s affordability.

Projects using the AHN must add 15% more affordable units than otherwise required. But Supervisor Connie Chan and four additional supervisors are not satisfied with this increase; they are backing a rival charter amendment requiring 8% more affordable units than the AHN. AHN backers argue the rival plan—which still needs one more supervisor to qualify for the ballot—makes projects financially infeasible.

Will either win?

If sound housing policy were the test the AHN wins in a landslide. But in the real world of an overflowing November 2022 ballot its passage depends on how much money and endorsements the AHN draws in support and opposition. If the San Francisco Democratic Party opposes it—which is quite possible—passage will require an extremely well funded and effectively messaged campaign.

Chan’s proposal faces an uphill fight even with the local Democratic Party endorsement. Backers of AHN will oppose it and will be joined by NIMBY’s opposed to both measures.

Generation Priced Out argued that San Francisco’s glacial housing approval process promotes unaffordability. I hope the AHN wins. But nobody ever got rich betting on San Francisco voters backing new housing. The AHN measure is currently a tossup.

School board (3 seats)

The three School Board members Mayor Breed appointed to the Board following the recall are all running for full terms. The SF Guardians group that led the recall campaign strongly back all three. I see all three winning.

Community College Board (4 seats)

A rare San Francisco occurrence could happen in November: incumbent Community College Board members could be defeated. For decades those with name recognition and the SF Democratic Party endorsement coasted to re-election despite some paying little attention to their job. But the politics of CCSF have changed since the Board’s funding failures caused teachers and staff layoffs.

Susan Solomon, former president of the United Educators of San Francisco, Anabel Ibáñez, also formerly a UESF official, and Anita Martinez, once head of the college faculty union, are challenging CCSF incumbents. Also on the ballot is a parcel tax to bring CCSF to an estimated $45 million annually. The grassroots campaign for the parcel tax will boost the three candidates challenging incumbents’ mishandling of finances.

Incumbents John Rizzo, Thea Selby, and Brigitte Davila are also running as a slate. They are in deep political trouble.

Upzoning and Rent Control

I wrote about this proposed charter amendment on July 5 (“Upzoning and Rent Control: The Perfect Match”). The necessary six votes are still being secured.

Supervisors should not delay giving voters a chance to approve this charter amendment. Delaying adding tenant protections to upzoning plans will cause neighborhood by neighborhood fights over the issue and/or deny thousands of future residents basic tenant protections. Better to allow voters in November to decide the question.

A Jenkins-Boudin Race?

I think Chesa Boudin will run against newly appointed District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. This November is his best if not only chance to return as District Attorney. Assuming the charter amendment moving city races from 2023 to 2024 wins (see above), Boudin’s next chance to run would be November 2024. By that time Jenkins and her team will have earned enough public support to make a Boudin challenge unwinnable.

Adding to the likelihood of his running is that Boudin has a campaign team in place from opposing the recall. He’s got a team of people who have been fired by Jenkins; they don’t want to wait until 2024 for a chance to return to their jobs.

Further, San Francisco’s print media has continued its blatantly biased reportage on Jenkins. The publications that strongly opposed the recall want Boudin restored. They will help build a sense of “momentum” for him to run.

I’ve been incredibly impressed with Jenkins’ first week on the job. She has appointed a woman of color leadership team that contrasts with the former DA, a white male from Yale. I see public officials expressing alarm about the termination of many attorneys (which also occurred when Boudin took office). But many of these officials have never expressed concern about the Tenderloin families impacted by drug dealers. Dealers Boudin refused to prosecute.

I see Jenkins as very well positioned to win in November. But that could depend on the San Francisco Police Department more effectively doing its job. A DA who promises to close open drug markets won’t have success if the SFPD isn’t providing a visible presence to deter dealers.

When I toured the tenderloin with Jenkins last week no police officers were in sight. Few were visible even after the massive media coverage of the DA’s decision to spend her second day in office meeting with Tenderloin families (I did see photos of a closed drug market at 7th and Mission, so some progress outside the Tenderloin has already been made) .

As I wrote last week (“DA Brooke Jenkins Offers Hope to the Tenderloin”), reporters are readying stories on Jenkins’ failure to stop open drug dealing. The SFPD said the DA was the reason they weren’t moving to stop open drug markets in the tenderloin; now the police have to deliver.

