S.F. supervisor Jackie Fielder will stay in office, take leave of absence

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San Francisco supervisor Jackie Fielder will stay on the job but take a leave of absence “so she can thoughtfully and responsibly consider her options.”

This ends 48 hours of speculation on her political fate after Fielder told Mission Local on Friday she was in the hospital and would resign.

Her condition had been unclear on Friday, but Fielder’s aides said Sunday evening that the District 9 supervisor is grappling with mental health issues.

“Supervisor Jackie Fielder is currently navigating a mental health condition and needs time and space to recover before making any major decisions,” read a statement from her office.

“She will be taking a medical leave of absence, during which time the District 9 office will remain dedicated to meeting the needs of our constituents, neighbors, and community members.”

Fielder checked herself into a hospital, and is still there. It is unclear what care she is receiving.

The District 9 office will continue to operate as normal, her office said. The work of responding to constituent concerns, drafting legislation, communicating with city departments, and other tasks will be done by legislative aides, as is the case in the offices of most supervisors. 

Fielder, like any absent supervisor, will be unable to vote on legislation unless she appears in board chambers in person.

It is unclear when Fielder plans to return to the office. 

Fielder’s decision Sunday ended a weekend of rumors and gossip related to her health and future. Fielder told Mission Local in a short phone call on Friday that she was in the hospital and would step down, but said little else. 

In the hours that followed, District 9 leaders and groups rallied around her. Mayor Daniel Lurie joined her colleagues on the board in wishing her a speedy recovery.

Fielder would not be the first city supervisor to take time off work, though extended leaves are rare and longtime City Hall insiders could recall few supervisors leaving for more than a few weeks.

Former District 2 supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier left for three months after a surgery in 2010, and the current District 3 supervisor Danny Sauter took a few weeks off last year after the birth of his child.

Fielder’s situation is less defined, and it is unclear how long someone who has had a mental health crisis will require to recover. But her colleagues appear ready to wait: Fielder’s office appended statements from five sitting supervisors telling her to take the time she needs.

“We will support Supervisor Fielder and her team during this time to make decisions that are in the best interest of Supervisor Fielder’s health and the people she represents,” read Supervisor Connie Chan’s statement. 

“This is not the first time a member of the Board of Supervisors has been incapacitated for a long period of time. Michela Alioto-Pier was out for 3 months and we were able to facilitate the representation of that district while she was out and her staff kept working,” read Supervisor Myrna Melgar’s statement. “I have full confidence that the District 9 staff can and will do that as well.”

Supervisors Bilal Mahmood, Chyanne Chen and Shamann Walton also expressed support.

The city charter does not require a supervisor to take a formal leave of absence in cases where they cannot be in City Hall for an extended period of time.

Supervisors can only be removed from work in extreme cases, namely “official misconduct” defined as “wrongful behavior” that is “willful in its character,” or “conviction of a felony crime involving moral turpitude,” according to section 15.105 of the city charter.

“The only way you go is you resign — which can only be done in writing to the clerk of the board — you die, you get recalled or you are removed for a crime by the mayor, subject to a trial where three-fourths of your colleagues have to convict you,” said the former board president, Aaron Peskin, who over his more than 17 years as a legislator developed a reputation for an encyclopedic knowledge of the city code.

“Technically, you don’t even need to take a leave of absence,” he said. “If a member of the Board of Supervisors doesn’t show up to work, that’s something they can do.”

Legislators across the country routinely take extended time off work. The U.S. Congress, for example, has seen scores of members take ill for extended periods — in dramatic scenes, they are sometimes wheeled into the chambers from their hospital beds to cast deciding votes. 

But, while mental health leave has become more accepted, it is rare. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in 2023 checked himself into Walter Reed hospital for depression and was widely supported, though he has faced scrutiny over his performance since then. Mission Local has found few other prominent examples.

Perhaps the most similar analog to Fielder’s situation is that of Lina Hidalgo in Texas. In 2023, the Harris County county judge (its top executive) checked herself into an inpatient psychiatric clinic for depression. Hidalgo, 32 at the time, detailed her mental health struggles in a long New York Times article.

Aides to Hidalgo — who is, like the 31-year-old Fielder, a young woman of color and Stanford University graduate — reportedly worried about her re-election chances.

An ally of hers told the Times that “being a young Latina in a blue city in a red state meant that she was already in the cross-hairs before she disclosed her diagnosis.”

Fielder is in a deep blue city in one of its most progressive districts, and easily won her 2024 election in District 9 in a 60-40 tilt.

However, she is the city’s lone democratic socialist representative and often clashes with Mayor Lurie and his allies. Relations between Lurie and Fielder have soured significantly, several City Hall sources said, and the supervisor has felt embattled for months.

Politically, Fielder’s absence will mean little for the city’s progressive bloc, which commands only four and at times five votes on the moderate-heavy 11-member board.

“The dynamics of the Board of Supervisors, with one out of 11 members not being there, are not vastly changed,” said Peskin.

If there were a razor-thin majority for either moderates or progressives, Fielder’s absence would be a different story. “But that’s not the dynamic that exists at this time.”

Disclosure: This reporter briefly worked with Jackie Fielder in 2018 at The Worker Agency, a communications firm.