Endorsement: No on Engardio recall in S.F. but Yes on charter reform

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

Recall elections have become a regular facet of life in California — particularly in the Bay Area.
The latest public official to face a constituent uprising is District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, whose fate will be decided by voters in San Francisco's Sunset neighborhood in a recall election on Sept. 16.
If Engardio is recalled, Mayor Daniel Lurie would appoint a replacement. The District 4 supervisor seat would then be on the ballot for the city's next scheduled election in June 2026, and whoever wins that race would be eligible for reelection the following November.
Throughout the recent uptick in California recall elections, the editorial board has held a clear stance: Recalls should be reserved for instances of gross incompetence and egregious or illegal misconduct by an elected official.
Does Engardio meet that threshold?
Recall supporters insist he does.
They say Engardio deceived them in 2024 when he joined four other supervisors to place Proposition K on the November ballot. It permanently closed a portion of the Great Highway to car traffic after passing with nearly 55% of the vote citywide. However, 64% of District 4 voters rejected it.
In an interview with the editorial board, John Crabtree, a District 4 resident and volunteer with the recall campaign, said Engardio lied to voters by abandoning his support for weekend closures of the Great Highway after previously backing them.
'That's betrayal. In fact, it's politically corrupt,' he said. 'Not perhaps in a sense of something you would charge someone with … But, politically, it is absolutely corrupt.'
No, it isn't.
Politicians are allowed to evolve their positions on key issues. Moreover, the allegation that Engardio engaged in willful deception is dubious.
In an interview, Engardio told the editorial board that he was transparent about his support for a park at Ocean Beach between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard during his election campaign and throughout his time in office. He noted that he supported the weekend closures as the best option over Prop I on the 2022 ballot, which called for opening the road 24/7 and was defeated by voters.
'Gordon Mar, as a candidate, refused to ever utter the words 'permanent oceanside park,'' Engardio said of his opponent in 2022. 'I was bold enough to say it in a debate and write it on my campaign platform.'
Beyond that, Engardio campaigned in 2021 on a platform of urbanist change for the Sunset — and has championed the idea of ' turning the Sunset into Paris ' with denser mixed-use housing developments for nearly a decade. He openly and publicly shared on social media his desire to turn the Great Highway into a permanent park long before he brought the issue to the ballot.
No one in his district should have been surprised that Engardio would step forward to champion a ballot measure that would turn the Great Highway into a full-time park.
Where recall proponents are right in their criticism of Engardio, however, is that he placed Prop K on the ballot at the last-minute and without input from Sunset residents, who would be most affected by issues stemming from the road closure.
Engardio has apologized for doing that.
The editorial board understands why many Sunset residents would be upset — even outraged — that Engardio didn't conduct sufficient community outreach on a divisive issue before taking action. But insufficient outreach for an idea plainly aligned with a politician's broader policy platform is a political misstep, not an unethical bait and switch.
Meanwhile, few if any in his district have been critical of Engardio's performance on other key issues, from his popular night market initiative to his lobbying for increased public safety.
While many disagree with his support of Mayor Lurie's plans to upzone broad swaths of the west side, more and taller housing development for the neighborhood is something Engardio openly campaigned on.
The editorial board believes that District 4 voters should reject the recall. There is no justification for expending diminishing city resources on a recall when angry Sunset voters could simply oust Engardio when he's up for reelection next year during the regular election cycle. If residents consider Engardio's position on the Great Highway a dealbreaker, they can identify and support a candidate who better suits their sensibilities in 2026.
Regardless of what happens with this year's recall, however, this entire saga speaks to San Francisco's need for broader governmental reform.
It's already apparent that the long-term benefits of Sunset Dunes, the park created on the 2-mile stretch of closed road, will outweigh any short-term disruptions.
So far, the closure hasn't created the kind of congestion apocalypse opponents warned of, according to a Chronicle analysis of traffic data. Meanwhile, the park is immensely popular – and will only become more so as the next generation of city residents grows up enjoying its amenities.
This burgeoning popularity is already creating economic benefits for many small businesses in the district — which are receiving increased foot traffic — and for the city's moribund general fund.
San Francisco needs politicians who are empowered to take big swings on broadly popular and beneficial citywide initiatives like Sunset Dunes. The Engardio recall, regardless of its outcome, is destined to have a chilling effect on bold moves unless broader structural changes are implemented.
That inevitably means charter reform to allow for some citywide supervisors to complement district-based representatives.
Voters outside the Sunset will have no say in the Sept. 16 recall. Nor should they. But that doesn't mean the result won't impact them. They should be paying attention and thinking about action accordingly.