{"id":33727,"date":"2024-05-16T13:14:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T20:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=33727"},"modified":"2024-05-16T13:14:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T20:14:38","slug":"breed-joins-peskin-in-rejecting-togethersf-mayoral-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/05\/16\/breed-joins-peskin-in-rejecting-togethersf-mayoral-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Breed joins Peskin in rejecting TogetherSF mayoral debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Adam%20Shanks\">By Adam Shanks | Examiner staff writer |<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>May 14, 2024\u00a0Updated\u00a021 hrs ago (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/4\/85\/485ca4c4-f9bd-11ed-a210-8794750d17fa\/646d44ffa03d8.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"London Breed speaking at U.N. Plaza\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mayor London Breed, left, and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin \u2014 seen at a 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting in U.N. Plaza \u2014 have both said they won\u2019t be taking part in a debate organized by TogetherSF Action ahead of the November mayoral election.Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco\u2019s five major candidates for mayor will debate The City\u2019s issues Monday, but on two separate stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday that she will not participate in political advocacy group TogetherSF Action\u2019s planned May 20 debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, Breed and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin \u2014 one of four prominent candidates looking to deny her a second full term in office \u2014 will participate in a \u201cconversation\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/missionlocal.org\/2024\/05\/mayor-breed-withdraws-from-togethersf-debate-citing-chaos-farrell-ties\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hosted by Mission Local journalist Joe Eskenazi.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breed\u2019s decision comes amid questions about the TogetherSF Action debate and the group\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/san-francisco-mayoral-candidates-weigh-togethersf-debate\/article_1e61d9a6-0d89-11ef-956a-9bee5eb5d222.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">numerous ties to the campaign of former interim Mayor Mark Farrell<\/a>. Breed had already expressed concern last week about the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Peskin, Breed questioned the organization\u2019s ability to neutrally moderate a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sf\/article\/moderate-groups-influence-election-2024-19416954.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mayoral debate given its connections to Farrell<\/a>, whose chief of staff is a former TogetherSF employee. The two also share a communications consultant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe public will not benefit from a debate that is orchestrated or unduly influenced by one of the campaigns,\u201d Breed wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peskin was the first candidate to decline to participate in the TogetherSF debate. In an interview with The Examiner earlier this month, Peskin likened the event to a debate between President Joseph Biden and former President Donald Trump hosted by the National Rifle Association. Though TogetherSF has yet to make an endorsement in the race, Peskin said \u201cthey all but have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kanishka Cheng, CEO of TogetherSF Action, described Peskin and Breed as \u201clongtime political incumbent(s).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is telling that the Mayor, like Supervisor Peskin, has chosen to try and tarnish the reputation of TogetherSF instead of joining the other candidates and explaining why our 100,000 community members \u2014 and all San Francisco voters \u2014 should trust them to run the city for the next four years,\u201d Cheng wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TogetherSF has insisted that the journalists it has tapped to moderate the debate have been guaranteed editorial independence. As of last week, the moderators were scheduled to be Bloomberg News California Bureau Chief Karen Breslau and Kim-Mai Cutler, a former TechCrunch and Wall Street Journal reporter now working in venture capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cheng noted that Breed had originally agreed to participate in the debate, and that the organization made changes to its format and timing at the mayor\u2019s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLike Supervisor Peskin, Mayor Breed has chosen to find refuge in baseless accusations,\u201d Cheng wrote. \u201cSan Franciscans want a Mayor, who instead of hiding in settings they control, is willing to explain how they can make our city better for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peskin and Breed\u2019s conversation will take place at Manny\u2019s Cafe in the Mission district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI trust and have agreed to whatever [Eskenazi] comes up with,\u201d Peskin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Asked if voters would be deprived of the opportunity to see him and Breed go toe-to-toe with the other candidates in the race, Peskin said \u201cthere will be plenty of debates and forums that are hosted by nonpartisan organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breed\u2019s exit leaves Farrell, Supervisor Ahsha Safai, and Daniel Lurie as the three candidates expected to appear at the TogetherSF debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI believe it speaks volumes when political candidates hide from their opponents except for settings that are under their complete control,\u201d Farrell said in a statement. \u201cVoters deserve to hear directly from the candidates about their background, vision, and policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to concerns about potential bias, multiple candidates have aired frustration with TogetherSF\u2019s organizational details, including who the moderators would be and how many of the venue\u2019s seats would be dedicated to supporters of each campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSince the debate was announced, Together SF\u2019s debate planning process has also been marked by chaos,\u201d Breed said. \u201cThe distractions have reached a fever pitch and tainted the debate beyond repair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The TogetherSF debate is co-sponsored by GrowSF, another&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/san-francisco-mayoral-candidates-weigh-togethersf-debate\/article_1e61d9a6-0d89-11ef-956a-9bee5eb5d222.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">political advocacy group that backs moderate causes and candidates<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco\u2019s five major candidates for mayor will debate The City\u2019s issues Monday, but on two separate stages. Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday that she will not participate in political advocacy group TogetherSF Action\u2019s planned May 20 debate. Instead, Breed and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin \u2014 one of&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/05\/16\/breed-joins-peskin-in-rejecting-togethersf-mayoral-debate\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/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":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33727"}],"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=33727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33733,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33727\/revisions\/33733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}