The gloves were off on Thursday night for what was likely the last major San Francisco mayoral debate this election cycle.
The five leading candidates — Mayor London Breed, former supervisor and Mayor Mark Farrell, Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safaí, and nonprofit founder Daniel Lurie — made their pitches to voters at the debate hosted by KQED and the San Francisco Chronicle, and not without taking big swings at one another’s experience, too.
Here’s what you may have missed.
The candidates wasted no time launching critiques at Breed, who missed two recent debates. The incumbent mayor was largely on the defensive over her record on housing, homelessness, public safety and recent ethics scandals under her watch in City Hall.
But Breed appeared relaxed — and, at some points, annoyed — standing center stage and swinging back at her opponents, including swipes at Farrell for crime rates during his stint as interim mayor and Lurie’s lack of government experience. Meanwhile, she painted a picture of San Francisco that’s back and better than ever.
“This past summer has been one of the best summers in our city, and especially downtown, with night markets and open space and raves and events and activation and fun,” she said.
Fielding questions about concerns over his past behavior and his own recovery after entering alcohol treatment, Peskin appeared calm and made the case for his plans for the city moving forward while opponents largely launched attacks on one another.
Peskin, the only progressive in the race, stressed that he wanted to make San Francisco more affordable and livable for everyday residents, not just “billionaires,” like he accused some of his opponents of doing.
He has taken hits from other candidates and housing advocates for opposing developments in places like Telegraph Hill and North Beach. On Thursday night, he said he wants to expand rent control across the city and supports building affordable housing — but will seek to preserve neighborhood integrity and will not hand out blank checks to developers.
“We need to reject the narrative of the real estate speculators and developers,” he said.
In a Q&A with reporters after the debate, Safaí shared his plans for the city’s downtown recovery that didn’t make it to the debate stage.
Among his ideas to reenergize the city’s economic hub? Bringing TV and film production back to San Francisco, as well as another university.
“We need to invite Hollywood back to the city,” he said. “You can’t buy that kind of advertisement. It’s the thing that drove SF to being a tourist destination.”
Farrell said the city has had its steepest decline under Breed’s leadership, calling out residents’ concerns over crime and a sluggish economic recovery.
There was certainly irony in the room when the former supervisor said crime and safety is “the reason why conventions left San Francisco” while the city was simultaneously hosting one of its largest tech conferences, Dreamforce, just across town.
Farrell also received a few groans from KQED’s live studio audience when asked what he has had to sacrifice in his relatively privileged life. He spoke of his immigrant parents’ modest upbringing — and said he has had to take out student loans.
Lurie, who recently launched campaign ads criticizing his opponents, took an onslaught of direct attacks from Breed as well as Peskin. He managed to slip in some of his ideas, like bringing in a new downtown police station near Moscone Center and touted his work building an affordable housing project through his nonprofit — which he said was built faster and cheaper than the average city project.
Ultimately, the Tipping Point founder came back repeatedly to his Day One message: City Hall insiders created the mess, and it will take an outsider to fix things.
“The definition of insanity is electing the same people over and over again and expecting a different result,” Lurie said. “They’ve built up this corrupt system, then they exploit it. Then they have the audacity, like they did tonight, to tell you they’re the only ones that can fix it. I have a proven track record of getting big things done.”
To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy.