The day after Beya Alcaraz, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s pick for District 4 supervisor, resigned from a post she had taken up just seven days earlier, political insiders in San Francisco were unified in their response: How could this happen?
And, what happens now?
Alcaraz, the only supervisor appointee in modern San Francisco history with zero political experience, was ousted hours after Mission Local found she admitted in writing to paying workers “under the table” and potentially dodging taxes, and just days after the San Francisco Standard found her former pet store was awash in dead animals and a rodent infestation.
Lurie told reporters Alcaraz was vetted. Those close to City Hall questioned that assertion.
“That’s just basic competence,” political strategist David Ho said of Team Lurie’s look into Alcaraz’s background. “This is really stunning, given his team inside and outside the City Hall.”
Background checks are not especially difficult, Ho said. It takes “five minutes, maybe an hour, if you take the N-Judah out in the Outer Sunset,” he said, to talk to Alcaraz’s associates. “That is Politics 101. Maybe someone forgot to hand in their homework.”
Lurie’s team had considered the appointment carefully in other ways: Lurie said at a press conference on Friday that he had a “good understanding” of what the Sunset needed because of the “house parties that I’ve been attending and the community meetings that I’ve been going to the last couple months.” The mayor’s schedule shows that between Sept. 23 and Oct. 16, Lurie held five meetings on “district issues” at District 4 addresses.
Those meetings ended on Oct. 16. Four days later, on Oct. 20, a poll was put out to District 4 residents as a temperature check of a hypothetical candidate named “Sara Reyes” who matched the resume of Alcaraz.
Lurie declined to reveal any details about the vetting process at a Friday press conference announcing the resignation. The New York Times reported that Lurie hired a private firm to look into Alcaraz and that it raised possible issues with her former pet store, but did not find the allegations of tax dodging unearthed by Mission Local.
Those allegations were new to Lurie and they convinced him to ask for Alcaraz’s resignation, he said at the Friday press conference. Lurie was apologetic and promised to “do better” in the future. “The news that came to light yesterday was new to me,” he said. “We are going to have a much more thorough vetting process.”
Lurie said he has begun the search to replace Alcaraz. Several city supervisors have suggestions for him and some said on Friday that they had passed names to the mayor’s office. Most declined to share those names.
District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton and District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder, for their part, said that Lurie should appoint Natalie Gee, Walton’s chief of staff.
That is unlikely: Gee is on San Francisco’s progressive wing, and Lurie will look to maintain the moderate majority that’s currently on the board. Gee said that she has never been approached by the mayor’s office, but on Oct. 28 declared she would run for the seat in the June 2026 special election.
Others have also thrown their names in. David Lee, who lost to Catherine Stefani in a State Assembly race last year, pulled papers to run today. Albert Chow, a hardware store owner in the Sunset, is also contemplating a run.
Chow told Mission Local that he didn’t get the job after conducting three interviews with Lurie and his team, and filling out a survey.
While Alcaraz had no government experience, Lurie’s next appointee may. District 7 Supervisor Myrna Meglar said it was “not the time right now to consider people who have no civic engagement experience or knowledge of the community.”
She listed off a series of issues facing the board: threats from Trump, persecution of immigrants, the budget deficit, the housing crisis, and more. The current board is already filled with newcomers. “We just don’t have the time to train,” she said. “Maybe in some other time we could, but not right now.”
Eric Jaye, a political consultant, said Lurie would need to change his “philosophy that San Francisco government is so broken that you have to bring in people with no experience to fix it.” After all, Jaye said, Lurie viewed Alcaraz’s lack of experience not as “a bug,” but as “a feature.”
Regardless, Lurie will need to move quickly, most said. The appointment of Alcaraz was a “self-inflicted mistake” that “kind of signals the end to Lurie’s honeymoon,” Ho said. A pick that “should have made him stronger actually made him weaker and put him in a more challenging position,” added political strategist Jim Ross.
Lurie’s administration declined to say when the next appointee will be made. The next most consequential act for the board, voting on the city upzoning plan, is scheduled for December. Lurie said he won’t necessarily require an appointee to agree to vote yes on the plan, however. “There are no red lines on positions,” he said at the press conference on Friday.
Perhaps most pressing is the public perception, however.
“I think he needs to appoint somebody today or Monday at the latest,” Ross said. “The longer this lingers the more it will be a drag on his administration.”
Additional reporting by Junyao Yang.
“I think he needs to appoint somebody today or Monday at the latest,”
Disagree. He made one mistake out of haste. Two in a week would be ridiculous.
Is having no political experience really a problem?
Lurie didn’t and he won.
For that matter Reagan became CA Governor with no political experience. Ditto Arnie.
Having no experience, no degree, no relevant service, no voting record, no friends or associates (that we know of?) in politics or city business, but having a failed business touted as ‘small business know-how’ coupled with text messages about committing payroll, tax and business expense frauds all at once… it’s a lot. Reagan and Arnie were well known personalities when they entered. Lurie at least had city connections, money and non-profit administration, and he was elected as a rebuke to Breed’s entrenched corruption by saying he ‘didn’t need’ to put his hands into the pockets of donors to get elected. If this D4 replacement fiasco is any indication, having a modicum of political experience is actually pretty important before making the big decisions. At least realizing the process requires vetting… that’s such a huge mistake right at the start of his tenure. I suppose you don’t even need political experience to know that much, yet somehow it didn’t happen. I did appreciate his mea culpa but it’s putting out a firestorm with weak tea. Everything he proposes is going to be heavily scrutinized for a good while at least. A seasoned politico would not have made this fumble right out of the gates. There’s no substitute for knowing what you’re doing, preferably before you go and do it.
