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San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F.'s Great Highway recall fight begins: Did Joel Engardio mislead the Sunset?
The campaign to recall San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio kicked off canvassing efforts Saturday at McCoppin Square Park along Taraval Street in the Sunset District, one month after successfully triggering a special election set for Sept. 16. Armed with bright yellow pamphlets bearing Engardio's face and text in both English and Chinese that read 'He turned his back on the Sunset,' dozens of volunteers gathered to knock on doors and canvas their neighbors to vote for the recall. The trouble for Engardio, a moderate elected out of District 4 in 2022, started when he championed a ballot measure that would permanently remove cars from a 2-mile stretch of the city's westernmost coastal boulevard, the Upper Great Highway, in favor of opening a park. That measure, called Proposition K, passed with 55% of the citywide vote in the November election. But a majority of voters in westside precincts, where residents say they relied on the highway to drive around their neighborhood, rejected the measure. Engardio has defended the measure that converted the highway into what's now called 'Sunset Dunes Park,' arguing it was a democratic opportunity to restore access to the coast for all residents. He said he's been his district's 'champion' since day one, pointing to his support for restoring algebra to eighth grade, adding police beat patrols to Irving Street and creating the Sunset Night Market. The recall effort reflects not only the intense controversy over urban land use in San Francisco, but also the burgeoning political power of westside residents who feel their quality of life was harmed by what they perceive as a 'war on cars.' 'I've lived out here for years and I've never seen the Chinese community get so behind anything,' said Susan Chen, a 30-year Sunset resident and recall volunteer, at Saturday's canvassing effort. Meanwhile, Engardio's supporters have argued that recalls, funded by taxpayer money, are a waste of city resources, that it's undemocratic to vote out a supervisor based on a single issue and that the Sunset Dunes Park has had a minimal impact on congestion. A Chronicle data analysis of westside traffic data painted a complicated picture of how the highway closure has impacted traffic: Some commutes have become longer during rush hour as drivers are forced onto more congested alternative routes, especially Chain of Lakes Drive in Golden Gate Park. But some arteries showed no slowdowns at all. Engardio said he's worked with SFMTA to alleviate the traffic impact. Those interventions include adding dual left and right turn lanes and a traffic signal at a key intersection to ease congestion on Chain of Lakes Drive. Engardio's backers ramped up advertising and appealed for Mayor Daniel Lurie to support Engardio last week. Engardio has some high-profile supporters, including Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelmann, who posted on his X account Monday, 'Moderate SF Supervisor @JoelEngardio fixes potholes, supports small biz, brought back Algebra, and fights for what's right no matter how high the personal stakes.' Stoppelmann, who donated $175,000 to the 'Stand with Joel' anti-recall campaign, added that Lurie should back Engardio. Lurie has, so far, not taken a public stance on the recall effort against Engardio. If he is recalled, it will fall on Lurie to pick his replacement. 'This recall is wasteful and threatens to derail all the progress that's been made to tackle the city's biggest challenges,' said Joe Arellano, spokesperson for the Stop the Recall campaign, in a statement, adding that 'Joel will be out knocking on doors and earning votes, like a true public servant.' Arellano also called the recall effort 'GOP-backed,' pointing to an email sent out by the San Francisco Republican Party this week that encouraged followers to join Saturday's rally. Jamie Hughes, one of the lead organizers for the recall, said that the effort includes 'everybody from every ideology' and that the group tries 'to stay away from labels.' Hughes is an ally of former progressive San Francisco Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin. He said the recall campaign isn't coordinating with the Republican Party and argued that GOP support shows that the recall is drawing people from all sides of the political spectrum. That's because, in his words, 'Joel messed up.' Recall proponents said the recall isn't only about the Great Highway, but how Engardio's behavior during the past year showed what they consider to be a lack of transparency, accountability and representation. John Higgins, a Sunset resident, said he never even used the Great Highway and is not looking to reopen it, but he felt Engardio lied about his stance. He pointed to how Engardio, alongside four other city supervisors, submitted a proposal to place Proposition K on the ballot on June 18, 2024, the last possible day for them to do so. 'These are shady methods,' Higgins said. Many recall proponents said they were taken by surprise, only learning about Engardio's proposal through news articles, and were upset that Engardio never held town halls prior to placing the issue on the ballot. Many said they thought Engardio had lied to them because, in 2022, while campaigning against then-incumbent District 4 supervisor Gordon Mar, he had said he supported what was then the status quo of pedestrianizing the highway on weekends only. 