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by\u00a0H.R. SMITH<\/a><\/strong> AUGUST 1, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/SF-Young-Democrats.jpg?fit=1200%2C757&ssl=1\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSign up below to get Mission Local\u2019s free newsletter<\/strong>, a daily digest of news you won\u2019t find elsewhere.Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mission Local is publishing campaign dispatches for each of the major contenders in the mayor\u2019s race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: Aaron Peskin. Read earlier dispatches here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The arc of U.S. electoral politics currently leans toward gerontocracy<\/a>. The median age<\/a> in the House of Representatives is 57.9. The median age in the Senate is 65.3. But in the San Francisco Young Democrats<\/a>, your voting days are over the day you turn 35<\/a> (you can still give the organization money, though). This might feel abrupt, says SFYD co-president Vanessa Pimentel, but you can join when you\u2019re 14 and start voting when you\u2019re 16. That\u2019s plenty of time to flex as a baby-faced power broker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a foggy Tuesday night, Haraz Coffee House on Franklin Street is steadily filling up with attendees of one of SFYD\u2019s political mixers \u2014 the young and politically inclined, and those who would seek their support and endorsement. A few non-SFYD-affiliated coffee shop patrons try to hold down their table territory, typing furiously into their laptops like small, rocky islands in a wild sea of schmoozing, but they do not last for long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stay informed on local elections \u2014 sign up for Mission Local’s free daily newsletter<\/strong> today!Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe big summer fundraiser is coming up,\u201d shouts SFYD vice-president Ernesto Cuellar, trying to rise above the chatter. \u201cIt\u2019s a 2010s homecoming style<\/a>! I don\u2019t know where you were, but we were in middle school! It\u2019s going to be really fun! We\u2019re trying to make it affordable for all young people, so candidates, please open your wallets!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aaron Peskin, Board of Supervisors president and current mayoral candidate, is here with his campaign field director, Michael Redmond (who also happens to be co-chair of the organization\u2019s PAC). \u201cIt\u2019s one of the longest-running Democratic clubs in San Francisco,\u201d says Redmond. \u201cPast presidents include Willie Brown and Congressman John Burton. It\u2019s a pretty storied history.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Peskin is here after a marathon meeting at the Board of Supervisors. Peskin\u2019s proposal to streamline permitting for small-scale outdoor events<\/a> downtown moved ahead. Another proposal that would add a measure to the November ballot that would lower the age of retirement for members of the fire department seemed budgetarily dubious<\/a> to some, but not any fellow supervisors; it was moved along by unanimous vote. A similar measure that would allow some police officers to start collecting their pensions without actually retiring went on the ballot last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As promised<\/a>, Peskin also introduced legislation that would amend the city\u2019s administrative code to prohibit the sale or use of algorithms like the ones used by RealPage<\/a> to keep rental prices high by advising landlords to keep a certain number of units vacant. \u201cIn the old days, collusion between competitors happened in a smoke-filled back room,\u201d said Peskin. \u201cWith this ordinance, we aim to be a model for local governments around the nation in regulating this insidious use of technology, the same way that we lead on Airbnb and short-term rentals. Banning algorithmic price-gouging is real housing policy, and it\u2019s entirely consistent with our shared goal of a functioning housing market.\u201d It also moved ahead unanimously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No other city has tried to do something similar and, like the city\u2019s early attempts to regulate the use of Airbnb<\/a>, it would almost certainly be challenged in court or through outright noncompliance. But, as Peskin said in a conversation the night before, Airbnb is actually pretty well-regulated now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a long road to get there \u2014 early attempts to get users to pay the city\u2019s hotel tax started in 2012, and regulation escalated until 2017, when Peskin found himself squaring off and negotiating a settlement<\/a> with David Owen<\/a>, one of Peskin\u2019s former legislative aides, who had gone on to become Airbnb\u2019s regional head of public policy. Another Airbnb policy head present at the negotiations, Matt Middlbrook, unexpectedly donated the legal maximum when Peskin announced his run for mayor<\/a>. \u201cI called him up and said, \u2018Why are you giving me money?