Former Supervisor Chris Daly wasted no time after hearing the news that Mayor Ed Lee was planning to do an about-face and run for mayor. He's orchestrating a quasiprotest today outside City Hall, where he and others plan to call Lee a "big liar" while the interim mayor finalizes the paperwork to declare his candidacy.
"Ed Lee never 'changed his mind,'" Daly writes. "Rose [Pak] and Willie [Brown] have had him running
since the beginning. Ed Lee is a liar and should be greeted as such. Our
first opportunity will be this morning as Ed Lee pulls papers to run
for Mayor."
The former city administrator was elevated to interim mayor when Gavin Newsom left his job as mayor a year early to
assume his state post as lieutenant governor. At the time, Lee was appointed largely because he
pledged he would not seek a full four-year term, and rather remain a
caretaker mayor.
Lee, 59, also acknowledged that his backpedaling might frustrate his
relations with city supervisors -- who were operating under the assumption
that he would be nothing more than a seat-filler through the end of
the year. Two supervisors, David Chiu and John Avalos, are running for mayor. Chiu has had a strong alliance with Lee, helping to spearhead his moderate agenda -- most visibly, tax breaks for Twitter. But now Chiu is understandably shaken up by Lee's move.
"Our successes this year have been based on trust, and many San
Franciscans share the widespread disappointment that Ed Lee has broken
his promise to our city," Chiu told the Chron.
Lee's announcement, incidentally, comes on the same day the Ethics Commission is holding a hearing to discuss the curious Run, Ed, Run campaign and its financial activity. Candidates have accused Rose Pak, who is the mastermind behind Run, Ed, Run, of making a mockery of the law by operating an illegal campaign to get Lee elected.
Meanwhile, Lee is planning to join the Castro District candidates' forum tonight.
Finally, the race has gotten interesting.
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