'Had he told this district when he was running for supervisor that he was going to close down the Great Highway 24/7, he would never have been elected,' Chen said. Engardio rejected that characterization. He supported the status quo in 2022, he said, compared to the alternative at the time, which was a ballot measure to open the Great Highway to cars 24/7. He said he had told voters he didn't want to rule out the option of a permanent park in place of the highway when campaigning in 2022. He also posted on X, then known as Twitter, in December 2022, after being elected, 'I believe the future is a permanent oceanside park.' Those explanations ring hollow to Selena Chu, who had campaigned to elect Engardio in 2022, believing he supported the compromise of keeping the highway open to cars on weekdays. 'We felt our voice was heard and that's why we advocated for this person,' Chu, a recall organizer, said. 'It was a personal betrayal and it was also a betrayal to the community. This was a guy I had advocated for for two years.' As Chu walked down 22nd Avenue Saturday, a fellow Sunset resident, spotting Chu's Recall Engardio sign, started clapping. 'Everything he's done has been underhanded,' Gene Pulliam, who's lived in the Sunset for 60 years, said to Chu. 'He put the paperwork in the last week or something. That's just wrong.'
San Francisco Chronicle
15-06-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Vandals target the park at S.F.'s Upper Great Highway again. Here's the latest damage
A community piano beloved by visitors to San Francisco's Sunset Dunes has been destroyed amid a spate of vandalism targeting community property at the recently opened park, advocates said. An Outer Sunset resident who went to play the instrument, known colloquially as the 'wave piano' due to its proximity to the ocean, found that almost none of the keys worked early Saturday, said Lucas Lux, president of the volunteer nonprofit Friends of Sunset Dunes. Lux was also the campaign manager for Proposition K, the measure voters approved in November 2024 that closed the Upper Great Highway to cars and opened the park. All the evidence points to someone 'very intentionally' damaging the piano, ripping off the felted hammers controlling all but 10 of its keys, political communications consultant Catie Stewart told the Chronicle. Piano maintenance experts have since confirmed the instrument is damaged beyond repair. 'It's such a thing that brought joy,' Stewart said. 'I don't know why anyone would ever do that.' This is the latest in a series of acts of vandalism targeting Sunset Dunes since the 2-mile, 50-acre park opened in April, months after San Franciscans created it by voting to close a section of the Great Highway to cars. The measure has been highly controversial, and the supervisor who championed it, Joel Engardio, will face a recall election in September driven by groups opposed to the Upper Great Highway's closure. The vandalism, Lux said, has largely occurred in two separate waves. The first occurred right after the Upper Great Highway closed on March 14, with murals and asphalt marred by graffiti, and the second began shortly after Engardio's recall qualified in late May. On Thursday, just two days before the wave piano was found destroyed, park visitors discovered heavy damage to the nearby 'Ocean Calling' exhibit — a public art installation consisting of a phone booth that visitors can use to make symbolic phone calls to deceased loved ones. Someone had ripped the phone from its cord, tossed dirt and rocks into the booth and damaged its wooden frame, according to photos and videos taken shortly after the discovery. While park rangers have not identified the perpetrators of the vandalism or definitively linked the acts, Lux and others suspect they are linked to the Upper Great Highway closure controversy. He said that while he understands that members of the community are split on their views about closure, they have plenty of ways to express that discontent without harming public artworks that bring joy and comfort to park-goers. However, he added, 'most of the community regardless of their opinion treats the parks with respect.' Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, echoed Lux's sentiment. 'It's abhorrent that someone would try to destroy these sources of joy, connection, and healing," he said in a statement. 'But you can't break the spirit of a park, of public art, or of the people who cherish them.' Soon after the piano was found destroyed, community members spent Saturday afternoon visiting and helping 'Ocean Calling' artists Jamae Tasker and Sarah McCarthy Grimm as they restored their installation. By Sunday morning, the piece had been fully repaired, Tasker posted on Instagram. While the wave piano is irreparable, Lux said his group is looking for a new one to replace it. 'In the current world we live in, there are a lot of pianos that need homes. We'll have a wave piano back in place soon,' he said. Future pianos will have locks on their top guards to prevent similar acts of vandalism. In the meantime, a second community piano at the park, this one intersecting with Judah Street, is still operable.
