More than just Mirkarimi's kickoff
Image from sfgreenparty.org
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi kicks off his campaign for reelection this evening at Yoshi's Jazz Club in the heart of the Fillmore. The Board of Supervisors' only Green Party member is popular in his District 5 -- made up of the super lefty Haight and crime-plagued Western Addition, where Mirkarimi has shown real leadership in pushing police foot patrols and other reforms -- and is expected to cruise to a relatively easy victory.
But today's event carries a far larger symbolic significance: it is the beginning of a long campaign to create a progressive narrative for San Francisco that counters the centrist and fairly superficial approach of Mayor Gavin Newsom. And that's a struggle that will carry through this fall's high-stakes supervisorial elections, into the vote for a new board president in January, and on into the next mayor's race -- all of which could feature Mirkarimi in a starring role.
Two years ago, I wrote about how Newsom had squandered his early momentum and allowed the board's progressive majority to set the city's agenda, focused on issues such as affordable housing, police reform, renter protections, social programs, and livable city development models.
But in many ways, the progressive consensus has dissolved over these last two years, torn apart by infighting, budget shortfalls, the inability to field a strong mayoral candidate, strategic missteps, divisive issues and races, term limits, and Newsom finally getting his head back in the game. At this point, it's an open question whether the Mirkarimi progressives or the Newsom moderates have the upper hand going into the upcoming budget battles and the political campaigns on the horizon.
Newsom has certainly shown a willingness to go to war with the progressives, based on his demonization of board president Aaron Peskin, unilateral mid-year budget cuts, and his recent veto of Mirkarimi's low-cost sunshine measure, purportedly for hard-to-believe reasons of fiscal austerity. And Newsom's camp has been hoping that his celebrity status, recitation of policy minutiae, partnering with power players like Nancy Pelosi and Lennar, and embrace of all things green add up to coattails that will get some allies elected to the board.
The challenge for Mirkarimi and the progressives now is to articulate an agenda that will unite candidates for all of the seven supervisorial seats now up for grabs and resonate with San Francisco voters. The conditions could be quite fertile this fall, with Barack Obama as the likely presidential nominee and the need greater than ever for affordable housing, renter protections, transportation policies that discourage driving, better energy policies, and an empowerment of average San Franciscan over wealthy individuals and corporations.
Can Mirkarimi lead the way into that new dynamic? Starting today, we'll see.
When: Friday, May 9, 2008, 5:30pm – 7:30 pm
Where: Yoshi’s Jazz Club, 1330 Fillmore St., SF.
Help with the fundraising: $25-$500 per person
RSVP REQUIRED - R.S.V.P. via email: IAFORM@yahoo.com
For more information please contact: 415-994-0067
Please make checks payable to: Committee to Re-Elect Mirkarimi
Mail to: Treasurer Kelly Dearman; Address: 721 Webster Street, SF 94117
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Comments (2)
I understand that money is the oil that fuels politics, but a minimum of $25 for a kickoff party for a campaign that's supposedly about "progressive" values strikes me as a bit ridiculous. It's like all those sliding scale events where it's $15-$35 to see some lesbian comics at the uncomfortable Gay Center, and I always think, "In what universe is this supposed to be worth $35"?
And congratulations on today's legal ruling. Maybe Mr. Brugmann can finally actually hire some reporters and pay them.
Posted by sfmike | May 9, 2008 06:36 PM
Ichabod is a CONSERVATIVE, not a "moderate". Don't let them fool you and don't give him any unearned credit.
Posted by expatriate | May 9, 2008 09:52 PM