Meanwhile, these San Francisco races will occur in a larger national political landscape. Many San Francisco activists will forego local contests to volunteer instead in the Central Valley and other parts of the state. Their goal will be helping Democrats keep control of the House. Swing California seats could play a critical role in deciding this.

So activists need to prepare for an all out fall blitz. We have a wild next few months ahead.

Randy Shaw

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s latest book is Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. He is the author of four prior books on activism, including The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. He is also the author of The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco

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Voters fill out their ballots at the Department of Elections at City Hall in September, 2021.

Kevin N. Hume/The Examiner

ELECTION 2022

Below are The San Francisco Examiner Editorial Board’s endorsements for Tuesday’s primary election.

San Francisco ballot measures:

Yes on Proposition A, Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond. Prop. A will allow San Francisco’s public transportation system to make critical upgrades to reduce wait times, repair aging systems and enhance street safety with new crosswalks and street signals. Making such investments is critical in a densely populated world-class city crisscrossed by various modes of public transport that make it easy to navigate without ever setting foot in a car.

Yes on Proposition B to reform the Building Inspection Commission. The reforms will increase accountability and transparency in a scandal-plagued department.

Yes on Proposition C to reform recall timelines and vacancy appointments. An open competition with a level playing field is always the best deal for voters. Prop. C is a smart reform that respects the right of voters to recall their leaders while also helping to protect our democracy from destructive and wasteful political games.

Yes on Proposition D to help crime victims and provide legal services for domestic violence victims. Despite San Francisco’s progressive politics, the city falls far short when it comes to helping victims of crime. Prop. D would establish the Office of Victim and Witness Rights to act as a clearinghouse for access to services designed to help crime victims navigate one of the toughest moments of their lives.

Yes on Proposition E to restrict behested payments solicited by city elected officials. Prop. E seeks to reform city government by creating fewer opportunities for moneyed interest to corrupt the process. It would do this by creating tighter restrictions on the practice of receiving behested payments, which are donations a public official can solicit to benefit public agencies or private organizations.

Yes on Proposition F to reform Recology’s corrupt waste management contract monopoly. Prop. F would restructure the Rate Board that oversees the city’s contracts with Recology and its subsidiaries, adding a ratepayer advocate to the mix. This measure would also give the Board of Supervisors the power to undo Recology’s monopoly on residential waste management in The City. These changes are necessary in the light of Recology’s record over the past few years. Last year, the company admitted to stealing $95 million from residents by overcharging them through fraudulent rate hikes.

Yes on Proposition G to provide paid public health emergency leave to workers at companies with 100 workers or more. Given the toll COVID took on the health and safety of workers — and the very real possibility that such emergencies will become more frequent — guaranteed public health leave is a sensitive reform.

No on Proposition H, the measure to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. The recall campaign’s case against Boudin tends to be light on facts but heavy on anecdote, emotion and accusations that usually prove untrue.

City/County Offices:

David Chiu for City Attorney. San Francisco lucked out when Chiu became The City’s chief legal representative. His long experience as a legislator, coupled with his track record of standing up for what’s right, make him the right candidate for the job.

Voter-nominated state/congressional offices:

Gavin Newsom for California governor. Voters strongly endorsed Newsom’s steady leadership in last year’s recall election. The only challenge for Newsom now is to make good on the ambitious promises he made when he ran under the slogan of “Courage for a Change” in 2018.

Eleni Kounalakis for Lieutenant Governor. She is the clear choice for California lieutenant governor.

Shirley Weber for Secretary of State. Weber faces six challengers on the ballot, but none can match her experience or gravitas.

Malia Cohen or Steve Glazer for Controller. Cohen and Glazer come to the race with strong records of public service that would serve Californians well.

Fiona Ma for Treasurer. She has served ably and competently as a California state treasurer. Ma, whose elected career started on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, became a treasurer after winning the office with more votes than any other treasurer candidate in history, becoming the first woman of color to serve in the position.

Rob Bonta for Attorney General. More than anyone else in the race, Bonta represents the future of crime fighting. He’s not afraid to prosecute felonies and seek prison terms when necessary, but he also understands that we can’t incarcerate our way to a safer society. He knows that smart criminal justice reforms, rather than police state gulags, are the best way to both reduce crime and increase public safety.

Insurance Commissioner. The Examiner is not endorsing in the primary.

