Mission Local is publishing a daily campaign dispatch for each of the major contenders in the mayor’s race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: Ahsha Safaí. Read earlier dispatches here.
Mission Street at 10 a.m. on Saturday was slower than usual. But music, cheers and applause at the corner of 22nd and Mission streets could be heard from the streets.
Some 70 attendees showed up at mayoral candidate Ahsha Safaí’s campaign headquarters grand opening at 2601 Mission St., the vacant ground-floor space of the U.S. bank building.
The event was Mission-themed, with breakfast burritos from La Corneta, and Spanish as well as English in the air. In the back, where the bank’s vault remained wide open, pink boxes with donuts from Jelly Donut were lying next to stacks of “Ahsha for Mayor” signs.
It’s a space with high ceilings, concrete poles and an imposing rotunda. For those who want to see for themselves, Safaí said, “walk-ins are welcome.”
In Mission fashion, the programming started with a DJ and the band Mariachi Mexicanísimo, eight musicians all dressed in black and silver charro outfits. They played the traditional Mexican tunes, often heard at weddings, funerals and birthday parties.
The speaker’s list of four, including Safaí, was short. But all of Safaí’s most loyal supporters were here: Union representatives; residents and organizations from District 11, where he currently serves as supervisor; and his mom, wife and two children.
Renard Monroe, the executive director at Youth First, an organization in District 11, called Safaí “a man of his word,” and “a person one can count on.”
Monroe recalled the summer of 2020, when community members painted a mural of “Invest Black” on Broad Street in Ingleside, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Department of Public Works tried to pressure-wash the mural off late at night. Monroe noted that Safaí hopped in his car, drove to the mural and persuaded the Public Works crew to stop, as reported in the Ingleside Light.
“He was down there on the street at 3 in the morning, making sure that they don’t remove the mural that we worked so hard, as a community, to put up,” Monroe said. “That’s the type of person he is.”
This echoed with other supporters at the grand opening.
“Whenever there was a problem in education, whenever there was something being debated at City Hall, whenever there were concerns, the first one to call us was Supervisor Safaí,” said Frank Lara, executive vice president at United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), representing more than 6,500 SFUSD employees. UESF announced its endorsement of Safaí in May.
The labor support for Safaí comes from his track record of supporting working people, a theme he has repeatedly made clear on his campaign trail. Other supporters share a common interest.
“The better he does, the better I do,” said Ernest Jones, Safaí’s former legislative aide, and now a candidate to succeed his former boss as District 11 supervisor.
On the campaign trail thus far, mayoral candidates have not hesitated to court the Chinese vote: They have dropped by numerous events in the Chinese community, from banquets to night markets. But few have invested nearly as much effort in appealing to voters in the Latinx community in the Mission and beyond, and if they have, they are not publicizing it as much.
The lack of engagement with the Latinx community rankles Leticia Luna, a longtime community member.
“I believe that as Latinos, we need to go out and vote,” said Luna. “We used to be a minority. We are not a minority anymore. So the city really needs to hear our voice.”
In California, Latinxs make up 36% of the state’s adult population, but only 25% of likely voters, according to a survey by Public Policy Institute of California.
Safaí, however, made it very clear he would carry their message, and that he shares their immigrant story. He immigrated to the United States from Iran at age 6. His mother raised him alone, and he ended up going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for city planning. He emphasized that he is the only immigrant among the major contenders.
However, Safaí isn’t the only mayoral candidate who operates his campaign headquarters in the Mission — Daniel Lurie also sited his campaign office on Mission Street, only one block away on 21st. But Safaí’s campaign is not worried about the close proximity.
“He speaks Spanish. His wife has a history in the Mission,” said Lauren Chung, Safaí’s campaign manager. “So [people] can connect on a very different level with him than somebody who’s just coming into the neighborhood for maybe the first time.”
As the event wrapped up, there were more Mariachi tunes and a little bit of dancing as volunteers trickled out of the gate and into the neighborhood. Soon, neighbors in the Mission will find many more signs, flyers and door hangers reading “Ahsha for Mayor” … whether they want them or not.
Good to see some interest in the Mission by candidates for mayor. We hope the new mayor continues to work with this neighborhood after the election.
Not to be too much of a jerk to Leticia, but Latinos only make up 15% of SF. Should still be listened to of course (along with every other group), but nowhere close to a majority.
Hey Ahsha,
Hands down the best Campaign Office in the City !!
So, what’s your answer on Michael Hennessey’s ‘Elect a Police Chief’ message ?
I’ve been pushing Lurie with the idea for several months.
Been pushing Peskin for bit over a month.
I approached you with it at Rules Committee 2 weeks ago.
It’s the right thing to do and you have absolutely nothing to lose ?
Go Niners !!
h.