Exciting news at Mission Local! Joe Eskenazi, who has been writing a column and occasional news pieces here, will become Mission Local’s Managing Editor, starting June 4.

I’ve followed Joe’s career closely since I launched Mission Local in 2008. Back then, he was working at SF Weekly and I checked the website multiple times a day to read his latest posts. From there, Joe went to San Francisco Magazine, where again he was responsible for the most insightful political reporting around.

Oddly, we had never met, so last summer I reached out to him. As luck would have it, he was free and looking for new outlets. I promptly signed him up.

Joe’s byline quickly became one to watch His years of political reporting paid off in his coverage of Ed Lee’s legacy, London Breed’s ouster as interim mayor, and the funneling of heaps of tech and real-estate dollars into the firefighter union’s political action committee. Other memorable pieces: Paul Pelosi’s involvement in a Single Room Occupancy Hotel, and the eviction of four generations of a Latino family from the oldest house in the city on Hampshire Street.

Joe will give our site direction and energy. In addition to overseeing coverage, he’ll be critical to meeting some of our other key objectives — training the next generation of reporters, experimenting with style and doing more investigative work.

I will remain to help edit, raise money and to establish our fiscal sponsorship so that donors who want to support our mission can do so and get a tax break.

Stay tuned and thank you to all of the residents and businesses who have supported us over the years.

Lydia





