Aaron Dan Peskin (born June 17, 1964) is an American elected official in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California. He serves as a member of the
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.
Government and politics
The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a ...
representing
District 3 District 3 can refer to:
* III District, Turku, in Finland
* District 3, Düsseldorf, in Germany
* District 3, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia
* District 3, Malta, an electoral district of Malta
*District 3, a police district of Malta
* Wiedikon, a ...
, and is currently Dean of the Board. He was elected in 2015, having previously served two terms in 2001–2009. Peskin is currently serving his fourth term as District Supervisor.
District 3 includes the neighborhoods of
North Beach,
Chinatown,
Telegraph Hill A telegraph hill is a hill or other natural elevation that is chosen as part of an optical telegraph system.
Telegraph Hill may also refer to:
England
* A high point in the Haldon Hills, Devon
* Telegraph Hill, Dorset, a hill in the Dorset Dow ...
, North Waterfront,
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
,
Nob Hill
Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the highes ...
,
Union Square,
Maiden Lane,
Polk Gulch and part of
Russian Hill
Russian Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is named after one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills".
Location
Russian Hill is directly to the north (and slightly downhill) from Nob Hill, to the ...
.
Early life and education
Peskin was born and raised in
Berkeley. His mother, Tsipora, an
emigrant from Israel and a therapist, she taught at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
; his father, Harvey, was a therapist and professor of psychology at
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
.
Peskin attended
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge ...
, where he earned a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
(1987).
Before entering politics, Peskin was an
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
al
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...
and water-rights negotiator for a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
which brokered passage and use rights for tribal lands. He was president of the
Telegraph Hill Dwellers, where he co-led the effort to stop the
Colombo Building from being converted into the Chinatown branch of
City College City college may refer to:
In the United States
* Community college, a type of educational institution sometimes called a ''junior college'' or a ''city college'' in the United States
* City College of New York
** 137th Street – City College (IR ...
.
Political career
During his first two terms as a supervisor, Peskin mostly sided with a self-described progressive majority on development issues, often being at odds with the policies of mayors
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fro ...
and
Willie Brown.
Peskin wrote and won approval for 205 ordinances during his first eight years on the
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.
Government and politics
The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a ...
, making him the most prolific supervisor of his time.
[Knight, Heather (January 3, 2009]
"Napoleon of North Beach to give up his gavel"
''SF Chronicle.'' (Retrieved 6-16-15).
Peskin was first elected in December 2000, along with other progressive neighborhood activists who had gained their first significant political experience on
Tom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano (born December 15, 1941) is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano, a member of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, served as a member of the California State Assembly from 2008 to ...
's mayoral campaign.
Peskin was unanimously elected President of the Board of Supervisors in 2004 and was later re-elected by his colleagues for a second two-year term as president in 2005. He also served 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.
When he came to the end of his second term in 2008 he supported
David Chiu's successful campaign for the District 3 seat on the Board of Supervisors. San Francisco restricts supervisors to a maximum of two consecutive terms.
He was then elected chair of the San Francisco
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
Central Committee (DCCC), the local party's governing board. Peskin held this seat until 2012.
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 Peskin was not chosen by the Board of Supervisors.
Peskin announced his candidacy for his old District 3 Supervisor's seat, challenging appointed incumbent
Julie Christensen, on March 30, 2015. While Peskin had previously served the maximum of two consecutive terms as a supervisor from 2000 to 2008, the city code is silent on non-consecutive terms.
[ When Christensen used the physics concept of a ]wormhole
A wormhole ( Einstein-Rosen bridge) is a hypothetical structure connecting disparate points in spacetime, and is based on a special solution of the Einstein field equations.
A wormhole can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate p ...
—a connection between two different space-times—to describe the Stockton Street Tunnel
The Stockton Street Tunnel is a tunnel in San Francisco, California, and carries its namesake street underneath a section of Nob Hill near Chinatown for about three blocks. The south portal is located just shy of Bush Street, which is about t ...
connecting Union Square and Chinatown, Peskin's ally Rose Pak
Rose Lan Pak () was a political activist in San Francisco, California, noted for her influence on city politics and power in the Chinatown community. Pak served as a consultant for the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce and organizer of ...
allegedly distorted the word ''wormhole'' to imply that Chinatown is a hole of worms, which successfully triggered the anger of some Chinatown residents. That negative press attributed to Pak's comments in Chinatown created an opportunity for Peskin to pick up much-needed votes in the Chinese community when he ran against Christensen. Peskin ultimately defeated Christensen. In 2019, Peskin proposed naming the Chinatown station of the Central Subway the Rose Pak Subway Station against strong opposition from practitioners of the Falun Gong
Falun Gong (, ) or Falun Dafa (; literally, "Dharmachakra, Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a new religious movement.Junker, Andrew. 2019. ''Becoming Activists in Global China: Social Movements in the Chinese Diaspora'', pp. 23 ...
spiritual movement.
