SAN FRANCISCO – Less than a week after San Francisco’s first mayoral debate, the five major candidates went head-to-head again Monday evening. 

This time, the San Francisco Democratic Party hosted the debate at the UC Law campus, where the group reminded voters of the city’s ranked-choice voting. Voters should not just keep their top choice in mind.   

The SF Standard hosted a watch party at its office for a few dozen voters. 

The debate gave Mayor London Breed, former interim Mayor Mark Farrell and San Francisco Supervisors Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin a chance to tout their accomplishments and defend their records in government. Non-profit executive Daniel Lurie said as an outsider, he has fresh ideas, and his inexperience as a politician is what makes him stand out.

The candidates clashed over how to handle the city’s most pressing issues – reducing crime, increasing tourism, revitalizing downtown, and combating the fentanyl and overdose crisis on the street.

“Most likely what will happen to downtown, since office space is hard to fill, like how it will transform itself into something else,” resident Maic Lopez Saenz said of the issue that concerns him the most. 

He was also interested to hear how the candidates would make San Francisco more bike-friendly. 

For the most part, voters came with open minds. 

“I’m pretty open, I feel like I’ll default to London Breed, but she’s fine,” said Leslie Carr. “I can still be convinced.”

Sarah Vega is an undecided voter and healthcare worker in Marin County, who said she voted for Mayor Breed in the last election. She’s most concerned with the city’s public health crisis.

“I’m looking for more patient-centered solutions to this crisis that’s affecting not just here but national,” she said. “I’m looking for more forward thinking.”

SF State associate professor of political science Jason McDaniel came to see how the candidates interacted with each other.

“Honestly, I usually don’t decide until the day of the election or the day I fill out my ballot, because I think about this stuff a lot,” said McDaniel. “I’m not always thinking about what I’m going to do, I’m thinking about what other people are going to do, so I often usually don’t make my choices until that last possible moment.”

McDaniel said what was most noticeable during the debate was the tension between Mayor Breed and Mark Farrell. They criticized each other over their policies when it came to policing, for example.

During the debate, the candidates also had the chance to ask another candidate a question. Some took the opportunity to test their knowledge of the city. 

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KTVU-TV) — San Francisco police arrested 57 people in the Tenderloin District last week during a one-day enforcement operation.

Of the 57, 43 had warrants out for their arrests. During the arrests on June 12, officers seized various narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine, police said Monday in a news release.

The operation was led by the city’s Drug Market Agency Coordination Center, a multi-agency effort to address the growing fentanyl crisis and deteriorating street conditions, launched last year by Mayor London Breed. The effort combines city, state and federal resources.

According to a release from the mayor’s office, in its one year, the center has led to the arrest of 3,000 people and the seizure of about 200 kilos of narcotics.

“We have brought unprecedented levels of coordination to tackle the drug markets on our streets and we are not letting up,” Breed said last month.

The June 12 operation included SFPD officers from the Fugitive Recovery Enforcement Team, Narcotics Unit, Narcotics Drug Recognition Expert Team, Tenderloin Station Patrol, Tenderloin Station Violence Reduction Team, and the Tenderloin Plainclothes Team.

SFPD’s release stated that while arrests have been made, investigations remain open and active.  

(KRON) – More than 50 arrests were made following a one-day law enforcement operation around San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, the San Francisco Police Department announced on Monday.  

Multiple departments of the San Francisco PD assisted the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center (DMACC) with an operation that aimed to arrest fugitives with outstanding arrest warrants. 

On Wednesday, SFPD made 57 arrests, with 43 individuals having arrest warrants. 

The operation additionally resulted in the seizure of various suspected narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.

According to SFPD, Mayor London Breed launched the DMACC in May 2023 to dismantle the drug markets in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods.

Despite the arrests made, this investigation is ongoing, according to SFPD. Anyone with information is asked to contact the SFPD at (415) 575-4444.