Rose Pak

Eric Mar Wins, Volunteers Outdo Record Spending in District 1 Election

The odds were against Eric Mar. The Richmond District supervisor was seen as the most vulnerable of all San Francisco progressives up for election Tuesday -- and that was before the city's moneyed interests tried to drown him with buckets of cash.In addition to Mar's reputation as an erratic legisla ... More >>

Election 2012: Winners and Losers

There ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk -- Tom WaitsThe striking thing about assessing San Francisco's big winners and losers emerging from last night's election is that they're often the same people. In District 5, tech investor turned political money man Ron Conway's candidate, Lond ... More >>

London Breed's F-Bomb Fallout

If Supervisor Chris Daly has taught us anything about San Francisco, it's that we really don't give a fuck how bad a potty mouth our city leaders have. But for some (political) reason, District 5 supervisor candidate London Breed's profanity-laced diatribe against Willie Brown has not sat well w ... More >>

F. Joseph Butler to Challenge David Chiu in District 3

Earlier this year, Chinatown power broker Rose Pak threatened to run against Board President David Chiu in District 3. That'd be a neat trick. Pak would have to: A. Move to District 3, and; B. Become a registered voter. That isn't happening. Thus far, Chiu faces an exceedingly light field in his bid ... More >>

Veterinarian's Animal Skull Collection Highlights Odd Museum Exhibit

The last time you cleaned out your dryer's lint trap did it fill you with aspirations of artistic grandeur? If so, you probably should have headed down to Santa Cruz.Santa Cruz Collects, a new collection going on display at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) is about, well, collections. ... More >>

Willie's World Redux: The Former Mayor Tells It Like It Is

Shit Rose Pak Says

​The fiery Rose Pak resurfaced in the news over the weekend when she used the San Francisco's Chinese New Year celebration as a chance to bag on all our local pols. Way to ring in the new year, Rose! During the parade on Saturday, the supervisors one by one got a verbal beat-down as they ... More >>

Rose Pak's Vulgar Display of Power

The video of power broker Rose Pak's triumphalist tongue-lashings of the city's elected officials as they rolled beneath her feet at the Chinese New Year's parade is enjoying its 15 minutes of Internet fame.Online commentators relish heaping scorn upon San Francisco when our attempts at progressive ... More >>

List: What's the Best Voting System for San Francisco?

​Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Mark Farrell have proposed measures ending Ranked Choice Voting in San Francisco, while David Campos and John Avalos have proposed allowing even more ranked choices on the ballot. What is the best voting system for San Francisco? Whoever raises the most awareness ... More >>

Mayor Ed Lee Defends His Friendship with Willie Brown, Rose Pak

So what if he is a puppet, get over it!​The mayor's race might be over, but the deep tensions that often defined the candidates are still very much there. On KQED this morning, Forum host Michael Krasny reminded Mayor Ed Lee that his political rivals, namely state Sen. Leland Yee, are still beatin ... More >>

Does David Chiu Have a Chinatown Problem?

It's Chinatown, David. It's Chinatown. ​Also, is John Avalos really feeling it in District 11? Absorbing a beating is never enjoyable -- unless, of course, you're into that kind of thing. Presuming you aren't, getting your behind kicked is even less palatable when it takes place in your home terri ... More >>

Vote for Mayor Ed Lee ... The Halloween Costume

We nearly forgot it was Halloween, with it being a Monday and all and the news that Kim Kardashian's inevitable divorce was confirmed days after the doomed union was broadcasted on TV.But we were reminded that it was both Halloween and election season when we caught a glimpse of this not-so-scary co ... More >>

Ed Lee: Father, Mayor, Recipe Developer

​SFoodie received our complimentary copy of the 132-page Ed Lee Story on Monday, and immediately skimmed it to look for photos. (Yes, the mustache has been there since the 1960s.) Among Lee's many skills extolled in the biography -- community organizing, "rolling up his sleeves," "getting the job ... More >>

With Anti-Lee Attack Ad, Dennis Herrera Ditches Logic of Ranked Choice Voting

Is this the best type of ad to run in an RCV election?​According to the ranked choice voting playbook, candidates must offer themselves up as a perfect amalgam of milquetoast and pablum. They might not draw enough attention to be anyone's favorite, but perhaps they'll get enough second-choice vote ... More >>