Now in his fourth term, Peskin will again be termed-out in 2024. Due to the city code limiting Supervisors to two consecutive terms, he will not be eligible to run again until 2028.
Housing and development
Since his first days in office, Peskin has been known as a "neighborhood preservationist" (''SF Weekly
''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards ...
''), opposing and preventing many development projects in San Francisco. He defended the California Environmental Quality Act
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a California statute passed in 1970 and signed in to law by then-Governor Ronald Reagan, shortly after the United States federal government passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), ...
against widespread criticism that it had (as summarized by the ''San Francisco Chronicle'') "become a cudgel used by NIMBY
NIMBY (or nimby), an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard", is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land use regulations. It carries the connotation that ...
s to block any project they don't like", with San Francisco's CEQA appeals process being especially onerous. Peskin described it as a "remarkably helpful law" that had protected the city from several bad projects, while acknowledging that the process was "messy and time-consuming." Peskin blocked discussion of a 2021 proposal that would have required 50 signatures to invoke the California Environmental Quality Act to block projects, rather than just one person.
Peskin instigated the eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
seizure of a triangular plot of private property at 701 Lombard Street in 2003. He acted with Telegraph Hill Dwellers, a neighborhood association, when it became clear that the lot could be used for open space and turned into a park. The parties attempting to commercially develop the lot called this an abuse of government power. The lot was approved as the new site for the North Beach branch of the San Francisco Public Library
The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as '' Library Journals ...
in 2011. The library was completed in 2014.
Peskin prevented the conversion of hotel rooms by several San Francisco hotels into condominiums in 2005. He said that "turning 226 hotel rooms into 60 luxury, multimillion-dollar condominium units isn't addressing the housing needs of San Francisco". The legislation was ultimately passed with support from housing advocates and hotel workers.
Peskin sponsored 2006 legislation to curb the Ellis Act
The Ellis Act (California Government Code Chapter 12.75) is a 1985 California state law that allows landlords to evict residential tenants to "go out of the rental business" in spite of desires by local governments to compel them to continue provi ...
, a state law that allows property owners to evict tenants by quitting the rental business, by prohibiting landlords who instigate an Ellis Act eviction from participating in the city's condominium conversion lottery. The Ellis Act 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).
Peskin has been endorsed by the San Francisco Tenants Union, the Affordable Housing Alliance and the Community Tenants Association. In his 2015 reelection campaign, he advocated extending San Francisco's rent control
Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves:
* Price co ...
to buildings constructed after 1979 (which would necessitate changes in state law). He has also been endorsed by the San Francisco Apartment Association, an advocacy group for rental building owners and property managers, of which he is a member as a landlord himself.
Peskin opposes the Treasure Island Development project, which over two decades is planned to create 7,000 to 8,000 housing units, 25 percent of which are affordable, alongside commercial, retail, office and public spaces. He led a group called Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island in lawsuits against the city of San Francisco and a developer, arguing that its impact on environment and traffic had not been properly reviewed. The courts rejected the complaint by Peskin and his group, with the California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
declining an appeal in October 2014.
Peskin introduced legislation in March 2017 which would bar contractors from work on city projects if they bid for a contract to construct the proposed US-Mexico border wall.
In October 2021, Peskin voted against the construction of 316 micro-homes in Tenderloin, 13.5% of which would have been designated as affordable housing. Peskin said there was "a glut of group housing in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market areas."
In January 2022, Peskin defended the delay in approval for a $18.7 million grant to repurpose a hotel in his district into a homeless shelter for upwards of 250 people. Peskin said that the project needed "meaningful and real involvement with the community."
Peskin opposed the 2022 San Francisco Board of Education recall elections, which was supported by more than 76% of voters. The day after the recall vote won, he sponsored Proposition C, which would make recalling officials harder in San Francisco.
Environment and landmarks
Peskin spearheaded a 2001 plan to prevent the San Francisco Airport from filling in a section of the San Francisco Bay to build more runways. His proposed cuts to the airport project were passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, which cut funding of field studies for environmental impacts of proposed runways nearly in half, from $11.2 million to $6.2 million.
Peskin created the Landmarks Preservation Board, a commission to oversee the protection and preservation of historic sites in San Francisco, in 2008.
While not in office, Peskin partnered with the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, w ...
and the Audubon Society to file the Waterfront Watch Suit, which called for a process for review of Pier 29 rehabilitation work, a reduction of air emissions at Pier 27, and an agreement not to place a jumbotron on the water in Aquatic Park Lagoon.
