Aaron Peskin
Encyclopedia
Aaron Peskin is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
. He was first elected to the Board in 2000, and was re-elected in 2004. In January 2005, his colleagues elected him President of the Board.
. His mother, Tsipora, an immigrant from Israel
, taught at UC Berkeley
; his father, Harvey, was a professor of psychology at San Francisco State University
. Peskin attended UC Santa Cruz
. He is married to land use attorney Nancy Shanahan.
Before entering politics
, Peskin was an environment
al activist
and water rights negotiator for a non-profit organization
which brokered passage and use rights for tribal lands. He first came to public notice as president
of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, where he co-led the effort to save the Colombo building (it was going to be made a Chinatown branch of City College) and prevent a Rite-Aid drug store
from moving into the Pagoda Theater. He is a member of the South End Rowing Club
and an avid outdoorsman, having hiked the John Muir Trail
in 2006 and 2007. Peskin can be seen most mornings in his Speedo swimming in the San Francisco Bay. He reassured San Franciscans after the Cosco Busan oil spill that the water was safe by stripping down to his Speedo and going for a dip in front of a local television news crew
's mayoral campaign. When he was sworn into office, Peskin described District 3 (it comprises Chinatown
, North Beach
, Nob Hill
, and most of Russian Hill
) as the "living room" of San Francisco.
As Supervisor, Peskin is known mostly for siding with a self-described progressive majority on development issues, often being at odds with the policies of mayors Gavin Newsom
and Willie Brown. He authored an amnesty on unwarranted "in-law" apartment construction as a strategy to counter rising housing costs and to promote fiscal conservatism
in city spending.
In 2004, Peskin was unanimously elected President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Peskin was re-elected by his colleagues for a second two-year term as President in 2005. Peskin also serves as a member of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, an agency responsible for regulating development in, on and immediately surrounding the San Francisco Bay.
Peskin has sponsored legislation to curb the Ellis Act
, a state law that allows property owners to evict tenants by going out of the rental business. This law has led to many tenancy-in-common
conversions of apartment buildings in San Francisco by tenants who desire to own property, and real estate promoters seeking to make ownership opportunities available (and thereby earning fees and profits), especially in Peskin's neighborhood of North Beach.
Peskin angered his progressive allies by supporting legislation to bring Home Depot to San Francisco.
Peskin has also come under criticism for his actions involving North Beach nightclubs and festivals. Due in part to actions by Peskin, the 52-year-old North Beach Jazz Festival was canceled in 2006. In that year, the Board of Supervisors voted to prohibit alcohol sales at the fair because of political pressure from Peskin, who has close ties to the Telegraph Hill Dwellers Association, which wanted a ban on alcohol sales. Festival organizers said that without the sales the festival couldn't turn a profit, so they canceled it. "He's using these people (the Telegraph Hill Dwellers) as his foot soldiers to get even with me for not supporting him," said Marsha Garland, executive director of the North Beach Chamber of Commerce, an organizer of the festival who endorsed an opponent of Peskin's during his 2004 re-election bid.
Peskin, working with the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, temporarily shut down the Savoy Tivoli, a North Beach landmark, when he had city officials rescind the Planning Commission order that had allowed the bar to operate without a restaurant. Along with Supervisor Chris Daly
, Peskin was instrumental in canceling the San Francisco Grand Prix
, a world-class bicycle race held in the years 2001 to 2005, because the race's backers owed the city money. Peskin's critics alleged that the race was really cancelled because it inconvenienced his North Beach constituents.
Peskin, who was termed out of his office at the end of 2008, supported David Chiu
for the District 3 seat on the Board of Supervisors (Chiu, who was elected, now serves as Board President). Peskin was elected to the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) where he now serves as its chair.
When politically knowledgeable people gather to talk politics in San Francisco, Peskin is frequently mentioned as a potential mayoral candidate in 2011. In January 2011, he was a candidate for Mayor to fill the unexpired term of Gavin Newsom, who resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of California, but was not chosen by the Board of Supervisors.
