Shift in San Francisco voters suggests they may have finally had enough

San Franciscans are, it appears, ready to put aside their progressive ways in a bid to reclaim their crumbling city.

On Super Tuesday, the notoriously liberal city passed two law-and-order measures, including one requiring drug screenings for those individuals suspected of using before they receive their welfare benefits.

“It marks yet another rebuke of progressive policies in the famously liberal city, following the recall of far-left District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022,” Fox News Digital reports.

Proposition F “asked voters whether the city should require city welfare recipients who struggle with addiction to enroll in treatment to continue to receive cash assistance through a county program,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Though not all votes have been counted, as of Wednesday morning, the measure passed with 63 percent of the vote and proponents celebrated their win.

Proposition E, according to the Chronicle, proposed a “change to San Francisco Police Department procedures” that would “give police officers more latitude and power, and rein in the Police Department’s oversight body, the Police Commission.”

The outlet explains:

Changes include a reduction in recordkeeping and reporting.

Patrol officers will spend “no more than 30% of their work time on administrative tasks,” and use-of-force reports will need to be filed only when the use of force physically injured a person or if the officer pointed or used a firearm.

The measure includes a change to vehicle pursuit regulation to allow officers to chase someone they believe is committing a felony or violent misdemeanor. It also will allow police to install public surveillance cameras and use drones and facial recognition technology.

It passed with 60 percent of San Francisco’s support.

Democratic Mayor London Breed, who is facing re-election this year, read the room and placed the measures on the ballot.

On Tuesday, she touted the victories.

“Thank you to the voters for passing Prop F to bring more treatment and accountability to San Francisco,” she wrote. “This is how we get more people the help they need and change what’s happening in our City.”

“Addiction is complicated and there are no easy paths, but fentanyl is so deadly that we need more tools to get people into treatment,” Breed wrote. “Prop F is part of that change.”

“We can’t just keep giving people money to overdose and die on our streets,” she stated. “We have to do more.”

Few, however, thought Prop F was cause for Breed to celebrate.

“Where were you 3 years ago…..” one user replied. “Oh that’s right, you were setting up safe injection facilities and defunding the police.”

“Too late for you Felecia,” the user stated. “You’re not going to win.”

Regarding Prop E, Breed vowed its passage “will help us build on our work to make San Francisco a safer city for all.”

“We are giving our [San Francisco Police Department] officers more tools to do their jobs and getting them out on the street to take care of our community,” she wrote.

“We?” asked one incredulous X user. “Didn’t you defund the police?”


Breed’s motives, argued spokesman Joe Arellano in a statement to Fox News Digital, were far more altruistic.

“Mayor Breed placed Prop F on the ballot to give San Francisco another tool to get people suffering from addiction into treatment and save lives,” Arellano said. “Prop F will create more accountability and eliminate the ‘drug tourism’ where outsiders come to San Francisco to secure government-funded benefits and buy illegal drugs.”

Prop E, he said, was a “common-sense” response to “outdated” public safety policies.

“Our current public safety policies are outdated and make it difficult for police officers to chase suspects, even in a felony or violent misdemeanor,” Arellano said. “Prop E makes common-sense changes to City rules to get more officers on the street fighting crime. It provides police with helpful new tools such as cameras and drones and expanded power to pursue criminals.”

San Francisco’s liberal lawmakers, he said, went “too far” in recent years.

“Over the last few years, the City’s policies swung too far to the left,” Arellano said. “Now, it’s time to send a message that San Francisco is closed to criminals and brazen theft will not be tolerated.”

Melissa Fine

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