Transportation
Peskin authored a 2007 charter amendment to increase San Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni), is the public transit system for the City and County of San Francisco. It operates a system of bus routes (including trolleybuses), the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic c ...
(Muni) funding and implement agency reforms. The measure, Prop A, received over 55 percent of the vote.
During his time as Supervisor of District 3 (2001–2009), Peskin supported the New Jefferson Street Project. The project was a plan to create the first pedestrian priority street to accommodate the high volume of tourist traffic into Fisherman’s Wharf.
Peskin and supervisor Shamann Walton
Shamann Walton is an American politician from San Francisco. He has been a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2019, representing District 10, and was elected President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 8, ...
opted to not introduce a $108 million sales tax measure onto the November 2020 ballot to finance Caltrain
Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as f ...
, which had seen a 95% reduction in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Ten of the first twenty confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States occurred in California, the first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. All of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China, as testing wa ...
. Ride fares account for 70% of the service's operating budget. The supervisors cited the lack of shared authority on the Joint Powers Board over the train line's management, which is currently operated by SamTrans
SamTrans (stylized as samTrans; officially the San Mateo County Transit District) is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into po ...
, and the regressive nature of the sales tax to fund operations for a service whose customer base has a mean income of $120,000. Peskin noted that the measure could still be introduced by the mayor or other supervisors if they choose. The supervisors later changed their minds when Caltrain pledged to make changes to its structure, making it more independent from SamTrans.
Reproductive healthcare buffer zone
Peskin passed legislation to establish a 100-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics, requiring protesters to acquire consent before approaching people who are seeking access to those facilities, in 2003. The bill was designed to "protect all patients, especially those who are too intimidated by protesters to confront them and ask them to go away," Peskin said.
Public image
Peskin has been involved with contentious decisions which weighed public landmarks and events against the desires of his constituents, including the disagreement surrounding alcohol permits at the North Beach Jazz Festival, the temporary shutdown of the Savoy Tivoli, and cancelling the 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.
The difficulties were the Fillmore Fillmore ma ...
because the bike race's backers owed the city money.
''San Francisco Chronicle'' reporters Matier and Ross have claimed Peskin has a reputation as the "Napoleon of North Beach." During Peskin's time as an influential neighborhood activist, columnist Warren Hinckle
Warren James Hinckle III (October 12, 1938 – August 25, 2016) was an American political journalist based in San Francisco. Hinckle is remembered for his tenure as editor of '' Ramparts'' magazine, turning a sleepy publication aimed at a li ...
labeled him "The Ayatollah of North Beach".[Issacs, Matt (August 30, 2000]
"The Revolution is Canceled"
''SF Weekly.'' (Retrieved May 21, 2013).
Verbal harassment
Peskin has been known to make inappropriate late night phone calls to public officials and private citizens. For example, he called the Port of San Francisco
The Port of San Francisco is a semi-independent organization that oversees the port facilities at San Francisco, California, United States. It is run by a five-member commission, appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Supervisors. T ...
director Monique Moyer several times about cutting their funding over disagreements concerning waterfront building height limits. Mayor Newsom told the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' that people around city hall had been complaining about Peskin's behavior for years. However, former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos
Arthur Christ Agnos (born Arthouros Agnos; [] September 1, 1938) is an American politician. He served as the 39th Mayor of San Francisco, mayor of San Francisco, California from 1988 to 1992 and as the Regional Head of the United States Department ...
has said Peskin's alleged behavior falls "well within the boundaries of the system" and that it's "not unusual in politics at any level of government."
In 2018, at the scene of the St. Patrick's Day fire in North Beach, Peskin was reportedly intoxicated while he verbally berating then Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Mark Gonzalez. Peskin has denied being intoxicated at the time but has apologized for his behavior.
In June 2021, Peskin announced in a statement that he would be entering into alcohol treatment. Peskin apologized for behavior that he attributed to his alcohol problem, but also announced that he planned to remain in office while in treatment.
Personal life
Peskin owns a 1,495-square-foot duplex in Telegraph Hill that he purchased for $800,000 in 2002.
He married in 1996 to land-use attorney Nancy Shanahan.
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 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill that the water was safe by swimming in the Bay during a KTVU
KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network outlet. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's ...
newscast."San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin Dives Into The Bay To Show It's Safe"
Peskin and his wife run the non-profit Great Basin Land and Water out of their headquarters in North Beach. The organization preserves land in Nevada.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peskin, Aaron
1964 births
American environmentalists
Living people
San Francisco Board of Supervisors members
Jewish American people in California politics
Politicians from Berkeley, California
California Democrats
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Activists from California
21st-century American politicians
American people of Israeli descent
21st-century American Jews