Fall Arts: We Made Nato Green Fill Out a Questionnaire

DA Candidates Ask Gascón to Recuse Himself from 'Run, Ed, Run' Investigation

DA George Gascón​Three challengers of interim District Attorney George Gascón in this year's DA's race are calling upon him to recuse himself from a potential investigation of criminal wrongdoing by the committee behind the campaign to draft Mayor Ed Lee to run for a full term.Last week, retired ... More >>

Lie, Ed, Lie Twitter Account Up and Running

Fred Noland​Even before Mayor Ed Lee could officially sign the paperwork declaring his candidacy for mayor, some pissed-off people cleverly created the "Lie, Ed, Lie" Twitter account, riffing off Lee's about-face decision to run for mayor. The account was created about five hours ago, stating "I w ... More >>

Ed Lee: Why's He Running?

Hello, Champ...​A married man caught in the arms of a mistress has to do more than utter "I changed my mind." So will Ed Lee. Lee today officially broke the pledge that he would not seek a full term -- the very thing that got him the job of mayor (and, naturally, put him in position to break his p ... More >>

Chinatown Newspapers Won't Give You the Real Story Behind Mayor Ed Lee

​If you take a walk in Chinatown on a weekday morning, you'll notice that many of the little old ladies have newspapers sticking out of their grocery bags, and the guys noshing on their morning congee are poring over the papers. But they're not reading the Chron or the Examiner, or even SF Wee ... More >>

Ed Lee's Mustache: How Much Did it Cost?

What could Rose Pak possibly do with 20,000 mustaches?​Perhaps one of the most memorable moments of the Run, Ed, Run campaign was back in June when Chinatown power broker Rose Pak ran out and purchased 20,000 stick-on mustaches, like the one Ed Lee wears, to pass out at the Giants game where the m ... More >>

Run, Ed, Run Campaign Is Being Financed by Nine Donors

Nine people are running Run, Ed, Run​Recently, Chinatown guru Rose Pak told SF Weekly reporter Caroline Chen that a lot of the money being kicked in to the Run, Ed, Run campaign was coming from many people within the Chinese community -- in small amounts. But campaign finance records released yest ... More >>

Run, Ed, Run: Rose Pak Accused of Illegal Campaigning

Caroline ChenHow could you say 'no' to this face? ​Mayor Ed Lee has not yet declared his candidacy for mayor and already he's being connected to crooked campaigning.As the Chron reports today, Lee's dining buddy and Chinatown guru, Rose Pak, has further brought the Run, Ed, Run campaign down an et ... More >>

A Conversation Between Ed Lee and Rose Pak

The news that Ed Lee will probably jump into the mayor's race has political circles and candidates convulsing with suspicion. And while we can certainly appreciate the seriousness of the situation -- potential investigations and all -- we decided it's Friday so ... fuck it. Let's have a laugh about ... More >>

Five Reasons Ed Lee Will Probably Run for Mayor

By now, we can all assume that Mayor Ed Lee is going to jump into the mayor's race -- and smoke everyone. In fact, City Hall insiders are already saying he's hired a campaign consultant and that Lee will announce his candidacy when he returns from his family trip on the East Coast. People trusted hi ... More >>

Which Smurf Would Your Favorite S.F. City Hall Politico Be?

Creepy!​If you have young kids or are some kind of weird serial killer, you've probably been eagerly anticipating the release of the 3D movie version of The Smurfs. Frankly, the appearance of these eerily topaz CGI gremlins on the big screen is not something we're so excited about. The same cannot ... More >>

Q&A: Rose Pak Talks about Senator Leland Yee and the Central Subway

Caroline ChenLeland Yee leaves a bad taste in Pak's mouth.​Rose Pak, notorious Chinatown activist and the supposed mastermind behind the Run Ed Run campaign, is one of the best-known characters in San Francisco. This week, SF Weekly sat down to dish with Pak about politics, her projects and passi ... More >>

Q&A: Rose Pak Talks about Mayor Ed Lee and the Ethics Commission

Caroline ChenRose Pak​Rose Pak, Chinatown activist and the supposed mastermind behind the Run Ed Run campaign, is one of the best-known characters in San Francisco. This week SF Weekly sat down with Pak  to dish about politics, her projects and passions, and life before becoming the biggest p ... More >>

Mayor Ed Lee Shares a Laugh with Willie Brown: What's So Funny?

