SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Today’s the day San Franciscans have to go to the polls or return their mailed ballots for their votes to count in a number of local races.
School board recall
The most high-profile is the recall effort that would remove three members of the San Francisco Board of Education – President Gabriela López and board members Faauuga Moliga and Alison Collins.
The recall effort, which is supported by Mayor London Breed and State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), began last year after the school board gained national renown for voting to rename dozens of schools – including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln high schools and Dianne Feinstein Elementary School – before having come up with a plan to reopen the schools from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
The board later rescinded that vote, but things flared up again after 2016 tweets from Collins resurfaced in which she accused Asian Americans of “white supremacist thinking.”
Collins was removed as the school board’s vice president, and responded by suing the cash-strapped district for $87 million in federal court. The lawsuit was unsuccessful, and Collins later withdrew it.
Breed said last year that the board’s “priorities have often been severely misplaced,” considering it had faced a $125 million deficit until cuts were made in December.
Wiener criticized the board for not doing enough community engagement before ending merit-based admissions at Lowell High School.
Supporters of the embattled school board members say that the recall is a waste of money, since there is a regularly-scheduled election later this year. They also call attention to the fact that all the school board members up for recall are from minority communities, and that the recall campaign has attracted big donations from Silicon Valley titans.
“This is the most diverse and representative school board in the history of San Francisco,” Vote No on School Board Recalls stated. “Our school board members look like the students SFUSD serves and are from our communities.”
Assembly and other offices
Voters on San Francisco’s eastside will get to pick a new assemblymember today, as well.
David Chiu represented Assembly District 17 until October, when he resigned to become San Francisco City Attorney. Since that time the seat has been vacant.
The district covers three-fifths of the City and County of San Francisco, including downtown and south of Market. There are four candidates: Matt Haney, who represents south of Market and the Tenderloin on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; David Campos, a former supervisor and former chair of the city’s Democratic Party who currently works as chief of staff for District Attorney Chesa Boudin; Thea Selby, who is on the San Francisco community college board; and Bilal Mahmood, who is a former Obama administration official.
KRON4 asked all the campaigns how they are feeling this morning and all responded.
“We ran a positive campaign and reached tens of thousands of voters with a message of bold action on homelessness, housing and climate change,” Haney said. “We’ll have 400 volunteers out there on the streets today getting out the vote. I feel humbled and thankful for the support and hopeful about the results.”
Haney said he dropped his ballot off at a ballot drop box.
“I tracked my ballot online and it was already counted,” he concluded.
Campos told KRON4 that “we feel very good, our corporate free campaign with a message of ‘Medicare For All, a Green New Deal, and affordable housing’ is resonating with voters.”
Campos said he is voting “later this morning with my parents by my side.”
Selby said that she plans to vote with her husband at John Muir Elementary School.
A Mahmood campaign spokesperson stated that the candidate voted at City Hall with his mother February 11.
“I’m feeling excited and hopeful today as our campaign continues to talk with voters about the change our city needs on housing, schools, and safety,” Mahmood said in a statement. “This is just the beginning of the hard work needed to make a difference for San Franciscans on these issues and more.”
Unless a candidate gets a majority, there will be a runoff April 19.
Assessor-Recorder is also on the ballot for all city residents. The Assessor-Recorder identifies which property can be taxed.
There are two candidates: sitting Assessor-Recorder Joaquín Torres, and activist Michael Petrelis, who is a write-in candidate.