Im sorry my reply posted before I finished rambling. Reagan had experience as president of the actors union for several terms–a union member–before being Governor. Lurie served in Obama’s administration in different positions and was active in public service before becoming SF Mayor. Trump might have the least experience in public service. So maybe experience is relevant for voters to glimpse an official’s motives.
Reagan and Arnie were household names obviously, duh.
Neither one was a particularly great politician or leader.
Lurie, Reagan, and Anrie had a ton of personal cash as well as very wealthy, powerful supporters. Reagan was basically groomed for the job. Oh, and then of course we have Trump. Ton’s of money, no experience, and he’s terrible. Not sure if your question is “no experience, can’t win?” or “no experience, can’t do the job?”. Because in the case of all three you mentioned, they won with money and they govern(ed) with a lot of assistance from consultants. A supervisor is going to have neither money nor consultants. So I’d suggest it would be tough to step in a do the job immediately.
I too think that experience is not required especially in a young appointee. But even high school students can participate in public service. I had assumed that she must have been a standout volunteer with the ASPCA, Red Cross, youth programs, Bayanihan Center, etc., but no. Nothing. Arnold funded youth programs and was our nation’s fitness guru before serving as Governor. R
Engardio had zero experience, we know how well that turned out?
People with nothing to hide don’t need to lie or embellish. Bella at least has the excuse of youthful indiscretion, but Han Zou is still pretending they did a rigorous vetting and found nothing, really that’s his story? Liars need to go.
That’s why we fired Engardio, that’s why we fired Breed, and that’s why if Lee hadn’t died of a heart condition he would have faced the same fate.
SF doesn’t like being lied to repeatedly. Wieners take note.
Lurie should really do a thorough background check on his candidates, this time around. Busy schedule as mayor, but he should’ve taken this seriously.
I can’t believe he got played so bad. Han Zou was asleep at the wheel.
How can this happen? You give a high-level job to someone who is inexperienced and unqualified. There’s no surprise when they do something incompetent, like giving a critically-important position to another person who is totally unqualified.
Mayor Lurie should simply cut to the chase and appoint Joel Engardio as D4 Supervisor. Engardio, without a doubt, has been the best Supervisor the district has ever had — other than Katy Tang.
Alternatively, Lurie could appoint Engardio as the next General Manager of the Recreation & Parks Dept. after Ginsburg steps down at the end of the year. That way the future of the City’s new fantastic park, Sunset Dunes, can really be solidified!
Engardio is a liar and a recalled, loathed one. No thank you.
We’ll recall him a thousand times. A liar is a liar.
GIVE THE ENGARDIO PUFFERY A REST. HE WAS FIRED FOR A REASON AND THAT REASON IS HE’S A LIAR. PERIOD.
YOU THINK HE’S THE BEST LIAR, GOOD FOR YOU. FORGET IT.
“house parties that I’ve been attending”
Not what I’d say… but I’m not a Billionaire…
I haven’t seen any information on who this “outside firm” was who did the vetting.
1. How much were they paid?
2. Who are they connected to in City Government?
3. What other work have they done for City Government?
It’s all Han Zou. Lurie’s PR guy. There was no outside firm.
Any firm would have caught half of this day 1.
So they picked Alcaraz over Albert Chow, ouch.
Lurie wanted someone he thought he could control. Chow is not that. He’s an outspoken representative for Sunset interests. Bella could have said anything and voted for the Wiener Gentrification Scheme anyway, then ridden off into the corrupt City Family of appointments and payola. Chow would be much more difficult to corrupt.
Wow. The Great Highway continues to wreak havoc upon the city’s political leadership. The casualty report just keeps growing: Mayor Breed’s re-election campaign weakened, an incumbent Supe Gordon Mar booted in a tight race, tech and real estate donor’s cash squandered, an historic recall of a victorious supervisor, and now a political appointee’s resignation that has tarnished the image of our new Mayor. Perhaps it is time for SF’s political class to respect the Sunset District’s voters a little bit more?
Dude, you lost. The park is here to stay. You think you are going to win anybody over with these aggrieved rants?
No, Engardio lost and the lies of Prop K will be handled in California court, where CEQA is still the law of the land.
Wiener and Engardio are liars. Don’t be a fool for moneyed hacks.
Actually, voter initiatives — such as Prop K — bypass CEQA.
Next.
I would say it wasn’t the Great Highway. It was the lying and disregard entirely.
Joel deserved his fate as much as Ed Jew.
The mishandling of the Great Highway closure was a major misstep by SF’s political leadership. By itself, it has lead to a chain reaction of negative consequences for politicians, lobbyists and special agendas that are on the opposite side of west side voters. The wreckage at this point is historical.
The impending upzoning promoted by Wiener and Laurie is far more consequential than the angst the motorists have over the loss of 2 miles of parkway road. Breed gerrymandered the districts to help Engardio. That is what caused Mar to lose. Despite being a middle of the road Democrat, Breed’s connections to corruption, borrowing $1700 to fix her car from Nuhru, her former boyfriend, currently serving time for corruption and her own “doom loop” narrative sank her boat. That Engardio, the king of recalls, got recalled is his own comeuppance.
The issue with the Great Highway closure was the bypassing of constituent and legal review, CEQA, and the will of the district. Lurie would be a fool to ignore it yet that’s exactly what he did with Bella. His next mistakes will get triple scrutiny and his entire upzoning charade is under review thus.
Yes, the City should definitely not pass the Family Zoning Plan, that way the Builder’s Remedy — bypassing local zoning altogether (e.g. height, density controls, etc. — in any location throughout the City) — will definitely kick in!
Go for it — Let’s bust it all wide open!