The mysterious hospitalization of San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder has set off a torrent of rumors on what led to the well being disaster amid studies she intends to resign after little greater than a 12 months on the job.
Fielder’s workplace mentioned she was struggling an “acute private well being disaster” Friday and The Publish has confirmed probably the most progressive elected official within the liberal metropolis has notified metropolis officers she supposed to take a depart of absence.
However by Friday night Fielder was telling San Francisco reporters that she’s going to resign from workplace, surprising residents and political insiders — and doubtlessly setting the stage for Mayor Daniel Lurie’s additional consolidation of energy.
Sasha Gaona, who served as Fielder’s marketing campaign supervisor in 2024 and now works as her chief of workers, instructed The Publish in a textual content message that Fielder has not formally resigned.
“We hope the press can respect her privateness presently and provides her house to get higher,” Gaona mentioned.
Fielder, a Latina and indigenous Democratic Socialist, has missed at the least 4 board and committee conferences this month, in keeping with the San Francisco Normal.
Earlier than these absences, she was usually publicly opposing the mayor on quite a few points, from Lurie giving out multi-million-dollar contracts to folks with shut ties to the anti-poverty nonprofit he based to the mayor’s controversial zoning insurance policies on housing.
Fielder has referred to as for a listening to wanting into whether or not Lurie’s administration gave preferential remedy to OpenGov in awarding a $5.9 million contract to streamline San Francisco’s allowing expertise.
The mayor’s allies outdoors of Metropolis Corridor launched an advert marketing campaign attacking Fielder and different supervisors for opposing the mayor’s housing plan.
Lurie issued an announcement Friday night on social media wishing Fielder a “speedy restoration.”
“She is a devoted advocate for her group,” Lurie wrote on X. “I’m encouraging everybody to offer her the time and house to get higher so she will be able to try this work totally, and I’m wishing her energy and all the perfect for her well being.”
Rumors have swirled that Fielder may very well be the topic of an inside metropolis investigation wanting into leaked paperwork concerning a “sobering middle,” a spot for homeless folks excessive on medicine to obtain remedy with out punishment however face arrest in the event that they resolve to depart.
A memo obtained by information web site Mission Native reveals the Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace warned elected officers that the mayor’s proposal for the South of Market space — situated close to town’s downtown core — might violate state legal guidelines and presents a “very excessive authorized threat.”
The plan handed on a 9-2 vote and Fielder was one among solely two supervisors to oppose it.
The town lawyer’s workplace launched an inside investigation in February to seek out out who leaked the memo to the media, and a supply with data of the scenario mentioned it nearly definitely got here from one among San Francisco’s 11 supervisors or an elected officers’ staffer.
Nevertheless, the leak investigation is in its early levels and Fielder doesn’t seem to have been pinpointed as a offender.
“Our ideas are with Supervisor Fielder,” mentioned Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for Metropolis Legal professional David Chiu. “We want her a fast restoration and encourage her to take the time and house essential to completely contemplate any potential resignation.”
Aaron Peskin, a four-time metropolis supervisor who was usually seen as some of the polarizing figures in San Francisco’s progressive wing of politics, referred to as the job Fielder is doing “extraordinarily demanding” and a “pressure-cooker setting.”
“This can be a second the place folks must put politics apart and prioritize giving her the house to do what she must do,” Peskin mentioned.
If she have been to resign, Peskin famous, the mayor’s appointment would probably be a placeholder, as town’s Mission District has traditionally had probably the most progressive voting bloc within the metropolis.
Earlier than working for supervisor in 2024, Fielder gained consideration as a candidate within the 2020 state Senate race in opposition to Scott Wiener. She has aggressively pushed for publicly-owned banks to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in native communities.
Fielder has continuously discovered herself outnumbered in political fights as a supervisor, as San Francisco voters have shifted to supporting extra average candidates and insurance policies lately.
She has publicly supported alternate options to incarceration, stronger police accountability measures, and reaffirmed San Francisco’s sanctuary metropolis insurance policies, talking out in opposition to ICE enforcement actions and backing authorized protections for undocumented residents.
Fielder’s has confronted criticism for her opposition to the mayor’s upzoning efforts and market-rate housing expansions, as an alternative pushing for expanded tenant protections, lease management enforcement, and large-scale public or social housing investments.
She is the chair of town’s Authorities Audit & Oversight Committee, a chair for the Native Company Formation Fee and a member of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.
If Fielder does resign, Lurie would have the chance to make one other appointment to the Board of Supervisors, earlier than a particular election is held. San Francisco’s final supervisor appointment blew up within the mayor’s face, as Lurie appointed Beya Alcaraz, an unvetted 29-year-old former pet retailer proprietor.
Alcaraz resigned simply 9 days into the job after it was uncovered that she’d deserted her pet retailer with lots of of lifeless mice, misplaced tens of 1000’s of {dollars} within the closing years of operations and paid staff underneath the desk.
