Mayor London Breed and San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors largely agree on the city’s most pernicious problems — the pandemic, the rental crisis, homelessness, the survival of small businesses — but find themselves disagreeing on how to solve them.
It’s possible, though, that these ideological logjams will clear after the final results of the election are in.
Breed is considered a political moderate, generally in ideological opposition to what has been a Board of Supervisors with a progressive majority. The mayor and the progressive bloc are particularly split on how to solve the rental housing crisis.
Moderates tend to favor market-rate housing production at any rental price in a bid to bring down rents through abundant supply, whereas progressives tend to favor city or developer-subsidized affordable housing with rents targeted at residents with specific income levels.
When disagreements over housing solutions or other proposed legislation arise, the 11-member board has an ace-in-the-hole: Any vote backed by a supermajority can’t be vetoed by the mayor, an advantage that a solid group of eight progressive allies have enjoyed over the last year, providing an open path to their preferred legislation.
That supermajority can be tenuous, however, said David Campos, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and a former supervisor.
“If the other side can split you off and siphon you off, your leverage is diminished,” he said.
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—Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter)