London Breed

Office: Mayor
Election Date: November 5, 2024
Candidate: London Breed
Printable Version

Your Goals
Executive experience
The Issues
Personal
Thank you

Your Goals

We'd like to get some details about your high-level goals and how you intend to use your elected office to achieve them.

Why are you running for Mayor?

I am running because I have dedicated my entire adult life to serving our communities and improving the City's public safety, housing, transportation, and quality of life. As the 45th Mayor of San Francisco, I've led our beloved city through the greatest public health crisis in 100 years; I instituted the first Covid shutdown in the country, led the most successful urban pandemic response in the country, and saved thousands of lives.

I am now boldly leading the city's recovery, with a laser focus on economic revitalization and public safety. Working with state and federal officers and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, whom I appointed, I have brought crime to the lowest levels in ten years, and am bringing SFPD back to full staffing. I'm leading the state with my Housing for All plan to build 82,000 new homes and have invested over $1 billion in affordable housing. I've helped 15,000 people exit homelessness, increased shelter capacity by 2/3rds, and cleared all the large tent encampments on our streets. Additionally, I'm working to revitalize downtown with new homes, businesses, and universities and as a result, business is bouncing back.

I have demonstrated time-and-time again that I will put San Franciscans first, and my track record of creative solutions to address our most complex problems has established San Francisco as a truly world-class city, leading the nation in our forward thinking ideas and innovation. We hold strong beliefs of inclusion, mutual respect, and understanding; and serve as an example of what a big city can be with courageous, resolute, and sound leadership.

What is your #1 policy goal?

San Francisco can and should be the safest large city in America. Like other cities, we are enduring what the US Department of Justice has called a police staffing "crisis." As Mayor of San Francisco, I've maintained support for our officers, getting SFPD back to full staffing, stopping drug dealing and theft, and protecting residents, businesses, and our vulnerable seniors. This has been done through the following efforts:

Officer Recruitment

Funded new strategies to recruit, train, and retain officers and made us the best-paid major city in the region for starting officers.
The next Academy class will be the largest in years and we will add 200 more officers in the next year, and get to full police staffing in 2025.

Enforcement

Doubled drug arrests in 2023.
Launched retail theft blitz operations.
Deployed bait cars and plainclothes officers to disrupt auto break-ins.
Installing 400 automated license plate cameras at 100 intersections across the city.
Appointed a new District Attorney focused on prosecuting crimes, protecting vulnerable residents, and stopping fentanyl dealers.

On the Beat

Diverted 911 calls so health professionals are responding to behavioral health issues, and police can focus on crimes like drug arrests, retail theft, and cracking down on street vending of stolen goods.
Passed a $25M supplemental to fund overtime and keep our officers walking beats.
Wrote and passed Proposition E to reduce burdensome paperwork to help police stay in the field, and give them 21st century tools including cameras in high-crime areas, to prevent crime and enforce our laws.
Expanded street ambassadors program, complementing officers in the Tenderloin, Downtown, Mission, and transit stations.

As a result of this work, San Francisco's crime rate is the lowest it has been in ten years, we've seen the largest decrease in shoplifting of any city in a recent nationwide study, and car break-ins are down over 60% from when I first took office. And while this is certainly progress, the work needs to continue. If re-elected, I will get to a fully-staffed police department, respecting the hard work our officers do while holding them accountable. We will continue bringing all types of crime down and make San Francisco the safest big city in the country.

How will you build the coalition and political capital to enact your #1 goal?

Since taking office, I have launched a series of strategic initiatives targeting the city's most pressing public safety challenges. A few examples of this work include:

Passed a law to give the San Francisco Police Department access to live cameras to support investigations, including around drug dealing, retail theft, and violent crime.
Launched targeted retail theft strategies, including the Organized Retail Crime Initiative to expand investigations and arrests, retail theft blitz operations, which have yielded hundreds of arrests, and the Safe Shopper program for the Holiday Season.
Expanded auto burglary deterrence and enforcement, including the use of bait cars, plainclothes officers, and targeted patrols to disrupt auto break-ins.
Passed a law to address street vending and illegal fencing and expanded enforcement efforts. This work includes banning street vending in areas like United Nations Plaza and the Mission and requiring permits for vendors to sell lawfully on our streets.

The work referenced above is not possible without leveraging existing relationships I've built over decades of serving the City, as well as working tirelessly to build new ones. My work is only possible with the collective efforts of San Francisco's law enforcement agencies and our community partners, as they work every day to protect our city. Below are examples:

Launched the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center to disrupt and shut down drug markets. This led to increasing arrests for the sale of drugs, but also for public drug use.
Appointed a new District Attorney Brooke Jenkins who was focused on prosecuting crimes and being a partner to the San Francisco Police Department and state and federal law enforcement to change the conditions in our neighborhoods.
Appointed District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey whose focus has been on public safety and addressing the city's drug crisis.
Worked with Governor Gavin Newsom to bring in the California Highway Patrol and the California National Guard to target the drug markets.
Worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring in the US Attorney's Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency to increase enforcement against street level drug dealing and trafficking in the city.

Will the power of the office of Mayor be enough to achieve this goal?

The Office of the Mayor has the necessary tools to make this goal a reality, including allocating budget, negotiating contracts, managing departmental operations, advancing legislation, and going to the ballot, when necessary. Having an aligned Board of Supervisors majority will help.

What are your #2 and #3 policy goals?

Enforcement & Public Health

Open-air drug dealing and use are unacceptable. The families who live in the neighborhoods most impacted by this crisis are not okay with it, and the families who are losing people to drugs are certainly not ok with it. Sadly, after Covid, we are facing a 2nd national pandemic, this time in the form of fentanyl. I am fighting it both from a law enforcement perspective AND public health perspective.

Coordinated the SFPD, SF Sheriff, the National Guard, California Highway Patrol, District Attorney, and federal law enforcement to arrest and prosecute those dealing Fentanyl and other deadly drugs.
Doubled drug arrests in 2023.
At my direction and for the first time in decades, SFPD is enforcing public intoxication laws to arrest people who are using deadly drugs and are a danger to themselves and others, getting them off the street and into treatment.
Sending a message that drug users should NOT come to San Francisco anymore.
Wrote and passed Prop. F to require treatment for adults receiving city assistance.
Delivering on my goal of adding 400 new treatment beds.
Expanding treatment options including overdose prevention, sober living, and abstinence-based programs.
Fought for statewide conservatorship reform and succeeded, with San Francisco being the first and only county to implement Senate Bill 43.

We will continue fighting fentanyl with everything we have. We will make our neighborhoods safer and our streets cleaner, stop drug tourism, prevent overdoses, help people recover, and reduce the supply of the most deadly drug we have ever seen on our streets.

Downtown Revitalization

Downtown San Francisco will never stay down for long. It has so many advantages: a beautiful waterfront location; robust transit; a dense, walkable neighborhood; restaurants, bars, and entertainment; access to iconic venues like Chase Center and Oracle Park; more deployable capital than anywhere in the US; unparalleled talent; and a culture where we dream the next great idea that will change the world. I have a vision for Downtown's future–a multi-use, vibrant, 24/7 downtown–and my administration is making it happen. This work includes:

Attracting new businesses by offering tax breaks for small business, retail, hospitality, and removing disincentives for SF based businesses.
New leases are being signed – led by AI, which alone is projected to add 12 million sq. ft. of office by 2030.
Filling empty storefronts through my Vacant to Vibrant program, eliminating fees, offering free rent, and other incentives, and changing laws to remove barriers to opening a small business.
Dedicated cleaning crews and ambassadors to work alongside our public safety officers.
My 30 by 30 initiative to bring 30,000 more residents and students downtown by 2030.
- Wrote and passed Prop. C to encourage old offices to become new homes.
- Recruiting the University of California, Historically Black Colleges & Universities, USF, and others to create a downtown campus.
- Made immediate zoning changes to add homes and other businesses, prioritizing arts and entertainment to bring the streets alive.

Will the power of the office of Mayor be enough to achieve these goals?

Yes.

What is the top single policy you would like to reform in 2025?

With my Housing for All plan, San Francisco can be a city for ALL of us: seniors, middle-income families, renters, young people who grew up here, young people who want to move here, and everyone in between. The City's inability or unwillingness to build enough homes for the past several decades has fueled so many of the problems we face: outrageous rents and home prices; homelessness; our shortage of police officers, teachers, and Muni drivers; climate change; and families leaving the city for more affordable places to live. Since my time as a Supervisor and as Mayor, I've been working to ensure San Francisco builds the housing we need. And as I've stated publicly, as Mayor I will veto any piece of anti-housing legislation that comes across my desk. Every single one. Below is a list of housing achievements that demonstrate my track record, and underscores that we have more to do.

Passed $600M housing bond in 2019 and $300M housing bond in 2024 to build and acquire affordable housing throughout the city.
SF was one of only two Bay Area cities to have its Housing Element certified on time, a state-mandated plan to build 82,000 homes by 2031.
Launched Housing for All, my detailed plan to make our Housing Element a reality.
Rezoned areas across the city so that all neighborhoods build new housing.
Removed bureaucratic roadblocks in the Planning Code and directed departments to streamline their processes. The City is now approving homes THREE TIMES faster than we did over the last decade.
Helping move the 52,000+ new homes that are approved but not yet built by advancing new tools to pay for crucial infrastructure.

Is there an "out there" change you would make to state/local government policy, if you could? (For example: adding at-large supervisors, changing how elections work, creating a Bay Area regional government, etc.)

If we learned anything from governing during COVID it was that our emergency powers have the ability to give us incredible flexibility on allocating resources, procuring contracts and services, and eliminating many of the layers of bureaucracy that typically slow down even the smallest of efforts. However, the current legal standard for declaring a local state of emergency is very rigid. So rigid we have been unable to use it for very practical issues the city is facing and that San Franciscians have consistently expressed are urgent (eg. homelessness, building housing, police staffing).

Changing the local threshold of how and when the Mayor can declare a state of emergency so we can mirror our COVID approach to more quickly address urgent issues would be incredibly impactful.

Tell us one thing you think needs to change in SF that the average voter wouldn't know about.

See answer to question above.

Executive experience

Please describe your experience running large organizations, managing executive teams (including hiring, firing, and performance management), driving cultural change and clear communication throughout all levels, effective financial management (budgets, reporting, audit, etc.), and any other experience relevant to running a city with a $14B+ budget and tens of thousands of employees.

I currently serve as the 45th Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco. Previously I served as President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Acting Mayor following the tragic passing of Mayor Edwin Lee. I am the first African-American woman and only second woman to serve as Mayor. I have dedicated my entire adult life to serving our communities and improving the City's public safety, housing, transportation, and quality of life.

As Mayor of San Francisco, I know what it means to govern this city as an Executive. Not only did I lead the city through the greatest public health crisis in 100 years, I am leading it through an unprecedented and uncharted economic recovery. Throughout all of this, I have efficiently and effectively managed our City budget, several rounds of labor negotiations, and implementation of key policy initiatives related to public safety, alternatives to policing, homelessness, housing, and economic development.

The City and County of San Francisco is the city's second largest employer, with over 34,000 employees across 60 departments, and is one of the most diverse workforces in the country with 70% being employees of color. I have led the City through multiple budget cycles, with the FY 2023-24 budget totalling $14.6 billion, being able to address deficits, delivering on priorities for San Franciscans, and negotiating with an adversarial Board of Supervisors. Throughout all of this, I've led with an ear towards the needs of the community and collaborated with our labor partners on the future of San Francisco's workforce. Additionally, I have ensured that Mayoral Appointees to San Francisco Commissions and Boards are representative of our City's diversity, including strong representation by women, people of color, and individuals from our LGBTQ+ communities.

Please describe a time when you had an underperforming subordinate and how you handled the situation, including (and especially) how you were able to increase their performance.

Note: Please remember that this questionnaire will be public, so do not include any personally identifiable information.

Given the public nature of the personnel choices I have had to make and employees' privacy rights, I would be happy to discuss examples with the GrowSF leadership in a way that preserves this while also giving insight into my approach and thinking.

Please describe a time when your organization faced an extreme challenge and how you got the organization through it.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our city faced an unprecedented challenge in safeguarding public health while maintaining essential services. I declared a state of emergency before the first case was detected in San Francisco and I was the first elected official in the country to enact a lockdown - a move that saved thousands of lives. As a result, San Francisco had the lowest Covid mortality rate of any major city in the country.

Under my leadership, the Department of Emergency Services activated the SF Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on January 27, 2020, at 1011 Turk Street in reaction to the COVID-19 virus. The emergency operations center incorporated community operations, transportation, law enforcement and public safety, planning, logistics, finance, and joint information, as well as liaisons to health and human services. On July 6, 2020, the EOC merged with the other departments to become a Unified Command, under joint direction by DEM, DPH, and HSA. (Later rebranded as Covid Command Center.)

Health Operations:

Successfully managed outbreaks and mitigated COVID transmission in the highest risk settings that house the most vulnerable populations of San Francisco.
Interviewed more than 50,000 San Franciscans who were identified as either cases (27,000) or contacts (23,000), and reached 83.9% of cases and 70.3% of contacts overall.
Expanded the City's testing capacity to over 4,500 tests/day, including 2 high-volume fixed testing sites, 4 testing sites at Primary Care centers and over 750 pop-up testing sites.
Opened 3 mass vaccination sites and many clinic and community sites that vaccinated 81% of San Franciscans (and counting) in just 6 months.
Rescued 1,000 doses of vaccine from Humboldt county via our SFO colleagues to avoid vaccine waste and deliver vaccine into our vulnerable communities.

Human Services Operations

Set up 1 trailer site, 8 congregate shelters, 7 Safe Sleep sites, and 30 hotels to create the alternative housing program.
Served approximately 9,000 people in the Alternative Shelter Program including 4,300 in Isolation & Quarantine.
Helped 1,868 people sleeping in tents access shelter, hotels and safe sleeping villages.
Served over 20K individuals since the beginning of the pandemic, distributing more than 110K meals and 35K grocery bags.

Community Operations

Assessed and inspected 102 SFUSD and 122 private/charter schools for safe reopening.
Provided prevention technical assistance to respond to over 5,500 COVID-19 exposures at businesses.
Trained >400 vaccine ambassadors to increase vaccine confidence throughout SF.

Support Services Operations

Completed over 100 site visits to support the City's priorities related to testing, medical surge, shelter-in-place, safe sleeping, weather relief and cooling centers.
Coordinated among city departments to ensure essential services were properly resourced with last-minute supplies, equipment and staff.

The Board of Supervisors may not be aligned with your goals. In that case, how will you be able to execute with an adversarial Board?

I have shown throughout my entire career that I've been able to work with a Board of Supervisors that is adversarial or in unison. That is what it means to be a leader, having the courage, know-how, relationships, and dedication to put the public's needs first.

The Issues

Next, we will cover the issues that voters tell us they care about. We hope to gain a better understanding of your policy positions, and we hope that you use this opportunity to communicate with voters.

Public Safety

What is your plan to increase SFPD staffing?

I recognize that law enforcement and the communities they serve must work together to build a safer city. Since becoming Mayor, I've launched targeted efforts to address the public safety needs of residents, including increasing police foot patrols, re-hiring retired officers and community ambassadors to patrol high-traffic locations, creating multi-racial neighborhood safety patrols.

Understanding that the police staffing shortage is a national issue with fewer people entering or remaining in the law enforcement profession than in recent years, my priority has been both restoring police staffing through recruitment and retention efforts and expanding non-law enforcement responses to support neighborhoods and free up police officers to enforce the laws. We are bringing on new officers with a focus on creating a more diverse and professionalized workforce, keeping the officers we have trained so we don't lose their expertise to other jurisdictions, adding more non-sworn employees to free up officers to do the work they are uniquely trained and needed for, and creating alternatives to policing with our Ambassadors. My accomplishments include:

Funded expanded recruitment and retention efforts including making starting salaries for the San Francisco Police Department the highest of any large city in the Bay Area. Focused not just on financial incentives and recruitment strategies to build back police staffing but building up morale to encourage more people to join.
While building back staffing in the long-term, addressed immediate needs by successfully passing a police overtime supplemental to keep officers on the street. Also, successfully secured a $17 million dollar state grant that helps fund police overtime to target retail theft operations and prosecute organized rings.
Authored and passed Proposition E, to support our officers by reducing unnecessary paperwork that keeps them behind a desk rather than out on the beat.
Dramatically expanded City ambassador programs Downtown, in the neighborhoods, and in and around transit stations.
Doubled San Francisco's retired police officer ambassador program to provide more support in our merchant corridors across the entire city.
Expanded the City's non-law enforcement street response teams which both provide a more efficient alternative to help people with mental health and addiction needs, but also frees up police officers to focus on crimes
Successfully legislated a $25 million SFPD supplemental budget item that immediately addresses public safety issues in the City.

