{"id":31528,"date":"2024-02-06T12:40:56","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T20:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=31528"},"modified":"2024-02-06T12:40:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T20:40:57","slug":"ahsha-safai-veers-away-from-the-sf-mayoral-pack-will-voters-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/06\/ahsha-safai-veers-away-from-the-sf-mayoral-pack-will-voters-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahsha Safa\u00ed veers away from the SF mayoral pack. Will voters care?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" by\u00a0JOE ESKENAZI<\/a><\/strong> FEBRUARY 5, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Supervisor Ahsha Safa\u00ed, a mayoral candidate, says voters have give Mayor London Breed her shot: ‘She\u2019s had six years, going on seven. It\u2019s hard to argue that anyone is obstructing her ability to lead this city.’ Photo by Joe Eskenazi, July 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Listen, Ahsha Safa\u00ed has come unstuck. As one of the trio \u2014 soon to be a quartet \u2014 of serious San Francisco mayoral candidates hailing from the right side of this city\u2019s local political spectrum, Safa\u00ed is seeking the opportunity to separate himself from the peloton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a crowded contest in which most of the candidates are playing in the same end of the pool and fighting over the same sliver of voters, it makes sense to distinguish yourself; there are a lot of voters out there who are not being courted<\/a>. For upwardly mobile politicians, distinguishing yourself from the competition, for lack of a better word, is good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s not good enough. You have to distinguish yourself in a manner that voters like. Or care about. If Safa\u00ed were to stand up and say, \u201cYou know who I\u2019m rooting for in the Super Bowl? Kansas City!<\/em>\u201d this would definitely distinguish him. But it would not be good. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safa\u00ed, whether due to his heartfelt beliefs or political strategy or a dollop of both, has decided to distinguish himself by coming out hard against Proposition E<\/a>. This is Mayor London Breed\u2019s proposal<\/a> that tacitly places blame for the state of the city not on the city\u2019s incumbent mayor but on the Police Commission composed of a majority of her own appointees. It would give more discretion to police to engage in high-speed chases of nonviolent criminals on city streets; it would weaken the requirements for police to document and report use of force on the general public; it would exempt police from transparency rules regarding surveillance technology and it would also neatly sidestep the city\u2019s ban on facial recognition technology.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a Friday night public interview with Mission Local<\/a>, Safa\u00ed did not spare the rod in assailing the mayor\u2019s signature policy initiative. He mocked it as enabling \u201c\u2018The Fast and the Furious\u2019 to happen in San Francisco.\u201d But his real vitriol came when discussing Prop. E\u2019s moves to reduce reporting requirements for violent police interactions with the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI truly believe that this is one of the most anti-Black, anti-brown and anti-communities of color or immigrant communities\u201d legislation, he said. He described communities of color as \u201cthe most overpoliced not just in San Francisco but in the United States,\u201d and summed up Prop. E as \u201ca racist piece of legislation \u2026  it\u2019s shocking that this mayor would put her name on it and believe that this is the way San Francisco should be governed and policed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Ahsha Safa\u00ed and Joe Eskenazi at Manny\u2019s. Photo by Yujie Zhou, Feb. 2, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But, you know, it polls well. <\/em>And, hilariously, this ballot measure, which responds to city residents\u2019 frustrations with antisocial behavior and crime, was itself stolen. Mayoral contender Daniel Lurie took the unusual move of firing up his own Independent Expenditure committee to push his rival Breed\u2019s measure \u2014 while using it as a cudgel against her<\/a> for dithering nearly six years before tossing this item to voters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the heaps of money directed into flogging Prop. E have been significant<\/a>: $1.5 million, with $635,000 coming from Lurie\u2019s IE. This is the <\/em>donation to make if you want to aid \u2014 or ingratiate yourself \u2014 with either Lurie or the mayor, depending upon how you give. Either way, massive sums of cash are backing this measure: 7.5 times what the ACLU has ponied up against it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this <\/em>is where Safa\u00ed has chosen to distinguish himself: On a measure being spun, via torrents of money that he can\u2019t come close to countering, as let the police police! <\/em>and get cops out of doing paperwork and back on the streets! <\/em>It figures to win over frustrated voters handily, merit notwithstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Ahsha Safa\u00ed decided to make his big pivot by wearing a Travis Kelce jersey to Board Chambers tomorrow, he would certainly please somebody. <\/em>The patrons of the sole Kansas City bar in San Francisco<\/a> would likely be enthused (the folks taking the bar\u2019s \u201cMan vs. Beer\u201d challenge<\/a> of drinking 120 ounces of brew in 3 ounce increments in just two hours might be preoccupied. Or in a coma.). But that\u2019s not exactly a winning mayoral coalition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But going hard against Prop. E doesn\u2019t figure to be quite the same. The consensus among political strategists is that nobody will remember Prop. E one minute after the election \u2014 but Safa\u00ed et al. can say \u201cI told you so\u201d the next time a police car careens into Lucca<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, even if the polling is correct and Prop. E wins easily, the minority of voters who rejected it are going to remember what Safa\u00ed does here with a lot more clarity than the majority who voted for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And those are the voters Safa\u00ed needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"YouTube<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As we wrote last week<\/a>, the state of progressive leadership \u2014 and the cohesiveness of progressivism as a movement \u2014 <\/em>is in tatters in San Francisco. But that doesn\u2019t mean this city\u2019s most left-leaning voters are going to sit this mayoral election out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those votes, coming from perhaps 30 to 45 percent of the electorate, figure to go to someone. <\/em>And Safa\u00ed is in position to pick up a lot of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might be surprised to learn that nearly 40 people<\/a> have signed up to run for mayor \u2014 but the serious contenders are Breed, Lurie and Safa\u00ed. Former District 2 supervisor and appointed mayor Mark Farrell will, barring unforeseen lunacy, make his entrance \u2014 and that right soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if the field essentially stays as it is, Safa\u00ed has a puncher\u2019s chance. But if a bona fide progressive candidate (read: Peskin, Aaron) or progressive-adjacent and\/or strong Chinese candidate (read: Chiu, David) gets in the race? Poof. