The Mayor is making slow, steady, and forward progress on our city’s challenges.
The 2019 mayor’s race is quiet and there are no significant challengers. All the fireworks for the Mayor’s race were back in June 2018, during a three-way race between London Breed, Mark Leno, and Jane Kim. This year could have been another exciting race, but serious candidates stayed away. What’s left are “six long-shot candidates”, as described by the SF Chronicle.
I support what the Mayor is doing. On housing, the mayor has expedited the approval and construction of ADU (accessory dwelling units). Since the mayor took office in July 2018, over 1000 units have been approved. The mayor had a tough, public fight with the Board of Supervisors over a series of proposed reforms to residential zoning and expediting the process. What resulted Prop E, which is a step in the right direction towards more housing. The debate over the measures has shifted the Overton window and brought people to agree that new apartments for low-income families and seniors should be legal in San Francisco. Right now, it is illegal to build apartments on most residential land in San Francisco.
On homelessness the mayor has made brave political decisions towards giving people shelter. The mayor proposed to build a navigation center (a shelter with enhanced social services) at Bryant and the Embarcadero. In the face of tough local opposition (which I believe is misguided) the mayor has prevailed through challenges and the navigation center is on track to open by January 2020. The navigation center will give safety to 125 people who would be otherwise on the streets, and the center will help people access services for substance abuse, mental health, and long-term housing.
The city has a lot of challenges. Our housing shortage has been 40 years in the making. The loss of federal housing subsidies in the 1980s has exacerbated homelessness. Too many people are dying on our streets due to road traffic collisions. The mayor is not a wizard. She has constraints: a hostile Board of Supervisors; state law restrictions; a chorus of neighborhood and interest groups. But she is taking action to make things better and put the city on the right track.
- SF Chronicle: “Mayor London Breed has shown a willingness to take aggressive positions to address San Francisco’s most daunting challenges[…]”
- SF Examiner: “London Breed is not running unopposed, but none of her opponents have the political support to win or govern effectively.”
