The political pendulum is beginning to swing the other way in San Francisco as voters, increasingly frustrated by lawlessness in the city, overwhelmingly passed a pair of ballot measures that require drug screening for welfare recipients and increased police surveillance.
The results are a win for Mayor London Breed, who supported the measures as she prepares for a reelection battle in November. Not long ago, such a position would have been "political suicide" in the progressive city, Politico notes, but residents have grown tired of open drug use, needles littering the sidewalks, homeless encampments along their commutes, retail theft, closed businesses, and crime, polling shows.
Proposition E, which authorizes police to use surveillance equipment — cameras, drones, and even facial-recognition technology — without prior permission from an oversight body, passed with 59,818 votes, or 59.9 percent. The proposition will also loosen restrictions on police chases and require that officers spend less time on paperwork and administrative duties.
Proposition F, which mandates that anyone receiving public-assistance benefits be screened for a substance-abuse disorder, passed with 63,295 votes, or 63 percent.
As part of the proposition, public-assistance recipients found to be drug-dependent could be offered treatment. If it is made “available at no cost, the recipient will be required to participate to continue receiving” public benefits, according to the proposition. (National Review)
“We want San Francisco to be exactly what the people who live here want to see,” Breed told supporters. “And that is a safe, affordable place to call home.”
Tuesday's results have some San Francisco papers questioning the city's identity, with The San Francisco Standard wondering if it's "still a liberal bastion."
Results from Tuesday, and an even more consequential election in November, are raising the question of whether San Francisco’s vaunted reputation as a liberal bastion—home to the Summer of Love and the LGBTQ+ rights movement—is being hollowed out like an Ozempic patient. The answer, as always in this city, lies in the eyes of the beholder.
We’ve added treatment beds, helped 5,000 people get medication assisted treatment & are implementing new conservatorship laws to get our most vulnerable into care.
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 6, 2024
Prop F will build on this work to get more people help.
Addiction is complicated and there are no easy paths, but fentanyl is so deadly that we need more tools to get people into treatment.
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 6, 2024
Prop F is part of that change.
We can't just keep giving people money to overdose and die on our streets -- we have to do more.
⬇️ This is how we continue progress:
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 6, 2024
• In 2023, crime hit its lowest point in the last 10 years other than 2020 when we shut down.
2024 continues to improve with year over year:
• 32% decrease in property crime
• 17% decrease in violent crime
Prop E will help us do more to keep San Francisco safe.
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 6, 2024
Thank you to the voters, and thank you to all of our local, state, and federal law enforcement who are out there every day doing this work to take care of our City, including our @SFPD, @SheriffSF, and @SFDAOffice.
