Power Play: Wiener calls Gaza war 'genocide'

Power Play

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Despite the myriad other political fires roiling the nation — Venezuela, Greenland, ICE in Minnesota — the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza still holds an intense grip over the contest to replace Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

On Sunday afternoon, State Sen. Scott Wiener, the moderate frontrunner in the race, posted a 90-second video calling the Middle Eastern war a "genocide" perpetrated by Israel.

The remarks represent a significant — and clearly, very recent — reversal for Wiener, who has faced intense scrutiny from progressive circles of the Democratic Party for not taking a firmer stance on the conflict involving the Jewish state. On Wednesday, Wiener had declined to use the term at a candidate forum when asked about the war, a decision that quickly drew criticism from progressives. One journalist from The Atlantic noted that in a story she published early Sunday morning, Wiener was still pushing back on the word.

But that tenor took a 180-degree turn in Wiener's video posted at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“We all have eyes, and we see the absolute devastation and catastrophic death toll in Gaza,” Wiener. “The Israeli government has tried to destroy Gaza and to push Palestinians out and that qualifies as genocide.”

Wiener's U-turn shows just how powerful the Israel-Gaza issue remains in the Congressional race. It's also a big victory for progressive voters who have applied pressure to Wiener on the issue. The state lawmaker will undoubtedly face backlash from his moderate allies and those in the Jewish community who are supporters of Israel.

The two other candidates in the race, Supervisor Connie Chan and former congressional staffer Saikat Chakrabarti, both of whom have taken the progressive position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, chalked up Wiener's decision to political opportunism.

Emily Hyden, a staffer for Chakrabarti’s campaign, said Wiener was only calling the conflict in Gaza a genocide “when it looked like it would benefit his political career.” Julie Edwards with Chan's campaign said, “People getting killed didn’t move him, but boos at a forum did. This is about politics, not principle.”

Someone has also been trying to take a temperature on how voters are approaching the Israel-Hamas issue. A poll has been floating around since Thursday, asking respondents about how important it was for them if a congressional candidate did not use the word "genocide" when describing the conflict. All of the campaigns told Power Play they were not behind the poll.

— Gabe Greschler

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In the Pipeline

A man in a dark suit and red polka-dot tie speaks into a microphone, smiling slightly, with several uniformed officers standing behind him.

Well, this is embarrassing. Needing just three signatures from his colleagues, Sunset Supervisor Alan Wong appears to be struggling to secure enough support for his ballot proposal to reopen the Great Highway, Power Play has learned. The clock is ticking: Tuesday is the deadline for supervisors to introduce ballot measures for the June election.

Last month, when Wong announced his plan to sponsor a ballot measure to reopen the road to cars, the three progressive supervisors who were thought most likely to sign on — Shamann Walton, Chyanne Chen, and Chan — showed little appreciation. In fact, none were standing with Wong when he held a press event to unveil the draft ballot language Thursday.

“We are working on getting support from my colleagues,” Wong told reporters. “We are doing our best to advocate.”

Wong did not say whether he has received any commitments or if the plan is in danger of falling apart. Representatives of Walton, Chan, and Chen all said no decision had been made. But the vibe on the second floor of City Hall is that some supervisors are unhappy that Wong approached them so late in the process, especially given how divisive the issue is.

There are other factors. The three supervisors could be reluctant to hand the newbie a political win, particularly as Walton’s chief of staff, Natalie Gee, is running against Wong in June. Gee is more politically aligned with Chan and Chen.

Chan, who has been the most outspoken supervisor on reopening the Great Highway, remains the most likely to sign on to cater to unhappy constituents as she runs for Congress.

Other supervisors are either staunch YIMBYs who supported Proposition K, the 2024 ballot measure that closed the road to create Sunset Dunes, or have little incentive to wade into the madness that’s roiled the Sunset for months.

At a Friday night celebration for SFPD’s new chief in the Sunset District, several moderate supervisors confirmed to Power Play that Wong had reached out about supporting his measure — and gotten a hard no.

With Tuesday’s deadline looming, grab your popcorn: The Sunset Dunes camp is ready to fight.

“Given that Supervisor Wong doesn’t even know how much his ballot measure would cost, I’m not surprised that other supervisors aren’t jumping at the chance to sign onto something that could charge taxpayers millions of dollars to close one of the city’s most popular parks,” said Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Sunset Dunes.

