I’ve made it no secret that I know San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and District 3 Supervisor, as well as volunteered for him (even though I don’t live in San Francisco). Just the other day, the San Francisco Chronicle endorsed him for mayor in this November’s election.
“As candidate for mayor, the 41-year-old Chiu shows every indication that he is ready to take his knowledge and skills to the next level. In debates and in his meeting with our editorial board, Chiu has projected an energy, a specificity and a commitment to “shake things up at City Hall” that distinguishes him in a large field of experienced and polished politicians.
What is impressive about Chiu is that “change” and “jobs” are not just campaign slogans for him. He can go into detail about the redundancies and red tape at City Hall that are holding back economic development: the 15 departments that regulate the private sector, the hundreds of fees that burden businesses big and small, a payroll tax that is a disincentive to hire.”
The whole endorsement is pretty positive. Newspaper endorsements used to mean a lot, but in this day and age in our fractured media world of cable news, Internet and social media, such endorsements play a much less influential role. However, I’m still excited that the Chronicle, after carefully interview all the major candidates (16 total running!), came to the conclusion that Chiu is the most qualified. David Chiu has a real chance still of becoming the first Asian American to be elected Mayor of San Francisco. However, the person to beat is still incumbent interim Mayor Ed Lee.
However, the most shocking news related to the election this November is that a lot of San Franciscans don’t even know that there is a mayoral race going on and quite a few that think Gavin Newsom is still mayor!
[Photo courtesy of SF Gate]
