After a year of political chaos, San Francisco’s Sunset District is poised to get a new district supervisor.
Mayor Daniel Lurie is expected to appoint Alan Wong, an elected City College board trustee and a first lieutenant in the National Guard, to the District 4 Board of Supervisors seat.
The move ends weeks of speculation over who would fill the position following the recall of Joel Engardio and the brief tenure of Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz, who resigned shortly after her appointment. The new selection is a key test of Lurie’s ability to rebound from his disastrous pick of Alcaraz, who was viewed as unqualified and insufficiently vetted for the role.
“I’m stepping up to be District 4 supervisor because I believe the Sunset, and San Francisco, can thrive again,” Wong, 38, said in a statement. “We need leadership that restores trust in city government, keeps our neighborhoods safe, supports working families, expands housing opportunities, and helps residents actually access the services their tax dollars fund.”
Lurie said in a statement that Wong is the person “who lives and breathes the district, and someone who can build bridges within it.”
City College Board of Trustees member Alan Wong attends a rally outside of City Hall in 2022. | Source: Juliana Yamada/The Standard
Wong is not new to the Sunset’s politics. He served as a legislative aide to former Supervisor Gordon Mar, who was defeated by Engardio in 2022. Wong grew up in the Sunset area and recently moved into District 4.
But Wong’s appointment is still likely to surprise many, as he’s been largely absent from the campaign to recall Engardio and the anti-Proposition K movement in Sunset. Prop. K, a controversial 2024 ballot measure, closed part of the Great Highway to cars and created a new park. While the measure passed citywide, it drew sharp backlash within the Sunset, where the roadway is located.
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The anger over the measure helped fuel the recall effort against Engardio, who had championed the proposal and defended the park unapologetically.
Wong confirmed he voted no on Prop. K.
After the recall, Lurie selected political newcomer Alcaraz, who resigned after eight days amid scandals related to her former business and intensifying questions about her inexperience. City Hall sources later released a shortlist of five names for the second appointment — including Wong. At least one of them, Natalie Gee, the chief of staff for District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, has said she’ll be a candidate (opens in new tab) in the special election in June to complete Engardio’s term.
Wong’s experience as a former union organizer presumably makes him an important ally for organized labor ahead of critical city budget negotiations — and potentially places him at odds with some of the moderate political forces in Lurie’s administration. He’s currently (opens in new tab) senior director of public policy communications at Children’s Council of San Francisco.
Wong’s appointment comes ahead of a Dec. 2 vote by the Board of Supervisors (opens in new tab) on the Family Zoning Plan, a Lurie-backed initiative to make it easier for developers to build housing, especially in the western and northern parts of the city.
Wong declined to comment on whether he would support putting the Great Highway question back on the ballot to reopen the roadway to vehicles — a move likely to trigger another bitter citywide fight as park supporters will mobilize to oppose it.