This article is from Power Play, a twice-weekly newsletter rounding up the latest City Hall and local politics gossip. To sign up, visit The Standard’s newsletter page.

In a city where 95-year-old labor legend Dolores Huerta isn’t just an inspirational figure who appears in children’s books and sidewalk murals but an active force of nature who regularly walks arm-in-arm with striking workers — Wednesday’s report in The New York Times (opens in new tab) of her allegations of rape at the hands of the late Cesar Chavez shook the labor movement to its core. 

Already, Chavez’s alleged sexual abuse of girls and women connected to the farmworkers movement is spurring whispers of a reckoning for other labor leaders who have long been suspected of exploiting their power over members. As several organizers told Power Play, difficult discussions are already taking place.

Olga Miranda, president of SEIU Local 87, said the movement needs time to heal before any discussion of next steps — but in the end, abusers will be outed.

“Is there any other motherfucker who hasn’t been named?” she said. “I’m sure there are many jumping at an opportunity [to accuse abusers]. But I’m saying, give us time to process this.”

Miranda called women a “force” who have long powered the labor movement. “I have the privilege of having chosen the kind of job where the strength of my personality and the veracity of my voice carries to make company supervisors, business owners, regret the moment they fuck with any of our janitors in this industry,” she said. “Not a lot of people get to say they get to fight back.”

While it’s too early to tell if there will be a “me too”-style reckoning within the labor movement, the reverberations are being felt, especially considering Chavez’s local ties. 

Rudy Gonzalez, secretary-treasurer of the San Francisco Building & Construction Trades Council, said he remains proud of his Mexican American family’s legacy in the agricultural industry — but he worries about the darker story that Chavez now represents. 

“We’ve found inspiration in a small number of very significant Mexican American leaders,” he said. “But that’s harder right now. I want young Mexican American leaders, I want my son, to have people to look up to. It was never Cesar’s union; it was a workers’ union. That doesn’t erase the legacy, or the ongoing struggle, of the people who literally feed us every day.”

In addition to Chavez’s name being plastered across San Francisco institutions, his son-in-law, Richard Ybarra, is CEO of a Mission-based community organization, MNC Inspiring Success. The Times’ reporting states that Ybarra, who married Chavez’s daughter, was one of the labor leader’s bodyguards in the 1970s after federal authorities discovered an assassination plot. 

The Times reported that a different bodyguard drove Chavez and one of his underage victims, Debra Rojas, to a motel, where the 15-year-old was allegedly raped. Ybarra declined to comment for the Times article. Power Play emailed Ybarra and was referred to a comment from the Chavez family that said, “This is deeply painful for our family.”

As for Huerta’s legacy, it’s still being forged in real time. Her name is on a school and a parade in San Francisco. In January, she stood with LiUNA! Local 261 street cleaning workers on the steps of City Hall to fight for fair wages. Last year, she advocated for Proposition 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting measure.

For that reason and many others, the local labor movement is coalescing around Huerta as the new icon of the 60-year fight for farmworkers’ and immigrants’ rights. As one labor insider told Power Play, “My hot take: Soon everything with Cesar Chavez’s name on it in San Francisco will have Huerta’s instead.” — Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez and Gabriel Greschler

Got tips? Send to us at [email protected].

DON’T GET ME WRONG: State Sen. Scott Wiener, who you may have heard is running for Congress, obviously does not want to get caught in any geopolitical snafu after his viral Gaza genocide moment (opens in new tab) from a candidate forum in January. But Saturday’s Chinatown congressional forum appeared to briefly send him into panic mode — this time over Taiwan.

The moderator of the forum, hosted by Asian community groups and conducted in Chinese and English, asked whether the candidates agree with Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile and controversial 2022 trip to the democratic island, a region claimed by China as part of its territory. Wiener voiced his support while carefully avoiding overreach.

“I do not think Taiwan should be conquered,” Wiener said. “But we also have to make sure we don’t get to the point where there is any kind of war.”

However, the interpreter hired by the organizers to provide live translation twice misstated Wiener’s position, saying the candidate supported Taiwan’s independence. Wiener, who does not speak Chinese, was unaware of the gaffe, which would fly in the face of his and other Democrats’ longtime endorsement of a “One China” policy. But soon, Wiener was seen (opens in new tab) looking at his phone and becoming upset, glancing around, then grabbing the microphone.

“Apparently, I was misinterpreted saying that I support Taiwanese independence,” Wiener said. “I did not say that.”

The event’s organizer, Ed Lee Democratic Club president Thomas Li, immediately apologized and had a member of Wiener’s team correct the interpretation. Li said organizers had hired a professional interpreter and regretted the slip-up.

Wiener’s campaign told Power Play that a Chinese campaign staffer alerted Wiener that his answer was inaccurately interpreted, and Wiener immediately corrected the record.

“He supports Taiwan’s democracy, not Taiwanese independence,” Wiener’s spokesperson Joe Arellano said. “We appreciate the organizers allowing for the correction. It’s not easy to translate an entire debate, and it was an honest mistake.”

Taiwan remains a sensitive geopolitical topic and could be a vote-decider for some in the Chinese community. Among the candidates, Wiener struck the most hawkish tone on China, expressing support for Tibet and Uyghurs. According to Mission Local, Wiener got booed (opens in new tab) when he stated that he supported Pelosi’s trip. 

