If the latest polls are correct, Mayor Gavin Newsom has a 50-50 chance of being elected Lt Guv in November. If he wins, the current board of supes will appoint a mayor – anyone they please - to fill out the remaining one year of his term.
Many people don’t seem to realize how hairy things could get. That’s because the board is dominated by its progressive faction, consisting of all men, the Six Guys Club.
They voted as a block early in 2009 to stop the other supes from electing Sophie Maxwell as board prez. After thwarting Maxwell, one of the Guys, David Campos, boasted that they had saved the position “for one of our own.”
They’ll do it again when the mayoral plum comes within their grasp. The new mayor will likely come from among the club’s members, plus one other possibility from outside. He’s the club’s seventh Guy and master strategist, former board prez Aaron Peskin.
Below is what to expect from each Guy, should the other Guys make him mayor.
Brace yourself. It’s not a reassuring picture.
Aaron Peskin
Peskin is the mostly likely to be appointed mayor by the other Guys. He started out well in politics as a good-government type.
However, he got carried away with his own power. He developed a nasty habit of getting drunk after dinner and calling public officials at home night, loudly berating them with slurred obscenities.
After being termed out as a supe, he successfully enlisted his cronies to orchestrate a take-over of the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC). They pushed out the good-natured, openly-gay Scott Wiener as chair and put Peskin in his place. Since then, Peskin has created a well oiled machine whose purpose is to make himself mayor.
He has expressed his style of politics with the infamous Peskin principle: “Payback is a bitch.” This is the motto of every political machine. He first snarled these words at a woman sitting in a wheelchair.
Ross Mirkarimi
Mirkarimi is the Arlen Specter of SF politics. He was at first a member of the Green Party when the Greens had a big following here.
However, after the Greens’ fortunes waned, he switched to the Democratic Party. The reason: The DCCC, although controlled by his cronies, cannot endorse a non-Democrat for mayor. Mirkarimi fixed that problem.
Last year, when a public safety crisis developed in the Haight, he failed to come to community meetings at Park Police Station to deal with the problem.
When a push started for the civil sidewalks law (originally known as the sit-lie law), he refused to answer e-mails from constituents asking about his views. He eventually voted against the measure (which became Prop L). He proposed a measure for increased foot patrols instead (Prop M).
Not a bad idea, except that he inserted a poison pill into Prop M. It specifies that if Prop M gets more votes than Prop L, Prop L will lose – even if the voters approve Prop L!
He is one of the least attentive supes at board meetings when members of the public get to speak. Next to Chris Daly and former supe Jake McGoldrick, he is the biggest windbag at City Hall.
David Chiu
How did Chiu get to be elected board prez when he had never held public office before? While the Six Guys were scheming among themselves about how to thwart Sophie Maxwell, he played them off against each other. Then he offered himself as the only compromise candidate who could hold them together as a block. The tactic worked.
His style is to promise everyone in private what they want to hear, then cut deals behind the scenes at the last minute, with a view to his immediate political gain. He supported Ross Mirkarimi when he inserted his poison pill into Prop M.
David Campos
Campos has a style reminiscent of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, although he’s at the other end of the political spectrum. He manipulates the rules, grandstands, makes outrageous charges, and then disappears from the chamber without answering objections, all the while claiming to be a model of “good process.”
He conducts committee meetings like rigged TV quiz shows. When people criticize him for his public behavior and policies, he claims they are attacking him personally because of his ethnicity.
Chris Daly
Daly is the Godzilla of SF politics. He has wild temper tantrums, yells obscenities at people, pounds on tables, makes physically threatening gestures, and storms out of meetings. He threatens to destroy the political career of anyone who crosses him.
One of my favorite scenes at the supes involved Daly and former supe Jake McGoldrick. Both were standing in front of the press box, while each yelled at the other “Kiss my ass!”
No one has down more than Daly to keep the Tenderloin, which he represents, in a condition of permanent rundown criminality. At the same time, he owns two houses in suburban Fairfield.
His wife and children fled to one of them in order to live in an environment that is safe, clean, and peaceful. The other house is for speculation and profit.
John Avalos
Avalos used to be Chris Daly’s aide. He is prone to the same bullying patriarchal behavior. He loves to impress others with how much power he has.
I once saw Avalos at a committee meeting accuse police officials of not keeping him in the loop. But he himself showed up late at the meeting where they testified and ignored them when they spoke. When they offered to meet with him personally, he said he was too busy.
Eric Mar
Mar is remarkable, in that he is the only male progressive at City Hall who acts like an adult. However, he is as doctrinaire in his beliefs as Chris Daly and David Campos. He would be a good theologian.
Monty Python
If you’ve ever witnessed a meeting of the supes, you know it’s often like a Monty Python flick. Most of the absurdities come the Guys.
