Alioto signs up as 1st official candidate in mayor’s race

San Francisco attorney and former Supervisor Angela Alioto became the city’s first official candidate for mayor Thursday, after registering her candidacy paperwork with the Department of Elections.

Alioto pledged to focus her campaign on combatting homelessness and increasing the city’s stock of affordable housing “so that everyone can afford to live here, not just the rich,” she said.

She previously had called the city’s homelessness crisis the “prime motivator” behind her decision to run for mayor. Finding permanent, supportive housing for people living on the street will be the policy nucleus of her campaign, she said.

She’s also vowed to tighten control over the city’s dozens of department heads to ensure “they do what’s right and that they’re doing what

works,” and underscored her support for San Francisco’s sanctuary city ordinance.

Alioto, a familiar presence in San Francisco’s political scene for years, served two terms on the Board of Supervisors in the 1980s and ’90s, including a stint as board president. She also ran unsuccessfully for mayor twice, coming closest in 2003, when she finished third in the primary behind Matt Gonzalez and eventual winner Gavin Newsom. Her father, Joe Alioto, was mayor from 1968 to 1976.

Mike Mallen, Alioto’s campaign manager, said she would begin wooing potential voters right away.

“People are just drawn to her,” Mallen said. “We’re going to hit the streets every day. We have a full team raising funds, and we’re going to start identifying voters.”

All mayoral hopefuls have until Tuesday to file candidate paperwork. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Supervisor Jane Kim, former state Sen. Mark Leno and a list of lesser-known candidates have pulled but have not yet returned their nomination paperwork.

Acting Mayor London Breed is widely expected to launch a mayoral bid of her own in the coming days, but had not yet pulled papers to run as of Thursday afternoon.

— Dominic Fracassa Different looks: San Francisco’s commissions and boards grew more diverse under Mayor Ed Lee than they were under his predecessor, Gavin Newsom, according to a new report by the city’s Department on the Status of Women.

Between Lee’s election in 2011 and his death on Dec. 12, representation of people of color rose significantly on commissions, from 48 to 57 percent. The 2017 figures showed a slight dip from two years earlier, when people of color comprised 60 percent of commission members.

The shift was just as stark on city boards. In 2011, people of color accounted for 38 percent of membership on these bodies. By 2017, that figure jumped to 47 percent.

Generally, commissions are filled by the mayor, while boards are mostly appointed by the Board of Supervisors.

Notably, African Americans and white people have a greater presence on city policy bodies than in the general population. African Americans make up 14 percent of city commission appointees, but comprise only 6 percent of San Francisco residents. White people account for 43 percent of commission appointees, and 41 percent of residents.

By contrast, Asian Americans and Latinos are underrepresented on city commissions. Thirtyfour percent of San Francisco residents are Asian Americans, but they account for only 25 percent of appointees. Latinos make up 15 percent of the population, and 11 percent of appointees.

“At the highest level, it looks like we’re doing great,” said Emily Murase, director of the Department on the Status of Women. “But when you look at subgroups, like Asians, there’s still work to be done.”

Murase said she had no quibbles about the high representation of African Americans, and surmised that it was probably “intentional,” because Lee and other city officials were cognizant of the number of African Americans being displaced from the city.

Representation of women inched up on commissions during Lee’s term — from 51 to 54 percent — and dropped from 48 to 41 percent on city boards. Women make up 49 percent of the general population.

Two key seats are now open on the Planning and Port commissions. The acting or interim mayor could fill them before a new mayor is elected in June, if he or she chooses to do so.