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New York Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Warning to NY: Don't make the mistake we did in San Francisco by electing Zohran Mamdani
Take heed, New Yorkers, and learn from San Francisco's mistakes: The City by the Bay has discovered to its sorrow that charismatic leaders like Zohran Mamdani can dazzle — but their decisions can be disastrous. Just a few years ago San Franciscans, too, supported magnetic populists, then watched as their neighborhoods fell off a livability cliff. Advertisement Regrets, we have more than a few — and many we want to mention. In 2017 London Breed, a brash and captivating city supervisor from the projects, became acting mayor when the mild-mannered Mayor Ed Lee died. With big promises of housing creation, downtown revitalization and racial equity — as well as her hard-partying charm — she whipped up the crowds, winning the mayoralty outright in a special election. Advertisement But during her tenure, San Francisco went from thriving to diving. Massive tent encampments took over large swaths of the city thanks to her lax policies, and the financial district and retail centers hollowed out. 'I am the mayor, but I'm a black woman first,' she shouted in a 2020 speech, as violence spiraled nationwide after the death of George Floyd. 'I am angry.' Advertisement That same day, looters and vandals were running roughshod over Union Square stores and small businesses in Chinatown. Far-left public defender Chesa Boudin one-upped Breed's progressive leanings when he joined her in city government. Boudin thrilled local social-justice activists when he ran for district attorney in 2019, as opposition to President Donald Trump and the Black Lives Matter movement gained steam. He quickly eliminated cash bail, reduced incarceration and put pressure on law enforcement instead of on criminals. Advertisement Soon Honduran cartels and dealers flooded Fog City with fentanyl, and drug tourists arrived from all over the country to overstay their welcome on our permissive streets. Overdoses spiked, and property crimes like shoplifting, looting and car smash-and-grabs became the norm. Jennifer Friedenbach, the firebrand executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, spearheaded the push to pass a 2018 'tax-the-rich' ballot proposition that promised to raise hundreds of millions for affordable housing. Her influence was enough to persuade Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to back the measure. Prop C passed but did nothing to solve the exploding homelessness problem. Instead, high net-worth companies like Stripe and PayPal, which contributed heavily to the city's tax revenues and provided vital jobs, simply packed up and left. Life in San Francisco got ugly, fast. The police force shrank from nearly 2,000 officers in 2020 to under 1,500 in 2024. Businesses fled and tourism dwindled. Advertisement An online 'poop map' made our filthy streets a national punch line. A city that was once so vibrant and full of civic pride became an embarrassing warning to the rest of the country: Do not do what we they are doing. Now, San Francisco is in intense repair mode. Voters ousted Boudin in 2022, and his replacement, Brooke Jenkins, has focused on increasing arrests and convictions. Advertisement In 2024, the calm and measured political outsider Daniel Lurie defeated the bombastic Breed in her bid for a second term. His 100-day progress report heralded a drop in crime, the removal of tent cities and an uptick in visitors. As for Friedenbach, her coalition's sway is sagging. Calls for her dismissal from the oversight committee that controls the Prop C funds are intensifying. San Franciscans are allowing themselves to feel cautious optimism about their future: 43% of residents now believe the city is on the right track, nearly double what it was a year ago. Advertisement Pessimism persists, and it's warranted, but green shoots of hope are taking root. That's why so many San Franciscans watched New York City's Democratic primary election with both fascination and despair. They know too well that electing compelling characters like Mamdani can have dire consequences. Our merry band of socialists here are celebrating Mamdani's win, but the majority of San Francisco residents, workers and business owners send this warning: The politics and policies he espouses can turn a flawed but marvelous city into one that is unrecognizably horrifying. Advertisement So be careful, New York. It's easy to fall for simple-sounding solutions delivered by a smooth talker in seductive speeches. But once that person takes the reins, and the pie-in-the-sky promises become dangerous reality, the process to remove him is long and arduous — and fixing the wreckage is even harder. Erica Sandberg is a freelance journalist and host of the San Francisco Beat.


