Billion Dollar Baby

By Julie Pitta

In news that came as no surprise to anyone, last month Marjan Philhour announced her third run for District 1 supervisor. Knocking out an incumbent – even in a district gerrymandered to improve her prospects – won’t be easy. That said, Philhour will benefit greatly from the largesse of the wealthiest political players in San Francisco, most notably the City’s tech elite.

San Francisco’s newly minted billionaires aren’t content with the considerable power they already wield at City Hall. They want nothing less than a political takeover, one eliminating the elected officials who staunchly advocate for working San Franciscans. Among them is District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan.

Chan is an obstacle to their plan. Without her – and elected officials like her – the City will become ever more hostile to all but the well-heeled.

Voters would do well to follow money in next year’s election. Philhour’s past campaigns were remarkable for the amount raised from the City’s most conservative political donors, among them the Police Officers, Apartment and Realtors associations. In a single race, she spent more than $1 million to secure a seat on the Board of Supervisors, all to no avail.

This time, she’ll have San Francisco’s tech billionaires at her side. Within hours of Philhour’s announcement, she received an endorsement from GrowSF, a richly funded political action committee started by two tech industry veterans. Earlier this year, the PAC trumpeted its plan to “Clear Out Connie,” referring to Chan.

In Philhour they’ve found a candidate happy to cater to their agenda, one that includes unfettered development on the City’s west side, a return to the failed war on drugs, and relaxed regulations for companies doing business in San Francisco.

In a preview of the campaign to come, Philhour released a video to announce her entry in the race.  In it, she and a group of residents claimed to be “fed up” by neighborhood crime. In an interview with the San Francisco Examiner, Philhour doubled-down, saying “I do think people are fed up, because I am a people, and I am fed up.” She claimed that Chan intends to “dismantle” the San Francisco Police Department.

Philhour’s charge comes only months after Chan recommended a handsome 8.5% increase to the police budget. Clearly, the would-be supervisor clearly doesn’t let facts get in the way of a good campaign slogan.

Fear-mongering about neighborhood and citywide crime is nothing more than a red herring used by corporate PACs to distract from a pro-big-business agenda. Groups like GrowSF and TogetherSF Action, backed by billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, are banking on it to allow them to avoid paying their fair share to support a city that’s made them obscenely rich. A carefully crafted media campaign painting San Francisco in the worst possible light – and blaming Progressive leaders for the City’s ills – will prove successful in ousting the elected officials in their way.

Their assessment of San Francisco’s problems is as misleading as it is simplistic. The tech and real estate industries are largely responsible for the massive inequity that has led to the pain all too evident on city streets. Their proposed solutions are equally flawed. Unchecked residential development will not produce the affordable housing San Francisco so desperately needs, a renewed war on drugs will not resolve our addiction crisis (and will, in fact, cost lives), and lower corporate taxes will starve the social programs that serve a growing number of struggling San Franciscans.

Actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic prove just how effective Progressive policies can be. During pandemic, evictions were banned, hotel rooms were offered to the unhoused and the City opened its first safe-consumption site. Countless lives were saved and homelessness was reduced by double digits.

A backlash was inevitable. The City’s billionaires resented footing the bill. Mayor Breed, elected with their money, bowed to their wishes. The results were tragic and predictable. As District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, a frequent target of billionaire ire, recently wrote: “Crime hasn’t gone down, overdoses have increased and in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, shootings have gone up and become more brazen as drug market are disrupted with no comprehensive plan.”

Recently, San Francisco venture capitalist and GrowSF board member Garry Tan hosted a party for his fellow elites that served as a convention for the City’s corporate PACs. According to one guest, they plan to spend as much as $15 million in San Francisco’s 2024 election. Among the party-goers was none other than Marjan Philhour, enjoying the kind of hospitality only the mega-rich can offer.  

She’ll get much more than free cocktails in the 2024 election. Philhour will get her share of the money these corporate PACs will dump into the 2024 election. A former aide to Mayor Breed, Philhour paints herself as the candidate of change. She is anything but. If elected, she’ll be little more than a tool for San Francisco’s 1%. The rest of us will be forced to live with the consequences.

Julie Pitta is a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and senior editor at Forbes Magazine. She is a neighborhood activist and an officer of the San Francisco Berniecrats. You may reach her at julie.pitta@gmail.com. Follow her on X/Twitter @juliepitta