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SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - A large crowd turned out in San Francisco Monday night at the Castro Theatre to hear from the top candidates in the race for mayor, but one uninvited guest crashed the event and ended up staying.
Amy Farah Weiss, a grassroots candidate, managed to snag a spot on the stage where the forum was held, but not before security at the 90-minute event tried to silence her and eject her from the stage.
"Stop pulling on my shirt, sir" Weiss, who ran against late Mayor Ed Lee in 2015 with little to no financial backing, said to security, before interrupting and making her way onto the stage. There was a brief back and forth, but she was eventually allowed to participate; a decision not supported by everyone in the audience as boos could be heard.
Noticeably missing from the event was Mark Leno who canceled last minute due to an eye injury.
The criteria for an invite to speak was that the candidate had to receive at least five percent in a recent poll.
In typical SF politico style, aside from disruptions, there were protests.
One group carrying a "London Breed Doesn't Care About Black People" banner were ejected from the classic movie house before the forum got underway.
The candidates were asked for their stances and how they would respond to crisis like the AIDS epidemic, which impacted many in the Castro's LGBTQ community in the 1980s and '90s.
For many potential voters, it was their first time hearing from the field's only Republican candidate Richie Greenberg, a self-described business consultant.
"I would fight in every way to insure that we would have proper funding for research and medicine to ensure that the LGBTQ community is taken care of," Greenberg said.
Supervisor Jane Kim says she is the candidate to fight for affordability in the housing crisis.
"I'm proud of the fact that I've negotiated and won more affordable housing in the last seven years," Kim said. "I want our government to play a role in supporting our middle class and address epidemics."
San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed said in the brief time she was acting mayor, she made the controversial decision to save lives by moving forward with safe injection sites.
"We have to be brave, we have to be bold. We have to be fearless in providing solutions to those particular issues that differentiates me from the other candidates," Breed said.
Farah Weiss said she will work to solve the city's perpetual housing crisis if she were elected as mayor.
"We work with our encampment residents, impacted neighbors. we work with [Department of Public Works] and SFPD," she said.
Former SF Supervisor Angela Alioto says she will fight to make sure ridesharing companies pay their fair share to fund infrastructure projects.
"When it comes to Uber and Lyft and Chariot, they are a business doing business in the city and county of SF and they need to be taxed," Alioto said.
The candidates' forum was hosted by Horizon, a non-profit that promotes LGBTQ causes.
KTVU's Amber Lee contributed to this report