Mayor Ed Lee Defends His Friendship with Willie Brown, Rose Pak

So what if he is a puppet, get over it!

​The mayor's race might be over, but the deep tensions that often defined the candidates are still very much there.

On KQED this morning, Forum host Michael Krasny reminded Mayor Ed Lee that his political rivals, namely state Sen. Leland Yee, are still beating down on him for his unsavory links to Chinatown powerbroker Rose Pak and former Mayor Willie Brown. "It's a repeated statement from rivals, that you are indebted to them, or more than indebted," Krasny said.

To which Lee responded, in not so many words: Get over it.

"I suspect Yee has some past history with them and can't get over the fact that [with] their support he might have had a chance," Lee said, referring to the fact that the two had endorsed him -- not Yee -- in the mayor's race. "But I think it's water under bridge.
We are moving on."
Well, Lee is at least.

Lee did acknowledge that Brown and Pak are his close buddies, and while the three might share common interests (Central Subway, love from and for the Chronicle, etc) and enjoy dining around town together, that's where it ends.

"They've been out of the country for the last month, and I've been doing work here," Lee noted. "And their name isn't showing up on legislation I sign."

So there's that.

Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly