Political ambition can change people, fast. Matt Haney was part of the city’s left until he decided that being a moderate Yimby would get him elected to the state Assembly. David Chiu ran for supervisor as a progressive backed by Aaron Peskin, then quickly changed sides when he needed moderate votes to become Board president.
And now, let me present Alan Wong.
Wong was an aide to Sup. Gordon Mar, one of the most left-leaning members of the board during his term. He supported David Campos over Haney for state Assembly and Honey Mahogany over Matt Dorsey for D6 supe.
Wong ran as a progressive for City College Board, with the endorsement of the unions and the other left-leaning board members. In 2024, the Bay Guardian noted:
The only progressive on the board seeking re-election is Alan Wong—and unlike the 2022 election, there are no other progressive candidates. Since the election is at-large, meaning the top four win, we are endorsing only Wong, in the hope that he gets enough votes to finish in the running.
Then the D4 supervisor seat opened up, and Mayor Daniel Lurie was looking, after a terrible mistake, for a credible candidate who could hold office—and support his conservative agenda.
Wong took the job, and has sided with the most conservative flank of the board, over and over, most recently on the public bank.
I just looked at the answers Wong gave to the Harvey Milk Club in 2024. You can see his questionnaire here.
Among the questions: Do you support a public municipal bank? Answer: Yes.
Wong also told the progressive club that he opposes the use of Tasers by cops, opposes qualified immunity for police officers, and supports reparations for Black people. He said he supports an independent investigation of all police shootings and would not accept contributions from law-enforcement unions. He also supported supervised injection sites, and replacing PG&E with a municipal utility.
Most of those positions are directly in conflict with what the mayor wants (although Lurie hasn’t taken a position on PG&E). It’s pretty clear that we will not see Wong adhere to what he told the Milk club just two years ago.
I asked Wong why he changed his position on the public bank. He hasn’t responded. (We used to talk fairly regularly; since he joined the board, he hasn’t responded once to my calls and texts). His staff hasn’t responded either.
But look who supported his re-election: The entire conservative establishment that just two years ago he was running against—including Dorsey and the Police Officers Association, which has pushed for Tasers and opposed independent investigations of all police shootings.
It’s just sad, really, how quickly a lifetime’s worth of political positions can evaporate when a political promotion comes along.
