In 'liberal' San Francisco, the sole progressive vying for mayor is an underdog

SAN FRANCISCO — After 17 years wielding powerfulness and power connected the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Aaron Peskin is facing a alternatively existential moment:

Has this famously wide metropolis moved excessively acold close to clasp an old-school progressive similar him for mayor?

Peskin, a flimsy antheral of 60 with a afloat beard and glasses, has spent his governmental vocation warring for wide causes. He’s taken connected large corporations, wringing important wealth from them to bolster assemblage services. He’s a vocal proponent of rent power and neighborhood preservation. As a recovering alcoholic, helium thinks the city’s homelessness issues should beryllium addressed done a premix of compassion, affordable lodging and services, alternatively than a punitive attack utilizing encampment sweeps and transgression citations.

Despite his experience, Peskin entered the mayor’s contention against incumbent Mayor London Breed and 3 different Democrats — task capitalist and erstwhile interim Mayor Mark Farrell, Levi Strauss heir and nonprofit enforcement Daniel Lurie, and chap Supervisor Ahsha Safaí — arsenic an underdog.

Peskin joined the contention successful April, respective months aft Breed and the different 3 competitors had started campaigning. That enactment him astatine a fiscal disadvantage successful a mayoral predetermination shaping up arsenic 1 of the most costly in San Francisco history.

But adjacent much significant: Peskin entered the contention arsenic the lone campaigner moving connected a progressive agenda, putting him astatine likelihood with the rising chorus of voters and tech titans who privation to spot a much hard-core attack to the sprawling structure encampments and drumbeat of retail and spot crimes that person eroded their consciousness of a safe, functional city.

In caller decades, it hasn’t been antithetic for San Francisco to elite mayors who are centrist Democrats alongside a much progressive Board of Supervisors. But the tech wealth flooding into the race, combined with frustrations implicit the city’s dilatory betterment from the COVID-19 pandemic, has galore voters questioning progressive policies and the contented of a metropolis that governs with a bleeding heart.

Many parents were furious that the city’s schools were closed for much than a twelvemonth during COVID — longer than astir successful the country. The distant learning persisted adjacent arsenic the schoolhouse committee engaged successful a divisive effort to rename a 3rd of the city’s nationalist schools whose existing names, critics asserted, honored humanities figures associated with slavery oregon oppression of women oregon “who different importantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst america to the close to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Outrage implicit the progressive docket fueled the callback of 3 schoolhouse committee members successful February 2022. Four months later, voters besides recalled then-Dist. Atty. Chesa Boudin, a starring betterment advocator whose progressive policies connected sentencing and incarceration were derided by opponents arsenic a menace to nationalist safety.

Last March, San Francisco made nationalist headlines erstwhile voters approved a pair of ballot measures that Breed had championed to broaden constabulary surveillance powers and enforce cause attraction mandates for definite payment recipients. That aforesaid night, a slate of mean candidates took power of the governing assemblage of the section Democratic Party.

Although the 5 starring candidates for politician are Democrats, each but Peskin present autumn successful that mean camp. Breed, successful particular, has tacked close connected issues specified arsenic homelessness and transgression implicit the past year.

Peskin celebrates the distinction, saying that helium joined the contention to support San Francisco a “beacon” for the artists, creatives, immigrants and LGBTQ+ pioneers who’ve shaped the city’s civilization for decades, and that helium fights for working-class radical to guarantee they tin spend surviving successful the city.

“Don’t get maine wrong, I deliberation that 1 of the astir important things that immoderate authorities does is to marque radical safe,” Peskin said. “But, you know, that’s each the different candidates are talking about. They’re not talking astir besides making it harmless and welcoming.”

Supervisor Aaron Peskin says helium joined the mayoral contention to support San Francisco a “beacon” for the artists, creatives, immigrants and LGBTQ+ pioneers who person shaped the city’s culture.

(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

Peskin has targeted Breed from the commencement of his campaign, arguing that her enactment is incoherent and dismissing her caller crackdown connected homelessness arsenic a cynical governmental ploy.

“She really embraced the Fox News communicative astir San Francisco, alternatively than lasting up and defending this metropolis and embracing and strengthening our policies of compassion and of getting things done,” helium told The Times.

Breed has countered that compassion has its limits, and that the metropolis needs to instrumentality a tougher stance with stateless radical who person refused structure oregon won’t question attraction for cause addiction.

During a July mayoral debate hosted by the section firefighters union, Breed said her determination to get pugnacious connected the homelessness situation whitethorn not beryllium fashionable but was indispensable to propel San Francisco forward.

“We person had to determination from a compassionate metropolis to a metropolis of accountability,” she said.

Peskin said helium is focused connected starring San Francisco beyond the “doom loop” communicative that has dogged the city nationally for overmuch of the past 4 years and into its betterment era.

If elected mayor, he’s promised to prioritize low-income lodging and grow rent control. On homelessness, helium wants to unfastened much attraction facilities and grow structure capacity, alternatively than proceed the encampment sweeps that Breed has pushed implicit the past 2 months.