(MUNI) funding and implement agency reforms. The measure, Prop A, which received over 55 percent of the vote was a response to a pro-parking measure, Prop H, funded by The Gap founder and republican billionaire Don Fisher
. Fisher spent lavishly in support of Prop. H, a measure that would have undone numerous transit-first measures in downtown San Francisco.
, Peskin made a series of harassing drunken telephone calls to officials at the Port of San Francisco and said he would eliminate their jobs and cut funding to the agency because staff members disagreed with him. San Francisco city law prohibits members of the board of supervisors from interfering in the business of city departments and qualifies such activity as official misconduct. Numerous complaints have been lodged against Peskin with the City Attorney. On February 1, 2008 Mayor Newsom told The San Francisco Chronicle that people around City Hall had been complaining about Peskin's behavior for years.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
. He was first elected to the Board in 2000, and was re-elected in 2004. In January 2005, his colleagues elected him President of the Board.
Personal life
Peskin was born and raised in BerkeleyBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. His mother, Tsipora, an immigrant from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, taught at UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
; his father, Harvey, was a professor of psychology at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
. Peskin attended UC Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
. He is married to land use attorney Nancy Shanahan.
Before entering politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, Peskin was an environment
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
al activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
and water rights negotiator for a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
which brokered passage and use rights for tribal lands. He first came to public notice as president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, where he co-led the effort to save the Colombo building (it was going to be made a Chinatown branch of City College) and prevent a Rite-Aid drug store
Rite Aid
Rite Aid is a drugstore chain in the United States and a Fortune 500 company headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania, near Camp Hill. Rite Aid is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast and the third largest drugstore chain in the U.S....
from moving into the Pagoda Theater. He is a member of the South End Rowing Club
South End Rowing Club
The South End Rowing Club, founded in 1873, is one of the oldest athletics clubs in the western United States. The boathouse, with a fleet of 30 boats, is located in San Francisco, California, at 500 Jefferson Street near Fisherman's Wharf, adjacent to the San Francisco Aquatic Park. The club...
and an avid outdoorsman, having hiked the John Muir Trail
John Muir Trail
The John Muir Trail is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, running between the northern terminus at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley and the southern terminus located on the summit of Mount Whitney . For almost all of its length, the trail is in the High Sierra...
in 2006 and 2007. Peskin can be seen most mornings in his Speedo swimming in the San Francisco Bay. He reassured San Franciscans after the Cosco Busan oil spill that the water was safe by stripping down to his Speedo and going for a dip in front of a local television news crew
Political career
Peskin was first elected in December 2000, along with other progressive neighborhood activists who had cut their teeth on Tom AmmianoTom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...
's mayoral campaign. When he was sworn into office, Peskin described District 3 (it comprises Chinatown
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America...
, North Beach
North Beach, San Francisco, California
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
, Nob Hill
Nob Hill, San Francisco, California
Nob Hill refers to a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, centered on the intersection of California and Powell streets. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location :...
, and most of Russian Hill
Russian Hill, San Francisco, California
Russian Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, in the United States. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location:...
) as the "living room" of San Francisco.
As Supervisor, Peskin is known mostly for siding with a self-described progressive majority on development issues, often being at odds with the policies of mayors Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
and Willie Brown. He authored an amnesty on unwarranted "in-law" apartment construction as a strategy to counter rising housing costs and to promote fiscal conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
in city spending.
In 2004, Peskin was unanimously elected President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Peskin was re-elected by his colleagues for a second two-year term as President in 2005. Peskin also serves as a member of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, an agency responsible for regulating development in, on and immediately surrounding the San Francisco Bay.
Peskin has sponsored legislation to curb the Ellis Act
Ellis Act
The Ellis Act is a provision in California Law, which provides landlords in California with a legal way to "go out of business" short of selling the property to another landlord...
