San Francisco, CA
Residents Sour on Mayor of San Francisco as City Becomes the ‘Butt of Jokes Across America’
In San Francisco, London Breed’s predecessor could become her successor, depending on the outcome of a venture capitalist’s bid for mayor.
Mark Farrell, who was the city’s interim mayor in 2018, announced his candidacy last week — joining Mayor Breed, Ahsha Safaí, and Daniel Lurie — and he is already raking in considerable funds. He’s running on a tough-on-crime approach, pushing policy priorities that include hiring a new police chief and “massively” increasing police staffing, implementing a “zero-tolerance approach” to crime, and supporting efforts to reform Prop 47 — a 2014 voter-enacted measure that reduced penalties for crimes including drug offenses, petty theft, and commercial burglary.
“Over the past five years, I have watched our City crumble. People don’t feel safe, the conditions of our streets have never been worse, downtown has collapsed, and we’re the butt of jokes across America,” Mr. Farrell, whose campaign was not immediately responsive to a request for comment from the Sun, said on his campaign platform.
The city has faced a reputation crisis in recent months, and a GrowSF poll in October showed that 68 percent of San Francisco voters believed the city was headed down the wrong track, citing homelessness, open air drug use, fentanyl dealing, and crime as top issues. Nearly 60 percent of respondents had a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Ms. Breed.
A small business owner, father of three, and 30-year resident of San Francisco, Brian Mullin, tells the Sun that he is incredibly proud of the city but that it needs a change of leadership.
“We’ve obviously gone through many different kinds of political machinations in San Francisco with the last five years with London Breed, I just don’t know if the city could take another five years,” he says as to why he’s publicly supporting Mr. Farrell.
It seems that as Ms. Breed has “been under pressure from multiple sides,” she has been trying to make more progress, including cleaning up the city when the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation global summit came to town last fall.
“They certainly had no problem cleaning the streets and moving homeless encampments and moving all this stuff when the international spotlight was on San Francisco,” Mr. Mullin says. “But I think there’s a lot of residents in San Francisco that say ‘you were able to do it for them — they were all international high-profile visitors — but the people that actually raise families, own homes, run businesses in San Francisco, they don’t deserve the same kind of attention?’”
A lot of people were hoping that the APEC cleanup would last longer than it did, Mr. Mullin says. Instead, “the minute the spotlight was off is the minute that things kind of went back to the status quo.”
His business, a marketing firm called Manifold, had to close its office downtown because of the pandemic and subsequent issues, he says. Since the business involves live event productions and doing large conventions for brands, he says, and “when those conventions are fleeing the city or they’re deciding to do them elsewhere, that has a direct impact on our lives.”
The city’s extremely slow pandemic recovery has affected his work, employees, and his family, he says, adding that increased police presence would “absolutely” be beneficial.
The Sun reached out to London Breed’s office, which did not return a request for comment.
As retail theft, homelessness, and drug use have become more visible, leaders have been forced to attempt a crackdown on it, a senior fellow in urban studies at Pacific Research Institute, Steve Smith, tells the Sun.
“I was the security director of two high rises at the edge of the Union Square shopping area in the financial district,” he says. “I began before Covid and left during Covid, and I saw San Francisco become a ghost town.”
The shutdown, competition from online retailers, the lack of public safety, and an exodus of office workers all contributed to the closure of dozens of stores in Union Square and beyond, he says.
Both San Francisco and nearby-Oakland are grappling with car thefts and window smashes— the San Francisco Chronicle’s tracker shows 982 vehicle break-ins reported in January alone, many in touristy areas such as Fisherman’s Wharf. The city is also reeling from record-high fentanyl overdoses, which isn’t likely to go away as long as “California is hamstrung by Prop 47,” Mr. Smith says.
“Addicts are drawn to San Francisco because it’s well known that cash is available, that enforcement is loose, that judges won’t hold you in jail, even if you are arrested,” he says. Many areas of the city have become a “ free for all,” he adds.
When it comes to the November election and the mayoral race, “we’re all watching it close,” he says, as San Francisco residents wonder if it will be a true change or “reshuffling the deck.”
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June 27, 1776, was a momentous day for the Bay Area, California, and the world as 240 men, women, and children arrived mostly by foot from Mexico to what is now called San Francisco to set up camp and lay the groundwork for the future.
The “traveling village” is known as the Anza Expedition.
On Saturday, the 250th anniversary of the event was commemorated on Pershing Square at the Presidio of San Francisco in a two-hour ceremony.
The celebration opened with piercing fifes and thundering drums from the Young Patriots Fife & Drum Corps from Pleasanton, as a nod to America’s quincentennial.
But it was then followed up by a Spanish hymn, sung by musicians, dressed in 18th-century Spanish Colonial attire, including the garb of soldado, vaquero, pioneers, military, and indigenous peoples. The song is known as “Alabado” and it was sung by the ancestors as they made their long journey to the Bay.
