{"id":34086,"date":"2024-05-31T12:42:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T19:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=34086"},"modified":"2024-05-31T12:42:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T19:42:12","slug":"see-how-they-run-breed-the-incumbent-holds-down-her-day-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/05\/31\/see-how-they-run-breed-the-incumbent-holds-down-her-day-job\/","title":{"rendered":"See how they run: Breed, the incumbent, holds down her day job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Man by\u00a0JOE RIVANO BARROS<\/a><\/strong> MAY 29, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
London Breed at a groundbreaking of two affordable housing towers in the East Cut on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Photo by Joe Rivano Barros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mission Local is publishing a daily campaign dispatch for each of the major contenders in the mayor\u2019s race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: London Breed. Read earlier dispatches here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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No incumbent mayor has lost a race in San Francisco since 1995, when Willie Brown unseated Frank Jordan, starting a years-long political dynasty that still defines the city today. Things then were not like they are now: Brown was one of the most powerful politicians in California, the self-proclaimed \u201cAyatollah\u201d<\/a> of the State Assembly, and early polls had him up on Jordan by six<\/a> to 15 points<\/a>. (Brown went on to win by 13 points, or 55-42.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of the challengers to Mayor London Breed today can boast that kind of clout, nor are they likely to wallop Breed the way Brown did Jordan. Ranked-choice voting changes the calculus, and makes pre-election polling more difficult than predicting an up-or-down contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MERCADO\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But still: Anyone would rather campaign sitting within Room 200 than outside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAsk any of the candidates challenging the mayor: They\u2019d rather be the incumbent than the challenger,\u201d said David Ho, a longtime Chinatown organizer and political consultant. It\u2019s true, Ho said, that the electorate is surly, Breed\u2019s popularity ratings<\/a> are dismal, and San Franciscans overwhelmingly think the city is on the wrong track<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of that will be laid at Breed\u2019s feet, fairly or unfairly, and the \u201ctwo-edged sword\u201d of incumbency is \u201creflected in the mayor\u2019s low poll numbers,\u201d Ho said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if those polls show a possible route for her challengers, they are all still playing in the mayor\u2019s arena. \u201cThe only poll that matters is election night,\u201d Ho said. \u201cAnd, generally, incumbents don\u2019t get defeated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far this week, Breed has been running for the job she already has. And using her incumbency to demonstrate action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday at 11 a.m., standing inside the West Portal Recreation Center in front of some 75 attendees, Breed announced the hiring of Ivy Lee<\/a> as director of the Office of Victim and Witness Rights, a new city body that will work on improving city services for victims of crime, including survivors of sexual assault and mugging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a long time coming,\u201d said Breed, harkening back to the \u201cgun violence that was happening in our community\u201d that she said motivated her entry into politics. That violence, she added, \u201cforced us to create new tools that never even existed in San Francisco \u2026 It was more about prosecution, holding people accountable [at the time], but what happens to the wrap-around support necessary to help victims?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mayor\u2019s audience, sitting in a playroom featuring childrens\u2019 drawings clothes-pinned to overhead string, was perhaps half Chinese elders awaiting a noon lunch at the center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much was said of the need to ensure adequate translation for Asian crime victims navigating the city\u2019s bureaucracy, an issue likely to resonate with the voters who unleashed their fury on Chesa Boudin during the recall over a perception that he was unconcerned with anti-Asian violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese seniors are a staple of both city \u2014 and campaign \u2014 side events by officials, and Tuesday\u2019s speeches were punctuated by Cantonese translations: Breed or a city supervisor would speak and, for two or three minutes after, an aide would translate their every word before the next official approached the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How will the new victims\u2019 rights office differ from its predecessor? It is too soon to know. But that is a benefit of having the perch of City Hall in a tight campaign. You can create programs and a whole new city body, while the competition can only dream of doing so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the contenders who get to say, \u2018I would<\/em> do this,\u2019 and she can just go out and do it,\u201d said Jim Ross, a longtime political consultant. Incumbents like Breed, he said, \u201cget to define the race. They get to pick and choose which issues are going to be the topics of discussion and debate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public safety has been a constant: The need for tough love, but also the fact that crime is now down after a post-pandemic rise, a change Breed would like voters to attribute to her policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Housing, too, has been a constant: Breed\u2019s inauguration in 2018 was a boon for the ascendant YIMBY movement, which has stood by her side ever since. And she by its: She is committed to building housing \u201cat all costs,\u201d she said in her campaign kick-off<\/a>, and has embraced a package of reforms<\/a> to get to the 82,000 new units mandated by the state by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday morning, Breed presided over the groundbreaking of some 335 low-income rental units in two new towers<\/a> in the East Cut, at the former temporary Transbay Terminal, grabbing one of 11 golden shovels and heaping a symbolic pile of dirt from one side of a mound to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know about you, but building housing gets me really excited,\u201d said Breed shortly after, standing in the full sun before an audience of mostly suited men sitting on white plastic chairs; some standing in the back wore crisp, brand-new neon construction vests. \u201cI feel like Oprah Winfrey: \u2018You get a home, you get a home, you get a home. Everybody gets a home!\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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London Breed, shoveling dirt at a groundbreaking for affordable housing in the East Cut on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Photo by Joe Rivano Barros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Workers at the construction site paused and took in the sight, their own orange vests well-worn. The crowd was Breed\u2019s base: Developers and housing advocates, who see in Breed their best shot at boosting supply and lowering prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rate of housing production in San Francisco is so sluggish that it would take 41 years<\/a> to meet the state\u2019s goals if the city continues at a 2023 pace. There is likely nothing Breed can do to change that: All agree market forces are not ripe for a housing boom. There is too little private capital interested in development, and the state is not stepping in with significant funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will it matter? Housing has taken a back seat to crime, but Ross, for his part, said voters will soon want concrete improvements. \u201cShe\u2019s in a position where she has to show results, and rhetoric is not going to dig her out of the hole she\u2019s in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet Breed, more than the rest, can do something about it on the campaign trail. While her two supervisorial opponents, Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safa\u00ed, do have the power to propose popular ballot measures (and<\/a> have<\/a> done<\/a> so<\/a>), the others must hope their rhetoric alone will suffice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still think she\u2019s the front runner,\u201d said Ho. \u201cThe narrative is slightly changing in the city, they see light at the end of the tunnel. The question is: Is it going to be too late?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For what it\u2019s worth, Willie Brown has endorsed Breed in November. \u201cShe\u2019s the best candidate, easily the best candidate,\u201d he said at her kick-off<\/a> earlier this month. Frank Jordan has gone for Daniel Lurie<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE FIELD NOTES FROM THE MAYOR\u2019S RACE<\/mark><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"See<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

