THIS WEEK AT THE VOICE FOR THURSDAY, NOV. 20, 2025
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by Mike Ege
Editor in Chief, The Voice of San Francisco
Is San Francisco’s District 4 the city equivalent of a failed state? Why is it so difficult for the Sunset to proffer the kind of mature leadership that could be appointed without much controversy?
You don’t need to be a third-world country to have a leadership desert. Just look at New York’s Third Congressional District — it’s the wealthiest district in the state. But in the 2020 race for its Congressional seat, the Democratic incumbent was overconfident about being reelected, and local establishment Republicans seemed to agree. Then George Santos came from nowhere, rode the Trump wave, got elected, and then crashed and burned amid multiple scandals (including a fake pet rescue scam — see where I’m going here?).
Since 2000, when San Francisco implemented the current district elections regime for the Board of Supervisors, District 4 has faced several controversies over candidate residency. These include allegations that public safety activist Leanna Louie set up a facile residency to run for supervisor in 2022. As we all remember, Joel Engardio won that race in part because redistricting imported his neighborhood, and most of his supporters from previous races, into the district.
In 2006, District 4 voters elected Ed Jew, a Chinatown businessman and activist. Less than a year later, he was indicted and later imprisoned not only for shaking down a business with permit issues, but for residency fraud (he actually lived in Burlingame). Jew’s political mentor was Leland Yee, the district’s first elected supervisor, who previously served under an at-large regime, and then moved from the Mission to run for the Sunset seat. Yee served two full terms but was occasionally dogged by rumors that he or his family still lived in his old house on Dolores Street. Yee also eventually went to prison for crimes committed while serving as a legislator in Sacramento.
Yes, that’s right. Two District 4 Supervisors ended their political careers in prison. It’s the only district to have that dubious honor.
Meanwhile, the upcoming race to replace the recalled Engardio is demonstrating how fungible the concept of residency is in district elections.
David Lee, an academic and activist who teaches at San Francisco State and at Laney College in Oakland, was a longtime Clement Street resident; his wife, Jing, has a well-established insurance business with offices on Geary Boulevard. He’s run three times for District 1 Supervisor. In a Sept. 16 San Francisco Chronicle article, he noted that he and his wife might consider moving to the Sunset, and he might throw his hat in the ring. Less than a month later, he and his wife bought a house in the Avenues, and he’s pulled papers. (Lee and his wife also own a home on Monticello Street in District 11.)
In addition to being geographically mobile, Lee has also been seen by some as ideologically mobile. In District 1, he ran against Sandra Fewer and Connie Chan as a moderate. In 2012, Chinatown activist Henry Der, along with U.C. Berkeley professor Ling Chi Wang, held a press gaggle in front of Jing Lee’s insurance office, accusing the candidate of using the nonprofit he’s run for decades, the Chinese American Voter Education Committee, to “line his own pockets.” But in 2023, he ran for the 19th Assembly District seat against Catherine Stefani as a progressive, with support from the same activists who attacked him in 2012. Lee now counts Der among his friends, he tell us.
With regard to his residency, Lee tell us “I’m a native who has spent most of my life on the westside. My wife and I raised our kids here. We spend a lot of time in the Sunset going to restaurants and shopping. Many of our family and friends live in the Sunset. We finally found a house that we love on 36th Avenue. I personally had conversations (during the Assembly race) with thousands of Sunset voters who share our love of the neighborhood and we all want a supervisor who will listen to all the voices in the Sunset and faithfully represent them as their Supervisor.”
It’s worth noting that under district elections, a seat on the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco, a city of over 800,000 people and economic seat of the Bay Area region home to millions more, can be won with a paltry 10,000 votes. While he did not win the Assembly District 19 race, David Lee garnered around 14,000 votes in the Sunset by his count.
And that may make Lee stand out in a race where the current frontrunner, labor-backed Natalie Gee, works for another supervisor known, among other things, for allegedly living in Vallejo. Whoever wins will serve on the board with Chan, who, while serving the Richmond as supervisor, is now running for Congress and has allegedly also been describing herself of late as “Mayor of Chinatown.”
