Is Ed Lee A Moderate? Ask The Chamber Of Commerce

A Moderate Progressive?

​Progressives say City Administrator Ed Lee is a moderate, while moderates claim he is a progressive.

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce today endorsed Lee for interim mayor.

Now you do the math.

In a statement issued before today's debate on the interim mayor selection, Steve Falk, the CEO of the Chamber, said the pro-business organization is looking for someone who will just carry out Mayor Gavin Newsom's term until November.

Read between the lines. What Falk wants is someone to carry out Newsom's business-friendly agenda -- and for good reason. There are still some 40,000 residents in San Francisco who still don't have jobs.

But when you talk to political pundits, they say Lee isn't a politically-charged person. David Latterman, a local political consultant, says while Lee might be a Newsom ally, he is more apolitical than anything.

And that's exactly what city leaders, moderates and progressives, have been looking for -- a caretaker mayor, Latterman says.

"He is city administrator and boring as Hell," Latterman said. "But to the progressive, if you are not a progressive, you are dead to them."