The more the agenda-driven media ignores the deterioration of Democrat-run cities like San Francisco, the worse conditions become and the more sensible people and corporations look for safer environs.
The latest entity to add to that group is Whole Foods Market, which just announced that its downtown San Francisco store will be closed just over a year after the store opened because of crime in the city, according to The San Francisco Standard.
The store was shuttered Monday in what was billed as a temporary move until there was an improvement in the crime around the store that threatens the safety of its employees.
“We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being,” a Whole Foods spokesperson said in a statement. “If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.”
Citing a City Hall source, The Standard reported that deteriorating street conditions around drug use and crime near the grocery store prompted the closure — conditions that have prompted other actions from the store.
“The beleaguered grocery store on Market Street slashed its operating hours due to ‘high theft’ and hostile visitors in October of last year, according to one of the store’s managers,” the news outlet reported. “And in November, the store enforced new bathroom rules after syringes and pipes were found in the restroom.”
There has been a major decline in foot traffic in downtown San Francisco and with Democrats all but subsidizing the homeless population throughout California, extreme poverty, drug use, and mental illness are common on the street — San Francisco’s homelessness budget was $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2021–22. Meanwhile, the city expects a nearly $800 million budget deficit, according to The Standard.
Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey has been vocal about the latest developments, saying in a Twitter thread that he was “incredibly disappointed but sadly unsurprised by the temporary closure of Mid-Market’s Whole Foods.”
Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we’re also well aware of problems they’ve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them. (2/7)
— Matt Dorsey (@mattdorsey) April 10, 2023
“Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we’re also well aware of problems they’ve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them,” he said of the grocery store that’s in his district.
In the mother of all ironies, Dorsey is calling for more funding for police, so the city can be “fully staffed” within 5 years — the SFPD has lost more than 330 officers since 2017 and is about 600 officers short of its staffing goal, according to Fox News.
“Whole Foods’ closure — together with many other safety-related challenges we’ve seen recently — is Exhibit A as to why San Francisco can no longer afford NOT to solve our police understaffing crisis,” Dorsey wrote. “San Franciscans — or at least the ones I represent in District 6 — are demanding solutions, and they have a right to expect that from those of us in City Hall. I hope my colleagues will support this effort. We owe our residents nothing less.”
Another issue perhaps of greater consequence is criminal-friendly local prosecutors supported directly or indirectly by left-wing billionaire George Soros, who are quick to reduce charges on criminal suspects if not drop them altogether under the banner of equity.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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