Since Aug. 4, not much has been happening in San Francisco City Hall — officially, at least. During the summer legislative recess, all 11 supervisors are, at least theoretically, on vacation.
Seven have signs posted in their office windows instructing constituents to contact them by email. Supervisor Jackie Fielder’s reads “For emergency services, call 911. If you need city services, please contact 311” followed by her office’s email for non-urgent assistance.
A skeleton crew of legislative aides and city staffers will hold down the fort on the second floor until the legislative recess ends on the Tuesday after Labor Day.
So, what have the supes been up to?
In many cases, family time. Besides spending more time with her parents, District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen reports having birthday parties three days in a row for her older daughter, who turned 12, and her daughter’s cousin, who also has an August birthday.
District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, after (successfully) proposing to his girlfriend, Cynthia Woo, at Mount Fuji last winter, tied the knot on Aug. 16 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers. The newlyweds are enjoying their honeymoon in Italy and Spain, according to one of Mahmood’s legislative aides.
Among the four groomsmen by Mahmood’s side at the altar was District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter, a calla lily boutonniere pinned on the lapel of his tux. Sauter is now traveling to Ohio, where he’s from, and the East Coast to visit family during the last stretch of his recess, according to an aide.
District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton reports that he has been spending time with his grandchildren and performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles as his alter ego, “Shamann AKA Topnotch.”
“I generally talk about politics and the experience of being an elected official,” Walton said. A highlight:
“How come every time you meet a white person, they gotta tell you about their Black friends?”
He continues: “‘Hi, my name is Bob, I just want you to know that I grew up in an all-Black neighborhood. My daughter dates a Black man and all my Black friends’ … I’m like, ‘I don’t care about your Black friends’ … they probably hang with you because they can’t hang with us.”
“How would you like it if I came on to you and say, like, ‘Hey, Noah, I just want you to know, uh, all my bosses are white. Or every time I get arrested, it was by a white cop. I got a friend who’s a serial killer,’” he finishes.
Walton also took some time to record an interview with rapper and music producer Herm Lewis for “Shamann Walton’s 100% Real Podcast,” in which Walton interviews influential people in arts, sports, and politics in the Bay Area.
So far, the bi-monthly podcast, which is on YouTube with 24 subscribers, only has one episode that came out in July, featuring Black C from RBL Posse, a local rap group from Hunters Point, in Walton’s district.
Not everyone can go in for R&R. For District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, summer recess has been a slog. The supervisor is in the last sprint of door-knocking to convince residents of his district not to kick him out the door in a Sept. 16 recall election.
Kit Lam, a former aide to Engardio, who is filling in while another aide is on maternity leave, said Engardio still comes into the office during recess to touch base with his staff.
Some supervisors have traveled even further. District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder went to Mexico City, accompanied by two aides, Feng Han and Sasha Gaona. The five-day trip, Fielder said, was paid out of pocket by themselves, and not on the government’s dime.
Fielder said the trio met with the Mexico City officials and discussed how to best support Mexican-born immigrants who might have potential encounters with ICE, how to introduce legislation to help mitigate chances for people to get scammed, and how to make roads more accommodating for pedestrians or cyclists.
The highlight of the trip, Fielder said, was visiting the “utopias” — an acronym for Units of Transformation and Organization for Inclusion and Social Harmony — which are large, free community centers in boroughs such as Iztapalapa that offer health services, laundry, cultural and educational programs, and sports facilities.
“All these different initiatives in the poorest communities have contributed to a reduction of crime of more than 60 percent,” Fielder said.
After wrapping up his “Small Business Summer” — a listening tour of hundreds of small businesses in District 2 — Supervisor Stephen Sherill is currently traveling to visit family in New York, where he’s from.
But just because a supervisor is on vacation does not mean their staffers are. “Vacation wouldn’t be the word I would use,” said Veronica Lempert, one of Sherrill’s four legislative aides, of the summer recess. On a Tuesday afternoon, Lempert and Mick Del Rosario were busy responding to emails.
Things are “certainly more chill” in August, Lempert explained. She’s using the time to prepare for “Public Safety Fall,” a series of town halls discussing residents’ concerns around public safety.
District 8 Supervisor and Board President Rafael Mandelman also went east — getting his steps in walking around Montreal, Provincetown, Vermont’s Silver Lake, and New York City. Like many politicians these days, Mandelman posted regular updates as to his whereabouts on Instagram.
During legislative recess, aides at Mandelman’s office rotate, so that at least one of them is in the office every week, according to Brad Phelps, who came on board in April to work on homelessness, public safety, and behavioral health.
When Mandelman returns, they’ll be focusing on Mandelman’s goal of streamlining city contracts. While the supervisor is away, Phelps said he is also catching up on some light reading — namely, the 102-page shelter system assessment report released in March 2025 by the Controllers’ Office.
“We’re really taking advantage of the supervisor being out of office,” Phelps said. “Because now we don’t have to spend time prepping our boss for events and managing crises.”
I was curious what conservative Supervisor Melgar has been doing. She has not parachuted into our neighborhood for months and months…. Not that she ever answers a cogent question with a substantive answer….
Thinking the exact same thing… would be nice if the article noted any efforts to find out what the three other Supervisors (1, 6, and 7) were up to.
I guess you can go on vacation, seems like not much money spent in the Golden State except for Walton and Chan. Auditioning for their next jobs and homes?
” Auditioning for their next jobs ” – I think that’s Engardio. Gaslighting PR firm team lead?
What All the supervisors should be doing is actually protesting ice… Down at the immigration courthouse many citizens are doing trying to prevent immigrants from being illegally arrested. Why aren’t they down there? Why isn’t Lurie down there?
The dog in the picture of Sherrill is almost certainly not allowed in the restaurant. Service animals are required to be on leash. Also, the hand licking might suggest the dog is there as toy for whoever feels like playing.
The rules have changed a bit since Covid.
Nothing in social sciences is ever 100%, but I’m pretty sure that anything that the SF Board of Supervisors or City tries short of getting the SFPD and DA to enforce California law against ICE lawbreakers is all for show.
I swear that these nonprofity progressives will exhaust each and every possible marginal constituency before giving the slightest political consideration to residents, citizens, voters.
When is Jackie Fielder going to start advocating for clean and safe conditions right here in the Mission?
She should be leading a volunteer trash pickup, maybe she can call it a “non profit” and get hundreds of thousands of dollars, hold it, conflict of interest. Maybe I should do it instead.
Fielder, like Ronen and Campos before her, is only allowed to be a technician servicing nonprofits in need of city funding and while spending the remainder of their time virtue signaling on fools’ errands that can’t make political change.
As it stands, Peskin led opposition to Lurie’s city wide upzoning is teeing up a disaster for the Mission and already upzoned east side neighborhoods. Should the City fall out of compliance with state mandates, then the builder’s remedy will kick in. The BR was amended to favor existing zoning, which means that the already upzoned east side neighborhoods will bear the brunt.
The housing nonprofits are fine with this as they get their exaction fee tolls, while the nonprofits and their supervisor welcomes that which the rest of the city rejects, upzoning, builder’s remedy, fentanyl, drug treatment centers next to elementary schools full of at risk students, as if we are the City’s dumpster.
The Mission is being held hostage to the interests of a select few well compensated executive directors while the interests of residents are not on the agenda.
Neighborhoods United indeed.