Tony Thurmond for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Of the seven candidates running for California state superintendent of education, Thurmond is clearly the best candidate for the office. As the incumbent superintendent during the unprecedented COVID era, Thurmond has been a steady hand at the Department of Education, working with the governor’s office to reopen California’s schools and distinguishing himself as a champion of educational opportunity for all.

Board of Equalization Members, District 2. The Examiner is not endorsing in the primary.

Alex Padilla for United States Senator. Padilla’s name appears twice on Tuesday’s ballot. The first vote will elect him to finish the term he’s been serving since former Sen. Kamala Harris became vice president of the United States. The other vote will elect him to a full term in the US Senate. Padilla has earned both votes. During his short time in Washington, he distinguished himself as a senator who takes the job seriously, putting in the time and effort necessary to get things done.

Nancy Pelosi for United States Representative in Congress, District 11. Now more than ever, our nation needs Pelosi’s care and leadership, which are rooted in her deep faith.

United States Representative in Congress, District 15. The Examiner is not endorsing in the primary.

Matt Haney for State Assembly, District 17. As the District 6 representative on the Board of Supervisors, Haney has distinguished himself as a leader who is willing to confront tough issues. He also has proven himself to be someone who can get things done. This skill will be crucial in Sacramento, where building coalitions and moving legislation is the job.

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Click here for a complete list of our election recommendations.

San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago hold their mayoral elections during non-presidential election years. So do Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

The idea is to give voters a better opportunity to focus on local issues, rather than having a mayoral race compete for attention with the political bombardment that takes place during presidential election years. Or had you forgot that Joe Biden and Donald Trump spent a total of $6.6 billion in 2020 trying to win voter support?

It would take a huge outlay of money to get your voice heard in San Jose through advertisements and news coverage in 2024 amid what is projected to be one of most heated presidential races in US history. Yet, a coalition of labor and other special interest groups are pushing Measure B on the June 7 ballot, which would move San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential election years.

The winner of the 2022 mayor race would serve for two years, rather than the usual four, and then the city would hold mayoral elections again in 2024. Measure B would also allow the winner of the 2022 election to potentially serve 10 years rather than the usual limit of eight.

Voters should reject Measure B.

Shifting San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential years and forcing candidates to raise more money to have their voices heard would give an edge to mayoral candidates backed by big-money interests and force candidates with limited financial resources out of the race.

Supporters of Measure B, including the South Bay Labor Council, Asian Law Alliance and Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium, say that moving the election would increase voter turnout. But supporters of higher voter turnout — and that should include everyone — should put their efforts behind getting higher voter turnout in all elections — and ensuring voters are also well-informed.

Vote no on Measure B.

The post San Jose voters ought to reject transferring mayoral election appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Click here for a complete list of our election recommendations.

San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago hold their mayoral elections during non-presidential election years. So do Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

The idea is to give voters a better opportunity to focus on local issues, rather than having a mayoral race compete for attention with the political bombardment that takes place during presidential election years. Or had you forgot that Joe Biden and Donald Trump spent a total of $6.6 billion in 2020 trying to win voter support?

It would take a huge outlay of money to get your voice heard in San Jose through advertisements and news coverage in 2024 amid what is projected to be one of most heated presidential races in US history. Yet, a coalition of labor and other special interest groups are pushing Measure B on the June 7 ballot, which would move San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential election years.

The winner of the 2022 mayor race would serve for two years, rather than the usual four, and then the city would hold mayoral elections again in 2024. Measure B would also allow the winner of the 2022 election to potentially serve 10 years rather than the usual limit of eight.

Voters should reject Measure B.

Shifting San Jose’s mayoral election to presidential years and forcing candidates to raise more money to have their voices heard would give an edge to mayoral candidates backed by big-money interests and force candidates with limited financial resources out of the race.

Supporters of Measure B, including the South Bay Labor Council, Asian Law Alliance and Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium, say that moving the election would increase voter turnout. But supporters of higher voter turnout — and that should include everyone — should put their efforts behind getting higher voter turnout in all elections — and ensuring voters are also well-informed.

Vote no on Measure B.

The post San Jose voters ought to reject transferring mayoral election appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Three woke San Francisco school board members who invested more time on social justice issues – like the botched renaming of 44 schools – instead of reopening them during the pandemic have been ousted in a rare recall election funded largely in part by Silicon Valley billionaires and millionaires. 

