Although Cohen’s D10 has more homeowners than any other district in town, housing affordability is still a major issue, and if she’s not with the renters on this one, Kelly will be able to count of unified support from tenant groups.
Then there’s the Assembly race.
Campos and Sup. David Chiu are both, of course, courting the tenant vote, and while the anecdotal evidence clearly favors Campos, Chiu is going out of his way to say that he’s a renter himself and tenant ally. On the other hand, he’s also in trouble for a campaign event that featured an Ellis Act eviction lawyer – and it’s pretty clear that if the landlords have a choice, it’s not David Campos.
Chiu will be under tremendous pressure from both sides. His vote will be a sign of how seriously he views the importance not only of the issue but of tenant power in this race.
By the way: Just because they’re both Democrats who went to Harvard Law School doesn’t mean Campos and Chiu have to “struggle” to differentiate themselves. It’s been clear to anyone who has watched the board that Campos is part of the solid progressive flank, someone who can always be counted on from the left, and Chiu is much more of a moderate who seeks compromise. The fact that we don’t know how he will vote on the Campos legislation is a clear sign of the difference.
Is Aaron Peskin really that scary? Is a guy who holds no political office, has little in the way of personal wealth, and struggles to raise money for the causes he really cares about such a powerhouse that he can intimidate the likes of Scott Wiener?
I mean: There was a time when Peskin, as president of the Board of Supervisors and then chair of the local Democratic Party, was a force in this town, and he didn’t always take kindly to people who crossed him. (He was also, by any fair account, an incredibly effective legislator.)
But today? I mean, a lot of people look to him for advice, he gets access to the news media (in part, let’s face it, because he often has good stories) and he remains one of the smartest political strategists in town. He knows everyone, and a lot of progressives still look to him for advice.
I have to wonder, though, when Wiener acts as if Peskin is behind every single move that’s made by anyone involved in the waterfront initiative (or anything else in North Beach). And it’s a little insulting to Jon Golinger, a lawyer and activist who seems to have the capacity to think and act entirely on his own. Imagine that.
The thing is, Golinger filed the public records request that led to the complaint he filed with the city attorney. Peskin tells me he didn’t even see the complaint until after it was filed. Now: The two are allies and work together, but I don’t think that every criticism of Scott Wiener, and in particular this one, was “orchestrated by Aaron Peskin.”
What’s coming to the first floor of the Twitter building – and will the new retail outlet really serve the neighborhood? A permit taken out Feb. 19 for 1355 Market calls for $1.2 million worth of interior remodeling and “general retail tenant” improvements. I emailed Jim Prosser, a Twitter media person, and he told me there are “no plans to open up a store on our part.”
But the mayor announced months ago that a high-end grocery story will be opening in the building – nice for Twitter workers, and the residents of the new luxury condo towers going up in the area. But if the prices are similar to what you find at Small Foods, not such a boon to the lower-income folks and nonprofit workers who still populate parts of pre-Twitter mid-Market.
