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BY STEVEN T. JONES steve@sfbg.com This year’s supervisorial race in District 5 — representing the Haight, Panhandle, and Western Addition, some of the most reliably progressive precincts in the city — has been frustrating for local leftists. But as the long and turbulent campaign enters its final week, some are speculating that John Rizzo, whose politics are solid and campaign lackluster, could be well-positioned to capitalize on this strange political moment. Appointed incumbent Sup. Christina Olague has been a disappointment to some of her longtime progressive allies, although she’s enjoying a resurgence of support on the left in the wake of her vote to reinstate Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Now two allies of the mayor -- tech titan Ron Conway and landlord Thomas Coates -- are funding a $120,000 last-minute attack on Olague. The campaign of one-time left favorite Julian Davis lost most of its progressive supporters following his recent mishandling of accusations of bad behavior toward women (see “Julian Davis should drop out,” 10/16). The biggest fear among progressive leaders is that London Breed, a well-funded moderate candidate being strongly supported by real estate and other powerful interests, will win the race and tip the Board of Supervisors to the right. The final leg of the campaign could be nasty battle between Breed and Olague and their supporters, who tend to see it as a twoperson race at this point. But in a divisive political climate fed by the Mirkarimi and Davis scandals and the unprecedented flood of hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate and tech
MAN FOR THE MOMENT? +PIO 3J[[PµT DBMN EFNFBOPS BOE TUFBEZ QSPHSFTTJWJTN NBZ CF UIF BOUJEPUF UP UIF TPSEJE % TVQFSWJTPSJBM SBDF money, it’s hard to say what D5 voters will do, particularly given the unpredictably of how they will use ranked-choice voting to sort through this mess. Running just behind these three tarnished and targeted candidates in terms of money and endorsements are Rizzo and small business person Thea Selby, who described their candidacies as “the grown-ups in the room, so there’s an opportunity there and I’m hopeful.” Selby hasn’t held elective office and doesn’t have same name-recognition and progressive history as Rizzo, although she has one of the Guardian’s endorsements. It probably didn’t help win progressive confidence when the downtown-backed Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth recently did an independent expenditure on behalf of both Selby and Breed. And then there’s Rizzo, who has been like the tortoise in this race, quietly spending his days on the streets meeting voters. Between fundraising and public financing, Rizzo collected about $65,000 as of Oct. 20 (compared to Breed’s nearly $250,000), but he’s been smart and frugal with it and has almost $20,000 in the bank for the final stretch, more than either Olague or Davis. But perhaps more important than money or retail politics, if indeed D5 voters continue
their strongly progressive voting trends, are two key facts: Rizzo is the most clear and consistent longtime progressive activist in the race -- and he’s a nice, dependable guy who lacks the
commUnity college boArd
AMy BACHARACH
NAtAliE BERg
RAFAEl MANDElMAN
boArd of edUcAtion
sANDRA FEWER
RACHAEl NoRtoN
Jill WyNNs
Use the fUll Alice endorsements below when yoU vote commUnity college boArd Amy Bacharach Natalie Berg Rafael Mandelman
boArd of sUpervisors District 1: David Lee District 3: David Chiu District 5: London Breed
D7: Joel Engardio (3rd Rank) District 9: David Campos District 11: John Avalos
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Building Coalitions in San Francisco for Over 40 Years
boArd of edUcAtion Sandra Fewer Rachel Norton Jill Wynns bArt boArd District 7: Lynette Sweet District 9: Tom Radulovich stAte cAndidAtes State Senate: Mark Leno State Assembly District 17: Tom Ammiano State Assembly District 19: Phil Ting
indicates that the candidate is LGBT editorials
Rizzo, who was born in New York City 54 years ago, is downright boring by San Francisco standards, particularly given his long history in a local progressive movement known for producing fiery warriors like Chris Daly, shrewd strategists like Aaron Peskin, colorful commenters like
www.AliceBToklas.org
District 7: Michael Garcia (2nd Rank)
GUARDIAN PHOTO BY BETH LABERGE
PROGRESSIVE HISTORY
Get Involved, Get Our Endorsements
District 7: FX Crowley (1st Rank)
JOHN RIZZO HAS BEEN THE TORTOISE IN THE D5 RACE.
oversized ego of many of this city’s leaders. “I see consistency there and a lack of drama,” Assembly member Tom Ammiano, an early Rizzo endorser, told us. “He’s
looking not like a flip-flopper, not like he owes anyone, and he doesn’t have a storied past.”
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stAte bAllot meAsUres YES PROP 30: Schools & Safety Protection Act NO PROP 32: STOP Special Exemptions NO PROP 33: Auto Insurance Rate Hike YES PROP 34: Repeals Death Penalty YES PROP 36: Reform “Three Strikes” PROP 37: Right to Know, Food YES Labels PROP 38: Unfair Tax Increase NO PROP 40: Fight Republican YES Gerrymandering locAl bAllot meAsUres PROP A: Save City College YES PROP B: Clean & Safe YES Neighborhood Parks PROP C: More Jobs, YES More Homes YES PROP D: Smart Election Reform PROP E: More Good Jobs, Better YES City Services NO PROP F: Save Hetch Hetchy PROP G: Oppose Corporate YES “Personhood”
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October 31 - November 6, 2012 / SFBG.com