San Francisco Supervisor Recall Asks: Whose Voices Are Heard in a Fight Over a Park?

San Francisco’s latest recall campaign, targeting Supervisor Joel Engardio over his support for removing cars from part of the Great Highway to open a beachside park, has put a spotlight on deep tensions in the Sunset District.

Supporters and opponents of the recall come from diverse backgrounds and ideologies. But in this district, one of the city’s most densely populated Chinese American neighborhoods, a common refrain among recall proponents is that their voices aren’t being represented.

“The most important thing is that we’ve just not been heard,” said Albert Chow, a business owner in the Sunset and one of the most vocal recall supporters. “In fact, a lot felt betrayed.”

The park at the center of the debate, Sunset Dunes, was approved by voters citywide in 2024 through Proposition K. Some residents who live closest to the park and voted against it were furious to see it pass, and some continue to fight the road closure in court.

Chow and others say the park has increased car traffic on nearby avenues, although an SFMTA study found minimal impacts. Above all, they were stunned to find out that their supervisor had backed Proposition K.

“Many of us only found out that this would be on the ballot by Sen. Scott Wiener’s Twitter. That is not transparency, that is betrayal,” said Sunset resident Julia Quon at a recent Democratic Party meeting, where the party voted not to make an endorsement in the recall. Quon is a member of the Chinese American Democratic Club, one of the biggest backers of the recall.

That sense of betrayal, particularly among the neighborhood’s Chinese American residents, is rooted in history, said Russell Jeung, an Asian American studies professor at San Francisco State University.

“San Francisco has a long history of disenfranchising, redeveloping and evicting Asian American communities. The mayor of San Francisco called for the expulsion of Chinese (people) overall in the 19th century and wanted to get rid of Chinatown,” said Jeung. “That history isn’t forgotten.”

Engardio stands by his support for the park, saying he simply gave voters a choice.

“If you boil it down, my recall is over putting something on the ballot. I don’t have the power to close a road or create a park,” Engardio said while going door-to-door on a recent Saturday. “I supported democracy. I supported giving people a choice. I supported letting people vote on an issue.”

Even if Engardio is recalled, the highway won’t automatically reopen to cars — that would require another ballot measure. If he is removed from office, Mayor Daniel Lurie, who has not endorsed either side of the recall, would appoint an interim supervisor.

To help get his message across, Engardio said he has a team of “WeChat warriors” — Chinese-speaking volunteers who clarify recall information on the popular messaging app.

“Anyone who dares to counter some of the loudest voices on WeChat will be targeted and harassed to no end,” Engardio said. “We have some seniors in their 70s who are old enough to not really care anymore. They just want to speak the truth.”

The sense of disempowerment among some residents dates back decades for Asian communities in the city, Jeung said.

“For Asian Americans, we haven’t had that community control — we were segregated in certain neighborhoods like Chinatown, like Japantown, but we didn’t even have control over those small neighborhoods,” Jeung said. “That’s why there’s that heightened sense of disempowerment.”

But the Chinese American community isn’t united on the recall. Many residents testified at the same Democratic Party meeting in support of the supervisor and the park.

“A lot of the Chinese American community here is saying, ‘If you don’t vote for the recall, you don’t want Chinese voices to be heard.’ I think that’s crazy because I’m Chinese and I want my voice to be heard,” Sunset resident Albert Lam told KQED. The recent college graduate grew up in the neighborhood and now lives with his parents, and said he supports the park for its environmental benefits.

Supporters say the road closure was necessary. The lower portion of the highway is already closed due to coastal erosion.

“It’s really important that we provide perspective and remember that we’re talking about a road that’s lost its greatest utility, and we’re talking about a park that is increasingly popular,” said Engardio. “People of all ages and backgrounds are benefiting from it, and the road was literally falling into the ocean. So, we had to do something.”

Ash Guay, a Chinese American westside resident, said she visits Sunset Dunes several times a week and was walking her dog there on a recent Sunday.

“I get to bike, be along the beach, enjoy the weather, see lots of people with dogs and families,” said Guay, who voted to open the park. “I know people who voted No on [Proposition] K, like friends of mine, but now that they’ve come out here and we all enjoy it.”

Several local businesses, like the owners of Andytown Coffee and florist Bright Moments, told KQED they’ve seen increased sales since the park opened, as more people from across the city and the Bay Area visit.

“An underlying theme among the recallers is wanting to keep San Francisco in the past and not being willing to accept change or welcome new people,” Engardio said. “But to me, it’s really important to welcome new people.”

Engardio is now backing a rezoning proposal that could bring more housing to the westside as part of an effort to meet a statewide mandate.

Lam said he likes the supervisor’s stance to bring more affordable housing to the Sunset, too.

“The Sunset belongs to everyone, not just a few loud and angry voices,” Lam said. “I’d love to stay here, but it’s just wildly unaffordable to live in San Francisco.”

Chow said Engardio’s position on the park and housing threatens the neighborhood.

“He wants new people here, a new demographic, a different type of people with a whole different set of values and visions for this part of the city and probably the city in general. I think that is very dangerous,” Chow said in a promotional video supporting the recall. “You have not asked our opinion, and at the same time, you want to make essential changes to our neighborhood.”

Engardio said he’s focused on protecting existing residents while making the neighborhood more inclusive.

“The rhetoric Albert Chow and others are using about not wanting new people in the Sunset is the antithesis to what San Francisco is about,” he said. “Every new immigrant, every new LGBTQ person, every new artist and every new innovator benefits our city.

“We have to remember that 100 years ago, we took sand dunes and developed it into housing for a lot of immigrants and working families to live in the Sunset. We should continue to do that.”

Balancing residents’ concerns over the neighborhood will be challenging for whoever represents District 4.

“Most people [in the Sunset] have multiple cars and inter-generational households. So how do you balance that with the needs of an evolving urban city?” said David Ho, a political consultant who grew up in the neighborhood.

For Jeung, this recall underscores a bigger question: Who gets to shape a neighborhood, in a city with changing demographics and needs?

“The question that people should be arguing and complaining about is not whether politicians are betraying us or not, but who should have decision-making over local community decisions,” Jeung said. “This was a citywide election and a popular vote.”