ABC7 News anchor Reggie Aqui teamed up with our media partner The San Francisco Standard and their political and business reporter Annie Gaus, along with Kara Swisher, author and host of the "On with Kara Swisher" podcast to talk to those candidates about the issues facing the city, like crime, homelessness, the economy, tourism, and the recovery of downtown.
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Each interview took nearly half an hour. Afterward, the three panelists spent time discussing what they heard.
"We started with the Mayor, Mayor Breed, and she is really fighting for her job right now and that really came out in this interview," said Gaus. "I think the main message that she wanted to send is that the city is trending in the right direction, things are improving in some key areas, and she deserves another term because of that."
Swisher chimed in, "The question is whether people want change faster and if there's someone else who can deliver it for them. Overall, I was pretty impressed by all of them in different ways, in many ways, they're all very good choices... they each bring up, 'I have more experience'. Daniel Lurie brought up 'I have not more experience in City Hall insiderness and that's why I'm good.'"
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Aqui commented, "Plenty of money's been put on this race... a lot of people know who the mayor is, but outside of the mayor? Mark Farrell? They have to be reminded of who he is."
They also discussed Aaron Peskin. Swisher asked, "Is he business-friendly? Because businesses will be part of bringing San Francisco back."
Together, they agreed that individual interviews provided them with more information than a debate format.
Swisher said, "I think debates are so performative at this point. Sometimes they're entertaining... but I think voters need to hear more."