As new SF supervisor Beya Alcaraz faces a fresh new scandal about a freezer full of dead animals and a mouse infestation, it seems Mayor Daniel Lurie may not have background-checked his new District 4 supervisor pick very thoroughly.
Just five days ago. SF Mayor Daniel Lurie named complete political unknown Beya Alcaraz as the new District 4 supervisor, following the September recall of Joel Engardio. And the problem with complete unknowns is that, well, there a lot of things you don’t know about them.
Lurie’s pick was all the more curious in that Alcaraz had no experience in city politics, nor even any apparent previous interest in city politics, and she brought a fairly skimpy résumé to the table (former pet shop owner, music and art teacher in an afterschool program). An op-ed published in today’s SF Standard points out that Alcaraz does not even have a college degree, having dropped out of both City College and Diablo Valley College. While a college degree is not required to serve on the Board of Supervisors, that Standard op-ed points out that far more junior City Hall positions require “a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and three years full-time equivalent experience performing professional-level analytical work.”
And now just five days into Alcaraz’s tenure, the mouse-shit is really hitting the fan regarding some skeletons in her closet. The SF Standard separately reported on Monday that Alcaraz’s pet shop “was in a state of squalor” when she sold it, according to the new owner. That report says the new owner “discovered hundreds of dead mice beneath shelving on the sales floor, cages covered in rodent urine, mounds of trash, and a freezer filled with dozens of deceased pets.” Some videos of this reported neglect are in the Instagram carousel above, and the Standard says the new owner claims it “took months and thousands of dollars to clean out the filth.”
The pet shop in question, Animal Connection in the Outer Sunset, is seen above, and Alcaraz sold it earlier this year. Gruesomely, new owner Julia Baran says she discovered 40 dead animals in the store’s freezer when she took ownership, which included guinea pigs and lizards. Baran also said the place had a horrible mouse infestation when she took over, with the Standard adding that Baran found “a mouse nest that nearly filled a 5-gallon bucket.”
New owner Baran posted a few Instagram videos detailing the decrepit condition of the place she took over. And the Chronicle’s report on all this obtained text messages from Alcaraz complaining that Baran had posted such videos. “I’m at so much risk with you as the owner and me on the lease,” Alcaraz reportedly texted. “The recent vlog and late rent payments are increasingly concerning and I just don’t know that my mental health can take it.”
Though the Chronicle confirms that Alcaraz was also consistently behind on the rent when she ran the store, and did not turn a profit between 2020 and 2023.
The new owner Baran was baffled that Lurie’s team did not reach out to her for a reference, and she expressed skepticism that Alcaraz was up to the job as supervisor.
“To say you’re a successful businesswoman is not true,” Baran told the Chronicle. “I don’t know how the mayor appointed someone without doing their due diligence.”
Alcaraz herself has not responded to any of these reports. But her team sent a statement to the Standard saying, “Our small businesses are what makes the Sunset the best place to live. Any small business owner can tell you that running one isn’t easy — but since the day I took over, my goal has always been to ensure The Animal Connection could continue bringing joy to our community.”
Beya Alcaraz was 22 years old when she bought the store in 2019, and had been an employee while in high school. She rather famously tried to give the store away for free in February, and found a taker in Baran, who did pay for the remaining stock, merchandise, and equipment in the store.
Team Lurie is in damage control mode, but hyping up that Alcaraz was a small business owner.
“She stepped up from employee to owner of the Animal Connection — working seven days a week for six years and keeping the doors open through the pandemic to serve her neighbors,” Lurie’ spokesperson Charles Lutvak told the Chronicle. “That’s the determination and the work ethic she brings to the Board of Supervisors.”
As an aside, the Chron also reports that Animal Connection’s lease is not being renewed. That may not be Alcaraz’s fault, but the new owner was not informed until after the sale was completed, and it came as something of a surprise.
We admit we perked up when noticing that the Chronicle’s report quoted SFist co-founder and Sunset resident Eve Batey, who described the shop under Alcaraz as “messy.” Batey diplomatically added, “It was a challenging place to shop.”
So how bad is this scandal? Well, it’s not Ed Jew bad, as that former District 4 supervisor faked that he lived in the district when he actually lived in Burlingame, and of course, solicited $80,000 in cash bribes from businesses needing permits. So District 4 has seen worse.
But the fact that Alcaraz is a complete political newbie means that she has no established base of support, and no one is coming to her defense here so far (except for Daniel Lurie’s paid PR types). Alcaraz already has two likely opponents for her June 2026 primary election, both of whom are vastly more experienced political organizers. So it’s a pretty fair bet that dead animals and mountains of mouse-shit are likely to be come up as themes in what may be a tough election battle for Alcaraz.
Image: @beyaalcarazd4 via Twitter
Joe Kukura
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