In addition to the above, I have convened a working group including the Controller's Office, the Department of Human Resources, the Police Department, and my Budget Office, to tackle the hiring process so that we can more quickly review applicants to officer positions. That work has included automating the application process, hiring back retired officers, bringing on a contractor to help process background checks, and recruiting officers from other jurisdictions. Because of that work, applications are up and processing time is down.

Traffic enforcement has been declining since 2014, and fell off a cliff in 2020¹. It is now near zero. Why do you think this crash in enforcement happened and what is your plan to ensure SFPD actually performs their jobs?

I am committed to ensuring everyone can get around our streets safely – whether you walk, bike, take transit or drive. Ten years ago, I sat on the Board of Supervisors and voted along with my colleagues to support our Vision Zero Resolution. The Vision Zero program recognizes that it takes an integrated system to achieve street safety, and traffic enforcement is a critical piece of that. Traffic enforcement has been down significantly in recent years. It decreased particularly during the pandemic, then as policing came under intense racial scrutiny in 2020, and as our under-resourced police department faced competing citywide safety priorities. The reduced enforcement has created a sense of lawlessness on our streets, and we're doing the work to reverse that trend.

First, our police department is on track to be fully staffed in 2025. The next SFPD academy class will be the largest in years and we will add 200 more officers in the next year.
Second, I am committed to ensuring the SFPD follows through on their 2024 Traffic Enforcement Plan to increase traffic enforcement to improve road and sidewalk safety and reduce crashes and violations. Their plan increases strategic enforcement activities and education to ensure we are targeting not only the most dangerous intersections, but unsafe driving throughout the City.
Third, I have directed the SFMTA to increase their parking enforcement citywide to prioritize safety-related violations, such as parking on the sidewalk, in bike lanes and in crosswalks. The operation will deploy parking control officers to each supervisor's district for one week of enhanced enforcement. Everyone should feel safe using our sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes, especially people with mobility devices like wheelchairs and crutches, without having to dodge cars to get to their destination.

What is the #1 public safety issue today?

Until all San Franciscan's feel safe, we have more work to do. As Mayor, I represent all San Franciscans, regardless of which neighborhood they may live or work in. Throughout my time leading this great city, I've seen and heard from all of our diverse communities about the unique public safety challenges being faced and needs to address them.

In 2021, as vaccines became widely available, San Francisco emerged from the pandemic as a city facing a number of very real public safety challenges and perceptions around crime. As San Francisco emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, fentanyl and the drug markets had taken over certain neighborhoods. With a decline in tourism, home burglaries increased as criminals moved from breaking into cars to breaking into homes. Then as tourism returned in 2022, car break-ins started to rise again. Organized retail theft and shoplifting targeted retailers both large and small. Fencing operations on our streets created unsafe conditions in neighborhoods. As those and other challenges arose, I took a series of actions to improve public safety in San Francisco, launching strategic initiatives targeting San Francisco's largest safety challenges, working with partners at the local, state, and federal level to expand enforcement and accountability, and improve police staffing efforts.

I have sent a clear and consistent message that there will be consequences for those who break the law. Yes, San Francisco is a City that believes in and offers second chances, but it is also a city of accountability. As a result of these efforts San Francisco is seeing results. There is still a lot of work to do, including building back police staffing, implementing policies that support officers being out on the streets and giving them the technological tools to do their jobs. Below is a list of programs and initiatives launched to make San Franciscans feel safe.

Launched a series of strategic initiatives targeting the city's most pressing public safety challenges. This is in addition to the work that San Francisco's law enforcement agencies do every day to combat both violent and property crime in all parts of our city. These initiatives include:
- Launched the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center (DMACC) to disrupt and shut down drug markets. This led to increasing arrests for the sale of drugs, but also for public drug use.
- Passed a law to give the San Francisco Police Department access to live cameras to support investigations, including around drug dealing, retail theft, and violent crime.
- Launched targeted retail theft strategies, including the Organized Retail Crime Initiative to expand investigations and arrests, retail theft blitz operations, which have yielded hundreds of arrests, and the Safe Shopper program for the Holiday Season.
- Expanded auto burglary deterrence and enforcement, including the use of bait cars, plainclothes officers, and targeted patrols to disrupt auto break-ins.
- Passed a law to address street vending and illegal fencing and expanded enforcement efforts. This work includes banning street vending in areas like United Nations Plaza and the Mission and requiring permits for vendors to sell lawfully on our streets.
Prioritized working with public safety partners and elevating leaders who are focused on delivering results on public safety in our communities. These are people who believe that cities must prioritize both accountability and opportunities for second chances and reform. This includes:
- Appointed a new District Attorney Brooke Jenkins who was focused on prosecuting crimes and being a partner to the San Francisco Police Department and state and federal law enforcement to change the conditions in our neighborhoods.
- Appointed District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey whose focus has been on public safety and addressing the city's drug crisis.
- Worked with Governor Gavin Newsom to bring in the California Highway Patrol and the California National Guard to target the drug markets.
- Worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring in the US Attorney's Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency to increase enforcement against street level drug dealing and trafficking in the city.
San Francisco, like cities across the country, has seen a dramatic decrease in police staffing levels since the pandemic. My priority has been both restoring police staffing through recruitment and retention efforts and expanding non-law enforcement responses to support neighborhoods and free up police officers to focus on enforcing the laws. These include:
- Funded expanded recruitment and retention efforts including making starting salaries for the San Francisco Police Department the highest of any large city in the Bay Area. Focused not just on financial incentives and recruitment strategies to build back police staffing but building up morale to encourage more people to join.
- While building back staffing in the long-term, addressed the immediate needs by successfully passing a police overtime supplemental to keep officers on the street. Also, successfully secured a $17 million dollar state grant that helps fund police overtime to target retail theft operations and prosecute organized rings.
- Dramatically expanded City ambassador programs Downtown, in the neighborhoods, and in and around transit stations. Followed this by doubling San Francisco's retired police officer ambassador program, to provide more support in our merchant corridors across the entire city.
- Expanded the City's non-law enforcement street response teams which both provide a more efficient alternative to help people with mental health and addiction needs, but also frees up police officers to focus on crimes.
For too long the San Francisco Police Commission has enacted policies and procedures that make it difficult for police officers to do the jobs we need them to do in order to keep residents safe. In order to address this I successfully put forth Proposition E to voters (March 2024) that gives our police officers the tools and rules they need to enforce laws while preventing the Police Commission from interfering in community safety efforts. This includes allowing them to use publicly-owned cameras and surveillance drones, eliminating duplicative and excessive reporting requirements so more officers are on the street, and allowing officers to actively pursue suspects of felonies and violent misdemeanors.
San Francisco has always been a city that believes in second chances and creating opportunities. I have invested in communities and young people to give them the opportunities to succeed and to ensure everyone in this city has a choice of finding a good paying, rewarding employment. These include:
- Funded job training programs like the City EMT program, which is designed to address the issues of poverty, violence, and unemployment by training at-risk young adults, aged 18–24 years old, in an expanded Emergency Medical Technician curriculum program.
- Strengthened the CityBuild Academy program that trains construction workers, including increasing the paid stipend while people go through training and launching the Women and Families First Initiative, the first of its kind that supported expanding women in construction.
- Funded employment pipelines in the Dreamkeeper Initiative, through workforce training programs that prepare participants to be immediately competitive in the job market.
- Launched and sustained Opportunities for All, a city-led program that includes paid internships, mentorship, and pathways to employment, including job readiness, career training, and apprenticeship for participants ages 13 to 24.

