SAN FRANCISCO – One week after San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s first appointee for District 4 supervisor abruptly resigned, residents in the Sunset District packed a standing-room-only community meeting Friday night to hear how he plans to choose her replacement.
Vetting process
What we know:
The private session, which reached maximum capacity, did not allow media access.
Lurie met with residents for a fireside-style discussion about his priorities and the selection process.
“My message is that we’re looking for a district supervisor that is going to work with and listen to the community, that is someone that is not ideological, that is not just going to be performative,” Lurie said to reporters.
Several residents said they felt they had little input when Lurie selected Beya Alcaraz, a former pet shop owner with no political experience. Alcaraz resigned last week after reports surfaced about her business practices. Lurie publicly acknowledged the appointment was a mistake.
When asked what went wrong in the earlier selection, the mayor did not directly answer but said the city has strengthened its review process.
“What I’ll tell you is we have a very thorough vetting process now,” Lurie said. “We have gone through many rounds of interviews, background checks, and now the public actually knows some of the candidates.”
Some of the candidates
Many of those candidates attended the meeting, co-hosted by the Westside Democratic Club and Wah Mei Bilingual Education & Advocacy. They included Natalie Gee, who works for Supervisor Shamann Walton, and City College Trustee Alan Wong. Both said they have completed two extensive interviews with the mayor’s team, with another still ahead.
“My main thing is affordability and working families,” Gee said. “I’ve been saying this a lot. It doesn’t matter where you stand on the political spectrum. When it comes to issues like affordability, cost of living, public safety, transit access, all these issues affect everyone.”
Wong described the interview process as rigorous.
“The interview process has been very interesting for me because I’ve gotten to learn what other perspectives in terms of policy issues in the district and have back and forth conversations,” he said.
Residents’ concerns
Residents raised concerns about Lurie’s family zoning proposal to allow denser housing, the future of the Great Highway, and his proposed parcel tax to address Muni’s budget deficit.
“We think that we need somebody who can support the small mom-and-pop owners, because we are most of the Sunset,” said resident Meina Young.
Another attendee, Lucas Lux, is a volunteer with Friends of Sunset Dunes.
“The mayor has a vision on a city that has more housing so children like mine who grew up here have a place to stay,” he said. “And the question for us is where in the mayor’s vision does the coast fit in.”
Lurie said he expects to announce the next District 4 supervisor within the next week and plans to continue meeting with community members before making his decision.