As Mayor Daniel Lurie takes his second try at appointing a District 4 supervisor, he’s shaken up the process, adding additional vetting, seeking more public input — and asking candidates to do a bit of homework.
This weekend’s assignment was to go out into the district, connect with community members, take names and hand them into the mayor’s office by Sunday at 8 p.m.
The mayor has released a shortlist of District 4 prospects: Natalie Gee, Supervisor Shamann Walton’s chief of staff; Alan Wong, a San Francisco Community College Trustee; Albert Chow, a hardware store owner; Ike Kwon, the former chief operating officer at the California Academy of Sciences; and Tiffany Deng, who sits on the city’s Asian Art Commission.
After their homework is in, the candidates will do another interview with members of the mayor’s staff on Monday. That will be followed by a meeting with the Irving merchants at Hole in the Wall Pizza.
The new scrutiny comes after the mayor’s previous appointment for District 4 Supervisor, Beya Alcaraz, resigned on Nov. 13, just three days after the San Francisco Standard’s unflattering report about her business and Mission Local’s Nov. 13 story in which Alcaraz texted about allegedly illegal business practices.
After Mission Local’s article was published, Lurie met with Alcaraz that night and asked for her resignation. She agreed.
“I made a mistake,” Lurie told a crowd of Sunset residents on Friday night, in a recording obtained by Mission Local. “I did not do enough to set up my appointment for success. And so for that, I apologize.”
This time around, Lurie’s team started by giving candidates a five-page questionnaire on everything from social media to policy positions.
“I went to my team and I said, ‘When a governor appoints a senator, and when a president of the United States appoints commerce secretary or treasury secretary, what’s the questionnaire look like?’” Lurie said at the Friday meeting hosted by the Westside Family Democratic Club, Sunset Chinese Cultural District, and Sunset Youth Services at Wah Mei School at Judah and 19th.
Already, each candidate on the shortlist has completed the new five-page questionnaire and has had at least one interview with the mayor and his staff including Adam Thongsavat, the mayor’s liaison to the Board of Supervisors, and Staci Slaughter, the mayor’s chief of staff.
The shortlisted candidates have been encouraged to engage with the community. All five attended the Friday night meeting, with Gee, Wong, and Kwon arriving early to chat with residents beforehand.
Between the new questionnaire and “a real thorough and maybe a bit more public vetting process,” Lurie said he was confident in the new selection process. Though, he acknowledged, “people still might not be happy with who I pick.”
Some names on the list were considered during the first appointment, including Albert Chow, an outspoken supporter of the Joel Engardio recall and the owner of a hardware store in the Sunset. Chow also opposed Prop. K, which closed the Great Highway to cars and converted it into a park.
Albert Chow, Nov. 21, 2025. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
The first time around, Chow filled out a different — and briefer — survey and went through three rounds of interviews. This time, he took “several hours” to fill out a much more in-depth survey and completed another interview for the position.
Alan Wong, the former president of City College of San Francisco’s board of trustees, was also considered the first time around but didn’t get far. This week, he was called back for another interview.
Alan Wong holds a sign saying “meet a D4 finalist here!” outside of an event at Wah Mei School on Nov. 21, 2025. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman.
Wong is a Hoover Middle School and Lincoln High School graduate. He worked as a legislative aide for former District 4 Supervisor Gordon Mar and is an active member of the National Guard.
Then there is Ike Kwon, who was the chief operating officer and head of governmental affairs at the California Academy of Sciences. He moved to Chicago, where he and his wife are from, in March 2023, but moved back to the city this June.
While living in Chicago they returned to the city often, though, and held on to their house in the Sunset — his 25-year-old daughter lives there. In 2024, he voted in San Francisco’s election. He said he opposed Prop. K because he felt that building out the pedestrian paths and bike lanes would be a better option. But, he would vote yes on the mayor’s upzoning plan to allow taller buildings in the Sunset.
Ike Kwon, Nov. 21, 2025. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
When Lurie made his first appointment, Kwon said he was approached about being supervisor but declined because he didn’t want a political career. “I was really excited when Beya Alcaraz got appointed, but when that didn’t work out my wife and I were frustrated. We were like someone really needs to step up,” Kwon said.
This weekend, he plans to connect with District 4 residents by hosting house parties and visiting the library and other Sunset sites in order to connect with District 4 residents.
Another name on the list is Tiffany Deng, who was appointed to the city’s Asian Art Commission by London Breed. She competed in the Miss Chinatown USA pageant in 2015.
Natalie Gee, a legislative aide to District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, is also being considered.
Walton suggested Gee to Lurie during the first round of appointments, but the mayor’s office did not give her an interview — her politics tend to be more progressive than the mayor’s. Nevertheless, on Oct. 28, she declared her candidacy for the June election.
Natalie Gee speaks with District 4 residents outside of Wah Mei School in the Sunset on Nov. 21, 2025. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
This time around, she has been called back for two interviews and is a finalist. In addition to Walton, Supervisor Fielder has also suggested that Lurie appoint Gee.
Gee voted against Prop. K, and would support reconsidering opening the Great Highway to cars on weekdays. “The process was so rushed,” Gee said about Prop. K, adding that the traffic impact had not been fully considered, particularly since the state will start closing lanes of 19th Avenue soon for repaving.
Gee said she would vote against the upzoning plan as it is now, but if she gets appointed she will work with the mayor and the community to make amendments after the plan is passed.
Meanwhile, several other supervisors say that they have forwarded names to the mayor but have declined to put their nominations on the record. At the Nov. 18 Board of Supervisors meeting, Lurie thanked the supervisors who reached out with feedback since Alcaraz’s abrupt resignation.
He promised the 10 sitting supervisors he will appoint someone who “will be the colleague and partner who you all deserve.”
The mayor said he hopes to make his appointment within the next week, but that Thanksgiving, which is next week, may interfere with that deadline.
“We don’t want to rush, but we want to go quickly,” Lurie said.