San Francisco Board of Supervisors Shifts to Moderate

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — San Francisco today seated the first female-majority Board of Supervisors in 22 years with the swearing in of four new supervisors and three re-elected incumbents.

Newly elected supervisors Sandra Lee Fewer, Hillary Ronen and Ahsha Safai were sworn in today along with AIDS activists Jeff Sheehy, who was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee to replace Scott Wiener following his recent
election to the state Senate.

Also sworn in were recently re-elected supervisors Aaron Peskin, Norman Yee and London Breed.
Fewer and Ronen together helped bring the board to a female majority for the first time since 1995, along with supervisors Malia Cohen, Jane Kim, Katy Tang and Breed.

In addition, Breed was re-elected unanimously as board president.

The newly sworn-in board today also marks an apparent shift in the board's political orientation, with the election of Safai to replace outgoing Supervisor John Avalos marking the end of the board's progressive majority.

The board is now dominated by supervisors expected to vote with the moderate faction, which tends to be more friendly to the policies of Mayor Ed Lee.

Lee today acknowledged the historic makeup of the board, noting that Sheehy is the first openly HIV-positive supervisor and that it appears the majority of legislative aides are also female.

Lee marked the occasion today with a call for unity to a board that has recently been marked by open division.

"This moment in time is like nothing else we've ever faced in San Francisco," Lee said, referring to the impending presidency of Donald Trump.

"More than ever we need to be unified and protect the values that our city has been built on. When we work together, we have found success."

Breed today used her re-election to call for the city to "provide a hand up" to the homeless, the poor, minorities, immigrants and others who feel "unwelcome and unsafe."

She noted that she herself had once been the recipient of such help when she was a young girl living in public housing with her grandmother.

"I climb the stairs to this dais because a community looked out for me and because San Francisco believed in me," Breed said. "To every San Franciscan who feels uncertain or alone now, you are seen and you are loved
and you are one of us."

— Bay City News; Image via Pixabay