{"id":184627,"date":"2026-02-19T14:25:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/184627\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T14:25:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:25:06","slug":"beya-alcaraz-faces-more-legal-trouble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/184627\/","title":{"rendered":"Beya Alcaraz faces more legal trouble"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re reading Power Play, The Standard\u2019s twice-weekly newsletter about City Hall and San Francisco politics. To receive Power Play directly in your inbox, sign up here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This weekend, San Francisco will be center stage of California\u2019s Democratic Party, as the CADEM Convention comes to town, with the oh-so-subtle rallying cry of \u201cBig Dem Energy (opens in new tab)<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t expect major fireworks or fist fighting to break out on the floor of the Moscone Center. That\u2019s because the party\u2019s main fights this year \u2014 in particular, over the governor\u2019s contest and competing ballot measures regarding a billionaire tax \u2014 have a long way to go before they\u2019re resolved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Between the flowing kegs at beer-hall schmoozefests and clinking silverware of schmancy galas, soft power is the name of the game at this 5,000-person convention. On Saturday, gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer is hosting a \u201cCalifornia you can afford\u201d lounge with food, games, and \u201ca chance to share ideas and be a part of making change happen.\u201d The labor union SEIU-UHW will seek support for its measure<\/a> at a \u201cCalifornia Billionaire Tax reception\u201d to \u201ctake a break and learn how we can stop the California healthcare collapse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

State Sen. Scott Wiener \u2014\u00a0who is guaranteed to win support for his congressional primary, after a pre-endorsement vote \u2014\u00a0will host a Sunset Dunes walking tour (opens in new tab)<\/a> on Friday. Not every candidate can make a big draw like that, so they have to get scrappy. Patrick Wolff, a San Franciscan (and occasional SF Standard contributor) running for insurance commissioner against fellow local Jane Kim (opens in new tab)<\/a>, among others, is challenging convention-goers to one-minute games of speed chess.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just throw down a board and a table,\u201d said his campaign consultant Jay Cheng. If you win, he\u2019ll pay your homeowner or rental insurance for a month. Just watch out \u2013 Wolff\u2019s a grand master (opens in new tab)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What won\u2019t be decided is the frontrunner for governor. California Democratic Party Vice Chair David Campos, a former San Francisco supervisor, said it\u2019s unlikely that any candidate will meet the 60% threshold of support needed to trigger an endorsement vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are too many candidates,\u201d Campos said, and it\u2019s \u201ctoo divided.\u201d \u2014 J.F.R.<\/p>\n

Got tips? Send to us at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE TROUBLE FOR BEYA: During the quiet weeks of December, news popped up that short-lived Supervisor Isabella \u201cBeya\u201d Alcaraz was being sued<\/a> by her landlord over about $9,500 in unpaid rent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But another lawsuit, filed Feb. 9, could lead to more problems for Alcaraz, who resigned<\/a> from her post in November after The Standard<\/a> and other news organizations published concerning tales of her time as owner<\/a> of The Animal Connection. The landlord of the pet shop, Janet Siniora, is seeking $400,000 in damages, claiming that Alcaraz is on the hook for allowing a rodent infestation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe continued infestation has resulted in extensive damage to the premises,\u201d the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also names Julia Baran, who took over The Animal Connection from Alcaraz and exposed the former supervisor\u2019s business practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Siniora and Alcaraz declined to comment. Baran, who still operates the business on Irving Street, disputed parts of the lawsuit, including Siniora\u2019s assertion that she is trespassing, since the landlord has accepted rent from her since June 2025. Baran said she spent months cleaning out the pet shop and has video evidence to prove it. \u2014 G.G.<\/p>\n

THORN IN HIS SIDE: Wherever Supervisor Stephen Sherrill turns, there it is: a printout of the California Post\u2019s dishy Feb. 2 story (opens in new tab)<\/a>, claiming that former Mayor London Breed appointed him<\/a>only so she could cozy up to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for a job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, the story appeared as a poster held by a detractor outside Sherrill\u2019s campaign office the day after the news ran, under the heading \u201cTired of corruption, stop the quid pro quo.\u201d Then it turned up at a debate against his challenger, community organizer Lori Brooke, in the form of flyers by the dozen reading \u201cOUR SUPERVISOR IS CORRUPT, DON\u2019T LET BREED + SHERRILL\u2019S CORRUPTION CONTINUE.\u201d (And yes, whoever crafted these flyers and posters sure do love their capslock key).\u00a0<\/p>\n

That same day, an email parodying Sherrill, sent to reporters, rattled off the accusations in the Post story, adding, \u201cBut that overwhelming evidence should not lead voters to conclude I am in this job because of blatant, inexcusable corruption. That is a hurtful, entirely accurate thing to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough to tell how much of a toll the nepotism accusation will take on Sherrill\u2019s campaign. He has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars (and Brooke nearly has too) and has won the backing of ever-popular Mayor Daniel Lurie. Plus, the lack of on-record sourcing \u2014 and the fact that Breed never landed a job from Bloomberg \u2014 blunts the story\u2019s impact. It\u2019s also not entirely clear who is behind the accusation\u2019s spread.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile District 2 voters seem concerned about the alleged quid-pro-quo corruption, our campaign is not creating and distributing these flyers or writing fake press releases; we are focused on winning votes for Lori,\u201d said Jamie Hughes, Brooke\u2019s campaign consultant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement, Sherrill said, \u201cIt seems like one or two people who are resentful are trying to make a fuss. I have no reason to believe there was any foul play – it was a difficult and thorough vetting process.\u201d \u2014 J.F.R.<\/p>\n

ICYMI:<\/p>\n

THEATER WOES: San Francisco\u2019s theaters are facing a crisis<\/a>. While attendance has declined, production costs have gone up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MILLIONAIRES GALORE: A new report <\/a>shows an \u201cegregious shortage of inventory\u201d among the city\u2019s housing stock, which could be tied to the AI boom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PROTEST HIGHWAY: The coolest party in town<\/a> is a protest on an East Bay freeway overpass. Berkeley\u2019s I-80 pedestrian bridge is where you can find activists with glow sticks and inflatable costumes protesting ICE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019re reading Power Play, The Standard\u2019s twice-weekly newsletter about City Hall and San Francisco politics. To receive Power…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1525,31426,87154,4637,101,87153,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-184627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-democratic-party","9":"tag-isabella-beya-alcaraz","10":"tag-michael-bloomberg","11":"tag-power-play","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-democratic-party","14":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","15":"tag-san-francisco-news","16":"tag-sf","17":"tag-sf-headlines","18":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}