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Top News
CITY HALL
Family Zoning approaches final lap at committee
Amendments proffered by progressives rejected
by Mike Ege
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors continued their extended legislative play to process a rezoning plan sponsored by Mayor Daniel Lurie in furtherance of state mandates, as the body’s Land Use and Transportation Committee approved some amendments and voted down others at their meeting on Monday. Those hoping for a more significant watering down of the Family Zoning Plan left disappointed.
DRUGS
When Lurie says “arrest,” the public thinks “handcuffs and jail,” but more often, if you examine arrest records, you will see that more often than not, they are cited and released.
by Susan Dyer Reynolds
HOUSING
AI real estate, mortgage scams proliferate
In the real estate world, criminals are using images and videos of actual real estate agents and other housing professionals to train AI models to learn their looks, expressions, sounds and movements. Then, armed with this deepfake model, they impersonate those professionals.
by John Zipperer
Quote of the week
“This plan has as much of a chance of lowering housing prices as the Egyptian pyramids did of ushering in the pharaoh’s souls into the afterlife.”
— Mission activist Marc Salomon weighs in on Mayor Lurie’s upzoning plan, in “Family Zoning approaches final lap at committee“
Nomi toon
In Case You Missed It
EDUCATION
S.F. School Board leaving the public out of its most important decision
Board President Phil Kim rushes vote to extend superintendent’s contract to 2028.
by John Trasviña
CITY HALL
Pet Sematary: Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Beya blunder never should have happened
Whatever reason Lurie chose Alcaraz, it’s the biggest blunder of his nearly one year in office.
by Susan Dyer Reynolds
A&E
‘Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules’ opens Nov. 22 at SFMOMA
Cartagena uses archival sources, photobooks, large-scale installations, and AI to expand the possibilities of photography.
by Sharon Anderson
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EVENTS
Out and about Nov. 20–26, 2025
What to do this weekend and beyond
By Lynette Majer
Managing Editor, The Voice of San Francisco
It seems the holidays are upon us, which is always a little early for me, but undoubtedly we could all welcome cheery diversions from whatever fills our mind space. Check out some suggestions below and enjoy your week.
Thursday, Nov. 20
Cirque du Soleil’s ECHO premieres tonight, about a young woman named Future and her dog, who discover a mysterious cube that transports them to a world of discovery about people, animals, and the world. Expect Cirque’s stunning acrobatics, captivating music, and cutting-edge technology. 7:30 p.m. Under the Big Top at Oracle Park through Jan. 18. Tickets from $60.
Go play in the light at Glow, the Exploratorium’s yearly light installation, opening today. Bask in the glow of an artificial Sun made of moving mirrors, turn your shadows into stars in a glittering constellation, play experimental LED dungeon crawlers, experience nearly 500 suspended orbs in the form of a breaking ocean wave brought to life with light and sound, and much more. 10 to 5 p.m. Tickets from $30. Tonight’s adults-only After Dark: Glow Up features a glowing T. rex skeleton and other luminescent creatures, art activities, a D.J. dance party, and other lighty things, like bioluminescent bugs, a laser waterfall, and more 6 to 10 p.m. Tickets $23.
Friday, Nov. 21
The Botanical Garden’s immersive light-and-music experience, Lightscape, opens tonight. Stroll through a mile-long trail of over one million twinkling lighted sculptures, water features, and more. 5 to 8:15 p.m. through Jan. 4. Tickets from $20.
Who can resist the S.F. SPCA’s Holiday Windows at Macy’s? In its 39th year, the holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without adorable adoptable fur babies (including a beautiful blue-eyed bunny one year!) displayed in whimsical backgrounds all looking for their forever homes. Noon to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday through Dec. 31 (excluding Nov. 27 and Dec. 25). Free viewing.
Here’s something different: presented by Movies at the Mechanics, a screening of the 1924 classic smash hit Girl Shy starring Harold Lloyd, one of the “big three” silent comedians known for his everyman character and stunt work. Before the film, enjoy a special concert from a 120-year-old gramophone with Robert Mailer Anderson (DJ GrampaPhone) spinning works from Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf, Thelonious Monk, and others. 5 to 8:30 p.m. in the cozy fourth-floor meeting room at the Mechanics Institute. Tickets: $12 and change.
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