As a result of this work and these commitments, San Francisco is seeing progress. I will not ease up on this work until every person in San Francisco feels safe. Below are examples:

Property crimes are at their lowest incident number in 10 years (not counting 2020 with pandemic shelter-in-place).
Violent crime lower than pre-pandemic levels, with rape, robbery, assault all down from 2019.
Between November 20, 2023, and January 1, 2024, compared to the same time period the year before San Francisco saw a:
- 48% reduction in larceny theft (includes retail theft and auto break-ins)
- 17% reduction in motor vehicle theft
- 26% reduction in burglaries
According to a recent study by the Council on Criminal Justice, San Francisco achieved the largest decrease in shoplifting incidents of any major city in the entire country, with a 35% decrease comparing the first six months of 2023 with the same time period in 2022.
Car break-ins are down 50% in the last three months of 2023.
Over 420 wanted fugitives were identified and brought into custody between May 2023 through December 2023.

What will you change about how SFPD operates?

Below is a list of initiatives that I've put forward that have made changes to the operations of the San Francisco Police Department.

Proposition E (March 2024): In March 2024, the voters approved my ballot measure to put SFPD officers in position to better serve our communities. Prop E does the following things: (1) Gives police officers access to 21st century technology and tools to do their jobs; (2) Changes rules to get more officers out on the street and pursue criminals; and (3) Prevents the City's Police Commission from prioritizing ideology before community safety. I am grateful to the voters for their passage of Proposition E, which will allow us to build on the progress we are delivering on public safety in San Francisco.
SFPD Reform Milestone: In April 2024, I announced that SFPD had reached a historic milestone in its multi-year police reform effort in submitting the final 27 responses to the 272 reform recommendations from the United States and California Departments of Justice. I was part of this effort at its inception in 2016, where the City undertook a voluntary effort to stand as a national model for 21st Century Policing, proving that reform and public safety work together by building trust with communities. Below are examples of the reforms, to which I am committed to sustaining in the years to come. I established a team that will review and ensure that all of the recommendations are closely monitored and updated to account for any changes in the law or department policy.
- Increased diversity in hiring and recruitment: Black, Asian, Hispanic, and American Indian recruits entering the academy increased from 52% in 2016 to 81% in 2023.
- Reduction in Officer Involved Shootings: Officer-involved shootings have decreased by 50% in the 7 years since the beginning of the Department of Justice review compared with the 7 years leading up to it.
- Enhanced De-escalation Training: The SFPD expanded de-escalation training for officers, including adopting Critical Mindset training, emphasizing planning and coordination to resolve potentially high-risk situations safely. Around 99% of officers are trained on the 10-hour Crisis Intervention Training course.
- Expanding Community Engagement: The SFPD launched the Community Engagement Division and increased partnerships with community leaders across the city, including in neighborhoods with residents that have had long-standing distrust of law enforcement.
- Racial Equity: The SFPD generated the Department's first Racial Equity Action Plan and launched the Department's Office of Racial Equity. The SFPD is working with academic partners to better understand the causes of disparities in contacts with the public.

What will you change about how the Police Commission operates?

The Police Commission should be focused on setting high level policy and supporting the police force in becoming the best in the nation. Unfortunately, the Police Commission has been more focused on promoting ideology than keeping San Franciscans safe. As a result, I put Prop E on the ballot to make necessary changes to the orders that have micromanaged officers on the street. I am committed to appointing the best Commissioners I can find who share the above perspective of what the Commission should be doing. I am also more than willing to advance more legislation - either through the Board of Supervisors or on the ballot, if necessary to continue moving the Commission in the direction of providing guidance and oversight, instead of micromanaging and hamstringing.

