Five top mayoral candidates pursue SF Firefighters endorsement

SAN FRANCISCO - The five top San Francisco mayoral candidates showed up at the Firefighters Local 798 union hall Thursday for a debate and question session with members, hoping to get support from the union, which says it has more than 1,500 members who will vote in August on which candidate to endorse.

Supervisor Ahsha Safai, former Mayor Mark Farrell, incumbent Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, and non-profit executive Daniel Lurie spoke about why they should get the union's support.

"I delivered $275 million for neighborhood fire stations," Mayor London Breed said. "We have hired more than 640 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics and have reduced mandatory overtime."

Supervisor Ahsha Safai pointed to his prior union experience and work on a measure for the November ballot to lower the firefighter retirement age, in light of health research showing firefighters are exposed to chemicals linked to cancer.

"I am fighting like hell to reduce your retirement age from 58 to 55. Also, I’m not going to nickel and dime firehouses and then put yourself in harms way," Safai said.

Former Mayor Mark Farrell said for him, the issues are personal, as he has many childhood friends who serve the city as firefighters and he wants to reduce the burden on firefighters of dealing with tent encampments, mental health crises, and exposure to toxic chemicals. 

"You're now doing wellness checks, unarmed in manners that you have never done before. You weren't having to do street interventions in ways you've never done before. Thank you very much. We will stop that," Farrell said.

"I have been a friend of local 798 for 25 years," Supervisor Aaron Peskin said, adding that he would increase the number of rigs, ambulances and fight to support. "I worked to make holiday pay pensionable before many of you joined the fire department."

Daniel Lurie, the founder of the non-profit The Tipping Point and the only candidate at the debate who has not been in elected office, said San Francisco needs a change at city hall.

"Doing things the wrong way over and over again is not experience, it’s failure. It wouldn't be accepted in the fire department and it shouldn't be accepted at City Hall," Lurie said.

Firefighters asked pointed questions about supporting fire personnel in dealing with unhoused people on the streets and other issues.

Local 798 secretary Adam Wood asked whether the candidates support the November ballot measure to reduce firefighters' retirement age from 58 to 55, to address health and cancer exposure.
Breed says she's undecided.

Farrell, Lurie, Peskin and Safai said they support it.

Firefighter Jovan Blake, who works at Station 3 in the Tenderloin asked about whether the candidates would support rehiring firefighters who were fired during the pandemic for declining COVID vaccines now that the pandemic is over. 

Breed replied that it is up to the Fire Chief saying, "I don't tell her how to do her job and she doesn't tell me how to do mine." 

Farrell, Peskin, and Safai said they support rehiring the firefighters. Lurie said he would support rehiring but has concerns if they want back pay, in fairness to those firefighters who did get the vaccine and worked through the pandemic.

The candidates were also asked about criminal consequences for drug dealers and people living on street who refuse to move. 

Farrell criticized Breed for not having been prepared to act immediately when the Supreme Court ruled weeks ago to allow removal. 

Breed defended the timing, saying that she plans to pursue action in August. She said that the city needed time to train workers about the "bag and tag" policy to preserve people's belongings if they are removed from the street to avoid lawsuits. 

"Effective August, we are going to be very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments which may even include criminal penalties," Breed said. 

"I believe in treating people with compassion and respect and offering them shelter and housing. But I believe the sidewalks of our city belong to everybody," Farrell said, saying he supports having criminal penalties as one tool to keep streets clear.

Safai said he supports criminal charges if people are dealing drugs, but only supports criminal charges if there are sufficient housing and treatment options available for those in tent encampments. 

"We have to go after the ones that are the most dangerous first and ensure that those are clear immediately. But here's the thing, folks, we don't even know how many people are on the streets of San Francisco because we only count [every] two years. Under my administration, we will be doing it aggressively. And then we know the right number of shelter beds to build and, of course, if you're doing drugs and you're breaking the law, you can't be there. That's when law enforcement has to step in," Safai said. 

Peskin says he does not support criminal charges for people living on the street, unless there is sufficient housing options. He says he does support going after drug dealers.

"This city must aggressively prosecute drug dealers. And we must work regionally to use prop one money to repurpose underutilized and unused state facilities that were abandoned years ago. We should work as a region. This is not a San Francisco only problem, but we should send those folks to a regional facility with the doctors at the table," Peskin said. 

Lurie said he would try to change the culture at City Hall and make sure there are sufficent housing options before pursuing criminal charges. 

"We are going to stand up 1,500 shelter beds in the first six months of my administration. We're going to give safe, dignified options for people to go to. We're going to double down on Homeward Bound where you have more mental health and drug treatment beds," Lurie said. "And then we need to enforce the law because the streets belong to all of us." 

The event lasted about 90 minutes and then members of the union gathered to cast votes. 

"We'll have several days of voting at different locations so we can get as many votes as possible," Sam Gebler, VP of the SF Firefighters Local 798 said.

"We want to hear something that hits us in our heart and we understand, really understand that they have our back," Dustin Novo, an SF Firefighters Local 798 member said.

"Two candidates, Daniel Lurie, Ahsha Safai, I didn't know a lot about. And it was interesting. So did it sway my vote? I'm not sure," Heather Buren, SFFD Captain of the Behavioral Health unit said.

The union members will vote over the next two days and then meet in August to decide on their endorsement for San Francisco's mayor.