{"id":52556,"date":"2025-11-14T06:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/52556\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T06:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:19:10","slug":"sunset-supervisor-isabella-alcaraz-to-resign-after-scandals-over-pet-store-finances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/52556\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunset Supervisor Isabella Alcaraz to resign after scandals over pet store, finances"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s unconventional pick<\/a> as District 4 supervisor, Isabella \u201cBeya\u201d Alcaraz, agreed to resign after allegations emerged about her past<\/a> as the owner of a Sunset pet store, the mayor announced Thursday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor months I\u2019ve seen division take hold in the Sunset,\u201d Alcaraz said in a statement. \u201cWhen I raised my hand to serve as supervisor, I told the mayor that it was time for someone who is from the Sunset to represent the Sunset.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, she added that recent news stories raising questions about her time as a business owner \u201cwould distract\u201d her from her job as supervisor. \u201cAs a result, I told Mayor Lurie this evening that I will resign from my position as District 4 supervisor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lurie appointed Alcaraz, 29, on Nov. 6 to replace Supervisor Joel Engardio, who was recalled in a Sept. 16 special election amid fury over his support for the Great Highway\u2019s closure. Her political inexperience was a shock to City Hall observers, who raised concerns that her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 was limited to six years as a pet store owner and her work as an art and music teacher at an enrichment center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Supervisor Alcaraz, I saw someone with deep roots in the Sunset who cares deeply about healing a divided community,\u201d Lurie said in a statement. \u201cI regret that I didn\u2019t do more to make sure she could succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FourLurie touted Alcaraz\u2019s track record as a small business owner when he appointed her. | Source: Amber Pietz\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Alcaraz\u2019s weeklong tenure was marred by one controversy after another. <\/p>\n

The Standard reported on Monday <\/a>that Alcaraz, left her former pet store, The Animal Connection, in a state of squalor<\/a> when she handed the keys to a new owner this past spring. <\/p>\n

Videos taken by the store\u2019s current owner, Julia Baran, showed piles of dead mice, feces, and trash strewn around the store, while financial documents revealed that the business was in the red by tens of thousands of dollars between 2020 and 2023.<\/p>\n

Baran said the mayor\u2019s office never contacted her about Alcaraz, and expressed disbelief that Alcaraz was now in charge of a district of 80,000 residents.<\/p>\n

Mission Local on Thursday then published texts between Alcaraz and Baran, (opens in new tab)<\/a> in which the supervisor stated that she had paid employees \u201cunder the table.\u201d She also allegedly misreported her business expenditures to avoid paying some taxes. The San Francisco Examiner also reported (opens in new tab)<\/a> on Thursday that city inspectors had visited Alcaraz\u2019s shop multiple times over the years, even issuing a warning at one point over its conditions.<\/p>\n

\"AJulia Baran, who took over Alcaraz\u2019s pet store, said the business was handed to her in utter disrepair. | Source: Amber Pietz\/The Standard<\/p>\n

In his statement, Lurie said he and Alcaraz \u201cagreed that the new information about her conduct while running her small business, which I learned today, would be a significant distraction from that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alacaraz\u2019s public flameout is Lurie\u2019s first significant misstep in office. City Hall had been abuzz for the last week with questions over how Lurie\u2019s team had missed such major concerns with Alcaraz\u2019s business experience, which he touted last week in his announcement of her appointment. <\/p>\n

The blunder only adds to the chaos that has consumed D4 since the November 2024 election, when Proposition K passed and shuttered a portion of the Great Highway to create space for a park. Engardio had championed the measure, which deeply divided the district and ultimately led to his recall. <\/p>\n

It could also hinder Lurie\u2019s support on the city\u2019s west side, which was instrumental to his electoral win last year. <\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Lurie owes San Franciscans an explanation for this baffling situation,\u201d\u00a0Jamie Hughes, who led the recall campaign against Engardio, told The Standard. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I took office, I promised San Franciscans leadership, accountability, and a government that would work every day to make their lives better. If that\u2019s not happening, it\u2019s my job as mayor to be accountable and to fix it,\u201d Lurie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard again and again about the fraught politics that have divided District 4, and I believe the residents of this community deserve better,\u201d he said. \u201cThey should have a supervisor who can be fully dedicated to representing them, advocating for their families, and bringing people together. My team and I will get back to work finding that person right away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s unconventional pick as District 4 supervisor, Isabella \u201cBeya\u201d Alcaraz, agreed to resign after allegations emerged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[6702,4752,636,31426,13,6089,101,103,102,104,106,105,27669],"class_list":["post-52556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-board-of-supervisors","tag-city-hall","tag-daniel-lurie","tag-isabella-beya-alcaraz","tag-politics","tag-recall-elections","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-sunset-district"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52556","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=52556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}