Wednesday 8 June 2022 04:10 PM San Francisco mayor 'is poised to pick tough-on-crime DA' after woke Chesa ... trends now

Voters moved to recall San Francisco's woke district attorney on Tuesday, leaving residents to wonder who will next be tasked with tackling the city's soaring crime. 

Mayor London Breed, who never shied from voicing her disapproval of ousted DA Chesa Boudin, will solely appoint the city's next prosecutor. 

Analysts predict the centrist Democrat will select a candidate with a tough-on-crime stance and whose views are more ideologically-aligned with her own.  

Boudin, 41, was cast out Tuesday by a more than 60 percent vote in the recall election. He had been widely expected to lose his job after residents of the California enclave had become increasingly worried about violent crime. 

The former public defender was elected in January 2020. He was made the target of a multi-million-dollar recall campaign earlier this year by residents who say the city has become an increasingly unsafe place to live due to his soft-on-crime policies.

Breed, 47, has not yet said who she would like to serve as the city's interim caretaker, but analysts speculate her top choice may be a longtime prosecutor who previously launched a bid for the job. 

Nancy Tung ran against Boudin in the 2019 election, coming in third with 19.3 percent of the vote. Despite having lost in the prior election, she has said she would likely run again in 2023, The San Francisco Standard reported.

Tung, a trial prosecutor and former Deputy California Attorney General, is notoriously tough on crime and publicly issued her support for a federal crackdown on San Francisco's open-air drug markets. 

Last December, Breed declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin neighborhood, one of the city's poorest and most drug-infested areas, and announced a sweeping crackdown on open air drug use and drug dealing in the downtown community. 

The mayor also nominated Tung for a position on the police commission in 2020, but her candidacy was rejected by the Board of Supervisors with a 10-1 vote.

The liberal board, voting amid a nationwide movement for police reform following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, argued she lacked a track record of police reform actions, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Tung said in March she would seek the DA position if Boudin was recalled, citing a platform of 'community-centered justice.'

'What that really means is that prosecution priorities should be greatly focused on what is most important to the community,' she said at the time.

Experts argue former San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Brooke Jenkins may be on the mayor's short list to replace Boudin.

Jenkins was among the more than 50 attorneys who had worked in Boudin's office and quit in October 2021 due to his lack of commitment to prosecuting crimes.

At the time, Jenkins accused Boudin of making San Francisco more dangerous by regularly handing down more lenient sentences than are prescribed by law, releasing criminals early and in some cases not filing charges at all.

Jenkins was a prominent voice and leader in the campaign to recall Boudin. 

Over the weekend, in an interview with KPIX, she called on residents to vote him out of office, claiming: 'Chesa doesn't prioritize public safety in his decision making.'

She also criticized his office for being unethical in its handling of cases.

'When I meet Chesa supporters they often tell me that he is holding police accountable. That's dead wrong,' she said. 'What cop has he successfully prosecuted and what police case has he filed that isn't riddled with claims of unethical conduct by his office? He's failing at this.

'Police accountability can't be political. It has to be based on law and done the right way. The case he took to trial ended in a not guilty verdict and was stained by scandal. That's not an accomplishment.'

She added: 'We live in a society where there must be accountability for our actions. Accountability can take many different forms in the criminal justice system and does not equate to prison in every case - despite Chesa supporters trying to mischaracterize that statement.

'Many people who commit serious crimes are in desperate need of rehabilitation and deserve that chance. Chesa is failing require offenders to get that help. He thinks a free pass is the answer and it's not and never will be.' 

Breed may also opt to appoint former cop Joe Alioto Veronese who has previously said he would be running for San Francisco DA in 2023.

Veronese, the son of former city supervisor and mayoral candidate Angela Alioto, already filed the paperwork allowing him to bid for the position in the next election and has positioned himself as a 'criminal justice reformer' who can 'work well with police.'

'What I would immediately do is I would stand shoulder to shoulder with the San Francisco Police Department and let them know that I will support you, and I will back you, as long as you operate within your training,' he told the Chronicle.

He also argued his 'unique experience' of having served as police commissioner under then-mayor Gavin Newsom, a fire commissioner and a civil rights attorney for more than two decades puts him in a position to excel at the job.

'I come to this position with a unique experience of having both the civil rights practice as well as the police experience,' he argued.

Veronese promised to aggressively prosecute misdemeanors and particularly thefts, which have plagued the city in recent months.

'A year in jail is a long time for someone who steals — who goes into Walgreens and fills a bag,' he stated. 'That is plenty of leverage to hold against an individual.' 

He also said he opposes no-knock warrants and civil asset forfeitures, two issues popular with progressives, and os open to reintroducing gang enhancements. 

Boudin has essentially eliminated gang enhancements which can add years to a criminal's sentence if prosecutors believe they committed their crime as part of their role within a gang. 

Gang enhancements have been criticized for having 'inherent racial bias.'  

Analysts predict Breed may also be considering Catherine Stefani, who currently

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