Mission Local is publishing campaign dispatches for each of the major contenders in the mayor’s race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: Mark Farrell. Read earlier dispatches here.
With less than two months to go until Election Day, Mark Farrell is putting the jigsaw pieces of his plan for San Francisco together. The mayoral candidate revealed on Wednesday he would not open up Market Street to all cars (just to ride-shares like Lyft and Uber), but would upzone downtown, remove members of the police commission, and declare a fentanyl state of emergency.
He said he would fire the police chief and the head of the transit agency, put together a “stop the spread” tent removal team, and make use of expanded mayoral powers he is bankrolling via ballot measure.
“My 100-day agenda articulates a clear plan: A vision for a safer, cleaner, and more vibrant San Francisco,” said Farrell at a Wednesday press conference, reiterating what he and most other candidates have pledged over the last several months.
This time, however, he released a detailed 38-point plan of his first 100 days in office at a press conference with some 30 volunteers, two reporters, and many pork buns, muffins and moon cakes. All were gathered at his campaign headquarters at 299 West Portal Ave.
Here are more details from Farrell’s 100-day agenda:
Government reform, a strong mayor
Farrell sees himself as a stronger mayor than London Breed, and if his efforts to reform the city’s charter come to pass, he would also inherit a much stronger office.
Farrell is banking on voters passing Proposition D in November, a measure sponsored by the political advocacy group TogetherSF that would cut the number of city commissions from 130 to 65 and broaden mayoral powers.
Farrell has put together his own committee to pass the measure, which has fundraised $2.1 million of the $7.8 million total for the proposition, which is the single most expensive item on the November ballot.
Should Prop. D pass, the mayor would gain appointment authority over five out of seven members of the police commission, the body which sets policy and provides oversight of the police department.
Given these powers, Farrell said he would appoint new members to the police commission — although he did not specify which members he would remove. The commissioners should be focused on recruiting and enabling officers to do their jobs, Farrell said, “as opposed to coming after the police officers on the streets of San Francisco, which they’re doing today.”
The Police Commission, by definition, is the civilian oversight body for the San Francisco Police Department.
In addition, Farrell said he would also fire police Chief Bill Scott and Jeffrey Tumlin, the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
Public safety, housing
For the most part, Farrell’s plan is on track with what he set out to do from the start.
At the onset of his campaign, Farrell promised a hardline approach to the city’s public safety, homelessness and drug problems.
On Wednesday, Farrell detailed how: He would create a “Stop the Spread” tent encampment removal team — although it is not clear how this would be different from the city’s “Healthy Streets Operations Center” and its other teams focused on dismantling encampments.
Farrell also said he would declare a fentanyl state of emergency, which would ostensibly leverage more funding from the state and federal government for treatment programs aimed at abstinence. Farrell has criticized the city’s use of “harm reduction” programs that try to keep people who are using drugs safer, rather than requiring abstinence for services — though experts say harm reduction is a critical tool of public health.
Likewise, regarding housing, Farrell drove home his plan to focus on upzoning in the Financial District, SoMa and Mission Bay, areas which are already among the most densely built up in the city. He also said he would further reduce the inclusionary requirements (i.e. the percentage of affordable units) for new builds from the current 12 to 16 percent bracket, to 10 percent.
However, on the subject of Market Street, Farrell appears to have fine-tuned his pitch. Upon launching his campaign, Farrell made a splash when he declared that he would bring cars back to Market Street, which is currently only open to buses and taxis; but on Wednesday, he specified he would only bring ride-share vehicles back to the corridor.
“Our plan from the beginning was about ride-share vehicles,” he said, in conversation with this reporter after his speech. “Let’s be honest, taxis are a dwindling kind of existence here in San Francisco. Ride-share is an activity that I believe we need to promote out of City Hall.”
Farrell has also sided with ride-share companies in opposing Proposition L, which would tax them and allocate that income to Muni’s operational budget. Instead, on Wednesday Farrell proposed reevaluating the need for funding for Muni capital projects — and focus funds on day-to-day operations.
‘A dog fight until the end’
Farrell’s 100 day plan comes a mere three weeks before voters will begin casting ballots. It’s a tight race, but it is clear Farrell is a top runner — and he knows whom he has to target to get the No. 1 spot.
“No mayor has overseen a steeper decline in our city’s history than Mayor Breed,” Farrell said on Wednesday, during a nine-minute speech in which he recycled some standard campaign fare targeting his biggest rival.
“Public safety is the number one concern in every single neighborhood. Homelessness is on the rise. Our economy is stuck in cement. Our neighborhoods are struggling, and families are no longer part of the dialog in City Hall,” he added.
Farrell, for his part, also hit at a brewing scandal that enveloped Breed last week, when Human Rights commission head Sheryl Davis, a longtime ally and friend of the mayor, was caught engaging in questionable (and lavish) spending atop her city department, the Human Rights Commission.