Peskin said helium knows thing astir recovery.

In 2021, Peskin entered treatment for occupation drinking amid allegations that helium had joined a authorities gathering inebriated. The occurrence unleashed broader complaints that Peskin for years had bullied colleagues and lower-level staff, and that radical feared retaliation if they reported his behavior.

Peskin yet apologized. And aft spending the archetypal weeks aft the uproar successful shame, helium said he’s present grateful for the wake-up telephone and is much than 3 years sober.

“I ever thought that my occupation was to attraction for the community, and I ne'er realized that radical really cared astir my well-being,” helium said. “The magnitude of enactment and emotion and encouragement that I’ve gotten from the astir improbable places and radical has been conscionable remarkably heartening.”

But adjacent arsenic Peskin touts his idiosyncratic and nonrecreational journey, local polls amusement him trailing Breed, Farrell and Lurie successful the city’s ranked-choice voting system. All 3 person made pugnacious positions connected spot crime, fentanyl dealing and homelessness a centerpiece of their campaigns.

Whereas Breed, Farrell and Lurie are getting fiscal enactment from tech executives and affluent concern owners, Peskin touts his run arsenic a grassroots effort fueled by working-class people. His endorsements see left-leaning LGBTQ+ and tenant rights organizations, labour unions and progressive politicians including erstwhile Mayor Art Agnos, erstwhile Supervisor Jane Kim and erstwhile authorities Sen. Mark Leno.

“Aaron Peskin was built for nationalist service,” Agnos said. “What we person contiguous are tech multibillionaires. Tech multibillionaires who unrecorded similar monarchs, and present we are seeing they’re trying to regularisation San Francisco similar they were monarchs.”

“I deliberation San Francisco has ever led connected the societal issues,” said Kim, who unsuccessfully ran against Breed successful 2018. “Where we conflict and combat arsenic progressives has been connected the economical agenda, and who benefits economically successful this city. Is it the ultra-wealthy and the billionaires, oregon is it our moving people and our low-income workers? And that’s the combat that Aaron is starring on.”

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, right, says helium wants to code homelessness by expanding attraction facilities and structure capacity. He opposes the assertive encampment sweeps launched by Mayor London Breed, center.

(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

Along with staunch supporters, Peskin has accumulated fierce critics during his years successful bureau — peculiarly astir housing.

Peskin represents immoderate of the city’s astir historical neighborhoods, including North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf and downtown’s Financial District. He often distinguishes himself arsenic idiosyncratic who sticks up for vicinity individuality — what immoderate see a canine whistle for “NIMBYism,” a colloquial word for absorption to ample multifamily lodging projects oregon different unwelcome development. He has resisted efforts to amend zoning rules for definite neighborhoods to let for denser housing.

“Peskin would beryllium an unbelievable measurement backwards,” said Laura Foote, enforcement manager of the advocacy conjugation YIMBY Action, a lodging enactment that endorsed Breed. “We request to support these radical successful our communities from the ever-escalating outgo of housing, and that means gathering more.”

San Francisco has 1 of the longest housing support processes successful the country, and is tens of thousands of units shy of its state-mandated accumulation goals.

Breed has called for much lodging improvement crossed each income levels successful San Francisco arsenic rental costs skyrocket and the median location terms exceeds $1 million. Farrell, Safaí and Lurie person besides endorsed denser housing, though to varying degrees and successful immoderate cases lone successful definite neighborhoods.

Peskin rejects the thought that helium is anti-housing arsenic a “developer-funded narrative.” But helium besides argues that it’s imaginable to physique much lodging “without turning Ocean Beach into Miami Beach.”

The disagreement implicit improvement highlights different furniture of San Francisco’s drift toward the governmental center, with much leaders coming retired successful favour of multifamily lodging projects contempt outcry from progressive groups acrophobic astir gentrification and vicinity changes.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who has authored immoderate of the state’s strongest housing accumulation laws, has criticized Peskin’s devotion to the “existing breached lodging structure.”

Wiener, who has endorsed Breed, complimented Peskin arsenic skilled and “incredibly smart.” But helium besides warned that Peskin’s marque of progressivism would acceptable San Francisco back.

“San Franciscans are rather progressive. But determination is simply a strain among immoderate radical — I deliberation it’s a minority, but immoderate radical — wherever they equate progressivism to having nary change,” Wiener said. “A metropolis that isn’t changing is simply a metropolis that is dying.”

Peskin has been willing, astatine times, to subordinate the progressive label. He has supported laws to clasp constabulary staffing, and helium precocious told The Times helium supports a arguable November ballot measure, Proposition 36, that would rotation backmost a 2014 voter-approved instrumentality that turned immoderate nonviolent cause and theft felonies into misdemeanors. Critics of the initiative, including Wiener and Gov. Gavin Newsom, accidental it would people a instrumentality to an epoch of wide incarceration.

Peskin uses those examples to reason that helium tin beryllium compassionate portion besides being practical.

“I’ve ever thought the basal of progressive is progress,” Peskin said, “and advancement is really getting things done.”