This is madness! The already-crazy San Francisco mayor's race just got a lot crazier. On Friday morning, the city's Public Defender Jeff Adachi filed papers at the Department of Elections and added his name to the bulging candidate list for mayor: Jeff Adachi pulls papers to run for mayor.Just when you thought this race couldn't get any more interesting. So what prompted his decision to run? In short, the other candidates. Adachi, a longtime crusader for pension reform, was apparently so appalled by Thursday's mayoral debate that he decided throw his hat into the mix:
When asked what prompted his decision in a video interview with the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Adachi said, "It wasn't until I really listened to what the candidates were saying in the last few debates about pension reform. I became convinced that either the candidates don't get it or they don't want to get it." Adding insult to injury, he continued, "I'm here because I want to see a real debate among candidates. And I think people want to know the truth."This move, of course, upsets the strange balance of the San Francisco mayoral race. Again. There are now ten -- or is it eleven? I've lost count -- candidates running for mayor. Who knows what could happen now? More here: Jeff Adachi could upend S.F. mayor's race.
Adachi championed Proposition B, a pension and healthcare overhaul that would have required public employees to contribute a larger portion of base salarires to pension and healthcare plans, but it was defeated in November. "We have a huge fiscal crisis on our hands," he said. "And unless we take action, things are only going to get worse."