Saikat Chakrabarti, a former tech founder, said he opposed Pelosi’s visit. Supervisor Connie Chan, a Chinese immigrant who grew up in Taiwan, is arguably the most qualified to weigh in but chose to sidestep the question — an apparent move to avoid triggering controversy or inflaming partisans. The fourth candidate on the dais, political activist Marie Hurabiell, said she supported Pelosi’s trip but remains largely neutral on the issue. — Han Li

CHOPPING COMMISSIONS: After a year of endless deliberations, the effort to streamline San Francisco’s complex board and commission system has reached the part of the process when things get really feisty: Yes, it’s the Board of Supervisors’ turn to weigh in.  

The Commission Streamlining Task Force, mandated by 2024’s Proposition E, has presented its final report (opens in new tab) to the board. The plan would reduce the city’s 152 advisory bodies to 87 by eliminating some and merging others.

At the meeting Tuesday, a nearly three-hour discussion over the task force’s recommendations turned contentious. While many of the report’s diagnoses for eliminating repetitive or inactive bodies are considered noncontroversial, some speakers still voiced opposition, warning of weakened public oversight. At least one supervisor expressed strong dissatisfaction.

“You exceeded the mandate and inserted opinions and politics into the process,” Supervisor Shamann Walton told task force chair Ed Harrington. Walton is especially concerned that changes to the Police Commission would strip some of its authority.

Walton also criticized the task force for a lack of diversity. “The task force was about as diverse as a stack of $1 bills,” he quipped. 

Harrington said he understands the criticisms and expects the board to modify the recommendations. He noted that some of the loudest opposition is not about eliminating commissions but about proposals to move them from the city charter to the administrative code — a shift that critics believe to be a downgrade and would give the mayor and supervisors more power to remove the boards. Those include the Status of Women, Human Rights, Environment, and Youth commissions. There is also opposition to proposals involving the merging or elimination of advisory bodies focused on homelessness, aging and disability, and children and families.

If the process moves forward, charter-related changes must go before voters, with a final version potentially appearing on the November ballot. Expect plenty more fireworks before Election Day. — H.L.

Even as voters cite affordability as their top concern, San Franciscans may still be willing to raise their own taxes.

Political experts say a proposed $183 million parcel tax to fund Muni is likely to pass with ease, highlighting the city’s enduring support for public transit. But a separate regional sales tax measure to fund BART, Muni, and 10 other Bay Area transit agencies faces a far more uncertain path. Both measures, slated for the November ballot, require a simple majority to pass.

Essentially, the pundits say, San Francisco voters are so tax-happy and engaged that even with a measure-heavy ballot, they’ll likely support the two measures regardless of affordability concerns. According to campaign expert Jason Overman, San Francisco has better voter turnout for off-cycle elections than other U.S. cities, meaning tax opponents will be less likely to steer the results.

Combine that with well-founded fears that the demise of public transit would lead to tougher commutes and freeway congestion, and you have the makings of a victory at the ballot box. 

“I don’t think a new tax [in San Francisco] has failed directly in years,” said political consultant Jim Ross.

However, few experts feel confident the regional tax measure will pass, as it must have the support of voters in five Bay Area counties. Contra Costa County, which is far less favorable to new taxes, was singled out by analysts. 

Contra Costa County has only once passed a sales tax to fund transportation, Measure J in 2004, according to John Whitehurst, a partner at BMWL Public Affairs. Measure J had a much higher two-thirds majority threshold.  

What experts are tracking as a signal for the transportation sales tax’s prospects is whether Contra Costa voters pass a sales tax (opens in new tab) of five-eighths of a cent in June. 

“I think we’re gonna get some tea leaves here to read in June,” Whitehurst said. 

What the Muni tax and regional measure have in common is that the consequences of degraded public transit are easy for voters across the socioeconomic spectrum to comprehend. Even if someone doesn’t use public transportation, worsening traffic on Bay Area freeways affects the people they rely on — like their children’s teachers or their employees.

“I think the transit stuff is much more visceral,” Overman said.

According to SF State political science professor Jason McDaniel, both efforts are bolstered by a widespread feeling among Democratic voters, who dominate the Bay Area, that turnout is key to taking back power from Republicans in Washington.

But McDaniel highlighted a latent risk of tax fatigue as public agencies continue to ask voters for funding. He pointed to a slice of affluent, liberal homeowners who generally back taxes for public services but may feel “cross‑pressured” by perceptions that government agencies and unions waste money.

“If I had to predict, I think these things are going to pass, but some of the support might be softer than what we’ve seen in past years,” McDaniel said. 

Sonoma State political science professor David McCuan said he’s cautiously optimistic about the passage of both measures but predicts that the margin of success will be narrow. A high turnout in November could be key to the success of the regional measure. 

“That puts the Bay Area regional measure in a place that is slightly better than a coin flip on the positive side,” he said. “But barely.”

McCuan noted that an effective campaign can shift voter support by roughly three to six percentage points in either direction.

On the parcel tax, that campaign appears to be in pole position. Mayor Daniel Lurie has made himself the face of the initiative, and it has broad-based support from the Board of Supervisors and a laundry list of labor groups. Early union support is a promising sign, as strong campaigns need funding and endorsements, and unions can help deliver both, McCuan said.

“All signs point to success, but there’s wiggle room within the margin of error,” he said.