BREAKING: Recall Launched Targeting SF Supervisor Engardio

Tuesday, a Notice of Intent to Recall was presented to the San Francisco Department of Elections with media and supporters on hand. This action kicks off yet another recall effort in a city which has seen four successful recalls in the past two years. This time, the west side’s District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio is the target.

Elected in 2022, promising to better represent the needs and priorities of The Sunset district bordering Golden Gate Park, Engardio instead drifted quickly to the ideological Left once taking office, as a member of the Board of Supervisors (City Council). Over the last two years in office, he supported several controversial and divisive initiatives, culminating in the latest conterversial Proposition K. As chief sponsor of the proposition to permanently close a section of the city’s Upper Great Highway to cars, Engardio shunned his own district residents’ concerns in his championing of Prop. K. Recall supporters claim he ignored their pleas altogether, breaking his promise for transparency and his neglecting of public safety.

District 4 voted an estimated 68% in opposition to Prop. K, uniting and engaging residents to now seek Engardio’s removal from office. He is considered the most vulnerable of all city politicians, as he won his election in 2022 by a very slim margin. This past November’s elections similarly indicate District 4 is more conservative than many had expected, choosing Trump over Kamala Harris in rising percentages.

A recall is limited registered voters of District 4. Though support and donations may come from anywhere in the city, and beyond, recall petitions must only be signed by voters of that district.

Recall organizers are now under time constraints to complete a checklist of documents, filing fees, the creation of the physical petition itself, coordinating and collaborating with the Department of Elections as to permissible format and wording. Once approved for signature gathering, recall proponents will then have 120 days to gather 9,911 valid signatures. As is standard procedure, a higher number of signatures will be collected to ensure reaching that required threshold. Once counted, validated and confirmed, the Department will call for a special recall election. Under San Francisco’s rules, when a supervisor is successfully recalled, the mayor appoints a temporary supervisor, serving until the next regularly scheduled district election, which in District 4 will occur in 2026.