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  • San Francisco mayoral race appears to remain close with 2 weeks to election

    San Francisco mayoral race appears to remain close with 2 weeks to election

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    Just about two weeks out from Election Day and the race for mayor in San Francisco appears to be tightening.

    Two polls show the race for first place votes is within the margin of error and among several candidates. A lot of voters, however, are still holding onto their ballots.

    Think back to when this race started to take shape and the conventional wisdom was that it was going to be very close. Could a progressive, through ranked choice, upset a group of moderates? The conversation has changed several times since then, but two weeks away from the election and the first impression wasn’t so far off.

    “About two weeks in and two weeks away in early voting, as we get towards the election,” said SF Elections Director John Arntz.

    For Arntz and the San Francisco Department of Elections, it’s the halfway point. And this milestone comes with two polls in the city’s closely watched mayoral race. The first, released by the Aaron Peskin campaign, shows the supervisor having leapt into a tie for first-place votes with Daniel Lurie.

    “I mean look, the other three candidates, all of them, supported by billionaires who are pushing San Francisco in the wrong direction, have been busy tearing each other down,” Peskin said Monday.

    For Peskin, it would be something of a comeback, having been largely left out of the conversation for the last couple of months. And there is some history to support the idea of a late progressive surge.

    “Yes, that’s historically what we have seen in San Francisco elections is that a progressive candidate emerges towards the end of the election,” said Corey Cook, PhD, Professor & Provost at Saint Mary’s College. “It often passes the numbers. We can go back to any number of elections really for more than 20 years to see the progressive vote tends to coalesce late.”

    The second poll, conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle, shows Peskin having jumped ahead of Mark Farrell for first-place votes, but behind a dead heat between Mayor London Breed and Daniel Lurie, who has, for several weeks now, appeared to have an edge in polling that factors in ranked-choice voting.

    “I think Daniel Lurie has run a near flawless campaign, positioning himself as an outsider,” Cook said. “But it’s still, everything is within the margin of error.”

    And that brings the conversation back to the election’s office and something else that will play a huge role in the race. The consolidation of city elections means the mayor’s race will get a presidential turnout, which is a lot more votes. And voters have now had two weeks to cast their ballots in this election.

    “But the total is less than what we would expect, normally at this time for a presidential contest being on the ballot,” Arntz said of the returns so far.

    Slow returns are a very good sign that people are still watching this race, and holding off on making that three-vote calculation, maybe until the last minute.

    “I think that they’re still organizations whose endorsements have just come out.,” Cook said. “I think voters are still sifting through a lot of information.”

    And that, in turn, says something else about the race and the results. If voters are holding off to make that decision, maybe until the last moment, it means the numbers released on election night, will become an increasingly smaller fraction of the total. It will then take even longer to go through all those subsequent ballots that come in and get through all the rounds of rank-choice voting.

    So, evidence is already piling up that it will be close, and it may take more than a couple of days to figure out who will be the next mayor of San Francisco.

    Wilson Walker


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    Wilson Walker joined KPIX 5 in July 2007. After 10 years producing newscasts, Wilson became a Multimedia Journalist (MMJ) in 2012, meaning he shoots, writes and edits all of his own stories.

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  • Report: Embattled San Francisco Unified Superintendent set to resign

    Report: Embattled San Francisco Unified Superintendent set to resign

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    Embattled San Francisco Unified Superintendent reportedly will resign Friday


    Embattled San Francisco Unified Superintendent reportedly will resign Friday

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    San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Matt Wayne could resign as soon as Friday, according to published reports.

    The San Francisco Chronicle and Mission Local are reporting that the embattled Wayne has agreed to his resignation Friday.

    While the school board hasn’t specifically confirmed Wayne’s planned resignation, it has scheduled an emergency meeting for Friday evening at 5 p.m. with one agenda item related to school district personnel.  

    Wayne has been getting a lot of heat since the release of a proposed school closure list last week forced by a massive budget shortfall.

    San Francisco Mayor London Breed weighed in on the issue earlier this week. On Tuesday, she said she no longer has confidence that Wayne could lead the district and demanded that it to halt the closing of schools.

    “This cannot continue. Whatever this current proposed school closure process was meant to accomplish, or could have accomplished, is lost,” the mayor said. “This has become a distraction from the very real work that must be done to balance the budget in the next two months to prevent a state takeover. It is time to immediately stop this school closure process.”

    While she criticized Wayne, Breed did not call for him to step down.

    Dave Pehling

    Dave Pehling is website managing editor for CBS Bay Area. He started his journalism career doing freelance writing about music in the late 1990s, eventually working as a web writer, editor and producer for KTVU.com in 2003. He began his role with CBS Bay Area in 2015.

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  • San Francisco could permanently seize cars taken from sideshows under new law

    San Francisco could permanently seize cars taken from sideshows under new law

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    San Francisco is one step closer to approving new penalties for people who participate in sideshows.

    The legislation was announced in August by Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Matt Dorsey, and on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved the new laws — There will still be a final vote on Oct. 1.