In a hot-button election, 70% of parents in the liberal city voted to recall the board members on Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Department of Elections.  

The school board has seven members, all Democrats, but only three were eligible to be recalled: school board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins. 

The effort was well-funded by some of Silicon Valley’s billionaires and millionaires, led by early Apple investor Arthur Rock, who poured more than $500,000 of his billion-dollar fortune into the recall. PayPal CEO David Sacks – who has three children and opposes mask mandates and school closures – donated $75,000, and venture capitalist Garry Tan donated $26,000.

Among parents’ main frustrations were that the school board failed to address reopening schools during the pandemic, and instead focused their efforts on renaming 44 because they claimed they were named after ‘problematic’ American icons, like Paul Revere and Abraham Lincoln. 

But committee members embarrassed themselves after it was revealed they did not consult historians and used inaccurate Wikipedia entries and other non-scholarly sources to determine which personalities were racist and problematic. 

‘The city of San Francisco has risen up and said this is not acceptable to put our kids last,’ said Siva Raj, a parent who helped launch the recall effort. 

‘Talk is not going to educate our children, it’s action. It’s not about symbolic action, it’s not about changing the name on a school, it is about helping kids inside the school building read and learn math.’

The school board also scrapped merit-based competitive admissions at elite $42,000-a-year Lowell High School, which disadvantaged Asian American students.  

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is now tasked with appointing replacements to the board – who will also likely be Democrats.   

‘The voters of this city have delivered a clear message that the school board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else,’ Mayor London Breed, who supported the recall, said in a statement. ‘San Francisco is a city that believes in the value of big ideas, but those ideas must be built on the foundation of a government that does the essentials well.’

The election was the first recall in San Francisco since 1983, since a failed attempt to remove then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein after she passed a handgun ban.

San Francisco School Board Commissioner Alison Collins was voted out during Tuesday’s recall election 

School Board President Gabriela López (left) and Vice President Faauuga Moliga (right), both Democrats, were ousted by parents angered over their prioritizing of progressive initiatives over school reopening  

Sarah Stettler, Jennie Lucas, and Elisa Smith cheer as they celebrate at the pro-recall party at Manny’s restaurant on Tuesday

David Thompson (left) poses for a selfie with his son Lucas Tamayo-Thompson and friend Leanna Louie (right) as they celebrate the board members’ recall on Tuesday in San Francsico

Billionaire and early Apple investor Arthur Rock, 95, poured more than $500,000 into the San Francisco school board recall campaign 

Silicon Valley millionaire investors David Sacks (left) and Garry Tan (right) contributed $75,000 and $26,000, respectively, to help oust the three board members 

Opponents called the recall a waste of time and money, as the district faces a number of challenges including a $125 million budget deficit and the need to replace retiring Superintendent Vincent Matthews.

But parents in the politically liberal city launched the recall effort in January 2021 out of frustration over the slow reopening of district schools, while the board pursued the renaming of 44 school sites and the elimination of merit-based competitive admissions at the elite $42,000-a-year Lowell High School.

The campaign to recall the three school board members attracted major donations from Rock, the 95-year-old billionaire who was an early investor in Intel and Apple; as well as Sacks and Tan. 

Rock, who has an estimated net worth of $1.1billion, has given nearly $400,000 directly to two recall committees, and an additional $150,000 to two political action committees supporting the effort, reported The Daily Beast.

ERRORS MADE BY THE SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL RENAMING COMMITTEE:  

Committee members allegedly used references from Wikipedia and other non-scholarly sources to determine which personalities were racist and problematic. 

Several of those citations has now been proven to be factually incorrect: 

1. One committee member urged that the name of acclaimed American poet James Russell Lowell should be stripped off a high school because a Wikipedia citation stated that he did ‘not want black people to vote’.  

However, that claim is false – and scholarly articles assert that Lowell ‘unequivocally advocated giving the ballot to the recently freed slave’.

2. The committee concluded that Paul Revere’s name should be removed from a middle school after citing an article from the History Channel website. 

Members alleged that Revere’s military activities were tied to ‘the conquest of the Penobscot Indians’, which was untrue. 

3. James Lick – who resided in San Francisco – was also deemed ‘racist’ after members failed to critically read an article about the famous 19th century businessman. 

