Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, as you should know by now, remains suspended pending a decision by the Board of Supervisors as to whether his admitted "false imprisonment" and presumed abuse of his wife rises to the level of "official misconduct" under the city charter. Nine of the eleven supervisors will need to vote for Mirkarimi's removal, and it's been assumed that Mayor Lee will have a tough time finding nine supervisors to support his case, given Mirkarimi's popularity with the city's progressive base. But four incumbents and one semi-incumbent (Lee appointee Christina Olague) are up for election (and District 7 is totally up for grabs) in November, and it's looking like the vote on Mirkarimi is going to occur within weeks of people going to the voting booth.
This means that anyone who feels strongly about Mirkarimi, in either direction, is very likely to let that affect how they vote. At this point, the Ethics Commission is getting set to have a hearing in which they'll officially "adopt" their findings that Mirkarimi should, in fact, be removed from office. That happens September 11, and so their recommendations will be given to the Board of Supes, tentatively, on September 17, with a decision to come probably several weeks later, in early October.
Will David Chiu, Christina Olague, Eric Mar, John Avalos, and David Campos have to do some polling to figure out where their likely voting constituents stand on Lee vs. Mirkarimi? Are the votes pretty much already accounted for and three or more Supervisors (such as progressive fave John Avalos) pretty much guaranteed to let Mirkarimi stay in office? We shall see.
[Chron]
