San Francisco Mayor London Breed pulls out of TogetherSF debate; plans separate event
San Francisco Mayor Breed pulled out of the TogetherSF debate, saying the debate was "unduly influenced" by a candidate's campaign.
Together SF Action planned the debate for May 20, and were looking to host Mayor London Breed, Mark Farell, Daniel Lurie and Supervisor Ahsha Safai.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin declined to join the debate. Now, Breed will also not be attending.
"The public will not benefit from a debate that is orchestrated or unduly influenced by one of the campaigns," Breed said. "Therefore I will not be participating in TogetherSF's mayoral debate."
In her statement, Breed cited "troubling connections between the Farrell campaign and the leadership of Together SF" that were reported in the media. She also said the planning of the debate was "marked by chaos" and had "tainted the debate beyond repair."
Breed and Peskin will be holding their own moderated conversation at Manny's. The moderated conversation will be at the same time and day as the TogetherSF Action debate.
It will begin at 6 p.m. on May 20 and end at 7 p.m. The moderator will be Mission Local editor and columnist Joe Eskenazi.