San Francisco Chronicle
12-06-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Recall of S.F. Supervisor Joel Engardio qualifies for ballot
The recall election against San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio has qualified for the ballot, with a special vote set for Sept. 16, the San Francisco Department of Elections said. Election officials said Thursday that the petition, submitted May 22, contains 10,523 valid signatures, above the required threshold of 9,911 signatures, or 20% of registered voters in Engardio's District 4. Only voters registered and residing in District 4 will be eligible to participate in the recall election. Sunset District residents launched the recall over anger that Engardio championed a ballot measure last year to permanently close a 2-mile stretch of the city's westernmost coastal boulevard, the Upper Great Highway, to cars to create a park. During November's election, the measure, called Proposition K, was opposed by a majority of voters in the Sunset and Richmond districts, the neighborhoods closest to the Great Highway, although it passed with more than 54% of the vote citywide. The measure spurred a lawsuit even before the park opened on April 12. 'This verifies that the voters of District 4 want better,' said Jamie Hughes, lead organizer of the recall campaign. 'They want a supervisor who represents them.' Hughes said the campaign is 'confident' Engardio will be recalled in September. Engardio said in a statement in response to the recall election qualifying that he will 'continue to fight for District 4.' 'From day one, I've been District 4's champion in City Hall, working to solve real problems in our neighborhood from increasing public safety and supporting small businesses, to improving traffic flow and filling potholes,' he said. Engardio said he understands the concerns of west side residents about the highway closure and is working with San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to further improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. 'Attempting to recall me in response will do nothing to reopen the Great Highway,' he said. Recall proponents have described the effort, which received about $144,000 in donations, as 'grassroots.' The 'Stand With Joel' campaign received more than $407,000 in donations so far, including $125,000 from high-profile donors such as Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman. 'The successful recall petition against Joel Engardio is a clear reflection of the Sunset community's unity, resilience and demand for accountability,' recall organizer and Sunset resident Selena Chu said in a statement. 'Residents from all walks of life came together — gathering signatures, knocking on doors and standing up for our voices — because we refuse to be bypassed or silenced.' The issue highlights the divisive debate over public space in San Francisco, with urbanists such as Engardio arguing for the creation of safer pedestrian routes, more bike paths and less dependence on cars, while opponents to Proposition K said many west side families, especially multigenerational ones, rely on efficient car commutes for getting their kids to school, ferrying elderly parents to appointments and commuting to work. West side residents said the closure has hurt their quality of life, lengthened commute times and increased stress as they navigate congested alternative routes around their neighborhoods. Some of Engardio's constituents were also outraged by what they considered his failure to consult them before putting the issue on the ballot last summer. Five other supervisors and then Mayor London Breed also backed the ballot measure, though current Mayor Daniel Lurie opposed it. Opponents said it was unfair to let the entire city vote on an issue that disproportionately impacted west side residents. 'Some people felt left out of the process that led to putting the park on the ballot,' Engardio said Thursday. 'I'm committed to doing more outreach, having more conversations and making sure everyone's voice is part of the work moving forward.' Engardio has consistently argued that all voters, not just his constituents, deserved to decide how San Francisco's coastline should be used. He also said that if the issue was not put on the ballot, the 11 supervisors would have been forced to decide on the fate of the Great Highway anyway at the end of 2025. That's when a pilot program to close the Upper Great Highway to cars on weekends was slated to end. 'The coast belongs to all San Franciscans,' Engardio told the Chronicle last week. 'The cost to our convenience, does it outweigh the benefits of a park?' Supporters of Engardio said a recall is a waste of taxpayer money, especially given that the supervisor is up for reelection in 2026, that he has done a good job otherwise representing west side interests, and that all San Franciscans have benefited from the Sunset Dunes park. Bill Maher, who served as a San Francisco supervisor in the 1980s and '90s, was at a rally outside City Hall to support Engardio on May 22, when the recall organizers submitted petition signatures. He said he voted against Prop K but still opposed the recall. 'To recall a politician every time they make a bad vote, we'd have monthly recalls,' Maher had said. Lifelong Sunset resident and business owner Lareina Chu previously told the Chronicle that she thought Engardio had done a good job, such as organizing the Sunset Night Market, and that he didn't deserve to be recalled. She added that she had not heard of a viable candidate to replace Engardio. Lurie will get to appoint Engardio's replacement if he is recalled. 'The city's got bigger problems, and if we're focusing tax dollars on recalling Engardio, I think it's a dumb effort,' Lareina Chu said, pointing out that San Francisco is already having an election in November 2026 when voters could make their voices heard and oust Engardio.