The committee stated that Lick had funded a sculpture showing an American Indian lying at the feet of white men. 

However, in actuality, Lick died 18 years before the sculpture was created, and it was only partially funded by his posthumous estate. 

Public records indicate that during the 1980s and 1990s, Rock donated money mainly to Republican candidates and causes, but over the past three decades he has emerged as a major Democratic donor, including to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

A major proponent of charter schools, Rock has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into school board elections in districts from coast to coast, including Los Angeles, Minnesota, New Mexico, Georgia and New York, reported Mission Local.

Additionally, Rock has donated some $12million to charter schools and organizations that promote charter schools all over the country. In San Francisco, the school board has been hostile to the proliferation of charter schools. Opponents of charter schools believe that charters draw the top students from regular public schools, leaving behind the most vulnerable students to be educated, with fewer resources, and reducing the overall quality of public education.  

The second-highest donor to the recall effort in San Francisco is David Sacks, the founding COO of PayPal and general partner at his venture capital fund, Craft Ventures, who contributed $75,000 to push out the three school board members, after bankrolling a failed effort to recall Gov Gavin Newsom. 

Sacks, who has been vocal about his opposition to school closures and mask mandates, tweeted after the vote on Tuesday: ‘Every child deserves a high-quality education. School boards and administrators work for parents and students, not the other way round. Competence matters more than ideology. That’s what San Francisco voters affirmed tonight.’

Garry Tan, co-founder of Initialized Capital, contributed just over $25,000 to the recall effort. Tan began donating to local elections last year, pouring $50,000 into a campaign to recall the ultra-progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who has been widely criticized as being soft-on-crime. 

The mayor, one of the most prominent endorsers of the recall, praised the parents, saying they ‘were fighting for what matters most – their children.’ 

Several of controversial tweets penned by Collins in December 2016 targeting Asian-Americans are pictured 

Siva Raj, a father-of-two tech entrepreneur, helped launch the recall effort alongside his partner Autumn Looijen (pictured together)

The pressures of the pandemic and distance learning have made school board races a hot-button topic as frustrations over pandemic measures reach a boiling point. 

In a statement on Wednesday, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said that San Francisco parents were standing up to have their voices heard. 

‘Over the past two years they have watched liberal school boards in their communities prioritize renaming schools over re-opening classrooms,’ he said. ‘School boards have used ‘equity’ and ‘social justice’ as an excuse to discriminate and lower standards for children. This is exactly what the San Francisco school board did and why three of their members were recalled in a landslide.’ 

Many commenters on Twitter greeted the news of the recall with glee, mixed with disbelief. 

‘There is hope for #California yet! Mindblowing that this is in #SanFrancisco!’ tweeted one user. ‘The recall votes were not even close. This was a powerful statement!’

Another weighed in: ‘DANG I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS!! SUPER PROUD of California right now….and that is NOT a sentence I ever thought would be coming out of my mouth!’

In San Francisco, one of the nation’s most liberal cities, the recall effort split Democrats. Breed, a Democrat, had criticized the school board for being distracted by ‘political agendas.’

The ousted board members – Collins, Lopez and Moliga – had defended their records, saying they prioritized racial equity because that was what they were elected to do.

Both sides agreed that San Francisco’s school board and the city itself had embarrassed itself under the national spotlight.  

One of the first issues to grab national attention was the board’s January 2021 decision to rename 44 schools they said honored public figures linked to racism, sexism and other injustices. On the list were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and trailblazing US Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat.

Instead of consulting historians to inform their decisions, the committee members used inaccurate Wikipedia entries to justify renaming the schools.

Several citations used in the debate have now been proven to be factually incorrect, including a false claim that American poet James Russell Lowell did not want black people to vote and that Paul Revere’s military activities were tied to ‘the conquest of the Penobscot Indians’. 

Activist and first-grade teacher Jeremiah Jeffries, who led the committee, is said to have ‘ridiculed’ a proposal to bring in historians for consultation.

Jeffries reportedly stated: ‘What would be the point? History is written and documented pretty well across the board. And so, we don’t need to belabor history in that regard. We’re not debating that. There’s no point in debating history in that regard. Either it happened or it didn’t.’

He added: ‘Based on our criteria, it’s a very straightforward conversation. And so, no need to bring historians forward to say – they either pontificate and list a bunch of reasons why, or [say] they had great qualities. Neither are necessary in this discussion.’ 

