Mayor London Breed needs to speak out forcefully against the shameful DA Recall

Lee Heidhues 6.3.2021

UPDATED

District Attorney Chesa Boudin and his legions of supporters must wage an aggressive campaign to call out the Recall attempt for what it is.

This is a blatant power grab by City Hall which is upset about the 2019 election. Assisted by a compliant local media the Recall has not faced critical scrutiny.

The entire attempt to get a Recall on the ballot this year is being run by  Mayor London Breed, City Hall political functionaries loyal to the Mayor and the Police Officers Association.

DA Chesa Boudin supporters are up against the full weight of the entrenched San Francisco power structure. 

The attempted Recall has little to do with Chesa’s “progressive” agenda. Chesa is not one of the ‘in-crowd’ in the cloistered world of City Hall San Francisco politics. It is now out there in plain view. The announcement by a group of political “moderates” to Recall Chesa makes it obvious. City Hall and the POA have one Goal. Chesa is dangerous and must Go.

Supporters of DA Boudin must realize NOW the attempted Recall is no longer being run by some outlier living his political fantasy and respond aggressively. Wannabe power player Republican Richie Greenberg has been shelved.

The “moderate” recall posse is a Creation of Room 200 in City Hall. Mayor London Breed (pictured above with the DA) is all over it. Andrea Shorter is a key figure. So is Mary Jung who, until she was voted out, was the Chair of the Democratic County Central Committee in Western San Francisco. Mary is very influential in certain political circles. She is also a divisive figure.

Equally telling was Heather’s Knight’s SF Chronicle recent exit interview with City Attorney Dennis Herrera in which he expressed frustration, without mentioning DA Chesa Boudin, about the lack of prosecutions against Tenderloin Drug merchants.

Richie Greenberg, a Republican outlier in Dark Blue San Francisco, thought he could do the job. So did City Hall, initially, to give themselves political cover. However City Hall power brokers quickly realized that Richie is a political liability. The Recall would crash and burn. He’s been tossed aside.

Suzy Loftus, the former Acting DA who was appointed by Breed one month before the 2019 election and defeated by Chesa a month later, is being very coy. A six month dissection of her Twitter feed @suzyloftus has not one mention of Chesa. She doesn’t need to do anything but be patient. When Suzy was the acting DA in 2019 she was happy to have the endorsement of disgraced ex-Police Chief Greg Suhr who was forced out in 2016 by late Mayor Ed Lee.

Chesa supporters cannot stand by and allow City Hall and the POA to thwart the will of the voters and destroy one of the most “progressive” District Attorneys in the United States. The reputation of this town as a forward looking and open minded international venue is at stake.