San Francisco Chronicle
02-06-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: Forget the Great Highway. This is what the S.F. recall of Engardio is about
Regarding 'S.F. recall is overkill' (Letters to the Editor, May 30): By focusing on the closure of the Great Highway to vehicle traffic, those against the recall of San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio are missing the point. Engardio failed to represent the wishes of his constituents when he spearheaded the campaign for Proposition K, which closed the Upper Great Highway to cars for a park. Engardio had no interest in a compromise solution like the one that had been in place for weekend closures. Instead of working to improve pedestrian safety and easing traffic congestion, he has made both issues worse. Engardio appears to be more interested in pleasing his big-money backers like Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, Ripple founder Chris Larsen, tech investor Ron Conway and Twilio co-founder John Wolthuis than the constituents in his district. Engardio has said traffic is not as bad as people had expected. Some studies found it to be much worse. Over 10,000 valid signatures were submitted to get the recall on the ballot. The voters of the Sunset District decide Engardio's fate. Kenneth Jones, San Francisco How Dems can win President Donald Trump has been caught in another scandal: He recently pardoned a man — who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes — a month after his mother attended a $1-million-a-head MAGA fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. This is a blatant quid pro quo that would have led to the impeachment and conviction of any other president. With Trump, it is par for the course. Sadly, few Trump supporters will care about this suspicious action. However, MAGA folks will take great joy in watching Trump detractors whine and complain about this fishy pardon. As one of my friends wondered, are we witnessing the death of outrage? As a scholar who studied political rhetoric for four decades, I believe the rules of the game have changed, and the rhetorical playing field is no longer the same. The moral of the story is clear: Democrats can't regain control if their message is exclusively or primarily 'not Trump'; they must convince Americans that they will fix the problems that negatively impact people's lives. This can be contrasted with what Trump has and hasn't done. Such a message offers the best persuasive strategy for Democrats. Richard Cherwitz, Camas, Wash. Keep lid on Dead tickets While tickets for the Dead & Company concerts in Golden Gate Park this August are listed at $245 for single-day admission and $635 for three-day passes, many fans worry Ticketmaster will quietly introduce dynamic pricing — sending costs skyrocketing in real-time based on demand. This controversial model has already priced out many fans for Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift shows. If implemented for Dead & Company, it would turn a community celebration into an exclusive, high-cost event — on public land that's supposed to belong to everyone. San Francisco should take a stand. The city should demand transparency from promoters and prohibit surge pricing at events in public parks. Dead & Company's shows should reflect the inclusive spirit of the band and the city that helped shape it. Let's make sure these shows are a celebration for all — not just the wealthy few. Dan Steiger, San Francisco Pictures tell story I see these events live every day because I walk for exercise in areas where there is drug use. It's disgusting and needs to be shown to emphasize the need to clean up the streets. Putting lipstick on a pig does not change the pig. Good for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie for trying to address the problem. Catherine Maxey, San Francisco Prioritize teaching English Regarding 'S.F. parents are trying to start first K-8 Mandarin immersion charter school. It won't be easy' (San Francisco, May 24): I was disturbed to read about Mandarin-immersion education for children. Judging by the lack of literacy and poor communication skills of today's youth, we should be immersing our students in English, which should be the official language of the United States of America.
