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.
Big things were on the table for mayoral candidate Mark Farrell on Thursday morning: His team had just unveiled his housing platform to the general public. But for a day that included such a serious announcement, the mood was decidedly lighthearted — and it was dim sum that was literally on the table.
“Stay humble. Stay hungry,” Farrell said, when asked how his campaign was going, before helping himself to some pork ribs with black bean sauce at Imperial Garden Seafood Restaurant in the Portola.
An hour prior, at 10 a.m., Farrell, two staffers and the regional manager at Bank of Montreal, Philip Wong, took to San Bruno Avenue to talk to merchants in the area — following in the footsteps of Mayor London Breed, who canvassed the same places and people last week.
It was a brief lap around the neighborhood, with few stops at local businesses — unlike his merchant walk in the Sunset a few days earlier. The team made quick stops at the BMO bank branch, where Farrell listened to staff talk about how they work to help small businesses, and a taquería, before walking to the nearby Grocery Outlet at Silver Avenue and Goettingen Street.
Farrell did not delve into his housing aspirations for the city, which include upzoning primarily in the Financial District, SoMa and Mission Bay, streamlining building approvals and reducing the percentage of affordable housing that developers must include in larger projects.
Instead, walking along San Bruno Avenue with Wong, the two reminisced about the San Francisco of their youth. Wong talked about Chinatown and learning to take Muni as a kid, while Farrell shared stories about playing football nearby and going to Haystack Pizza in Noe Valley.
“That’s awesome,” said Farrell. “I love these stories.”
Farrell carries himself as friendly and approachable. A man standing in front of a restaurant on San Bruno Avenue stopped him to get a photo, and talked to him about his family and experience in the city. When, for whatever reason, the man started crying, Farrell tried to hand him a crumpled tissue from his pocket. Moments later, another lady stopped him to say hello, and the two started chatting in German.
Farrell ended the conversation with “Have a good day!” — which is about all this reporter understood.
The last stop, the Imperial Garden, was packed at around 11:15 a.m. with locals enjoying brunch. Mission Local had been told of a scheduled “dim sum tasting” but, as it turned out, that was just Farrell and one of his campaign staffers, Ali Wunderman, ordering and eating items off the menu and sharing them with Mission Local staffers.
After digging into a full spread — pork buns, chicken feet, pad siu mai, xiao long bao, custard tarts and more — Wunderman turned to Farrell. “Oh, you’ve got to go!” she said. “You have a lunch to get to.”
“Really?” Farrell replied, staring at the full table. “A lunch?”