If Wong’s effort collapses, the issue is far from dead. There’s always the November election, when a citizen-led initiative could land on the ballot if supporters gather enough signatures. And Mayor Daniel Lurie, who appointed Wong and opposed Prop. K, could single-handedly put the measure before voters if he’s in the mood for drama.

— Han Li

HOUSING HURDLE: Opponents of Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan fired the first shot in what’s likely to be a looooong battle against the state-mandated proposal. To nobody’s surprise, NIMBY-aligned groups Neighborhoods United SF and Small Business Forward, and residents Romalyn Schmaltz and Paul Erickson, filed a lawsuit Friday asking the court to block the housing plan.

Power Play caught up with Chris Elmendorf, one of the state’s preeminent land-use experts, to ask whether the complaint has any chance of succeeding, why it was filed, and if there’s anything that could stop Lurie’s plan from moving forward.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

What’s your initial takeaway after reading the lawsuit?

The thing that puzzles me here is what do [the plaintiffs] actually want, or think they can get? The relief they asked for in the complaint is an injunction that prevents the city from approving any permit under the terms of the Family Zoning Plan, and which vacates every permit that has been issued prior to the court's decision under the Family Zoning Plan. If they got that remedy, then San Francisco would clearly be out of compliance with the housing element law. And then the city's in builder’s remedy land. And there's a ton more development under the builder’s remedy than there would be under the Family Zoning Plan.

Does this lawsuit even stand a chance?

It’s extremely unlikely. The plaintiffs are trying to piggyback off of these rather wild [California Environmental Quality Act] decisions from San Diego that have been issued in the last two years.

So why was it filed?

One is just to generate publicity, which could be part of a political strategy. Or two, to make developers and/or their investors nervous about the possibility that the rug might get pulled out from under them.

If the lawsuit is unlikely to prevail, is there anything that has the potential to stop the zoning plan from moving forward?

Nothing’s set in stone. There’s always the possibility of more lawsuits. We'll see if the YIMBY groups [who think the plan doesn’t go far enough] sue. There’s the circuit-breaker provision of the housing element, which is going to be triggered in a year and a half — that's going to require some additional rezoning.

— G. G.

ALLBEE DAMNED: Power Play hears that congressional candidate Chakrabarti has brought on a campaign consultant to brush up his local bona fides: Nate Allbee, a progressive Democrat who has strong credentials but comes with more baggage than SFO.

“The excitement with Saikat’s campaign is palpable,” said Allbee, who joined this week.

Allbee is a dramatic behind-the-scenes figure who dances between being loved and reviled in progressive circles. He was a legislative aide for former Supervisors David Campos and Hillary Ronen and designed campaign ads for former Supervisor Dean Preston. But local progs are wagging their tongues aplenty about Allbee’s new gig, which comes after a 48 Hills investigation alleging he was double-dipping by working electoral campaigns while being paid as a staffer in Assemblymember Matt Haney’s office. Power Play confirmed that this is Albee’s last week in Haney’s office.

Chakrabarti may need the help. On the debate stage this week at UC Law, he sounded like he was addressing a generic progressive audience anywhere in the nation, plug-and-play style. Chakrabarti’s San Francisco anecdotes channeled the Steve Buscemi-holding-a-skateboard meme: “How do you do, fellow kids? Did you know San Francisco had a longshoremen strike in 1934?”

Allbee may be able to help Chakrabarti vibe better with locals, telling us the obvious: “I’ve been around a long time.”

Long enough to piss off plenty of progressives, who spurned Allbee for campaigning for vape company Juul on a local ballot measure and for going to work for Haney, who got thrown off Progressive Island after he was perceived as cozying up to Mayor London Breed. Former Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, Allbee’s onetime mentor, is particularly vexed.

“I’m so disappointed in Nate. A bright, energetic, gay man, and to me, he’s kind of betrayed the progressive framework we thought he’d be part of,” Ammiano said. “He goes where the money is, without much regard to social justice issues that a lot of progressives hold.”

Ironically, the hiring may be another notch against Chakrabarti with arch-progressives, who already dislike his 2024 donations to Supervisor Bilal Mahmood to unseat Preston and candidate Michael Lai, who ultimately lost to Supervisor Chen.

Then again, it might be worth the knock. Haney lauded Allbee’s acumen.

“Nate is absolutely one of the sharpest political strategists and organizers in our city,” he said.

— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez