Leno looks to spook rivals with early run for mayor
Former state Sen. Mark Leno’s jump into the San Francisco mayor’s race 2½ years before the election is designed to raise big money out of the gate and give potential challengers pause before entering the contest.
If anyone can testify to the strategy’s effectiveness, it’s Leno — it’s the same tactic Mayor Ed Lee used to scare him away from the 2015 race when Leno was pondering a challenge.
Whether the “get in early, get in big” strategy works for Leno remains to be seen — but that’s not the only thing he has going for him. First up is the timing of the election. Under San Francisco’s new consolidated election calendar, City Attorney Dennis Herrera,
Assessor Carmen Chu and District Attorney George Gascón all come up for re-election in 2019 — meaning they would have to give up their jobs to run for mayor.
Assemblymen David Chiu and Phil Ting don’t have to worry about losing their jobs — they come up for re-election next year and probably will win. They could also use their Capitol clout to match Leno’s early money. However, running for mayor in 2019 would mean they’d have to turn right around after one campaign and launch the next one.
Supervisors Mark Farrell and London Breed are a different story — they’re both termed out in 2018, so, like Leno, they’ll be able to run for mayor full-time should they so choose.
Leno’s early-in strategy is being overseen by the San Francisco consulting firm SCN Strategies, whose other clients include Lee, Sen. Kamala Harris, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
“We want to show that we have substantial resources and support,” Leno said after announcing Thursday morning.
His goal will be to raise at least $1 million by the end of the year and file an impressive first finance report by June — not an easy task, considering the city’s $500 cap on individual donations.
Still, given Leno’s long connections with nightlife business, the arts community, labor, progressives, LGBT groups and the Democratic establishment, raising money fast is eminently doable.
But perhaps the biggest boost for Leno so far is that Supervisor Aaron Peskin — the Napoleon of North Beach, who many thought was getting ready for a mayoral run — has decided not to enter the race, and will probably endorse Leno.
“He is a very competent and compelling candidate,” Peskin said.
On fire: Score a big victory for the politically potent San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which won approval the other day for protected bike lanes along several blocks of upper Market Street — despite a Fire Department protest that the reconfiguration will interfere with ladder trucks in an emergency.
“The design materially compromises the safety of firefighters and local residents,” Fire Chief Joanne HayesWhite warned in a letter to the Municipal Transportation Agency commission.
At issue is a nearly mile-long strip of Market between Octavia and Castro streets. Under the plan, the city will install protected bike lanes in both directions.
The redo includes a bike lane on two blocks near Octavia that will be located next to the curb and be buffered from traffic by a lane for parked cars.
And therein lies the rub — because, as Hayes-White tells us, the parking lane will be right in the spot where a ladder truck would normally pull up to an emergency scene.
With the parking lane in the way, ladder trucks will have to stop under or next to Muni’s overhead wires, Hayes-White said. That will make it harder to lift the ladder to rescue people trapped in burning buildings, she warned, and will also create an electrical shock hazard for firefighters.
The chief also noted that Market is a major east-west artery, and the redo means it will be shut down virtually every time a group of fire trucks pulls up to an emergency.
Muni, however, thinks the fire chief ’s concern is overblown — particularly when it comes to her fears about truck ladders hitting the overhead wires. We’re told Muni tested some ladder trucks and concluded they had plenty of room to maneuver around the wires.
Transit agency spokesman Paul Rose declined to discuss the tests, but said that overall, “we believe the proposal is responsive to the Fire Department’s concerns and ... doesn’t substantially alter existing fire access.”
The bike coalition lobbied hard for the the $9.7 million redo, which also includes curb bulb-outs and improved pedestrian crossings. The group showered MTA chief Ed Reiskin and the commission with 300 emails supporting the project and turned out a standingroom-only crowd for Tuesday’s vote.
“It was impressive by my book,” said bike coalition spokesman Chris Cassidy.
The MTA commission agreed and voted unanimously to approve the new lanes, despite the Fire Department’s concerns.
“This is a whole new wrinkle with them not listening to us,” said Tom O’Connor, head of the firefighters union.
Mayor Ed Lee himself signaled his support for the biking crowd last year when he issued a directive pledging support for protective bike lanes in the city, and calling for at least 13 miles of additional bike lanes and related infrastructure annually.
Safe for bikes, perhaps, but maybe less so for anyone needing help in an emergency.