Engardio recallers draw line in the sand at Mayor Lurie’s upzoning plan 

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District 4 residents voted in a landslide to oust their supervisor, Joel Engardio, last Tuesday, and the leaders of that recall have made it loud and clear: Mayor Daniel Lurie should tread carefully as he rolls out his proposed citywide upzoning plan.

The political muscle used to recall Engardio in a lopsided vote — of some 21,000 ballots counted as of Sept. 18, more than 62 percent were for the recall — can now easily be turned against Lurie.

“It’s better to not even take a break,” Otto Pippenger, the recall’s campaign organizer, said last week regarding the small army of recall volunteers. “It’s like a band. You’ve got to practice regularly, or people lose interest.” 

Practice, in this case, would mean door-knocking, attending city hearings and town halls, and ensuring Lurie and city supervisors see the recallers in action. The group’s 50 dedicated, weekly volunteers — and 1,000 people on their mailing lists — could be primed to take action. 

Lurie, who must name Engardio’s successor, is in a pickle: He needs a supervisor who can push for his housing upzoning plan by the end of the year. But that’s a tough proposition in homeowner-heavy District 4, where many residents, particularly those behind the recall, vehemently oppose that plan. 

Lurie was popular in District 4; he won the Sunset handily in 2024. Some 31 percent of District 4 voters ranked him first, and Asian-heavy precincts generally broke in Lurie’s favor.

He stayed silent on the recall in the weeks and months leading up to it and, in a statement posted nine minutes after Engardio conceded, tried currying favor with the Westside.

“As I campaigned for mayor last year, I heard countless Westside families say what San Franciscans have been feeling for years: That their government is doing things to them, not with them, and that government is not working to make their lives better,” Lurie wrote.

Sources say Lurie’s team has reached out to stakeholders such as democratic clubs in District 4, the local Democratic Party and recall supporters in the past few weeks — in one case, on election night — to discuss potential appointees. 

The recallers, for their part, want a supervisor who has history and relationships in the Sunset to put their interests first; someone who will “focus on reopening the Great Highway, stand up to Scott Wiener and the billionaires, and not turn Ocean Beach into Miami Beach,” said Jamie Hughes, the recall campaign manager, on election night. 

“Voters hope that they don’t get betrayed by Lurie,” he said.  

“I’m certain that the mayor will listen to us and appoint a caretaker or appointee who is going to make sure that our values are heard in this period of essential change,” said Pippenger.

Lurie needs six votes to pass his upzoning plan, and ostensibly has at least four: Danny Sauter, Stephen Sherrill, Matt Dorsey, and Bilal Mahmood.

District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan and District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, both representing the Westside, are pushing to add amendments to the plan or pass legislations to cut down displacement risks for tenants and small businesses.  

The plan has been contentious. Progressives are concerned about the lack of protections for tenants, small businesses and historical structures; moderates tend not to welcome changes in their neighborhoods. 

But among the city’s moderate voters, there’s a rift. Some are focused on urbanism, walkability, transit and open space, and others enjoy living in suburban enclaves within the city.

Even those who are against the upzoning plan as-is know that compromise is likely.

“You can’t be unreasonable, coming from the Westside,” said Albert Chow, the owner of Great Wall Hardware and a recall supporter. Lurie, he said, will “think we are just a bunch of crackpots” if the opposition is total.

“We should preserve what’s working,” added Josephine Zhao, the president of the Chinese American Democratic Club and a major backer of the recall. “And we’ll find places where we will have a very chiseled design to carve out some places that allow more growth.”

In the Sunset, where nearly 62 percent of the housing units are homeowner-occupied — compared to 34 percent citywide — and more than half of the households have at least two cars, opposition to the upzoning plan has a stronghold. 

At an upzoning town hall in the Richmond District held a week before the election, former mayoral candidate and Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who is against the mayor’s plan, made a not-so-subtle reference to the recall. 

“I think the mayor is starting to see the light, because when the voters of San Francisco don’t have good options, or are not being listened to,” Peskin said. “They do things like file lawsuits, recall supervisors and put ballot measures on the ballot.” 

David Ho, a political consultant and former longtime Sunset resident, said the real strength of the recall movement will be in its next steps. 

“Are you really that powerful when all you can do is to say, ‘No, no, no, no, no’?” Ho asked. “It’s always easier to be against something than to be for something. But if you want something, then you gotta push for your own initiative.” 

As of last Thursday, only 240 ballots remain uncounted. The Department of Elections expects to certify the election by the end of September. 

The Board of Supervisors will then vote to certify the results, meaning Engardio’s last action as a supervisor could well be the ratification of his recall election. Barring the highly unlikely scenario in which the mayor vetoes the board’s legislation, it will pass with his signature — or without it — following 10 days.

The upzoning, all said, will be top of mind.

“People would feel like they have a say, and the mayor is listening to our voices,” said Selena Chu, a vocal recall supporter and vice president of the Chinese American Democratic Club. “His final decision may not be who we want, but at least there’s a way to express our thoughts.”