In a move that was fully expected within politico circles, longtime supervisor of the last decade, Aaron Peskin, will be vying to return to his seat as supervisor of District 3. The move comes three months after Mayor Ed Lee appointed a longtime ally of Peskin's, Julie Christensen, to the seat vacated by David Chiu and Peskin is now eligible to be reelected to the job since he hasn't held the seat in more than four years, as the Chronicle explains.
In the decades-old dance at City Hall in which progressive liberals and business-minded liberals vie for control of city policy, a win by Peskin in November would represent a major victory and a return to a progressive voting bloc on the board that hasn't been in the majority in several years. Peskin was part of a vocal progressive majority during his tenure between 2001 and 2008, and along with former supervisor Chris Daly presented constant political challenges to Mayor Gavin Newsom. Peskin had hoped to be appointed mayor when Newsom moved on to become Lieutenant Governor in 2011, however the board, with the hefty influence of Willie Brown and Rose Pak, decided to appoint longtime bureaucrat Ed Lee to the role instead a move that inspired Daly's famous "It's on like Donkey Kong" line.
As part of the powerful neighborhood association the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, Peskin was a key player in the battle over the height limit at 8 Washington, and he was instrumental in the campaign to kill the propositions that would have allowed the project to move forward. And Peskin's had a few controversies of his own, the funniest of which involved accusations of late-night, drunken, harassing phone calls he made to officials at the Port of San Francisco while he was still president of the Board of Supervisors, back in 2008, allegedly telling them he would eliminate their jobs.
He says now, to the Chron, "I didn’t expect to be running for office again. It wasn’t something I planned to do. [But] given how big the [housing] affordability crisis is, I just don’t feel I can sit on the sidelines."
And, naturally, Rose Pak appears to have her hands in this too. District 3 includes Chinatown, and Pak was openly pretty pissed that Mayor Lee appointed Christensen to the seat over her favored candidate, Planning commissioner Cindy Wu. So she's now got Peskin's back as a result.