Interim mayor Ed Lee was sworn into office, 1/11/11, on the understanding he would not run for a full term. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
July 29, 2011
Mayoral candidates David Chiu and John Avalos are calling into question interim Mayor Ed Lee’s character and integrity.
The question of Lee’s integrity is being raised following Lee’s recent comments suggesting he is now considering going against his word and entering the mayor’s race.
The Board of Supervisors appointed Lee interim mayor in January to complete former Mayor Gavin Newsom’s term on the explicit understanding an appointed “caretaker” mayor would not run for a full term.
Shortly after Lee’s appointment, several campaigns to draft Lee into the mayor’s race emerged; one dubbed “Run, Ed, Run” has the backing of Chinese Chamber of Commerce consultant and Chinatown powerbroker Rose Pak, as well as former Mayor Willie Brown.
Several candidates are calling for an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations by Progress for All, the name of the committee behind the “Run, Ed, Run” campaign, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today.
“Ed [Lee] committed to the public as well as those who voted for him repeatedly that he was not going to run for mayor,” said Board of Supervisors President David Chiu following his submission of 14,000 signatures in lieu of a filing fee to the Department of Elections yesterday. “The last week has been surprising and I think we all hope that he will be a man of his word and a man of integrity and stick to his commitments.”
Mayoral candidate David Chiu submitted as many as 14,000 signatures in lieu of a filing fee yesterday to the San Francisco Department of Elections.
Chiu said he voted for Lee for interim mayor “on the clear understanding” that Lee would not run for a full term, as did Supervisor John Avalos, former Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier and Bevan Dufty, Chiu said, all mayoral contenders.
“Clearly, he will have broken his word,” said Avalos, who also submitted signatures – 11,000 – in lieu of a filing fee yesterday. “It would be a huge advantage that Ed Lee has being the incumbent,” adding that with an incumbent running, “it’s certainly not an open seat race.”
Asked whether there’s a legitimate question being raised about Lee’s integrity, Avalos said, “Of course there’s an issue of integrity. I think that this race comes down to integrity.”
Asked if he is angry about what some are viewing as a perversion of democracy, political corruption and a betrayal of the public trust, Avalos said, “I’m angry about a lot of things. I am angry that the politics here are shifting so far to the middle that everyone’s playing footsie with each other and allowing corporations and big businesses to control San Francisco. That’s what I’m angry about.”
“Ed Lee’s going to be part of that political establishment if he runs and I’m angry about that – the new boss is same as the old boss as far as I’m concerned and I want to put forward an administration that puts people first,” Avalos added.
Mayoral candidate John Avalos submitted 11,000 signatures in lieu of a filing fee yesterday to the San Francisco Department of Elections.
Repeated requests for comment from the mayor’s office were not answered at the time of publication of this report.
Editor’s Note: In the interest of transparency, Luke Thomas was hired by the “Run, Ed, Run” campaign in his capacity as a professional photographer to take photos for the campaign website.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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The Hunger Site
July 30, 2011 at 7:42 am
Letter to Chron this morning offers solution,
Subject: Hennessey for new Interim Mayor?
From: “h. brown”
Date: Sat, July 30, 2011 8:05 am
boys and girls,
An SF ophthalmologist has a letter in the
editorial section of the Chron today which, I
believe, presents the perfect solution to the
dilemma in which Ed Lee finds himself.
Put succinctly, Dr. Craig H. Kliger suggests
that:
“In any event, while I won’t say he can’t change
his mind, because circumstances have evolved, if
he truly believes he should run, I don’t believe
he can do so credibly if he doesn’t resign the
mayorship and forfeit any guarantee he may have
to the city administrator post first.
By doing so he would not only express his confidence
in securing the people’s blessing but also not have
an unfair advantage over other candidates based
on perceived misrepresentation.”
I like the way this boy thinks.
And, for a chaos freak such as myself, this just
tosses more cherry bombs into the chuck full SF
political toilet.
Then, we get a new ‘Interim’ mayor and who, pray
tell will that be?
I think Mike Hennessey makes sense.
Then he can choose his own replacement as Sheriff..
Ah, the mind boggles.
Giants at 10am?!?
Great game last night.
MVP w/game winning hit … Edgar Renteria!
(Is this an echo of last Fall?)
h.
July 29, 2011 at 11:23 am
Does anyone else enjoy the comical irony of David Chiu wishing for Ed Lee “to be a man of his word and a man of integrity”? Is there a member of the Board with fewer principles than David Chiu?
Chiu is complaining because someone made a promise to him and broke the promise? Making promises and breaking them is exactly how Chiu got to his position of power.
Ed Lee certainly deserves to be called out for the liar that he is. But Chiu is just the pot calling the kettle black. Hilarious.