San Francisco Chronicle
31-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. Mayor Daniel Lurie will loom large over the city's next recall fight
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie finds himself in a difficult position now that the campaign to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio has officially qualified for the ballot. Engardio, a staunch moderate, has been a loyal supporter of Lurie's policies, backing his legislative efforts and appearing by his side at news conferences. But the Sunset District supervisor is facing political peril: Organizers are seeking to oust Engardio over his enthusiasm for a major road closure that was unpopular among his constituents. With the question of whether Engardio should be removed from office heading to Sunset voters in September, Lurie must decide whether to back Engardio and risk being on the losing side of the voters' will. Alternatively, the mayor could choose to stay out of the recall fight and send a potentially chilling message to Engardio and other allies. 'It's a dilemma,' said political consultant Eric Jaye. 'On the one hand, you risk your reputation with the voters. On the other hand, you risk your reputation with other politicians. And politicians like fellow politicians who are willing to stand up and be counted when the going gets tough for them.' The animating issue behind the recall battle is the fact that Engardio supported the closure of the Upper Great Highway to cars and most voters in his district did not. Lurie opposed the successful ballot measure last year that permanently shuttered the road to vehicles to make way for Sunset Dunes Park. He also drew broad support for his mayoral campaign from voters throughout the west side, including the Sunset. However, as mayor, Lurie has advanced a major rezoning of the west side to allow for denser housing construction in a swath of the city that has seen little residential development in recent decades. The move upset some west side residents, and it could be a factor in the effort to remove Engardio, who has made positive comments about the mayor's rezoning plan. 'I would be stunned if this vote didn't turn on that issue,' Jaye said. 'You have a constituency of people who are concerned about traffic and a constituency of people concerned about Engardio ignoring the will of his district. We're going to see whether or not Engardio and Lurie are ignoring the will of neighborhood voters with their massive upzoning.' But Todd David, a supporter of Engardio, doubted that any effort to link Lurie's rezoning initiative to the highway closure would be an effective recall strategy. David was one of the principal organizers of Proposition K, the measure that permanently turned the Great Highway into a promenade for pedestrians, runners and cyclists. He said an attempt to combine the highway discontent with mayoral rezoning frustration would probably fail to win over voters who did not already sign the recall petition. 'You're not bringing along a whole bunch of new people,' he said. 'There are outliers who will never support an upzoning in their neighborhood that are just a 'no change' crew, and I think that 'no change' crew is the crew that signed the recall. Overwhelmingly, people support more new housing in their neighborhood, including the Sunset.' So far, Lurie has not indicated how he might proceed. He has not weighed in on the recall qualifying for the ballot or signaled whether he will publicly back Engardio in the September election. In an earlier interview with the Chronicle, he said that, when it came to the Great Highway closure, he 'understand(s) everybody's concerns … but as a city, we have to move forward.' 'We will continue to monitor and make adjustments where we can as we see any impacts,' Lurie said. Engardio, meanwhile, told the Chronicle on Friday that he was 'in touch with the mayor and his team and we will have conversations soon.' 'I've been working closely with the mayor to pass legislation that addresses pressing issues that Sunset residents care about like public safety, housing, and our local economy,' he said in a statement. If Engardio were to be removed by voters in his district, the mayor would face another hard choice. At that point, he'd be tasked with appointing Engardio's successor. The decision would allow Lurie to handpick someone aligned with him, ensuring that the Board of Supervisors' political balance does not shift in the short term. But Lurie would also need to be mindful of the fact that the appointee would serve only until an election in June. The mayoral appointee would presumably run in that election, but they could face stiff competition from a progressive eager to build off the recall momentum to recapture the seat. When Engardio won the district in 2022, he defeated progressive Supervisor Gordon Mar by just 460 votes. So Lurie would probably want to appoint an Engardio-like moderate who doesn't have Engardio's political baggage from the Great Highway closure. 'The mayor is doing an incredible job, and he is able to get a lot done because he has a majority of pro-growth, pro-safety people on the board' of supervisors, said Sachin Agarwal, a co-founder of the moderate group Grow SF that supported Engardio's 2022 supervisor run. 'The most important thing we can do is continue to have that majority, and whether that's Joel or someone the mayor supports, we need someone who is focused on the basics.' Regardless of what Lurie does, David, the Engardio supporter, said he thinks the embattled supervisor can prevail by pointing to the ways he's tried to deliver on essential issues. For example, Engardio worked to secure funding for merchants to help them deal with impacts of controversial street construction, and he backed the return of algebra curriculum to eighth grade as well as the continuation of merit-based admissions at Lowell High School, David noted. As for Lurie's potential role, David said the mayor has had 'an outstanding working relationship with the Board of Supervisors.' 'I think it would be in the mayor's interest to want to continue to have a strong ally on the board,' he said. 'If, God forbid, Joel got recalled, then the mayor also would get to appoint somebody, but that person's name ID would be much lower than Joel's going into election season.'
