Fewer may remain best known for a “F*** the POA” chant at an election night party, but her efforts to create a public bank might be her longest-lasting legacy.
Wednesday morning brought the unexpected local political news that Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer will not be running for re-election to her District 1 seat this November. News of Fewer’s eventual stepping down (she’ll continue to hold the seat all through 2020) was reported this morning in the Examiner, on Mission Local, and eventually in the Chronicle, and confirmed by Sup. Fewer herself on separate Twitter and Facebook posts.
“It has been a demanding job,” the 62-year-old Fewer told the Examiner. “At times it can be soul-damaging.” Both Mission Local and the Examiner’s reporting said that Fewer had been contemplating the move for awhile, that her not running for re-election had been an open secret for some time, and the decision was not related to any recent events or developments.
It is with heartfelt appreciation that I share that I will not be running for reelection as District 1 Supervisor. I'll be making the most of my last year, but today just feeling grateful for the opportunity to serve. It's been an honor, Richmond District.https://t.co/KdNFeGJQHK
— Sandra Lee Fewer (@SandraLeeFewer) January 15, 2020
And boy did she have recent developments, the juiciest of which is of course her “Fuck the POA” (Police Officers Association) chant at Chesa Boudin’s Nov. 5 election night party. The Association had dropped a stunning $700,000 on some pretty dirty ads attacking Boudin, prompting Fewer’s profane celebratory chant. The union (which is not the official police officers’ union, but is the city’s largest law enforcement trade union) saw its former president try to lead a recall campaign against her, and Mission Local discovered email threats from him to publicly release her husband’s confidential police files.
SF supervisors past and present are in the house. @SandraLeeFewer leads a “F*ck the POA” chant while @JaneKim, @MattHaneySF & others share the stage. #SFDA @KQEDnews pic.twitter.com/4kSe72n3qz
— Mary Franklin Harvin (@EmEffHarvin) November 6, 2019
The recall effort was hilariously unsuccessful (Campaign filings dated January 6, 2020 showed they had raised precisely zero dollars), and Fewer told Mission Local the threats almost made her want to run again. “I had decided not to run, but after the POA and the recall, man, there was a moment, a real moment, where I thought I should run — Like, fuck it, I want to win,” she told the site. “I know I can beat them. I’ll show them. But then I’d have to be in this job four more years. I know what this job is. So I had to step back with a moment of clarity and say it’s not worth it.”
Fewer’s efforts to create a public bank will probably be more significant than the spat with the Police Officers Association (that banking legislation is still in committee). No one has declared that they’re running for her seat yet, though The Examiner’s reporting cites that one-time Aaron Peskin legislative aide Connie Chan “may run for Fewer’s seat,” and Chan had gushingly kind words for Fewer in that article.
Related: Supervisor Fewer Calls For Off-Duty Cops To Guard Safeways Following Attack On Employee [SFist]
Image: Pax Ahimsa Gethen via Wikimedia Commons
