Voice of San Francisco
Oakland has a recall and San Francisco has a heated race for mayor!
This is John Rothman, and you are listening to the Voice of San Francisco. We have two great dynamics going on in terms of race for mayor. In Oakland, the recall of the mayor, which is gathering momentum, the NAACP in Oakland has just endorsed the recall, and certainly many in Oakland are unhappy with their mayor. The simple fact is that recently, the observation was made by the mayor, and she was very clear about it, that she thought recalls were wrong, illegal, undemocratic. Well, madam mayor, I have to tell you, they are legal, and they are democratic, the ultimate in democracy when you can recall an official who you think isn't so good. We went through that here in San Francisco with members of the San Francisco School Board. And by the way, we had a mayor, they attempted to recall by the name of Diane Feinstein, and that recall went down to a crashing defeat, and deservedly so. If you believe in the idea that the people shall rule, then recall referendum and initiative, which were made part of California by the late governor and United States Senator Hiram Johnson, and made California a progressive state, well, I think it's perfectly legitimate. I'm glad we have that recourse, and I'm glad that we can have situations where on the ballot you have a chance to reverse what may be a mistake. Now, let me be clear. What happens in Oakland will be decided by the voters in Oakland, and that's a good thing, but we in Northern California have to be aware and sensitive to all of this. We also have a mayor's race in San Francisco. It's not a recall, but it is a referendum. No question about it. And yesterday there was a fascinating development. Three former mayors of San Francisco decided to attack the former acting or interim mayor of San Francisco, Mark Farrell, for ethics violations. Willie Brown, who supports the incumbent, London Breed, aren't agnose, who supports his old friend, Aaron Pescan, and Frank Jordan, who supports Daniel Lurie, all came together to accuse Mark Farrell of improprieties, of ethical lapses. And of course, it's just less than a month before the election, Mark Farrell immediately fired back and said nonsense. And let me tell you, I am very uneasy about this. You would think that candidates for mayor would try to be positive, and that former mayors would want a positive campaign. Now this was all orchestrated by the opposition to London Breed. Daniel Lurie, who is a candidate for mayor, put out the press release and did the story on all of this, mentioning, of course, agnose, Brown, and Jordan. Is this legitimate or is it just another tactic to gain traction? My sense is that I would rather see the candidates for mayor really discuss the issues and not attack each other. I would rather see them engaged fully in their partisan efforts without attacking Mark Farrell. Now let me say a word about Mark, who has been my supervisor, he was my supervisor, for two terms. I live in district two. Mark Farrell was always responsive, clear, precise, and when there was an ethical violation in terms of campaign finance, he fessed up to it. He paid the fine. Now I have to tell you that sometimes it's not the candidate who is responsible when there are mess-ups. Most candidates don't pay any attention to how the money is distributed and spent. They just go out and try to raise the money and they count on their campaign people to make sure it all goes smoothly. I guess the thing that I want to express this morning is this kind of campaign, motivated by an individual candidate for mayor orchestrating an attack on another candidate for mayor, is something I am leery of. And I can tell you, I believe Mark Farrell to be above board honest and clear. He was a very good mayor of San Francisco during the brief time he was there. Of course, the voice of San Francisco does not endorse candidates. That's not my intention. My intention is to say clearly and precisely that this kind of wacko politics, and I say wacko, because I think it is crazy, a month before an election, is just wrong. I wish the candidates for mayor would stick to the issues. And as for former mayor of San Francisco, they have always played a decisive role. And I have to tell you, Willie Brown, Arnak knows Frank Jordan, all good, honorable, decent people. But it is politics. And I don't know that it will make a difference. But when you consider that what we're doing now is ranked choice voting, when you consider that London breed is slightly ahead in terms of polls, that Daniel Lurie and Mark Farrell are neck in neck as the number two choices, according to some polls, well, this makes perfect sense if you're trying to eliminate an opponent, or if you're trying to elevate someone. I'm just suggesting to you that I would prefer a political campaign in which issues are discussed, in which attacks on individual candidates like this are put aside. Maybe I expect too much in a campaign. And if I do, I'm glad. I speak now to you as a San Francisco historian, or I like to point out, as a former mayor of San Francisco, remember, I was mayor for a day in youth and government day in 1966, the best run day in the history of San Francisco. I cannot help but reflect that I would like to see a campaign run in a different fashion. So let this attack stand for what it is, an attack, that the issue here is, I think, more than anything else, that those who want Mark Farrell eliminated are now coming up with everything that they can in order to whack him down. I hope Mark stands tall, and I hope we judge Mark Farrell on the basis of the issues. If there really were ethical violations, let that come from the ethics commission. Let that come from investigative reporting. But right now, all I see is partisan politics, and I regret it. Not because I don't love politics, I do. But because I expect more from a city like San Francisco, and yes, from our leaders and potential leaders. I am John Rothman, you are listening to the voice of San Francisco, and let me tell you, it's been fun, and I'll see you tomorrow.