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: Mark Farrell. Read earlier dispatches here.
For a mayoral candidate who wants to appeal to families — and take care of their own — Saturdays and Sundays are fully booked.
That is certainly the case for Mark Farrell, a father of three. On Saturday, there was a track meet and a prom. On Sunday, he squeezed in a morning of campaigning before parenting duty called once more.
“I’m a dad first,” said Farrell, walking, coffee in hand, when asked how he has the time to run for mayor and also coach a football team.
Farrell, former supervisor — and briefly a caretaker mayor — took a step back from politics in 2018 to spend more time with his family and focus on work with his venture capital firm, Thayer Ventures. In February, announcing his candidacy from a baseball batting cage, he re-entered the political arena. This week, we’re following along his campaign’s trail.
At 9 a.m. on Sunday, Farrell and his wife, Liz, arrived at an already packed farmers market on Clement Street, the first stop of the day.
Farrell’s campaign field director, Sophie Marie, and a volunteer had already set up shop in the market’s so-called “free-speech zone,” opposite what seemed to be the market’s most popular produce stand — selling fruits and vegetables — and next to campaigns stalls for his opponent, Aaron Peskin, and District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, who is running for re-election.
They are “taking a temperature check,” said Marie, by visiting different markets in different neighborhoods, to get a sense of how voters are aligned. “Right now, the goal is to lock down our base,” she said.
On Saturday, Team Farrell tested the waters in Noe Valley. It was “surprisingly good,” Marie said. For an area with more progressive constituents, residents seemed to align with Farrell’s policy goals. Some of those policies include clearing tent encampments, increasing the number of police officers and hiring a new police chief.
On Sunday, Farrell stood speaking to familiar faces on Clement Street — unsurprisingly familiar, since he lives a short walk away, in Jordan Park.
Some friends and acquaintances stopped by to say hello and grab some Mark Farrell stickers, colored in a “Golden Gate” orange.
“Tell me, what baseball positions are you playing?” he asked a young boy.
Meanwhile, his campaign volunteers manned the stall and took the hard questions from strangers.
“Give me a reason why I should vote for Mark,” said a man who approached the stall.
“Public safety,” said Nick, a volunteer.
“How is he different?” the man pressed, saying he was somewhat happy with Breed, but torn between her, Farrell and Lurie. “I’m sincerely trying to distinguish between the three candidates,” he added.
Distinguishing himself is exactly what Farrell hopes to do.
He criticizes Mayor London Breed for the current state of public safety and the economy in the city, while touting both his own public and private sector experience.
At 10 a.m., Farrell was already on his way to the next stop: Ortega Street and 37th Avenue, for the Outer Sunset farmers market. The weather there was strikingly cooler, but the market was equally busy with families buying kale, coffee and pork buns.
There was just enough time for Farrell to do a lap through the market, shake some hands and stop to say hello a couple of times before leaving for the next event. He failed to find the time to to speak to his opponent, Daniel Lurie, who was talking to constituents just outside the market, alongside Farrell’s staff.
Farrell, albeit late, made it to one last public appearance of the day, the two-year anniversary of Francisco Park in Russian Hill at 11:30 a.m.
The location on Bay Street between Larkin and Hyde streets was originally poised for housing development until a group of neighbors with deep pockets swept in and donated to create a park, with the help of Farrell, who was a supervisor at the time.
“With a park like this,” he said, he could not help but be “inspired by what the future of San Francisco can really be.”
Haha. Let’s see if he has the balls to show up at Heart of the City Farmers Market and explain his insane plan to put cars back on Market St.
Which would screw up the entire Muni system by re-intruducing random traffic congestion that unpredictably interferes with the buses and street cars, screwing up transfers and propagating delays throughout the system.
Maybe he could also explain why he thinks that taxis can’t pick up and drop off on Market St.? Remember when he said that? Seems like a whole lot of research went into this “plan”.
What is his position on tumlin, non profits and the bicycle coaltion.
An answer or two right on this site: https://missionlocal.org/2024/03/mark-farrells-common-sense/
What is his position on providing services and deeply affordable housing for San Francisco’s seniors? What will he do to assist and house San Francisco’s poor working families with kids? What about better working conditions and pay for San Francisco’s caregivers and nurses? Our city cannot function without our caregivers and nurses.