See how they run: Aaron Peskin goes to a house party<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"See<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

See how they run: Aaron Peskin calls out Daniel Lurie<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"See<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

See how they run: Aaron Peskin tries to remember all the acronyms<\/a><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

JOE RIVANO BARROSSENIOR EDITOR<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

joe.rivanobarros@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe was born in Sweden, where half<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of his family received asylum after fleeing Pinochet, and spent his early childhood in Chile; he moved to Oakland when he was eight. He attended Stanford University for political science and worked at Mission Local as a reporter after graduating. He then spent time in advocacy as a partner for the strategic communications firm The Worker Agency. He rejoined Mission Local as an editor in 2023.More by Joe Rivano Barros<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: ; https:\/\/missionlocal.org\/2024\/05\/see-how-they-run-breed-the-incumbent-holds-down-her-day-job\/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Mission+Local&utm_campaign=79e555d0d8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_05_30_04_34&utm_term=0_-79e555d0d8-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0JOE RIVANO BARROS MAY 29, 2024 (MissionLocal.org) Mission Local is publishing a daily campaign dispatch for each of the major contenders in the mayor\u2019s race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: London Breed. Read earlier dispatches here. No incumbent mayor has lost a race in San Francisco since 1995,… 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":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34086"}],"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=34086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34087,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34086\/revisions\/34087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}