Supervisor Scott Wiener Targeted for Recall By Progressive Group

We thought trying to curb public nudity was progressive?

​SF Weekly recently pointed out in a cover story just how impotent the progressive movement in San Francisco has become. It seems a small group, comprising many of the usual progressives in town (progressive stalwart Chris Daly is a friend of the group), is only driving that point home with their feeble attempt to launch a campaign to recall Supervisor Scott Wiener, the Castro's moderate pol.

Here's where you snicker about the juxtaposition of the term "impotent" with a politician who entered into the national spotlight by introducing an ordinance curbing public nudity. Also, that politician is named "Wiener."

"Impotent" is the operative term, as Wiener's antagonists have gotten no further than creating a Facebook page -- which is closed off to everyone but members. On Friday, there were 55 members of the group, which recruited two more people as of Monday afternoon. 

"I'm not losing any sleep over it," Wiener told us on Friday.

We called the man behind the recall effort, who spent a short minute explaining why Wiener should be removed from his seat.

"There are several issues," Stephen Zollman says. "There needs to be more accountability and transparency to constituents he is charged to represent."

Then he quickly got off the phone, and has yet to call us back. 

Still unsure as to why progressives are upset with Wiener other than the fact the moderate pol beat their man, we asked Wiener himself what he makes of it. "This is coming from a group on the very extreme left -- they don't like my politics," he concluded. "This is, from what I can tell on this page, people who supported my opponent, so it speaks for itself."

Wiener went on to claim the same group of progressives have been miffed with him for wresting back a plot of open space from the Mayor's Office of Housing, which was going to be sold off to a developer to build more affordable housing for homeless, Wiener explained. "I don't think we should sell open space, and they are upset with me for that," Wiener said. "But selling open space is not a progressive value, so it's surprising to me that they are opposed to this."

It's going to take much more than 57 people and a Facebook page to recall Wiener. Just look at the effort to recall Mayor Jean Quan in Oakland, which has more than 3,000 people supporting the effort on Facebook.

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