\u2019 said Peskin. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018Because you were fair and you stuck to your word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The meeting was long, but not because it was contentious. The closest thing to a split vote was Supervisor Asha Safai\u2019s proposal to put a measure on the ballot to cover student loans for first responders<\/a>, which Peskin objects to on the grounds that it does not actually need to be a ballot measure. Peskin voted against it, but it moved ahead anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather, it was long because of the warm and lengthy odes delivered by nearly every supervisor to Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson and General Counsel Anne Pearson, both of whom are leaving their current positions. \u201cI was honored to work with you and Local 798, as we all voted to ban cancer-causing PFAS chemicals from your turnouts<\/a>,\u201d said Peskin. \u201cYou have been a trailblazer, not only for women, but as the first openly LGBT fire chief in San Francisco\u2019s history. I want to thank you for your service, and look forward to many more swims in the Bay, because only the bold swim in the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy mom dropped off my daughter yesterday, and she was like, \u2018Isn\u2019t the fire chief your favorite?\u2019\u201d added Supervisor Hilary Ronen. \u201cI talk about you so much that my mom even knows. She lives in L.A. She doesn\u2019t even live here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing is more irritating than having a supervisor pretending they\u2019re lawyers,\u201d said Supervisor Connie Chan to Pearson. \u201cAnd yet, you\u2019ve been so kind, respecting me as a pretend lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peskin does not wind up giving a campaign pitch to the Young Democrats. A lot of people came here to stump, and it never feels like quite the right time. Nearly half of those present at the mixer turn out to be running for some kind of office, and those who can roll out youthful bona fides absolutely do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s Ryan Khojasteh, who is running for district attorney<\/a> against his former boss, Brooke Jenkins. \u201cWe have to end the school-to-prison pipeline,\u201d says Khojasteh. \u201cWith your help, I will be the 31st district attorney of our city at 31 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there\u2019s Edward Wright, running for BART board. \u201cI\u2019m proud to be the youngest candidate in this race,\u201d says Wright, and members of the crowd start snapping their fingers in approval. \u201cI am also proud to be the only renter in this race, union member in this race, and the only person in this race that actually has professional experience in public transit, public policy and public budgets, which are the core responsibility of the office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, Peskin, who is 60<\/a>, spends a significant portion of the mixer being earnestly grilled by a reporter who describes themselves as being \u201cfrom the Finnish NPR,\u201d on the question of what Kamala Harris was like in kindergarten<\/a>. Maybe there\u2019s a Finnish person who\u2019s registered to vote in San Francisco, says Peskin thoughtfully, looking for the political upside. Maybe, even though that voter lives in San Francisco, they consume a lot of Finnish media, and that person will decide to vote for Peskin as mayor, because he gave a really fun interview to Finnish NPR. And with that, Peskin is off to the Richmond for more campaigning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n smithzilla@gmail.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Heather Smith covers a beat that spans health, food, and the environment, as well as shootings, stabbings, various small fires, and shouting matches at public meetings. She is a 2007 Middlebury Fellow in Environmental Journalism and a contributor to the book Infinite City<\/a>.More by H.R. Smith<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make it affordable for all young people, so candidates please open your wallets!\u201d by\u00a0H.R. SMITH AUGUST 1, 2024 (MissionLocal.org) Sign up below to get Mission Local\u2019s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won\u2019t find elsewhere.Sign up Mission Local is publishing campaign dispatches for each of the… Continue reading
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMORE FIELD NOTES FROM THE MAYOR\u2019S RACE<\/mark><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSee how they run: Aaron Peskin is forbidden to wear the tie<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSee how they run: Aaron Peskin bar-crawls the Mission<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSee how they run: Safa\u00ed has what no other major mayoral candidate has: An MIT degree<\/a><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
H.R. SMITH<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n