Some have argued that Police Chief Scott should be fired and replaced. Regardless of your position on Chief Scott, how will you ensure the Chief of Police is effective? If that position includes firing the Chief, please explain why you will fire him, and how you will hire a good replacement given the fact that the Police Commission picks the set of candidates.

It is critical that we have effective leadership for all City departments, as well as qualified staff at the appropriate levels to carry out the business that San Franciscans expect of their government officials, which includes law enforcement agencies. I have been and will continue to do everything in my power to bring SFPD staffing levels to the appropriate level. This includes funding expanded recruitment and retention efforts including making starting salaries for the San Francisco Police Department the highest of any large city in the Bay Area; successfully passing a police overtime supplemental to keep officers on our streets, successfully securing a $17 million dollar state grant that helps fund police overtime to target retail theft operations and prosecute organized rings, dramatically expanded City ambassador programs Downtown, in the neighborhoods, and in and around transit stations, and expand the City's non-law enforcement street response teams which both provide a more efficient alternative to help people with mental health and addiction needs, but also frees up police officers to focus on crimes.

Do you support the policies referred to as "defund the police"? Why or why not?

No. I have addressed the need for investments to our law enforcement agencies in multiple questions throughout this questionnaire.

Please explain why you did or did not support the recall of DA Chesa Boudin. If you were ineligible to vote in that election, please explain how you would have voted.

Yes, I did support the recall of DA Chesa Boudin.

Should San Francisco…	Yes	No
Try to achieve "full staffing" for SFPD? (Defined as about 2,100 officers, according to the City)?	X
Retain the cite-and-release policy for misdemeanors like shoplifting and car break-ins? (A)	X (A)
Arrest and prosecute street-level fentanyl dealers?	X
Prioritize diversion instead of incarceration for fentanyl dealers?		X
Investigate, arrest, and prosecute fentanyl distribution ringleaders (like organized crime and cartel members)?	X
Arrest and prosecute street-level vendors of suspected stolen goods? (B)	X (B)
Investigate, arrest, and prosecute the leaders of theft rings and fencing operations?	X
Arrest and prosecute street food vendors operating without a permit? (C)		X (C)
Fine street food vendors operating without a permit? (D)	X (D)

If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:

(A) For repeat offenders, there must be increased accountability. For low-level offenders without prior history, jail is not always the right answer.

(B) I support arresting and holding accountable anyone who knowingly sells stolen items. This is not vending, it's fencing. That is why I am partnering with legislators in Sacramento to advance a bill to give us greater tools to hold fencers accountable.

(C) We should always be working to get people into compliance with the law as a first response. Under state law, it is currently illegal for local jurisdictions to criminally hold liable any vendor selling food.

(D) Fines should be used only as a last result after we have worked to help vendors get into compliance.

Drugs

Today, people are openly dealing drugs, including fentanyl, with little or no consequences. Why is this happening and what will you do to change this?

*NOTE – same response as question "What is the #1 public safety issue today?" above.

Beginning in 2019, San Francisco experienced a significant rise in the number of individuals using methamphetamine, an increase that occurred alongside the rise in fentanyl use. Seeing the clear and urgent need for a focused effort to identify services, treatment, and prevention efforts to address the evolving trend, I convened a Methamphetamine Task Force that included medical and public health professionals, researchers, substance use disorder treatment providers, emergency responders, criminal justice and law enforcement officials, drug policy experts, and current and/or former substance users. The Task Force was charged with identifying harm reduction strategies to decrease and manage methamphetamine use, identify best practices for treatment and service options for current users, and develop policy recommendations to reduce the medical and social impacts of methamphetamine use on San Franciscans.

In 2021, I declared a State of Emergency in the Tenderloin allowing the City to waive certain laws to quickly address the crisis of people dying of drug overdoses on the streets. Similar to the City's COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency, this action eliminated bureaucratic barriers, allowing the City to quickly respond to the conditions relating to the health and safety of the people in the Tenderloin. Unfortunately, the overdose problem had worsened, particularly over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the opioid crisis put the lives of San Franciscans in serious risk. Around this same time, I launched a new street team to stop drug overdoses and implement other overdose prevention measures, creating care and support for 700 people experiencing homelessness at high risk of overdose.

In addition to law enforcement efforts on our streets, I opened the first drug sobering center in San Francisco in 2022 named SoMa RISE Center, as part of our response to support residents with substance use dependency. The site created a safe indoor space for people who are intoxicated with opioids, methamphetamines, or other substances to come in off the streets, rest and stabilize, and get connected to care and services. SoMa RISE brings us closer to making a difference on our streets and improving the lives of San Franciscans struggling with addiction.

In 2023, I announced the creation of a multiagency initiative to address open-air drug markets made up of local, state, and federal public safety partners focused on a more coordinated enforcement and disruption of illegal activities. As part of this work, SFPD and other law enforcement agencies, focused their efforts in the Tenderloin and South of Market Area to seize deadly drugs such as fentanyl. This multi-agency initiative was part of my commitment to enforcing laws to make our streets safer for residents, small businesses, and workers, offering help to people in crisis, and holding people accountable for the harm they do to others. The collective initiative has focused on addressing drug markets in three key areas: public drug use, open drug sales, and fencing of stolen goods in drug market areas.

As a result of these combined efforts, in May 2024, it was announced that there was a seizure of nearly 700 pounds of fentanyl since the joint public safety partnership with SF leaders beginning in May 2023. This included over 6,200 citations for illegal activity, over 500 arrests, and over 115 stolen vehicles led by CHP. From May 2023 through April 2024, SFPD seized over 194 kilos of narcotics and made more than 3,000 arrests specifically related to drug activity. This critical work has made significant progress towards improving public safety and saving lives.

