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He lost the mayor’s race, but Aaron Peskin isn’t going anywhere

By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez : sfstandard – excerpt

Supervisor Aaron Peskin may have lost his bid for mayor, but he isn’t going anywhere.  Though he’ll soon be termed out from his longtime perch on the Board of Supervisors, the Napoleon of North Beach is priming to rally progressive troops against the monied interests who spent millions of dollars in the election.   “I don’t think San Francisco needs new organizations. They just need better coordination and leadership,” he said. “And this is a ripe opportunity to bring them all together.”

 

In an interview with The Standard, Peskin said that despite speculation, he isn’t interested in serving as, for instance, chief of staff for mayor-elect Daniel Lurie or the city’s first inspector general. (Regardless, Peskin would be barred from such roles by a rule that prohibits employment at City Hall for a year after leaving.) But Peskin did call Lurie to offer any help he could, he said.

Instead of a staff role, Peskin plans to unite a loose collection of progressive Democrat groups — neighborhood groups, Democratic clubs, civic organizations, and labor — to push back against the influence of wealthy power players in local politics.

A cadre of folks whose net worth borders on the bonkers — including billionaire Bill Oberndorf, who backs Republicans nationally, and The Standard chairman Michael Moritz — have channeled millions of dollars into political groups like TogetherSF, Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, and GrowSF.

In this election, such well-heeled donors dropped coins aplenty: Moritz spent $3.1 million; Oberndorf spent $1.1 million; former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, $1.4 million; Ripple CEO Chris Larsen, roughly $1 million; and tech angel investor Ron Conway, $438,000. That’s to say nothing of the city’s new mayor, Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie, who self-funded his campaign to the tune of $8 million.

The outcome of all that spending was mixed.…(more)