THIS WEEK AT THE VOICE FOR THURSDAY, FEB. 5, 2025
To view in browser, get past issues, or subscribe, CLICK HERE
by Mike Ege
Editor in chief, The Voice of San Francisco
If you’ve been following our Superior Court coverage, you know that there have been calls for holding the local bench accountable at the polls in the face of questionable verdicts.
Local lawyers may challenge a sitting judge if their initial appointed term expires and they file a declaration of intent to remain on the bench. If an incumbent files a declaration and no one challenges them, they keep their job for another term.
If they don’t file a declaration, the deadline is extended by another week for qualified candidates to run for the open seat. If no one files by then, the governor can appoint a replacement.
It’s not the most transparent process, and because you have to be a lawyer to run against a judge you may face in court again, the chances of a challenge are rare.
Could this year be an exception?
This week, the Standard reported that Anthony Tartaglio, a former deputy attorney general, intends to run against Judge Michelle Tong. Look for an interview with Tartaglio in The Voice soon.
And just today we’ve learned that Judge Gerardo Sandoval has declined to file a declaration of intent to keep his bench seat. Candidates who want to replace him by standing for election have up until Feb. 9 to file.
On Jan. 31 Stop Crime Action gave Sandoval a failing grade on their most recent Judges’ Report Card, citing a “pattern of leniency toward offenders who go on to commit serious violence,” including releasing a suspect before trial after he was arrested for “running away from police with a machine gun stuffed down his pants.” After being released, the suspect participated in another gang murder.
Sandoval was elected to the bench in 2009 after serving two terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He wasn’t very good at that job either. He once appeared as a foil on a Fox News rage bait show, arguing that the United States Navy was unnecessary. Criticizing a multimillion-dollar settlement payout to several corporations, he told an audience at the Harvey Milk Club that they should picket the “houses in Tiburon and bar mitzvahs” of corporate CEOs.
Sandoval termed out at the board in 2008, and lost the musical chairs game of raising support to run for another legislative position, so he ran against Judge Thomas Mellon and won. Mellon was a well-respected judge, but he was also a Republican and was therefore easily defeated because of his party affiliation.
More recently, campaigns against standing judges, whether from the left, right, or center, have not been very successful in defeating incumbents but have had a pressurizing effect on the local bench.
Check out links to our latest content below, or just bookmark our homepage to see the latest.
John Trasviña contributed to this report.
Top News
REYNOLDS RAP
Daniel Lurie’s two-peat: Super Bowl homeless sweeps started under him a decade ago
The Niners may not have won a Super Bowl in 31 years, but Mayor Lurie has scored a 10-year two-peat for moving the city’s homeless out of sight.
by Susan Dyer Reynolds
As Super Bowl 60 draws near, San Francisco’s mainstream media is recounting how 10 years ago, for Super Bowl 50 city workers “swept unhoused people and drug users away,” and “inadvertently created a tent city on Division Street.” Every article places blame on the late Mayor Ed Lee, but none of them mentions that San Francisco’s current mayor deserves much of the blame.
EDUCATION
School board grants Superintendent Su emergency authority during possible teacher strike
Key fact-finder report largely sides with district’s view of what it can afford
by John Trasviña
POLITICS
Sherrill, Brooke lay out similarities, differences at forum
Pacific Heights event also revealed deeper citywide politics; part 2 in a multipart series on the 2026 elections.
by Mike Ege
Quote of the week
“I think in 10 years, we need to make San Francisco the number one choice for families in America. That’s aggressive. But I think it’s worth it. It’s about public safety, clean streets, a thriving job market, and it’s about affordability.”
— Supervisor Stephen Sherrill talks the vision thing at a community forum, in “Sherrill, Brooke lay out similarities, differences at forum”
Nomi toon
In Case You Missed It
TRANSIT
Potential Muni service cuts draw concerns from community and labor leaders if November ballot measures fail
by Jerold Chinn
EDUCATION
Welcome to strike school
It was Saturday morning and we SFUSD teachers were preparing to strike. So off to Strike School I went.
by Elizabeth Statmore
A&E
Art Week S.F.: The glitz, the glitches, and the tax deductions
San Francisco went hard in the paint
by Taylor Snowberger
Like what you see? Support us | Subscribe to this newsletter
EVENTS
Out and about Feb. 5 through Feb. 11, 2026
What to do this weekend and beyond.
By Lynette Majer
Managing Editor, The Voice of San Francisco
Thursday, Feb. 5
The Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly opens tonight. Inspired by the real-life trial and intriguing story of French diplomat Bernard Boursicot, the play reimagines Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly, through the story of a French diplomat’s 20-year affair with a Chinese opera singer. Through March 14 at the San Francisco Playhouse. Tickets from $52.
Today is the first day of Big Game Days in Union Square, which begins with inflatable football games (11 a.m. daily) and features CHEER San Francisco, the charitable cheer team that supports those with life-challenging conditions. Through Sunday. Free admission.
Friday, Feb. 6
The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale will present Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Rameau’s La Guirlande in Baroque Garlands, conducted by Nicholas McGegan, one of the world’s foremost interpreters of 18th-century repertoire. 7:30 p.m. at the Herbst Theatre. Tickets from $40.
Saturday, Feb. 7
Over 200 magnolia trees are currently in peak bloom at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Admire the sights and scents of the beautiful saucer-sized pink, white, and magenta flowers at the always-spectacular Magnificent Magnolias. Through March; free admission for San Francisco residents. Join the Sketching with Sami: Magnolias workshop to learn different methods of field sketching. 10 a.m. to noon. Tickets from $25.
Celebrate renewal, prosperity, and community connection at the Vietnamese New Year Tet Festival, where you’ll find food vendors, live entertainment, Vietnamese traditional performances, cultural activities, and more for all ages. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Larkin and O’Farrell streets (between Ellis and Eddy). Free admission.
Listen to our podcasts
- The SFUSD strike is set to begin on Monday, California College of the Arts set to shut down and the question of Mayor Lurie and his spending his own money to promote his S.F. position.
- Steve Kerr for president? Preparing for disaster and Mountain View and privacy
- A loan to keep our transit system going, the SFUSD strike appears set and we should not participate in the “Trump”-Kennedy Center”!
- An educators’ strike in the making, SFMTA, and the implications for a growing transit crisis will impact all of us
- Plus more (and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible or everywhere else you get your favorite podcasts)
Support our newsroom
With the support of readers like you, we provide thoughtful articles and media for a better San Francisco. This is your chance to support credible, community-based, public-service journalism. Please join us!