In general, how should the City handle people who are abusing drugs on City sidewalks?

My vision is a San Francisco focused on helping those on our streets by providing treatment to those who need it - including those who are unable to care for themselves or unable to access the help they need - while holding accountable those who break the law. We cannot continue to maintain a permissive environment where people continue to live on our streets, openly abuse drugs, and languish with untreated behavioral health issues.

Treatment and Recovery

Under my leadership, the City is offering the most advanced and broadest array of treatment and therapeutic options available. Substance use and mental health treatment and related behavioral health care services are accessible across the San Francisco Department of Public Health system of care. This includes care provided in Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital, 14 primary care clinics, approximately 55 mental health and substance use specialty clinics, shelters and navigation centers, supportive housing, City jails, and through street-based services.

In 2023, approximately 25,000 people accessed mental health and/or substance use treatment through the San Francisco Health Network and more than 4,600 people received substance use treatment and care through a specialty clinic. Approximately 5,000 people received medication treatment for opioid addiction, either buprenorphine or methadone (also known as medication assisted treatment).

The city's residential system of care consists of approximately 2,550 residential care and treatment beds including voluntary and locked residential treatment and recovery housing. Since 2020, San Francisco has opened 394 residential care and treatment beds to expand the system of care.

To treat addiction to cocaine, methamphetamine and other stimulants, San Francisco offers contingency management therapy – the most effective intervention for stimulant use disorder.

This spring, San Francisco launched a pilot program to provide people using fentanyl outdoors at night with immediate telehealth visits with a SFDPH doctor who can provide them with an on-the-spot buprenorphine prescription or referral to a methadone program. When available, people who state they are ready to start medication for opioid use disorder are sheltered and provided intensive stabilization services to support their recovery. In the first four weeks of the pilot, we recorded 173 telehealth visits and more than 55 individuals who started outpatient or residential medication treatment.

Moreover during my tenure, I have added more than seven new programs dedicated to recovery through abstinence. These services include transitional "step-down" housing services for people who have completed residential treatment and live in a supportive environment while attending outpatient treatment, as well as transitional housing and wrap-around clinical support for people who are justice-involved with substance use and/or mental health diagnoses. The City also offers transitional housing and long-term housing with sober living environments for those who are advancing in their recovery journey.

Accountability

In January 2024, under my direction, San Francisco became the first county in the state of California to implement an expanded definition of conservatorship, for involuntary care, to include those who are considered gravely disabled due to their substance use and those who cannot care for themselves. The City and County of SF has had more referrals for LPS conservatorships and more active temporary conservatorships compared to this time in 2023. San Francisco has increased the number of people petitioning for conservatorship by 70% in 2024, compared to the same time period in 2023.

Additionally, Proposition F, passed by voters on the March 2024 ballot, allows the City to require single adults with substance use disorder to participate in some form of treatment in order to continue receiving cash assistance from the City and County of San Francisco. With the passage of Prop F, the Human Services Agency will now undertake the task of implementing this new program in partnership with the Department of Public Health. The initiative is part of my commitment to prioritizing treatment, offering support to people with substance use disorder in crisis, and holding them accountable when they refuse help. Prop F strikes the right balance between compassion and accountability to ensure that substance use treatment is accepted more often than it is declined. About 1000 individuals may be impacted by Proposition F.

That said, our city's law enforcement officers have been and remain critical to the overall safety of San Francisco residents. I am proud to have appointed District Attorney Brooke Jenkins who is helping to restore accountability and reform to our streets, prosecuting drug dealers, and helping to drive down break-ins and retail theft, as well as violent crime.

Additionally, in May 2023, I launched the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center (DMACC), activating public safety resources across San Francisco to address the growing fentanyl crisis and deteriorating street conditions in areas with rampant drug dealing and use. DMACC has brought together agencies across local, state, and federal government to disrupt drug dealing, public drug use, and illegal fencing of stolen goods. In May of this year I announced that this effort has led to great success over the first year, with SFPD seizing over 200 kilos of drugs and making over 3,100 arrests. This effort has brought unprecedented levels of coordination to tackle the drug markets regardless of neighborhood.

Do you support the creation of safe consumption sites in San Francisco? If so, please detail how they should be run, including how the City should handle people abusing drugs in public, outside of those sites. If not, please explain a viable alternative to reducing overdoses and drug addiction.

While I have been a proponent of safe consumption sites, we need to take a different approach now that reflects the lethal introduction of fentanyl. 2023 has been San Francisco's most deadly year in history with 811 individuals who died of drug overdoses and many more who were revived (nonfatal overdoses).

Currently the most efficacious public health interventions we have available to us are medication assisted treatments such as naloxone, buprenorphine and methadone; and we will continue to offer those medications in addition to a broad array of non-medication based therapies such as abstinence-based programming and counseling services, which I have grown substantially since I became mayor. San Francisco is aggressive in its pursuit of the most cutting edge solutions to curb addiction but until the public health community can design modalities that can match the powerful and immediate impact of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, by quickly relieving addiction and getting people on the path to recovery more quickly, I cannot support safe consumption.

Should fentanyl dealing be penalized differently from dealing other drugs?

Last year, I authored a resolution with the support of my fellow mayors nationwide calling on urgent and increased federal enforcement and public health interventions to address the fentanyl crisis. This bi-partisan resolution calls on the Biden Administration to increase enforcement and prosecution of high-level fentanyl drug traffickers and dealers in communities throughout the country. Additionally, the resolution called on the Biden Administration to increase public communications that our neighborhoods and commercial areas must be drug-free and safe from any open-air drug markets, as well as supporting President Biden in efforts to have Congress permanently schedule all illicitly produced fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I.

