Kim’s mayoral run complicates race for left
San Francisco Supervisor
Jane Kim’s decision to jump into the June mayoral race has all but dashed the left’s hopes that the five progressives on the Board of Supervisors can rally around a candidate to take over as acting mayor next month — and increased the likelihood of a caretaker being voted into the job.
“It certainly would appear that way,” said Supervisor
Aaron Peskin, a leader of the progressive bloc.
Under the City Charter, board President London
Breed, a moderate, automatically became acting mayor when Mayor Ed Lee died of a heart attack last week. Progressives, however, promptly voiced concerns that Breed had a conflict of interest as head of both the city’s executive and legislative branches. And many feared that making her interim mayor would give her a leg up in the June 5 election to fill out Lee’s term.
Speculation was that Peskin and Kim, along with fellow progressives Norman Yee,
Sandra Lee Fewer and Hillary Ronen, might find a sixth vote to appoint one of their allies, either former state Sen. Mark Leno or City Attorney Dennis Herrera ,to the interim job. Leno is already running in the June 5 election, and Herrera is thinking about it.
The prospect of such a progressive play pretty much died Wednesday, however, when Kim pulled nomination papers to run in June. That removed the possibility she would vote to install Leno, Herrera or any other non-caretaker as interim mayor.
Kim doesn’t appear to have the six votes on the board to be named interim mayor herself. Neither, for that matter, does Breed. And supervisors can’t vote for themselves.
“It’s a little early, and a lot will happen between now and New Year’s,” Peskin said. But Kim’s entry in the June race “greatly reduces the chances of an interim mayor running for the job permanently and increases the chances of having a caretaker mayor.”
City Administrator Naomi Kelly, who happens to be a good friend of Breed’s but is also known to be collegial with both progressive and moderate board members, has been rumored for the job. But her marriage to Harlan Kelly, general manager of the city Public Utilities Commission, could pose a conflict.
City Controller Ben Rosenfield has also been mentioned, as has Herrera if he rules out a mayoral run.
The filing deadline for the election is Jan. 9. The board could call a special meeting as early as the next day to name an interim mayor, but we’re told supervisors might wait another week after that.
That means that once the final lineup for the mayor’s race is known, there will still be plenty of time for the picture to change.
As Ronen told us, “It’s never over until it’s over.” Final resting place: Lee’s ashes will be buried in the Bay Area after all, his family said Thursday.
“Plans are being made to bury Ed’s ashes at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park” in Colma, the former mayor’s family said in a statement, dousing speculation that his remains would be interred in Seattle, where he was born and where his mother and five siblings still live.
The statement from Lee’s widow, Anita, and two adult daughters did not indicate when interment will take place, only saying it will happen “at a later date.”
Lee, 65, died of a heart attack Dec. 12. Private services were held Saturday, and on Sunday more than 1,500 people attended a televised celebration of his life at City Hall.
In their statement, Anita Lee and the couple’s daughters, Brianna and Tania, thanked those who have reached out to them “with condolences, warm memories and a shoulder of support in recent days.”
“This has been one of the most difficult times of our lives, and your flowers, cards, tributes, prayers and donations in Ed Lee’s name have meant so much to us,” they said.
The family also highlighted the new Edwin M. Lee Community Fund, which will be administered through the San Francisco Foundation to support “some of the causes we know he cared deeply about.”