Axios
29-05-2025
- Health
- Axios
How San Francisco is changing its response to drug addiction
San Francisco is changing its approach to addressing drug addiction with a new policy emphasizing treatment. Why it matters: The city has for years been grappling with a deadly drug epidemic fueled largely by fentanyl. Driving the news: Last week, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey's " Recovery First" ordinance to guide the city's response to addressing substance abuse with an emphasis on long-term remission and drug-free living as its primary goals. The big picture: With this new approach, San Francisco will be prioritizing programs that help people find treatment and stay sober in the long run, instead of short-term solutions that "do the very least" for helping drug users, according to Dorsey. What they're saying:"If there are people who are choosing to use drugs and who are resistant to getting in recovery, we should at least make their drug use safer. But the reality is that is literally the least we can do — we should be doing more," Dorsey, a recovering addict, told Axios. "Having a statement of policy that is a clear, self-directed and healthy life, free from illicit drug use is what we're aspiring to through the process of recovery." Catch up quick: The largely symbolic piece of legislation builds on Lurie's efforts to combat the city's converging homelessness and addiction crises that he's been addressing with initiatives like a new $37.5 million fund for mental health and housing services, an emergency fentanyl ordinance and addition of 279 new treatment beds. Between the lines: The new policy also comes amid the mayor's campaign to roll back some harm reduction programs, a practice that has helped save lives and prevent overdoses but faces criticism for enabling addiction. "Our goal is not only to keep people alive, but to ensure people have access to drug treatment where they can overcome addiction and get their lives back," said Steve Adami, executive director of the Way Out, a recovery-focused homelessness initiative of The Salvation Army. The other side: Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director at the Coalition on Homelessness, said a lack of stable housing has been a big contributor to people falling back into addiction. While harm reduction has also been a crucial tool, the demand for resources has been too high to see visible results. "Why are people seeing so much visible drug use?," she said. "It's not that the system failed, from a perspective of the programs not working. It's failed because there's not enough capacity in the system in these programs to treat everybody who needs it." The bottom line: While Dorsey said he is not against harm reduction due to the non-linear nature of recovery, he hopes this new approach will better demonstrate the city's commitment to getting people help and off the streets.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump policies could have ‘long-term effects' on homelessness, advocates say
(KRON) — Those who advocate for the unhoused community are paying a close eye on the freezing of federal funds. In the Bay Area and beyond, many affordable housing projects rely on federal funding to break ground. The Bay Area is already in the midst of a housing crunch. There are concerns about what impacts a funding freeze could have. 'We could see some long-term effects on the homeless because of this decision being made,' said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. Tuesday was a stressful day for Friedenbach, who paid close attention to announcements from the White House as the Trump administration announced a freeze on federal grants and loans. San Francisco ICE office vows to enforce immigration laws with deportations Federal funds, Friedenbach says, are essential to building affordable housing. 'A lot of the projects are already in the pipeline, so even though the money hasn't been released this could really sideline housing that has already been planned for, so that's pretty frightening,' Friedenbach said. In San Francisco, the Council Community Housing Organizations manages affordable housing and helps residents at risk of being displaced. John Avalos with the council doesn't know how that work can continue without federal assistance. 'We're worried about keeping staff, we're worried about supporting our residents,' said Avalos. 'Federal dollars also support our supportive housing services to help people to change their lives to address behavioral help issues of psychological emotional issues and addiction.' Avalos was relieved to hear that a federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze on federal grants and loans the same day it was announced. 'We expect that there will be a lot of work in the courts,' Avalos said. It's not just affordable housing that would be impacted if a freeze on federal funds goes into effect— but also money for Section 8 housing. According to Friedenbach, more than 600,000 people in California rely on housing vouchers to pay their rent. She said the new administration is out of touch with the needs of those experiencing poverty. 'Their funding base for their campaigns is people with a lot of money,' she said. 'They are catering to their perspectives that don't really understand poverty and don't understand how important this kind of assistance is for folks.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.