if I could make my SF neighbors understand two things about politics:
there's a direct line from the defunding of social programs (SF food bank, etc) to the crime (car break-ins) you're worried about. it sucks i'm sorry if it happened to you but people are trying to survive
more police & surveillance won't do much for that but WILL 100% be used to repress protest when Trump/SCOTUS make abortion, same-sex marriage, and being trans illegal #sfPol
hilarious that TogetherSF messed up so bad, both London Breed and Aaron Peskin are skipping its debate. maybe they are unifiers after all. unifying even rivals to stay the hell away from them
It saddens me to see them all interpret "planters" to mean specifically hostile, anti-homeless planters. Urban gardening is a good thing! It sucks that it's being hijacked.
My favorite example of inclusive architecture in the Mission. People sit on these steps since it’s close to BART, and sometimes it got loud. The residents could have installed an iron gate or put up a scary No Trespassing sign. Instead they just set some ground rules: not after 10 so we can sleep, and pack out trash. So reasonable and neighborly! They built a tree bench as well. #sfPol
If you walk in San Francisco you've probably noticed more and more hostile "planters" blocking sidewalks. I'm part of a group pushing back on this, Gardens Not Barricades, and now we have a website/newsletter. Join us!
"To cut down on fare evasion, we plan to hire three dozen additional transit fare inspectors. We have allocated money in our upcoming two-year budget to pay for these positions."
That's $5M/year less going to new operators who could relieve increasing crowding on buses.
If you have feelings about this, comment section is open
Defunding social services. Hiring more cops and jailing more people. Barricading sidewalks with "planters." It does not work to solve any of San Francisco's problems, it makes them worse and right-populists capitalize on our fear that results from that to do more of it. #SFPol
If you see the Examiner story about Together SF supposedly pulling its measure to centralize power in the mayor's office because they're worried someone they don't like might become mayor and have reconsidered... Do not celebrate. They're lying. They have another measure that does the exact same thing that they're still collecting for. It just also eliminates commissions so they can call it commission reform. They're still trying to make the mayor a dictator. #sfPol#MayorDictator
Chesa Boudin: "If we're at a point in American history where seeing poverty makes us uncomfortable or unsafe, living in big cities is going to be tough. Every big city in America has visible poverty."
"At the same time, people like you and I do have a right to feel safe. We have to think about what's actually going to work... The courtroom that's being used to prosecute the homeless is not being allocated to prosecute actual crimes."
"In the June 2022 election, [Neighbors for a Better San Francisco] spent more than $4.7 million — the most of any contributor — to boost the successful recall of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin."
they spent $9.43 per registered voter in one race, and they're just one of multiple dark-money groups that funded it. these are unprecedented levels of bullshit amplification. the votes we're seeing are not where SF voters would have landed organically
"'There’s these huge communities of people fleeing violence, persecution, gangs, all these things, trying to survive and we’re basically telling them, "Sleep on the streets,"' said Supervisor Hillary Ronen."
the owner of the infamous 469 stevenson parking lot — who won approval to build housing in May 2023 — is now seeking permission to operate it as a parking lot for five more years instead. #sfpol
What a waste of time and money. David Chiu should focus on San Francisco’s many actual problems instead of trying to beat up Oakland for giving its airport a geographically accurate name.
ICYMI: This story and footage of a "sweep" is a difficult but important read. This is what Mayor London Breed likes to do to people with nowhere to go, while she cuts the City's affordable housing budget two years in a row. #sfPol
Whatever your thoughts on Aaron Peskin, it's unfortunate many SFans lack the political literacy to understand that the mayor, not city supervisors, controls departments like police.
He doesn't get a say in what police do in his district, for better or worse.
Here’s footage of Lower Polk CBD installing planters (or “homeless abatement troughs”) on Fern and also standing by while some horrible shit goes down.
“Rather than push the homeless problem onto another group's plate, [Lower Polk] CBD resolved to tackle it personally, said board president Chris Schulman. ‘I don't want to see our homeless neighbors pushed from our neighborhood to another without solving the problem… We all need to work together.’”
@scott@burritojustice yeah… I’m a little disappointed as well.
The political discourse with homelessness, crime and the war on drugs is in my opinion getting to a fear mongering state that is taking over all the political landscape.
Not only is it the pillar of the campaigns of the mayoral candidates, it is all they talk about.
I’m not saying those aren’t issues we shouldn’t address. To me it’s very similar to how the right wing in France will bring up immigration and french identity right before the elections to get most of the media focused on that (and them) and minimize or delegitimize other issues.
So yeah, we don’t talk about Breed watering down the livable city agenda, but it’s because most of the attention is focused on other issues (homelessness and rightfully housing). #sfpol#sf
"If you don’t care for Farrell or Breed or Garry Tan or any of the others making Churchillian statements about fighting off a Peskin mayoralty at any cost, then their forthcoming torrent of negative material... could solidify Peskin’s place as the last progressive standing and drive up his name ID."
It's easy to generate data showing issues with a homeless center or supportive housing or anything like that - especially if you are highly motivated and wealthy with time and money to spend doing that.
Just call 911 or file 311 complaints for anything you can plausibly do it for. Even if it's something that's a bit commonplace, or even just a fact of urban life in a highly unequal society. If there's anything - anything - you can make a 911 call about without being charged with making a nuisance report, just do it.
Then there will be a number that can be cited in op-eds and complaints to City Hall and so on. Data-driven nimbyism with inflated numbers.
Try it. Got to Pac Heights or the Marina and report everything
Public drunkenness
Public urination
Threatening or erratic behaviour