This year marks the American Revolution’s 250th anniversary. As Ken Burn’s twelve-hour The American Revolution documentary points out, while the rebellion was an act of national creation, it didn’t unfold with one voice. Different factions maneuvered for primacy: loyalists to the British Empire; those who wanted to create a new representative government; advocates to end Black enslavement, and to empower women; capitalists hungrily eying “unclaimed” western lands; Native Tribes who wished that the whole colonial enterprise would pack up and return to England.
The words remembered by history reach for a higher sense of purpose: truths that are self-evident; the equality of men. But while the baby nation may have uttered a cry heard around the world, it was bruised by the grasps of multiple, mostly unrequited, hands. There were winners and losers.
Throughout its post-Revolution saga, American politics has periodically experienced extremely contentious times. Before now, the most recent one was fifty years ago, during the Vietnam War and Watergate, events, and the responses to them, which tore at the nation’s soul, or at least its cultural fabric. Like our painful present, politics became both verbally and physically combative, with confrontations between armed forces and civilians. People shook their heads sadly at rampant incivility, though then it was the old who thought the young rude; now it’s largely the opposite.
This 250th anniversary year could be marked by smaller revolutions, with local, state and federal elections that have the potential to shift political directions. In San Francisco, District 10 will elect a new Supervisor for the first time in eight years. The 11th Congressional district, a seat held by Nancy Pelosi for 36 years, is open to a newcomer. Gavin Newsom, introduced to San Franciscans when he was appointed as supervisor 20 years ago, will be replaced as Governor.
Supervisors have limited power, and are often mostly atmospheric, cutting ribbons at new childcare centers and complaining to City Hall about the latest lack of attention to pressing neighborhood problems. Occasionally, though, they do more or at least preside over significant changes. Sophie Maxwell, who served as District 10 Supervisor from 2001 to 2011, was critical to shuttering the Hunters Point and Potrero Power plants, making way for The Power Station development and a revival of the Central Waterfront.
The issues confronting the next District 10 supervisor will likely include how to speed the pace of Potrero Annex-Terrace redevelopment, and stitch the new community into the rest of the neighborhood; how to continue to foster Central Waterfront development, and expansion of greenspace throughout District 10, including Jackson Park’s renovation; how to effectively reenergize Third Street in Bayview without repeating the same dead-end schemes; what to do about ever-rising income inequality and the high cost of living in San Francisco, which is fueled in part by artificial intelligence and health care, the very sectors that put a bounce in the City’s economic step; and how to support families as they struggle to feed, educate, and entertain their kids.
Pelosi’s ability to raise money for the Democratic Party, strategize through complex political challenges, and bring large chunks of federal funds to San Francisco is irreplaceable, at least in the short-term. Her successor needs to be able to project the City’s core values and priorities, while quickly making friends and alliances with colleagues. The success of our new representative will initially be largely dictated by what happens nationally. If the House remains in Republican Party hands, the 11th Congressional district, almost certain to be won by a Democrat, will have to fight from the back bench, best done by a clever parliamentarian and persistent rebel who knows how to find pathways through policy thickets. If things go the other way, we’ll need a quick-thinking, experienced relationship-building legislator with a moral and ethical compass to seize the moment to advance a San Francisco agenda.
Out next governor needs to be able to fight overgrown corporate interests – for-profit utilities, social media monopolies, avaricious health care companies – while stamping out wildfires, dealing with too much water or too little, managing AI’s worst aspects, and creating a place where families and young people can prosper. They also may be called upon to stand up to an increasingly tyrannical federal government. Which is to say, we need a superhero. Barring that, is Jerry Brown too old to run again?