The effort drew swift criticism and critics said it made a mockery of the country’s racial reckoning. Angry parents asked why the board would waste time renaming schools when the priority needed to be reopening classrooms.

One of the first issues to grab national attention was the board’s January 2021 decision to rename 44 schools they said honored public figures linked to racism, sexism and other injustices. On the list were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and trailblazing U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein . Instead of consulting historians to inform their decisions, the committee members used inaccurate Wikipedia entries to justify renaming the schools. Activist and first-grade teacher Jeremiah Jeffries (pictured), who led the committee, is said to have ‘ridiculed’ a proposal to bring in historians for consultation

The school board’s plan to scrap merit-based admissions at the elite Lowell High School, where most students are Asian, drew ire from local parents

After an uproar, the school board scrapped the plan.

Collins came under fire again for tweets she wrote in 2016 that were widely criticized as racist. In them Collins, who is black, said Asian Americans used ‘white supremacist’ thinking to get ahead and were racist toward black students.

Racism against Asian Americans has come under a renewed focus since reports of attacks and discrimination escalated with the spread of the coronavirus, which first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China.

Collins said the tweets were taken out of context and posted before she held her school board position. She refused to take them down or apologize for the wording and ignored calls to resign from parents, Breed and other public officials.

Collins turned around and sued the district and her colleagues for $87million, fueling yet another pandemic sideshow. The suit was later dismissed.

Moliga (far right) canvassed with Dr. Ponipate Rokolekutu, left, and Gaynor Siataga, right, before polls closed on Tuesday

Many Asian parents were already angered by the board’s efforts to end merit-based admissions at the elite Lowell High School, where Asian students are the majority.

As a result, many Asian American residents were motivated to vote for the first time in a municipal election. The grassroots Chinese/API Voter Outreach Task Force, which formed in mid-December, said it registered 560 new Asian American voters.

Ann Hsu, a mother of two who helped found the task force, said many Chinese voters saw the effort to change the Lowell admissions system as a direct attack.

‘It is so blatantly discriminatory against Asians,’ she said. In the city’s Chinese community, Lowell is viewed as a path children can take to success.

SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO RENAME 44 SCHOOLS OVER ‘DISHONOROABLE LEGACIES’ OF NAMESAKES: 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN:  U.S. president targeted for his treatment of indigneous people, Abraham Lincoln High School. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON: The first U.S. president and a slave owner, George Washington High School. 

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA: A Spanish explorer targeted by the board over colonization and abuses of indigenous people, Balboa High School.  

MISSION DOLORES: The 7th mission founded by Spanish settlers in their quest to colonize and evangelize the native peoples of California, Mission High School. 

JAMES R. LOWELL:  While initially involved in the movement to abolish slavery, the poet’s support wavered over the years, Lowell High School.  

JAMES DENMAN: Founder of first S.F. school and first superintendent, a racist leader who denied Chinese students a public education, James Denman Middle School.  

EDWARD EVERETT: An American statesman who a speech in 1826 in which he appeared to endorse slavery, despite his arguments that he rejected the slave trade and the act of kidnapping someone into slavery, Everett Middle School. 

HERBERT HOOVER: U.S. president: African-American leaders condemned various aspects of the Hoover administration, including his unwillingness to push for a federal anti-lynching law, Herbert Hoover Middle School. 

JAMES LICK: A land baron whose estate funded the controversial ‘Early Days’ statue depicting Native Americans in a demeaning manner, James Lick Middle School. 

PRESIDIO: S.F. military post estalished in 1776 as Spain’s northern-most outpost of colonial power, Presidio Middle School. 

THEODORE OR F.D. ROSSEVELT: Both U.S. Presidents. Teddy Roosevelt held Racist attitudes toward Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos during the Spanish-American War; F.D received heavy criticism for his internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War, Roosevelt Middle School. 

