Effort to recall San Francisco Supervisor Engardio underway

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco voters approved Proposition K transforming The Great Highway into a park. Now opponents of the plan have launched a recall effort aimed at the supervisor who pitched the idea.

While the city as a whole approved Proposition K, the majority of west side residents voted against it.

Now those voters say Supervisor Joel Engardio is out of step with his constituents, and they're taking steps to force him out of office.

Inside San Francisco's City Hall at the board of elections, a small group of voters turned in the necessary paperwork to begin the process of recalling District 4 Supervisor Engardio.

While the majority of voters in the city approved Prop. K, the majority of voters in the Sunset and Richmond Districts opposed it.

"He has residents in D4 whose interests were, for some reason, not his interests and he ignored them," said Rich Corriea. "I think he failed at being a supervisor."

Supervisor Engardio said he respects voters who didn't vote for Proposition K. He said he will work to make sure that the plan works for the Sunset District, and he hopes that voters will judge him based on the totality of his service to his community. 

"I brought more police protection to the Sunset, created the night markets with community partners," said Engardio. "Put algebra on the ballot to bring algebra back to middle school. These are the things families in the Sunset care most about. I understand people have concerns about Prop K and traffic and I'm committed to addressing those concerns."

Michael Regan is a US Army Veteran who said he uses the Great Highway to get to and from the VA hospital. He said, although he doesn't live in the supervisor's district he supports a recall, saying the proposition will make getting to and from appointments more difficult. "When it's closed it adversely affects my ability to get there," said Regan. "I mean it's much more, it takes more time, it's harder to get there."

Prop K supporters have said 19th Avenue and Sunset Boulevard are options to help carry north and southbound traffic through the avenues.

Supervisor Engardio said ensuring that traffic is routed properly is top priority. "The traffic can still get to where it needs to go, and I'm committed to working on that," he said. "Working with city agencies, working with our new mayor to make sure the traffic goes where it needs to go and make sure the traffic flows because that's what people are concerned about."

Supervisor Engardio also said a recall is unnecessary, he's up for re-election in two years and voters can have their say after seeing how he performs in office.

Backers of the recall now have four months to gather more than 9,900 signatures from district voters to qualify for a recall vote. A recall election could then take place three or four months after that.