Farrell said he would pause all direct funding for nonprofits and centralize all their contracts under the mayor’s office; Davis is accused of manipulating city spending reports and signing off on $1.5 million in contracts to a man with whom she shared a home.
While Farrell has targeted Breed since the start of the race — and more recently, Lurie, on a dedicated page on his website saying he is “trying to buy the San Francisco Mayor’s race” — he has also been the target of broadsides from his opponents, largely centered on the use of funds he has raised for his ballot measure committee to subsidize his mayoral campaign, an end-run around donation limits.
Farrell last week also faced scrutiny after rival campaigns alleged that one of his campaign ads violated election law, and after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that as mayor he had solicited $1.2 million in payments to a nonprofit in which his wife was a board member from parties that had pending business at City Hall.
For his part, Lurie’s campaign has poured resources into media materials opposing Farrell, and a not-so-subtle anti-corruption agenda aimed at his campaign.
And Farrell, seeing the temperatures rise, is getting ready. “This will be a sprint until the end. This will be a dog fight until the end.”
About the author
Judge denies motion to ease house arrest of Jon Jacobo
A San Francisco judge on Thursday denied a motion to loosen the home detention conditions forJon Jacobo, a once-rising star in San Francisco’s politics who was arrested on Aug. 5 for alleged sexual assault. “The motion is denied to the extent that it asks for relief from home detention and [ankle] monitoring,” said San Francisco Superior Court judge Kenneth Wine this morning. “It’s the seriousness of the charges that’s really driving my decision. There are a number of victims with very serious charges.”Jacobo, a longtime Mission District community leader, was first publicly accused of rape in 2021. This April, he resigned from his executive position at affordable-housing developer TODCO, soon after three women accused him of rape and abuse in a San Francisco Standard story. He was arrested on Aug. 5, 2024. Jacobo today showed up in the courtroom in casual clothes […]
Pam Bondi named as new AG pick after Gaetz drops out
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, said Thursday he is withdrawing his name for the role -- just a day after Gaetz spoke with Republican senators on Capitol Hill about the nomination process.Trump has named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, as his new pick for the role.Another controversial Cabinet pick, Pete Hegseth, is on the Hill on Thursday with Vice President-elect JD Vance to make his case for the secretary of the Department of Defense job.Meanwhile, Trump continues to announce his picks for top jobs inside his administration.Latest DevelopmentsNov 21, 6:56 PMTrump nominates Pam Bondi as new AG pickTrump has nominated Pam Bondi as his new pick for attorney general, after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration earlier Thursday.Bondi is the former attorney general of Florida, serving from 2011 to 2019 and marking […]
Mission Local bags two Society of Professional Journalists awards
This here publication last week took home two more awards from the Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists for in-depth coverage and analysis of the sort you expect — and demand — of us. Senior editor Joe Rivano Barros and former data reporter Will Jarrett were honored in the “Explanatory Journalism” category for the mammoth effort of tracing and documenting the Russian dolls-like series of interconnected organizations funneling billionaires’ dollars into San Francisco politics. Joe Rivano Barros, who with Will Jarrett won for the Big Money SF work. Photo by Abigail Van NeelyThe series, titled “BigMoneySF,” included Rivano Barros’ profile of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, the largest donor over the last several election cycles, and Jarrett’s interactive chart, a stunning accomplishment requiring months of work unearthing reams of financial data structured in a manner so as to render it […]
US airline flight crews confident and angry as unions seek richer contracts
By Rajesh Kumar Singh CHICAGO (Reuters) - Alaska Airlines flight attendant Rebecca Owens works 10 hours a day but only gets paid for half that time - a legacy of a common U.S. airline policy to pay cabin crew members only when planes are in motion. Owens, and thousands of cabin crew like her, wants that to change. In August, 68% of Alaska flight attendants in a ratification vote rejected a contract that would have increased average pay by 32% over three years. It was also the first labor agreement that would have legally required airlines to start the clock for paying flight attendants when passengers are boarding, not when the flight starts to taxi down the runway. Delta Air Lines, the only major U.S. airline whose flight attendants are not in a union, instituted boarding pay for its flight […]
Easy Caramel Apple Cider Mimosas
Sweet, tart and bubbly, this recipe for Caramel Apple Cider Mimosas is a perfectly refreshing cocktail for your next fall party, Thanksgiving brunch, or holiday gathering! A traditional mimosa is only two ingredients: orange juice and champagne (or sparkling wine). But since this recipe is inspired by warm autumn flavors, apple cider replaces orange juice and we’re adding a splash of caramel flavored whiskey. If you can’t find a caramel flavored whiskey, we have some substitutions below in the ‘Tips’ section below. The Ingredients Champagne (Or other sparkling wine like cava or prosecco) Apple cider (not a apple juice) Caramel flavored whiskey Fresh apple slices (honey crisp or granny smith are both delicious!) How to Make the Mimosas These mimosas are easy to make! Simply add 2 ounces of apple cider to your champagne glass with .5 ounces (equal to […]