A proclamation on a scroll was then read with gusto by local actor Dane Andrew, who was portraying the Spanish trailblazer Lt. Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza.
The message was loud and clear: When it comes to history in the Bay Area, Spain swings a big sword.
“People don’t realize in California our early Spanish history. While on the East Coast was becoming a brand-new U.S.A. was a small part. Actually, Spain owned a large part of the West Coast,” remarked Andrew.
The Anza Expedition established the first reliable overland route from Mexico to what was then known as Alta California, claiming San Francisco Bay for the Spanish Crown.
In 1776, the expedition’s leaders established both the Presidio as well as Mission San Francisco de Asis, which is known today as Mission Dolores.
In the crowd, the direct descendants of those who traveled the long, arduous route, including 98-year-old Eddie Grijalva of Vallejo. He was accompanied by his wife Lydia and her son Jeff.
“What an honor to be here and to remember my ancestor,” exclaimed Grijalva.
The event was coordinated by the nonprofit Los Californianos. The nonprofit represents the direct descendants of those who were part of the Anza Expedition. Its documented purpose includes efforts “to preserve the heritage of early Hispanic Californians in Alta California, to conduct research on genealogy, and to provide an accurate and authentic interpretation of Alta California’s history”
Carol Eber represents the group and is the co-chair of the event. She told us the group is thrilled to celebrate its heritage along with the quincentennial of the United States.
“We have a celebration on the East Coast. We wanted to have the 250th celebration on the West Coast as well as recognizing history was made on both coasts,” noted Eber.
During the ceremony, the crowd recited the Pledge of Allegiance and heard from Superintendent David A. Smith, who is with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
There were also presentations from the Daughters of the American Revolution and a group called “Our American Patriots”. The keynote speech was delivered by Professor Damian Bacich. He focused on San Francisco’s Spanish-American Legacy.
Also on hand for the festivities, the Consul General of Mexico Marco Mena. Mena told CBS News Bay Area that this was his first visit to Presidio and found it beautiful. He was pleased to be invited.
“The Anza expedition is very related to Mexico, especially to the states of Sonora and Sinaloa,” Mena explained.
As the Presidio ceremony was underway, a mass was said at Mission Dolores. The event concluded with a Roll Call, which was the reading of the names who those who walked on the route in 1776.
Descendants, including Grijalva, placed a flower in a memorial wreath as children were asked to blow bubbles for expedition members named without descendants.
Afterwards, participants went on docent-led tours of the Presidio’s Heritage Gallery and also were invited to tour the site of the Spanish Presidio Chapel.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco rolls out heightened security measures ahead of World Cup knockout match, 4th of July
The city of San Francisco is taking heightened police and security measures in advance of two major events in the Bay Area this week – the 4th of July and the first knockout round of the FIFA World Cup.
Mayor Daniel Lurie hosted a press conference Monday to address the public on how the city plans to manage the overlapping swarms of soccer fans and 4th of July revelers.
“No matter the occasion, our top priority, and my top priority, remains the same: keeping San Francisco residents and visitors alike safe,” said Lurie.
The two events would be major draws for crowds independently, but combined, and with special occasions marking both, the city wants to ensure that security is a top priority.
The World Cup has already brought hundreds of thousands of people from across the country and the world to the Bay Area, but this week’s game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara is especially notable for the San Francisco as the host city and the United States as a host nation. The stadium, renamed San Francisco Bay Area Stadium for the duration of the World Cup, will host the knockout round match between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday.
Official fan zones and watch parties for the U.S. match, as well as for Mexico’s match against Ecuador on Tuesday, will be held at multiple locations in San Francisco, including at Thrive City at the Chase Center and at the Pier 39 Fan Zone.
This year’s 4th of July in San Francisco, which already boasts large crowds across the city each year, will have another draw as the city prepares to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday. The city will be hosting a fireworks show on the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday night – only the third time that pyrotechnics have ever been set off from the iconic San Francisco landmark. Fireworks will be launched off the two towers of the bridge and from barges in the water.
The Golden Gate Bridge show will be the only official one in the city – fireworks are illegal in San Francisco.
Authorities advised attendees to use public transportation and to leave plenty of time on both ends of their travel for traffic and delays. Caltrans has announced road closures and detours on U.S. Highway 101 and the entire Golden Gate Bridge for the fireworks show.
San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew said the department is collaborating with multiple state and local agencies to keep people safe, and that police officers have had their days off cancelled to meet the staffing needs that July 4 will require.
“This week will be safe because that’s what we’ve been doing every day,” Lurie said. “It is a glorious time to be here in San Francisco.”
Lurie cited past heavily attended events like Sunday’s San Francisco Pride Parade and Super Bowl 60 in February as examples of the city’s successful management of major crowds.
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