But don’t laugh too hard. They get the last laugh. One of these seven is highly likely to be the next mayor if Gavin Newsom trots off to Sacramento.
The joke’s on us.
Many people don’t seem to realize how hairy things could get. That’s because the board is dominated by its progressive faction, consisting of all men, the Six Guys Club.
They voted as a block early in 2009 to stop the other supes from electing Sophie Maxwell as board prez. After thwarting Maxwell, one of the Guys, David Campos, boasted that they had saved the position “for one of our own.”
They’ll do it again when the mayoral plum comes within their grasp. The new mayor will likely come from among the club’s members, plus one other possibility from outside. He’s the club’s seventh Guy and master strategist, former board prez Aaron Peskin.
Below is what to expect from each Guy, should the other Guys make him mayor.
Brace yourself. It’s not a reassuring picture.
Aaron Peskin
Peskin is the mostly likely to be appointed mayor by the other Guys. He started out well in politics as a good-government type.
However, he got carried away with his own power. He developed a nasty habit of getting drunk after dinner and calling public officials at home night, loudly berating them with slurred obscenities.
After being termed out as a supe, he successfully enlisted his cronies to orchestrate a take-over of the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC). They pushed out the good-natured, openly-gay Scott Wiener as chair and put Peskin in his place. Since then, Peskin has created a well oiled machine whose purpose is to make himself mayor.
He has expressed his style of politics with the infamous Peskin principle: “Payback is a bitch.” This is the motto of every political machine. He first snarled these words at a woman sitting in a wheelchair.
Ross Mirkarimi
Mirkarimi is the Arlen Specter of SF politics. He was at first a member of the Green Party when the Greens had a big following here.
However, after the Greens’ fortunes waned, he switched to the Democratic Party. The reason: The DCCC, although controlled by his cronies, cannot endorse a non-Democrat for mayor. Mirkarimi fixed that problem.
Last year, when a public safety crisis developed in the Haight, he failed to come to community meetings at Park Police Station to deal with the problem.
When a push started for the civil sidewalks law (originally known as the sit-lie law), he refused to answer e-mails from constituents asking about his views. He eventually voted against the measure (which became Prop L). He proposed a measure for increased foot patrols instead (Prop M).
Not a bad idea, except that he inserted a poison pill into Prop M. It specifies that if Prop M gets more votes than Prop L, Prop L will lose – even if the voters approve Prop L!
He is one of the least attentive supes at board meetings when members of the public get to speak. Next to Chris Daly and former supe Jake McGoldrick, he is the biggest windbag at City Hall.
David Chiu
How did Chiu get to be elected board prez when he had never held public office before? While the Six Guys were scheming among themselves about how to thwart Sophie Maxwell, he played them off against each other. Then he offered himself as the only compromise candidate who could hold them together as a block. The tactic worked.
His style is to promise everyone in private what they want to hear, then cut deals behind the scenes at the last minute, with a view to his immediate political gain. He supported Ross Mirkarimi when he inserted his poison pill into Prop M.
David Campos
Campos has a style reminiscent of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, although he’s at the other end of the political spectrum. He manipulates the rules, grandstands, makes outrageous charges, and then disappears from the chamber without answering objections, all the while claiming to be a model of “good process.”
He conducts committee meetings like rigged TV quiz shows. When people criticize him for his public behavior and policies, he claims they are attacking him personally because of his ethnicity.
Chris Daly
Daly is the Godzilla of SF politics. He has wild temper tantrums, yells obscenities at people, pounds on tables, makes physically threatening gestures, and storms out of meetings. He threatens to destroy the political career of anyone who crosses him.
One of my favorite scenes at the supes involved Daly and former supe Jake McGoldrick. Both were standing in front of the press box, while each yelled at the other “Kiss my ass!”
No one has down more than Daly to keep the Tenderloin, which he represents, in a condition of permanent rundown criminality. At the same time, he owns two houses in suburban Fairfield.
His wife and children fled to one of them in order to live in an environment that is safe, clean, and peaceful. The other house is for speculation and profit.
John Avalos
Avalos used to be Chris Daly’s aide. He is prone to the same bullying patriarchal behavior. He loves to impress others with how much power he has.
I once saw Avalos at a committee meeting accuse police officials of not keeping him in the loop. But he himself showed up late at the meeting where they testified and ignored them when they spoke. When they offered to meet with him personally, he said he was too busy.
Eric Mar
Mar is remarkable, in that he is the only male progressive at City Hall who acts like an adult. However, he is as doctrinaire in his beliefs as Chris Daly and David Campos. He would be a good theologian.
Monty Python
If you’ve ever witnessed a meeting of the supes, you know it’s often like a Monty Python flick. Most of the absurdities come the Guys.
But don’t laugh too hard. They get the last laugh. One of these seven is highly likely to be the next mayor if Gavin Newsom trots off to Sacramento.
The joke’s on us.
