At a specially scheduled Emergency Board Meeting on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, the POA Board of Directors ratified the Election Committee recommendations for the upcoming November elections. The endorsements will be as follows:
Mayor:
- Mayor Edwin Lee
- City Attorney Dennis Herrera
- Former Supervisor Michaela Alioto-Pier
- Former Supervisor Bevan Dufty
District Attorney:
- District Attorney George Gascon
Sheriff:
- Former POA President Chris Cunnie
The race for Mayor is an interesting one. It has no fewer then 16 candidates vying for the seat in an election that will be decided by the relatively new concept of “rank-choice voting.” We have long-standing, cooperative relationships with most of the candidates, and the selection and ranking process was very difficult.
While we certainly have no quarrel with other respected civic leaders like Senator Leland Yee, Assessor Phil Ting, Supervisor David Chiu, or Joanna Rees, our relationship with each was simply not as strong or long lasting as it was with our chosen candidates.
Interim Mayor Ed Lee has proven to be a strong and effective leader during his nine months in office. He worked effectively with us while structuring an equitable and reasonable deal on our concession package without threats of layoffs or severe cuts, as have done the Mayors in nearby Oakland and San Jose. Mayor Lee did not portray city workers as the villains in the pension debate. Instead, he led a constructive effort to put a charter amendment on the ballot that makes sense for the city and the unions.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera has been a long time friend of our association. His attorneys have expertly defended our members against unfounded allegations with great zeal. During the "Copley Debate" and the "Adachi" pension allegations Mr. Herrera has maintained a firm position and has never let himself be swayed by political pressure. He has always been there for the POA as both a City Attorney and a former Police Commissioner. He too deserves our support.
Both Michaela Alioto Pier and Bevan Dufty have been tireless advocates for law enforcement, often calling me to ask my opinion on agenda items before the Board of Supervisors. Each consistently supported us against the inane and spiteful antics of former Supervisor Chris Daly. They were both there for us 100% of the time and were both instrumental in helping Greg Suhr land the appointment to Chief of Police.
We wish all of our candidates well and feel that any of them will make a great mayor. Regardless who the winner might be, we stand ready to support him or her and deliver our best to them and to the citizens of this fabulous city.
At the Board meeting, the debate on who to endorse for District Attorney became rather robust. Some on the Board did not feel we should endorse former Chief of Police and current DA George Gascon. His detractors on the board did not feel he was effective as Chief of Police and, ironically, also felt betrayed by his sudden departure.
Others, including me, did not feel that he did a poor job. Many of us believe that the changes he brought forth in the department were long overdue. Despite our fancy for tradition and our loathing of change, Chief Gascon moved the SFPD into the 21st Century, and it was generally for the better. From a union perspective, he was extremely fair on discipline issues, worked well with us on "Brady" issues, and pretty much sat down with us on every issue and considered our point of view before acting. In addition, our polling data shows him leading by 25%. For us to go in another direction makes little political sense. We need to maintain a positive relationship with the DA going forward and we have that with George Gascon. Also, he was the only candidate interviewed that would keep the door open for a "death penalty" option in cases involving a murder of a police officer. I assure you that should such a tragic event occur while he is in office, we will hold him to that consideration.
Obviously, the decision to support Chris Cunnie for Sheriff was a no-brainer. Not only is Chris a former police officer and president of our association, he is also a great guy who has been loyal to our members his entire career. We need to support Chris for his demonstrated courage shown merely by entering this race. He has shown real grit and has overcome tremendous adversity in his personal life in order to take on this very important challenge. A victory for Chris would strengthen our relationship with the Sheriff’s office and would ensure that no attempt would be made to merge our departments in the coming years.
We all need to ensure that our candidates prevail as well as the "Consensus Pension Reform" measure, proposition "C." The long-term political health of our association depends on these centrist candidates. We can’t afford to stop the momentum back to the center of the political landscape.
