Dufty says he's in mayor's race
Marisa Lagos, Jill Tucker

Thursday, September 24, 2009




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It's still more than two years away, but we have our first official contender for San Francisco's next mayor: Supervisor Bevan Dufty.





Dufty plans to file forms with the city's Election Department this morning announcing his intention to run and will immediately begin raising money and his profile, the supervisor told the Insider on Wednesday.

"I'm going to be a grassroots candidate and it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of shoe leather to reach out across the city," he said in explaining the early filing, which surprised some political watchers because of the cost of running a two-year campaign.

The always-congenial Dufty, who previously worked for former Mayor Willie Brown, is known as a moderate member of the city's liberal board and is allied with Mayor Gavin Newsom, but has split with him on several key issues (including recently pledging his support of a controversial proposed law that would change how the city handles undocumented juveniles accused of crimes).

Among the other issues he's tackled since he was elected in 2002: transit, Halloween in the Castro, gay rights, public safety, and issues in the Castro, Noe Valley and Glen Park neighborhoods he represents. He's been in politics for two decades, working in Washington, D.C., under two members of Congress, as an aide to former Supervisor Susan Leal, and as Brown's director of neighborhood services.

Dufty's got one feather in his cap already: Steve Hildebrand, deputy national campaign director for President Obama's 2008 run, has signed on as his consultant. Among his campaign's co-chairs are Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and city Treasurer Jose Cisneros.

The race will likely get crowded in the coming year. State Sen. Leland Yee and City Attorney Dennis Herrera are expected to run; we've also heard rumors that Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and Public Defender Jeff Adachi may be eyeing Room 200.

By the way, we asked Dufty what his almost 3-year-old daughter, Sidney, thinks:

"I can't speak for her, but you can ask her when you see her what she thinks about it."

Looks like we have another politician in the family already.

- Marisa Lagos

Taking a stand: The San Francisco school board jumped into the city's illegal immigrant debate Tuesday, officially chastising city officials for reporting "undocumented students" to immigration and customs officials.

The approved resolution, sponsored by board President Kim-Shree Maufas and board member Jane Kim, called on elected officials to amend a city ordinance requiring youth to receive "due process in juvenile court" before referring the suspects to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The resolution essentially supports legislation introduced last month by Supervisor David Campos.

"The Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District believes that reporting a student's immigration status to ICE may create a chilling effect on access to public education in the City and County of San Francisco, deterring some parents from sending their children to school for fear that their children may be prosecuted by ICE and deported," the resolution says.

City officials have come under fire recently for reporting youths suspected of committing a crime to federal immigration authorities.

- Jill Tucker

E-mail the City Insider team at cityinsider@sfchronicle.com.


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