‘Slow Streets, Fast Friends’ mural comes to 20th St. in the Mission
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. Josue Rojas hovers in the air above the ground, gingerly balancing his stomach on a stool while holding his paintbrush in one hand, face towards the asphalt. He says it’s better than being on all fours. “It’s particularly brutal work,” says Rojas. “I’m on my knees six to eight hours a day and, now that I’m in my mid-40s, it’s not that easy to bear.” Rojas has spent the past week working between bursts of rain to create a street mural on 20th and Florida streets for the “Slow Streets, Fast Friends” project of the SF Parks Alliance nonprofit, which commissions murals on slow streets throughout the city.The mural was finished this past weekend, and now adorns the block where Atlas Cafe, the Southern […]
Related
Judge denies motion to ease house arrest of Jon Jacobo
A San Francisco judge on Thursday denied a motion to loosen the home detention conditions forJon Jacobo, a once-rising star in San Francisco’s politics who was arrested on Aug. 5 for alleged sexual assault. “The motion is denied to the extent that it asks for relief from home detention and [ankle] monitoring,” said San Francisco Superior Court judge Kenneth Wine this morning. “It’s the seriousness of the charges that’s really driving my decision. There are a number of victims with very serious charges.”Jacobo, a longtime Mission District community leader, was first publicly accused of rape in 2021. This April, he resigned from his executive position at affordable-housing developer TODCO, soon after three women accused him of rape and abuse in a San Francisco Standard story. He was arrested on Aug. 5, 2024. Jacobo today showed up in the courtroom in casual clothes […]
Mission Local bags two Society of Professional Journalists awards
This here publication last week took home two more awards from the Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists for in-depth coverage and analysis of the sort you expect — and demand — of us. Senior editor Joe Rivano Barros and former data reporter Will Jarrett were honored in the “Explanatory Journalism” category for the mammoth effort of tracing and documenting the Russian dolls-like series of interconnected organizations funneling billionaires’ dollars into San Francisco politics. Joe Rivano Barros, who with Will Jarrett won for the Big Money SF work. Photo by Abigail Van NeelyThe series, titled “BigMoneySF,” included Rivano Barros’ profile of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, the largest donor over the last several election cycles, and Jarrett’s interactive chart, a stunning accomplishment requiring months of work unearthing reams of financial data structured in a manner so as to render it […]
‘Slow Streets, Fast Friends’ mural comes to 20th St. in the Mission
Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. Josue Rojas hovers in the air above the ground, gingerly balancing his stomach on a stool while holding his paintbrush in one hand, face towards the asphalt. He says it’s better than being on all fours. “It’s particularly brutal work,” says Rojas. “I’m on my knees six to eight hours a day and, now that I’m in my mid-40s, it’s not that easy to bear.” Rojas has spent the past week working between bursts of rain to create a street mural on 20th and Florida streets for the “Slow Streets, Fast Friends” project of the SF Parks Alliance nonprofit, which commissions murals on slow streets throughout the city.The mural was finished this past weekend, and now adorns the block where Atlas Cafe, the Southern […]
SFMTA board approves new Valencia bikeway—but few are happy
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board unanimously approved the new curbside Valencia Street bike lane on Tuesday, and admitted that the transit agency should have been more cautious with experiments in merchant corridors.That experiment — a bike lane running up the center of the street — had pitted transit advocates against shopkeepers. Now cyclists and the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association were finally on the same page: Neither were fans of the new design.“The [merchants association] cannot officially support the side-running bike lane,” said Manny Yekutiel, president of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association, which has fought the old design. Yekutiel was one of dozens who spoke up in the three-hour-long meeting held at City Hall.Yekutiel, echoing long-held concerns from merchants against streetscape changes, said the new design will get rid of a lot of the parking spots on Valencia Street. […]
Banderas flags
Banderas flags Source: missionlocal.org
Nima Momeni contradicts himself on witness stand
In his third day of testimony Nima Momeni, who is on trial for the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee seemed to contradict some of his earlier statements. For the most part, Momeni answered the questions about the April 2023 incident and aftermath using very similar phrasing as he did during two days of testimony last week. Most significantly, Momeni testified earlier that the altercation between Lee and himself began over a “joke” he made to Lee about spending time with his family instead of going to a strip club. Judge Alexandra Gordon, who asked questions through the morning on behalf of the jurors, asked Momeni what happened after this joke and whether Momeni ever apologized for it. That’s when Momeni mentioned knowing Lee was in town to see his children. This raised an issue: Last week, under questioning from prosecutor Omid […]
