Supervisor Chris Daly told the Bay Area Reporter Tuesday, August 7 that he is seriously considering running for mayor, just days before the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club's political action committee holds its endorsement meeting.

Meanwhile, Mayor Gavin Newsom told the B.A.R. that he's "insulted" by some of the questions posed by the club.

With the filing deadline looming, and no major progressive challengers to Newsom, Daly said that he is seriously exploring running for mayor. At press time, he had not filed papers with the San Francisco Department of Elections.

"Since Matt Gonzalez announced last week that he is not going to run," said Daly in a telephone interview, "it became clear that if a higher professional progressive candidate were to run it would be me."

Daly said that after no other progressive candidate emerged following his Progressive Convention in June and Gonzalez's decision last week, he began to have serious discussions with his family, constituents, and stakeholders.

In order for Daly to be on the November ballot he will need 20 valid signatures and pay a $3,776 filing fee by Friday, August 10, according to Giannina Miranda, executive assistant of the elections department.

Last Thursday, Newsom lashed out against some of the club's questions.

"The questions were insulting and some of them were just flat out inaccurate," said Newsom, who was at the launch of the Youth Activism Project of http://www.Mobilize.org. "When their questions are statements – not questions – that is suggestive of bit of bias."

When the B.A.R. asked Newsom which particular questions disturbed him he said, "It says the current incumbent has done nothing on homelessness – which is insulting – there are better ways of asking questions that are not statements."

"Plus, there were some inaccuracies about vacancy rates downtown and others that sort of raised some questions about predetermined democracy in terms of the votes," Newsom added.

Questions in question

The club asked the mayoral candidates seeking its endorsement to respond to 17 questions. The questions covered issues such as housing, homelessness, health care, local business, and campaign financing.

The questions Newsom challenged were:

- If you are the current incumbent, please explain why this level of affordable housing for families, seniors, the disabled and other members of our community has not been built during your administration. If you are not the incumbent, please explain what you would have done differently to build more affordable housing for seniors, families, disabled, and other underserved communities over the last four years.

- The current administration has not met the needs of our city's homeless residents. What program would your program craft to ensure that the homeless of our city get their own private space, medical services on demand, substance abuse treatment programs (if needed) on demand and mental health services (if needed) on demand?

- Would you be willing to approve or put on the ballot a proposition to have downtown office space (which is currently 40 percent vacant) to be allotted to the homeless with support services to be paid by the corporate owners?

Told of Newsom's criticisms, Brian Basinger, president of the Milk Club, said, "I would prefer to see him be a little bit Clintonian," referring to former President Bill Clinton, who was able to take whatever the public gave him and "make them buy into it."

The Milk Club's questions won't bother Daly, should he enter the race. Daly said that he is an active member of the Milk Club and that he received an extension for filing his response to the questionnaire. The deadline was Wednesday for all of the candidates running for mayor, district attorney, and sheriff.

Candidates are expected to be present this Saturday, August 11, at the Milk Club's endorsement meeting from 1 to 6 p.m. at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, where they will be interviewed by the endorsement committee, according to Basinger. Basinger told the B.A.R. that the endorsement committee will select the candidates they will endorse that day and an announcement will be made the following week.

Newsom told the B.A.R. "I don't know if I will make it or not" regarding the Milk Club PAC meeting.

Out of the 32 announced candidates for mayor, only four people have officially filed the appropriate paperwork at the elections department: Harold Brown, George Davis, Grasshopper Kaplan, and Wilma Ping. At press time, Newsom hadn't filed his elections paperwork with the department, according to Miranda, but he has until Friday. Sheriff Mike Hennessey filed his election forms on Monday and District Attorney Kamala Harris filed her election forms on Wednesday.