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s out of Safa\u00ed\u2019s hands. What is <\/em>in his hands is to make moves to appeal to this city\u2019s more left-leaning voters. Political strategists suggested Safa\u00ed, a sitting supervisor, might want to try on a little economic populism to tweak the billionaires supporting his opponents (or running against him). He could throw a few bones to renters and low-wage workers and make a God\u2019s honest effort to win over signifiers of lefty approval like the Tenants Union and Milk Club (failure to win endorsements from them would be dire). He has already, via Prop. B<\/a>, aligned himself with labor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as Safa\u00ed will be hard-pressed to win if a strong left-leaning and\/or Chinese candidate jumps in the fray, he cannot win without labor. The mayor will get the laborers and carpenters and, when he declares, it\u2019s hard not to foresee Farrell picking up the building trades (though Safa\u00ed could conceivably wheedle a co-endorsement). But the bulk of labor will be looking for a candidate. Virtually every union contract is being renegotiated this year \u2014 the winter of this city\u2019s economic discontent<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These figure to be unpleasant conversations. If a union has soured on Breed enough (or the city\u2019s finances are dour enough) that it\u2019s not feasible to seal the sort of pact that would be reciprocated by a mayoral endorsement \u2014 then all bets are off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In baseball, it\u2019s one, two, three strikes and you\u2019re out. How many unions will strike this year? Who will be out?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"YouTube<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But when I asked city political strategists about Safa\u00ed\u2019s chances, they responded not with baseball analogies but football ones. Football is top of mind (I wonder why). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safa\u00ed, says one experienced political hand, finds himself in much the same position that Brock Purdy did at halftime vs. the Lions  \u2014 down, for sure, but not yet out. Says another, there\u2019s a gaping hole in the secondary and the receiver is there \u2014 but Safa\u00ed has to deliver the pass in the face of pressure. Finally, yet another strategist saw big holes where Safa\u00ed could scramble \u2014 just like that man Purdy did vs. Detroit.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like this analogy best. Purdy is not a natural scrambler, but he took what the defense was giving him \u2014 and it won him the game. Safa\u00ed is no city lefty\u2019s first choice, but he may end up being the last and only choice. And while the progressive electorate is \u2014 demonstrably \u2014 not enough to carry progressive citywide candidates, it\u2019s enough to serve as a kingmaker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plurality of city voters with no intuitive mayoral candidate may, come November, be asking themselves the classic Peggy Lee question: Is that all there is<\/a>? If Safa\u00ed has a prayer of winning, many of them will have to hover over his name and think he\u2019ll do. <\/em>Hitting those big holes may not win Safa\u00ed this game \u2014 but failure to hit them guarantees<\/em> a loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any event, by November all the analogies will have switched from football to whatever\u2019s next. And, for the record, Safa\u00ed is picking the Niners to win it all, 31-27.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OF NOTE:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mayoral candidate Ahsha Safa\u00ed reveals which city officials he\u2019d fire<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>by YUJIE ZHOU<\/a><\/strong>FEBRUARY 3, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SF progressives have no candidate for mayor. But they\u2019ll decide the winner.<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>by JOE ESKENAZI<\/a><\/strong>JANUARY 29, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Lurie bips Mayor Breed\u2019s ballot measure; hilarity ensues<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>by JOE ESKENAZI<\/a><\/strong>JANUARY 22, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Breed continues to abandon governing: Everything is politics<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>by JOE ESKENAZI<\/a><\/strong>OCTOBER 23, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahsha Safa\u00ed in his own words: \u2018This mayor has no excuses\u2019<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>by\u00a0JOE ESKENAZI<\/a><\/strong>JULY 18, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOE ESKENAZI<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

getbackjoejoe@gmail.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing Editor\/Columnist. Joe was born in San Francisco, raised in the Bay Area, and attended U.C. Berkeley. He never left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour humble narrator\u201d was a writer and columnist for SF Weekly from 2007 to 2015, and a senior editor at San Francisco Magazine from 2015 to 2017. You may also have read his work in the Guardian (U.S. and U.K.); San Francisco Public Press; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Examiner; Dallas Morning News; and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He resides in the Excelsior with his wife and three (!) kids, 4.3 miles from his birthplace and 5,474 from hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists named Eskenazi the 2019 Journalist of the Year.More by Joe Eskenazi<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0JOE ESKENAZI FEBRUARY 5, 2024 (MissionLocal.org) Listen, Ahsha Safa\u00ed has come unstuck. As one of the trio \u2014 soon to be a quartet \u2014 of serious San Francisco mayoral candidates hailing from the right side of this city\u2019s local political spectrum, Safa\u00ed is seeking the opportunity to separate himself from the… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1782],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31529,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31528\/revisions\/31529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}