, a state law that allows property owners to evict tenants by going out of the rental business. This law has led to many tenancy-in-common
Concurrent estate
A concurrent estate or co-tenancy is a concept in property law which describes the various ways in which property is owned by more than one person at a time. If more than one person own the same property, they are referred to as co-owners, co-tenants or joint tenants...
conversions of apartment buildings in San Francisco by tenants who desire to own property, and real estate promoters seeking to make ownership opportunities available (and thereby earning fees and profits), especially in Peskin's neighborhood of North Beach.
Peskin angered his progressive allies by supporting legislation to bring Home Depot to San Francisco.
Peskin has also come under criticism for his actions involving North Beach nightclubs and festivals. Due in part to actions by Peskin, the 52-year-old North Beach Jazz Festival was canceled in 2006. In that year, the Board of Supervisors voted to prohibit alcohol sales at the fair because of political pressure from Peskin, who has close ties to the Telegraph Hill Dwellers Association, which wanted a ban on alcohol sales. Festival organizers said that without the sales the festival couldn't turn a profit, so they canceled it. "He's using these people (the Telegraph Hill Dwellers) as his foot soldiers to get even with me for not supporting him," said Marsha Garland, executive director of the North Beach Chamber of Commerce, an organizer of the festival who endorsed an opponent of Peskin's during his 2004 re-election bid.
Peskin, working with the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, temporarily shut down the Savoy Tivoli, a North Beach landmark, when he had city officials rescind the Planning Commission order that had allowed the bar to operate without a restaurant. Along with Supervisor Chris Daly
Chris Daly
Chris Daly is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represented District 6, on which he served from 2000 to 2010...
, Peskin was instrumental in canceling the San Francisco Grand Prix
San Francisco Grand Prix
The San Francisco Grand Prix was a road cycling race held in San Francisco, United States in early September. It was as a 1.HC event and in 2005 part of the UCI America Tour. It lasted five years....
, a world-class bicycle race held in the years 2001 to 2005, because the race's backers owed the city money. Peskin's critics alleged that the race was really cancelled because it inconvenienced his North Beach constituents.
Peskin, who was termed out of his office at the end of 2008, supported David Chiu
David Chiu (politician)
David Chiu is the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represents District 3, encompassing the northeastern corner of the city, including Chinatown, North Beach, the Financial District, and Fisherman's Wharf.- Early Life :...
for the District 3 seat on the Board of Supervisors (Chiu, who was elected, now serves as Board President). Peskin was elected to the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) where he now serves as its chair.
When politically knowledgeable people gather to talk politics in San Francisco, Peskin is frequently mentioned as a potential mayoral candidate in 2011. In January 2011, he was a candidate for Mayor to fill the unexpired term of Gavin Newsom, who resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of California, but was not chosen by the Board of Supervisors.
Legislative Record
In 2007, Peskin authored a charter amendment to increase San Francisco Municipal RailwaySan Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway is the public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco, California. In 2006, it served with an operating budget of about $700 million...
(MUNI) funding and implement agency reforms. The measure, Prop A, which received over 55 percent of the vote was a response to a pro-parking measure, Prop H, funded by The Gap founder and republican billionaire Don Fisher
Donald Fisher
Donald George Fisher was an American businessman who founded The Gap clothing stores.-Personal history:...
. Fisher spent lavishly in support of Prop. H, a measure that would have undone numerous transit-first measures in downtown San Francisco.
Controversies
In 2008, the San Francisco City Attorney and the Department of Human Resources launched an investigation into allegations that Peskin threatened the jobs of city employees. According to a letter obtained by the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Peskin made a series of harassing drunken telephone calls to officials at the Port of San Francisco and said he would eliminate their jobs and cut funding to the agency because staff members disagreed with him. San Francisco city law prohibits members of the board of supervisors from interfering in the business of city departments and qualifies such activity as official misconduct. Numerous complaints have been lodged against Peskin with the City Attorney. On February 1, 2008 Mayor Newsom told The San Francisco Chronicle that people around City Hall had been complaining about Peskin's behavior for years.