    Under the new penalties, it will be illegal to participate in promoting a sideshow, assembling for a sideshow, blocking or obstructing streets to set up for a sideshow, and impeding police from stopping a sideshow.

    One of the new penalties would also see cars seized during a sideshow possibly being permanently seized.

    A car seized during a sideshow could be impounded for more than 30 days if the district attorney is filing charges, and it could be permanently seized if the person is convicted.

    All charges would be misdemeanors as it’s the highest penalty currently allowed by state law.

    Another issue the new laws aim to tackle is the large groups of dirt bikers who are riding throughout the city.

    Molly Tello said almost every weekend a group of sometimes more than 100 people on dirt bikes take over her neighborhood, speeding down streets and blowing through traffic lights.

    “Doing acrobatics on their bikes and looking like they might fall off and kill themselves, and they’re just going past the house,” said Tello.

    Tello said it’s gotten so bad on the Embarcadero that even locals know when and where the bikers meet up.

    “We saw them congregating down in front of the Dolphin Club, and it’s something that police seem like they should be aware of,” said Tello.

    Still some locals like Juliet Mariniello said they’re not too sure a new law will actually change anything.

    “I think it just moves from one street to another most of the time. Like I’ve seen it in Oakland where they tried to outlaw street shows whatever, sideshows, whatever they call them, and they move to another corner. They move down a block so. I hope it works,” said Mariniello.

    Tello said she too is nervous but hopeful about this legislation. She hopes it could help police stop the sideshows before they even begin.

    “The people who are actually participating in them on the bikes that need to be stopped before they get started,” said Tello.

    Police said they are using technology like drones and license plate readers to try and disrupt sideshows.

    The approval by the Board of Supervisors comes a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed four new laws to crack down on sideshows in the state.  

    Jose Fabian

    Jose Fabian is a web producer for CBS Bay Area where he reports on local crime, politics and breaking news. He studied political science and journalism at Sacramento State and was born and raised in Northern California.

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  • Latest line: A good week for London Breed, a bad week for SunPower

    Latest line: A good week for London Breed, a bad week for SunPower

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    London Breed

    San Francisco mayor, facing a difficult re-election after years of homeless problems and retail stores closing, pulls to the lead in a new poll as she increases efforts to cut crime and remove encampments.

     

     

     

    SunPower

    Richmond-based solar company once worth $10 billion files for bankruptcy as inflation, high interest rates and state PUC regulators cutting incentives for property owners reduces demand for solar projects.

     

     

     

    Google

    A federal judge rules the Mountain View tech giant illegally monopolized online search and ad markets over the past decade. But we won’t know the penalty until a second trial plays out next year.

     

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    Bay Area News Group

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  • America’s Black mayors gather in Atlanta for annual AAMA conference

    America’s Black mayors gather in Atlanta for annual AAMA conference

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    Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam (above, center) was one of several mayors that spoke to the media during the opening press conference of the African American Mayors Association conference in Atlanta on April 24, 2024. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice

    The mayor of Tracy, California, looked around the grand ballroom inside the Omni Atlanta Hotel and smiled. She was 2,200 miles away from the city she is leading, but felt right at home at the same time. “I love the connectivity,” said Nancy Young.

    The first Black mayor and female mayor in the history of the northern California city of just under 100,000 residents, Young is no stranger to Atlanta, her son attended Morehouse College some years back, so she knew she was definitely returning to Atlanta for this special occasion. “And I have been talking to other mayors in California about coming to the conference too,” she said. 

    Asked what she is looking to accomplish while she is in town and among dozens of other Black mayors from cities both big (Atlanta, New York City, Memphis, and St. Louis, to name a few) and small (Palmetto, Georgia, Miramar, Florida, and Earle, Arkansas, pop. 1,800) Young said she wanted to learn more about how to get larger businesses to connect with and invest in smaller businesses. Tracy, located in San Joaquin County, is 60 miles east of major tech hub San Francisco and 60 miles west of agribusiness and food manufacturing giant Sacramento. Tracy’s population is just under 6% Black, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

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    Donnell Suggs

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  • San Francisco announces inaugural Drag Laureate, the first position of its kind in the country | CNN

    San Francisco announces inaugural Drag Laureate, the first position of its kind in the country | CNN

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    San Francisco
    CNN
     — 

    D’Arcy Drollinger, a veteran of San Francisco’s vibrant drag scene, has been named the city’s first-ever Drag Laureate and will become an ambassador for San Francisco’s drag and LGBTQ+ community for an 18-month term, Mayor London Breed’s office announced Thursday.

    The position is the first of its kind in the country.

    “While drag culture is under attack in other parts of the country, in San Francisco we embrace and elevate the amazing drag performers who through their art and advocacy have contributed to our City’s history around civil rights and equality,” Breed said in a news release.

    Drollinger says she’s “proud to live in a city that is pioneering this position while other parts of the US and the world might not be supportive of Drag. This role will build bridges and create partnerships, while elevating and celebrating the Art of Drag.”

    Drag, according to Drollinger, is a way for many people who “aren’t allowed to sparkle in their real lives and as their true selves” to find refuge, she told CNN.

