We can all stop guessing now: Rep. Nancy Pelosi is not running for another term.
State Sen. Scott Wiener has all-but announced he is seeking Pelosi’s seat, and I know Wiener well enough to say that he would never defy the Democratic Party leadership and take on the speaker emerita. So the face that he’s running means Pelosi is not.
We have all heard for years that Pelosi’s daughter, Christine, would be the nepo-baby candidate when Nancy retired, but if that’s going to happen, she needs to start running, now. And she isn’t.
So at this point, it’s Wiener and Saikat Chakrabarti, a former software engineer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez staffer who is worth more than $100 million. Chakrabarti, who describes himself as a progressive and wants to take on the AOC legacy, is going to have a lot of trouble getting support from the left: He donated money to help the billionaire-backed Yimby Bilal Mahmood oust the one democratic socialist on the Board of Supes, Dean Preston.
Other than that, he’s played no visible role in local politics.
Wiener’s never been popular with progressives and almost lost to former Sup. Jane Kim in his first state Senate race. He’s now going to have some trouble on the West Side, because the upzoning he has been pushing is unpopular, as was his support for Sup. Joel Engardio in the recall and his comments that he “doesn’t care” if people find his land-use policies disturbing.
Which raises the question: Could a real progressive, with a local track record—say, a Chinese woman from the West Side who opposed the Great Highway closure and doesn’t support Lurie’s upzoning—have a chance in a three-way Congressional race?
Like a lot of us in local politics, I keep hearing the discussion: Could a genuine progressive—say, a Chinese woman from the West Side with a long record in the city, who opposed the closure of the Great Highway and isn’t support Lurie’s upzoning—have a chance in a three-way race? Could Sup. Connie Chan run for Congress?
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The battle over housing and the future of San Francisco moves to the Board of Supes Monday/20 as the Land Use and Transportation Committee holds a hearing on Mayor Daniel Lurie’s (Rich) Family Zoning Plan.
The supes will consider the plan, and a series of amendments designed to protect tenants and small businesses (to the extent state law allows).
There are so many issues here it’s hard to address them all.
Lurie argues that it’s necessary to increase height and density in commercial corridors to meet the state’s housing mandates. For the record, those mandates are mostly due to state Sen. Scott Wiener.
Quintin Mecke, director of the Council of Community Housing Organizations, notes that the mayor’s plan is all about market-rate (luxury) development, and does nothing to address the city’s affordable housing mandates:
To meet our regional housing commitments, more than half of the remaining rezoning capacity must be affordable to low-income households. The private market alone can’t deliver that level of deep affordability. We need robust policy tools and funding that match the challenge.
CCHO is calling on the city to
- Create an Affordable Housing Special Use District (SUD)
- Give nonprofit/community developers the height, density, and fast-track approvals needed to build 100% affordable homes
- Prioritize public land for public good
- Prioritize publicly owned sites (including places like Kirkland Yard) for 100% affordable projects
- Pair Zoning with Public Investment
- Commit to a 2026 Affordable Housing Funding Measure to unlock 17,000+ affordable homes already in the pipeline.
Meanwhile:
Sups Supervisors Connie Chan, Shamann Walton, Chyanne Chen, and Jackie Fielder will hold a rally on the Steps of City Hall with labor leaders, community advocates, small business owners, and San Francisco residents to discuss concerns and present solutions to protect tenants, small businesses, and build housing families and working people can afford.
Both Melgar and Chen have introduced legislation that seeks to protect tenants and small businesses. Lurie has agreed to Melgar’s proposals. Chen’s proposals go further, and I can guarantee the Yimbys and the developers will say that her legislation would create “obstacles” to new luxury housing.
Four supes are going to demand changes to the Lurie plan. Since D4 Sup. Joel Engardio is now out of office, the mayor needs to appoint someone to fill that seat, and will probably do so Monday. I’m sure he will demand that his appointee pledge to support the (Rich) Family Zoning Plan, which is unpopular in District 4.
That hearing starts at 1:30.
