SF mayoral candidates gather for 1st public forum of campaign

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- One by one, all five of the major candidates running to be San Francisco's next mayor took the stage for a political forum Tuesday night.

The event hosted by the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, was an opportunity for each candidate to take their vision for the city directly to the voters.

Current Mayor London Breed emphasized the work she's done to bring the city back after the pandemic.

Everything from working to revitalize the city's downtown to promoting public safety.

"It's not a one size fits all. It's not a just do this or just do that. It's all of the above and how we work together to ensure that we have a robust, transparent police department that is held accountable but is also doing the best they can to keep people safe," Breed said.

Fellow moderate candidate and former Interim Mayor Mark Farrell talked about his desire to create a more equitable city.

MORE: Mark Farrell running to be SF mayor again, vows to fire police chief if elected

Farrell specifically highlighting the need to build more affordable housing.

"Number one - it encompasses zoning. Number two - it encompasses legislation, and number three - it encompasses mayoral directives to make sure our planning and DBI departments are actually more efficient," Farrell said.

Businessman Daniel Lurie talked about his background founding local nonprofit Tipping Point Community.

Lurie mentioning his ability to work with various players across the city to raise money.

"We need to bring conventions back to San Francisco, we need to bring tourism back to San Francisco, we need to bring revenue. I know how to do that," Lurie said.

Current president of the Board of Supervisors Aaron Peskin was also there.

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Peskin, who has tried to present himself as the progressive alternative to Mayor Breed, talked about his desire to return the city to what he calls its liberal roots.

He also hit back against claims he is anti-housing and talked about solving the city's drug crisis.

"I have been for supervised consumption sites, safe injection sites," said Peskin.

Fellow progressive and Supervisor Ahsha Safai spoke about his experiences being an immigrant and coming from the city's labor movement.

Among other things, Safai criticizing Mayor Breed for her handling of the city's homelessness epidemic.

"We have a budget of $14.6 billion. So it's not necessarily a matter of resources. It's a matter of management, leadership and accountability," said Safai.