Recall Effort Against San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin Moves Forward
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- With several categories of crime rising in San Francisco as well as high-profile incidents connected to suspects with extensive arrest records, critics of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin are about to launch the first of what may be several recall efforts.
"Well, I've lived here over 20 years and this is the worst that crime has ever been," San Francisco resident Sam Pederson told KPIX. "People being robbed. It's just a lawless environment. Go into any Walgreens."
With burglaries rising in his neighborhood and across the city, Pederson supports the campaign to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. That effort will officially start gathering signatures on Friday.
"From this point forward, we have until approximately the second week of August to gather a little over 51,000 signatures; valid signatures," said recall organizer Richie Greenberg.
Greenberg says materials for collecting signatures of residents who back the campaign will be downloadable on Friday. San Franciscans are already getting an idea of the Boudin camp's respond to the effort.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Boudin said, in part, "I am not surprised that the same people who opposed my election, and the reforms that came with it, are now trying to undo the will of the voters here through a Republican-led recall effort."
That Republican would be Richie Greenberg.
"I'm simply the one that has the motivation and the drive, and I'm not afraid to stand up," said Greenberg.
Of course, the challenge he faces will be building recall support across the city's political spectrum. The campaign has already found one supporter in Pederson, who does not identify as conservative.
"I'm not a Republican at all," he said.
Can a Republican successfully lead that effort in San Francisco? KPIX 5 has learned that there other parties in the city -- Democrat-aligned parties -- that are considering their own recall campaign, convinced they would have a better chance of building a coalition.
They are currently conducting research, trying to decide if they would have the money and the voters to support the effort. Pederson told KPIX he things they might.
"Yes. Yes, I do," explained Pederson. "I think there's enough people who are angry about the state of things and are really finding their voice right now."
KPIX has learned from several sources that if the more left-leaning group that is considering its own recall effort decides to pursuit it, a decision and an announcement will be made in the next two weeks.
If a recall effort against Boudin is successful, it will be different from the current recall effort being mounted against Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The gubernatorial recall will be a yes or no vote and include a slate of possible replacement candidates. If Boudin is recalled, it would be a straight yes or no vote with San Francisco's mayor appointing a replacement.
