The Greenberg Brief: San Francisco – A Better City Without Peskin

San Francisco offers observers a continuous parade of circus side-show-worthy, screw-loose candidates for office. And every election day, at least one actually wins. Yes, it’s embarrassing – and then the city has to listen to the blabbering, grandstanding, droning-on, manufactured outrage and sometimes even crying at public meetings, coming not from constituents but by those city hall officials themselves.

National media absolutely loves to cover the antics and hairbrained proposals of San Francisco’s eleven-member Board of Supervisors (our City Council). From Reparations to Gaza ceasefire resolutions, to labeling drug addiction and tents blocking sidewalks a product of capitalism, to encouraging illegal aliens to join city commissions, bashing looted supermarket owners when they for shutter,  and passing the Caren Act (making it unlawful to call the cops on Black people for questionable reason). the Supervisors are quite adept at creating backwards, excuse-making, jaw-dropping, taxpayer-screwing ordinances than just rectifying the myriad problems we actually face.

Last week, one of those eleven members of the Supervisors board, Aaron Peskin (currently, Board president), threw his name in the hat to challenge already failing mayor London Breed. He sees an opportunity to knock her out of office this November, as he’s labeled “Progressive”, and the only progressive candidate. And he feels San Francisco is so progressive, he must be a shoe-in.

Truth be told, he’s been on the Board in city hall chambers for nearly 16 years. His influence has been broad and extensive and many, many say, damaging. He joins a conga-line of so-called Progressive Democrats that led to the descent of our city into a doom-loop, being overrun with drug dealers, tents, addicts, chaotic criminal justice’s failed reforms, and looted retail shops. Strangely, as a mayoral candidate, Peskin claims he will move the city forward. Welcome to San Francisco politics, where an obstructionist Progressive who’s being blamed by multitudes for holding back real progress, pretends he himself is the man best suited to move the ailing city forward.

Peskin has been in the same elected position as San Francisco District 3 supervisor (Union Square, Chinatown, Financial District, Embarcadero Waterfront, Pier 39, Little Italy/North Beach), for four terms. Yes, four, four-year terms. Strange, isn’t it? as city term limits allow for just two four-year terms. But in researching the city’s charter, you’ll find the wording vague; an elected official may serve two consecutive four-year terms, then could move on to another office (or just disappear for a bit), and could return and be elected back to that same office years later. That’s exactly what Peskin did.

He has, without a doubt, overstayed his welcome. (side note: a ballot measure is sorely needed to close this loophole).

When a politician remains in city hall for so long they rack up mountains of guffaws and faux-pas’. Peskin’s no saint, his screwups are numerous, the list lengthy, and we have receipts. I can fill this column with links to articles and stories of his drunken Zoom meeting which would make heads spin.

Yet, today, the San Francisco’s Progressives, like the Berniecrats, the Chesa Boudin loyalists, the Gaza activists, are ecstatic. They think he’s their savior.

Last Saturday morning, Mr. Peskin held a campaign kick-off rally in San Francisco’s Portsmouth Square, centrally located in Chinatown. His campaign staff claims 800 supporters showed up, yet published park capacity specifications show the park has a maximum capacity of 500. Regardless, there were also nearly 100 protestors on the periphery attesting to the displeasure with Peskin’s entry into the race.

Mr. Peskin is a supporter of disgraced and ousted district attorney Chesa Boudin. Peskin opposes modifying Sanctuary City laws to allow prosecution of drug dealers leading to deportation. He “negotiated” the final language on the notorious Gaza/Ceasefire resolution (side note: Peskin is Jewish, has an Israeli mother, and speaks basic Hebrew, yet he sides with the radicals). He regularly makes donations to local candidates which exemplify the most radical, “progressive” positions and polices. He last year made a big push to voters to not only retain two of the city’s most anti-accountability and embattled superior court judges, he threw a tantrum when challengers to those two judges emerged and declared their candidacy. Peskin went so far as to allege it is undemocratic to elect local judges. In 2022, he sought to severely restrict recall procedures (that ballot measure failed). Over the years, the most damaging legislation in the Board chambers has been authored by, co-sponsored by, or voted in favor of, by him.

Peskin insults constituents. He was caught on a hot mic calling a speaker a horse’s ass. He freaked out when a couple of “bedrooms” were discovered at Twitter HQ. He sought to move quickly to reimagine retail center, Union Square, the moment Macy’s announced it is closing its flagship store and leaving town. He’s friends with antisemites, he voted with colleagues to propose a 2020 ballot measure to remove any minimum staff levels of SFPD; he supports reparations; he proudly swore in the first non-citizen to a city commission (to the Elections Commission, of all places).

At Peskin’s campaign launch last Saturday, the worst of San Francisco’s Progressive elected officials showed up, in droves, to support him and cheer him on. Video of that event documented a veritable who’s who of the Leftists past and present in city hall and state senate.

So, here’s the bottom line: Aaron Peskin is ignoring the giant multiple elephants, he’s failing to read the room. San Francisco is solidly moving towards political center, albeit slowly. He is not the savior for left-wing liberals. With the recalls of three school board commissioners and the notorious district attorney Chesa Boudin back in 2022, and the Super Tuesday takeover of the city’s Democratic Party leaders by moderates last month, Peskin, as a mayoral candidate is pandering and preaching to a dwindling choir.

Speaking to a direct source whose identity I will keep anonymous, that was lured to Aaron Peskin’s mayoral launch today at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown, this (pictured below) was all they were given in appreciation for their *support. The source is a retired, monolingual… pic.twitter.com/G4BbQp6gOr

— Jenny G. Shao (@JennyGShao) April 6, 2024

Wow. You are such a liar. It went from 700 to now 800 supporters in a venue whose capacity is 500. The math doesn’t add up. How many racists came willingly? How many Chinese people you held captive? @MarinaTimesSF

— AngrySF (@sf_angry) April 9, 2024