ed lee could be the next interim mayor of san francisco

Could Ed Lee be the next mayor of San Francisco? Interim mayor, that is. San Francisco City Administrator Ed Lee has apparently jumped to the top of the list of likely candidates to fill out the term of outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom: Ed Lee has good shot to be S.F. interim mayor.

There's been a lot of discussion and deliberation about possible City Hall candidates to fill the interim mayor position, particularly among those who have aspirations to eventually fill the, um, regular mayor position. But according to this article, several factors fall in Ed Lee's favor:

For one, he's certain not to run for a full term this fall. In fact, Lee's main concern about taking the job was that unless city law is changed, he wouldn't be able to get his old job back when his term ends.

So, legislation has already been written up to change the law, either by a vote of the supervisors and Ethics Commission or by voters.

Two: Lee knows the nuts and bolts of the city. He is also a team player, so he won't be criticizing Newsom for any messes the mayor leaves behind.

Nor is he likely to do anything drastic - like, say, closing fire stations - that would put him at odds with the many City Hall candidates who will be running for mayor.

Third: Lee would be San Francisco's first Asian American mayor. Claiming that bit of history might take some of the steam out of state Sen. Leland Yee's bid to be the next mayor, which would make a lot of people at City Hall happy.

Put all these reasons together, and you've got an interim mayor who can act as a bridge between the outgoing supervisors, the incoming supervisors, progressives, moderates, the outgoing mayor... and the eventual elected mayor next fall. More here: Top mayoral candidate Ed Lee knows ropes at City Hall.