HENRY WARE LAWTON: An officer in the U.S. Civil War, Lawton K-8

CLAIRE LILIENTHAL: A S.F. school board member, two school sites

PAUL REVERE: A Patriot in the American Revolution, Paul Revere K-8

ALAMO: A poplar tree or the site of Texas Revolution battle, Alamo Elementary

PEDRO DE ALVARADO: A conquistador, Alvarado Elementary,

EDWIN BRYANT: The author penned editorials supporting the anti-Catholic nativism movement and a series of racist attacks on Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson for his black common law wife and two mixed race daughters, Bryan Elementary

EDWARD HYDE: The English politician and Earl of Clarendon, Clarendon Elementary Second Community and Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program

EL DORADO: Mythical City of Gold, El Dorado Elementary 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN: The US Senator replaced a Condererate Flag at City Hall while the Mayor of San Francisco in 1984, Dianne Feinstein Elementary

JAMES GARFIELD: US President, Garfield Elementary

WILLIAM HENRY GRATTAN : An Irish author regarded as controversial due to the inaccuracy of some of his work, Grattan Elementary

THOMAS JEFFERSON: U.S. president and a slave owner, Jefferson Elementary

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY: Composer of ‘Star Spangled Banner’, Francis Scott Key Elementary

FRANK MCCOPPIN: San Francisco Mayor, Frank McCoppin Elementary

WILLIAM MCKINLEY: US President, McKinley’s expansionist policies are now widely viewed as racist toward indigenous people, McKinley Elementary 

JAMES WILSON MARSHALL: Sawmill worker at Sutter’s Mill, who reported the finding of gold at Coloma on the American River in California on January 24, 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush, Marshall Elementary 

JAMES MONROE: US President and slave owner, Monroe Elementary

JOHN MUIR: The naturalist made comments that invoked racist stereotypes made toward black people, John Muir Elementary

JOSE ORTEGA: A Spanish colonizer, Jose Ortega Elementary

JOSE BERNARDO SANCHEZ: A Spanish missionary, Sanchez Elementary 

JUNIPERO SERRA: Elementary, Spanish priest to be renamed due to colonization and abuses of indigenous people Serra Elementary

GEN. PHILIP SHERIDAN: A Union General in the American Civil War, Sheridan Elementary

GEN. WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN: According to some reports, Sherman did not believe in equality between white and black people despite being a genera in the Northern Army during the Civil War, Sherman Elementary

JOHN SLOAT:  Navy officer and a colonizer who ‘claimed/stole’ California from Mexico, Commodore Sloat Elementary

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON: Author, Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary  

ADOLPH SUTRO: S.F. mayor accused of discriminating against black people in the 19th century who wanted to visit the baths named after him, Sutro Elementary

DON ANTONIO DE ULLOA: Spanish General and the the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Ulloa Elementary 

DANIEL WEBSTER: U.S. Statesman who urged northerners to respect slavery in the South and to assist in the return of fugitive slaves to their owners, Daniel Webster Elementary

NORIEGA: Unclear, Noriega Early Education School

PRESIDIO: San Francisco Military Post formerly established by the Spanish, Presidio EES

ROBERT F STOCKTON: Navy Commodore who captured California during the Mexican–American War, Stockton EES  

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AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney declared victory Tuesday in a special election for the state Assembly but he will have to run again in June and November to keep the seat.

Haney received nearly 64% of the vote and former Supervisor David Campos had about 36%, according to mail-in ballot returns for the 17th Assembly District special election.

Campos conceded Tuesday evening, telling supporters that “big money has figured out how to win elections …and that’s what happened here.”

Haney significantly outraised Campos, who had pledged to avoid corporate contributions.

Both candidates are on the progressive end of the Democratic Party but Mayor London Breed endorsed Haney and will get to pick his replacement on the Board of Supervisors.

Assembly District 17 covers the eastern half of San Francisco and includes tourist-heavy neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, downtown and the Mission. It also includes the tenderloin, which is a hot spot for homelessness and illicit drug use.

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The special election was held because neither Matt Haney nor David Campos received more than 50% of the vote in February’s special election.

Haney will have to run again in the statewide June primary and November general elections to keep the seat for another two-year term, meaning residents of the district could vote on the race up to four separate times this year.

The seat became vacant last year after David Chiu resigned to become San Francisco’s city attorney, a job that became available when Breed appointed then-city attorney Dennis Herrera to head the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission after Harlan Kelly resigned in 2020.

Kelly left after federal prosecutors charged him with fraud for allegedly accepting bribes from a permit expediter in exchange for insider information. Kelly is fighting the charge and is just one of several city officials and contractors ensnared in a public corruption scandal involving former public works director Mohammed Nuru.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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