    Breed officially announced the creation of the Drag Laureate program in her June 2022 city budget, but the concept was first introduced in August 2020 in a report from San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Task Force, a city-supported task force which reviewed community feedback on LGBTQ+ needs and concerns.

    Among other strategies, the task force recommended improving partnerships between city agencies and community organizations to expand creative programs for LGBTQ+ artists, including the “creation and funding of LGBTQ+ artist residency opportunities.”

    Finding spaces for queer creatives is an issue Drollinger understands intimately, as she opened the popular Oasis cabaret and nightclub in 2015 to provide a mid-size venue space for both local and touring drag performers. The survival and success of Oasis, through the pandemic, was vital for San Francisco’s drag community.

    “It’s important to have a space that’s for everyone, and Oasis has become a bit of a hub,” Drollinger said.

    Drag has a rich history in San Francisco, both as an appreciated art form and protest medium. Dating back to the 1950s, nightclubs such as the Black Cat and Finocchio’s drew both queer and straight audiences. The Compton Cafeteria riots in the city’s Tenderloin district became one of the first notable acts of queer protest in 1966 – three years before New York City’s famed Stonewall riots.

    Drollinger, a San Francisco native, has always been drawn to the city’s vibrant creative queer scene.

    “There’s something in the water. What I find exciting about San Francisco, it still remains that there is a willingness to experiment here that I haven’t found in many other places. People are willing to workshop things and play around with stuff purely for the joy of making art,” Drollinger said.

    She commends the city for spearheading efforts to promote drag, especially at a time when drag performance is under attack. By making the Drag Laureate an official city position, provided with a $55,000 stipend, Drollinger says San Francisco sends a message of the “legitimacy” of drag.

    “(San Francisco) is not asking for a volunteer. They’re asking us to be a diplomat and show up and be a part of the city.”

    D'Arcy Drollinger emcees during a drag show at Oasis nightclub Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in San Francisco.

    Before Per Sia, one of the Drag Laureate applicants, began dressing in drag, they fell in love with the art form as a photographer, capturing images of drag queens in South Central Los Angeles and San Francisco. They loved the extravagance and celebrity-like personas drag queens embodied but felt too shy and nervous to do drag themselves.

    The first time Per Sia dressed in drag was 16 years ago on a dare, to perform in San Francisco’s Castro District. The experience was revelatory and they haven’t looked back.

    “After I [performed], there was this sense of joy, this empowerment that I have never felt before, and I just fell in love with it,” Per Sia said.

    Socrates Parra, also known as Per Sia

    They balance drag performance with their second career as an arts educator. Per Sia, who jokes that they get to “teach the little kids” during the day and “perform in front of the big kids” at night, sees drag as a tool to educate people, on top of entertaining them.

    They combine these two careers as a regular for Drag Story Hour, a program where drag queens read stories to children to promote self-expression. They’ve read for San Francisco Public Library events and Oakland Pride, and Per Sia enjoys teaching children about “thinking outside of the box” through these story hours.

    “When you’re a little kid, it’s all about using your imagination, glittering everything and using all the colors, but at some point all of that gets taken away,” Per Sia said. “The benefit of drag is that you teach kids that there’s other ways of living.”

    Drag has always been a part of Drollinger’s life, but it was a slow process for her to embrace drag as her “work clothes” until she was in her 40s. She credits drag for helping her find her community and identity.

    “So many people that find drag, they find it when they aren’t allowed to sparkle in their real life, and their fabulousness is squashed,” Drollinger said. “Drag is a way to let so much of that out.”

    D'arcy Drollinger on the runway at Princess, a dance party and drag show at Oasis, Drollinger's cabaret and nightclub.

    The appointment of the Drag Laureate comes at a time when public drag performances and transgender expression are being threatened by conservative lawmakers across the country.

    “San Francisco’s commitment to inclusivity and the arts are the foundation for who we are as a city,” Breed wrote in a November statement. “Drag artists have helped pave the way for LGBTQ+ rights and representation across our city, and they are a part of what makes our city so special.” [[pending updated comment from mayor’s office TK]]

    Legislation banning or restricting drag has been gaining momentum in many Republican-led states. GOP lawmakers have claimed that drag performances expose children to sexual themes and imagery that are inappropriate, though many drag performances take place in age-restricted locations or require parental consent to attend.

    In March 2023, Tennessee became the first state to pass a law banning drag performances on public property and in locations where children can view the performances.

    Drollinger feels the effects of the national pushback against her work, even in a city known for progressive values. She’s spent more money on security at Oasis to ensure the audience and performers feel safe, she told CNN.

    “Creating these kinds of laws, demonizing trans people and the LGBTQ+ community, what they’re doing is inciting violence,” Drollinger said. “It’s terrifying. They want to erase my community and erase us.”

    Both Per Sia and Drollinger hope that by pioneering the Drag Laureate position, San Francisco will establish a model of tolerance for others to follow.

    “Important things happen here in San Francisco, and the world takes notice. Having this position for someone like me or anyone who applied is so special, but also, it’s showing the world that drag is powerful, and it deserves a place,” Per Sia said.

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