If Mayor Ed Lee is getting great at anything, it's keeping his political mystique going. Will he run for mayor or not? Who knows, and just for now, let's say who cares -- and have some fun with it. You don't have to be paying much attention to City Hall to know that Mayor Lee pals around with the ci ... More >>

What Women Want: Mayor Ed Lee

Women love that mustache ​So far nobody has been able to convince Mayor Ed Lee to give up his higher paying gig as the City Administrator and run for mayor in November. And with the Aug. 12 filing deadline just around the corner, the Run, Ed, Run campaign is unleashing a group that they hope will ... More >>

Ed Lee Won't Campaign for Mayor "At This Time"

Maybe Ed Lee's mustache doesn't want him to run for mayor​Yesterday we told you how the Los Angeles Times just figured out that Mayor Ed Lee doesn't want to run for mayor. The newspaper printed the tired quote from his spokeswoman Christine Falvey: "He wants his old job back as city administrator. ... More >>

"Let Ed Be" Facebook Page Created Asking You to Leave the Mayor Alone

Not as clever as the Beatles, but you get the point ​Just today, the Run, Ed, Run Web site went live as part of the far-fetched effort to get Mayor Ed Lee to run for the city's chief executive position in November. But just the same, there is also a lighter effort taking shape, one that calls on e ... More >>

Will Ed Lee Run for Mayor?

Board of Supervisors: What Kind of Dog Would They Be?

This took us literally all afternoon to make.​Earlier this week, city supervisors voted 10 to 1 to oppose the Golden Gate National Recreational Area's proposal to severely restrict dog owners from walking their pups off-leash in certain parts of San Francisco, namely Fort Funston and Ocean Beach. ... More >>

List: David Chiu's Mayoral Platform

S.F's Chinese New Year Parade Has Become a Hotbed of Controversy

Mayor Ed Lee, Willie Brown, and Rose Pak Have a Laugh at Dinner

For San Francisco's new political triumvirate, the party never stops. On Jan. 6, Rose Pak and Willie Brown gleefully boasted to The Bay Citizen, that they'd orchestrated Ed Lee's selection as San Francisco's interim mayor. "As you know, I live serving my city. Would this be the next way?" ... More >>

Did Rose Pak Pad Travel Gift Reports?

Where it comes from, nobody knows​Kibitzer Jon Golinger, who last month compiled Ethics Commission travel gift reports to show that the Chinese Chamber gave $19,506 in travel gifts to politicians, isn't dropping the subject.Chamber bigwig Rose Pak has been quoted as saying that Golinger's figures ... More >>

Diplomacy by the Bay

San Francisco's progressive Board of Supervisors now more moderate

SF Weekly Letters

Moderates are Winners, Progressives are Losers in Fight to Rule San Francisco

Progressive Loser​The last two weeks at City Hall has been much like a low-budget mini-series, as the city watched progressives and moderates hit all-time lows in order to wrestle power away from one another. But now that the political waters have calmed, it's time to look at who emerged on top: W ... More >>

'Mayor Mustache' In San Francisco?

Is Ed Lee a whisker away from making history? ​First Mayor With Facial Hair Since 1944? When Mayor Gavin Newsom suggested his successor during the San Francisco Giants World Series parade, he borrowed one of the team's catchphrases: "Fear the beard." Tightly wound progressives at the time thought ... More >>

David Chiu Won't Be DA, But He 'Will' Be Mayor

What Does She Know?​Supervisor David Chiu surprised people when he took his name off the short list for replacing Kamala Harris as San Francisco's District Attorney.Today, the SF Appeal gives some insight as to why he might have done this. At a press conference yesterday in Chinatown, communi ... More >>

'It's On Like Donkey Kong': San Francisco Politics Illustrated

​When Supervisor Chris Daly last night punctuated his promise to Board President David Chiu that he'd "haunt him politically" by uttering "It's on like Donkey Kong," he transcended the bizarre and entered the sublime. He caused a legion of hardened City Hall-watchers to say something they never th ... More >>

The Identity Card

Voting by race has made the city's political representation more Asian. It could be what puts 33-year-old Jane Kim on the board of supervisors.

Mayoral candidate Harold Miller's eye-catching advice on race relations

Willie's World: The wisdom of S.F.'s ex-mayor

Letters to the Editor

Week of December 17, 2003

Block Party

Rose Tsai, Julie Lee, and the Neighbors' Association are set to tuck into a heaping helping of Willie Brown's majority

Un-Welcome to Mr. Roberts' Neighborhood

The Chans were set to build a nice, simple home on their own property. Then Chronicle honcho Jerry Roberts and his relentless wife moved next door. Suddenly, everything became very complicated and very nasty.