At the state level, I am in support of Senate Bill 21 (Alexandra's Law) which would create the California Fentanyl Admonishment, a tool to help law enforcement in the prosecution of fentanyl trafficking and related deaths. This bill would provide justice to thousands of California families and deter those who deal deadly drugs like fentanyl, and focus enforcement efforts on repeat drug dealers. Fentanyl should be treated as the deadly weapon that it is.

As Mayor, what directives will you give SFPD and other departments to end fentanyl dealing and clean up drug-dealing hotspots? How will you ensure they do their jobs effectively?

Fentanyl and the drug markets that arose during the pandemic have taken over certain neighborhoods and the City has taken action to address this crisis and improve public safety in San Francisco, which includes working with partners at the local, state, and federal level to expand enforcement and accountability, and improved police staffing efforts and other support across our entire City. We launched a series of strategic initiatives targeting the city's most pressing public safety challenges.

Over the last few years, the City has launched a series of strategic initiatives targeting fentanyl dealing. These initiatives include:

Launched the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center to disrupt and shut down drug markets. This led to increasing arrests for the sale of drugs, but also for public drug use.
Passed a law to give SFPD access to live cameras to support investigations, including around drug dealing, retail theft, and violent crime.
Expanded auto burglary deterrence and enforcement, including the use of bait cars, plainclothes officers, and targeted patrols to disrupt auto break-ins.
Passed a law to address street vending and illegal fencing and expanded enforcement efforts. This work includes banning street vending in areas like UN Plaza and the Mission and requiring permits for vendors to sell lawfully on our streets.

I've prioritized working with and elevating leaders who are focused on delivering results on public safety in our communities. These are people who believe that cities must prioritize both accountability and opportunities for second chances and reform. This includes:

Appointed a new District Attorney Brooke Jenkins who was focused on prosecuting crimes and being a partner to SFPD and state and federal law enforcement to change the conditions in our neighborhoods.
Appointed District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey whose focus has been on public safety and addressing the city's drug crisis.
Worked with Governor Gavin Newsom to bring in the California Highway Patrol and the California National Guard to target the drug markets.
Worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring in the US Attorney's Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency to increase enforcement against street level drug dealing and trafficking in the city.

Mental Health

Some have argued that San Francisco should place people who are experiencing mental health crises on the streets into involuntary mental health holds at psychiatric facilities. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Please explain why or why not.

*Note – the answer below addresses the two following questions in this section.

It is not progressive, nor humane, to allow people to deteriorate on our streets. San Francisco offers a broad range of options and opportunities for people to commit to treatment, both voluntary and involuntary. This must include ensuring that those who are unable to voluntarily engage with our health and housing systems of care are connected and protected by aligning our conservatorship processes with the new qualifications in Senate Bill 43 (SB43), signed into law on October 11, 2023, by Governor Newsom. The previously outdated LPS (Lanterman-Petris-Short Act) conservatorship laws failed to include certain people who are at great risk of harm due to their inability to live safely in the community. By expanding the definition of grave disability to include those who live with severe substance use disorder and those who are unable to provide for their own personal safety or necessary medical care, SB43 offers a way to stabilize and provide compulsory wraparound care and treatment to individuals who are most at risk of fatal overdoses and who repeatedly harm themselves. More than 50% of San Francisco's unhoused residents self-reported having substance use challenges; untreated substance use disorder and mental illness has profound impacts on the health and safety of our community. The passage of SB 43 allows us to help and protect more of our loved ones and neighbors – people who are deteriorating in the community, unable to care for their basic needs or understand the risks that they face due to their severe substance use disorder, and may not have the capacity to act in ways to reduce that risk.

San Francisco was the first county in California to implement Senate Bill 43 (conservatorship). In October 2023, I issued an Executive Directive that established an Executive Steering Committee, co-chaired by SF Department of Public Health and SF Department of Disability and Aging Services (which houses CCSF's Public Conservator's Office) that includes other relevant City departments: SF Police Department, SF Sheriff's Office, SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, SF Fire Department, and SF Department of Emergency Management. The Executive Directive requires all participating departments with first responders and street outreach teams to develop a client priority list, comprised of individuals who are potentially eligible for LPS Conservatorship, which includes the highest utilizers of urgent/emergency services, and to act speedily to determine LPS eligibility and initiate proceedings where appropriate – these lists are then submitted and maintained in a single unified priority list by the Public Conservator's Office at the Department of Disability and Aging Services. SB 43 is already showing success. San Francisco began implementation on the day the bill took effect on January 1st, 2024. SB 43 is already showing success. The City and County of SF has had more referrals for LPS conservatorships and more active temporary conservatorships compared to this time in 2023. San Francisco has increased the number of people petitioning for conservatorship by 70% in 2024, compared to the same time period in 2023. Protective guardrails for conservatees have been written into the statute, which require the City and County to place those eligible for conservatorship into the least restrictive care environments that their health will allow for. As such, the most stable conservatees (about 40%) reside in non-locked settings, where they receive regular care and oversight. The remaining approximately 60% are in locked settings.

On October 1st, 2023, San Francisco added CARE Court to its voluntary treatment options, which is a state-mandated court process designed to get people with mental health and substance abuse disorders the support and care they need. CARE Court is intended to support community members who have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders. It is a voluntary process and is a less restrictive alternative to state hospitalization or LPS conservatorship. San Francisco currently has more than a dozen active cases filed and several active CARE Agreements. DPH has conducted more than 75 pre-filing consultations to government agencies and private individuals interested in making a filing. Notably, CARE Court is very narrow in scope and essentially voluntary. It is intended to be a less restrictive alternative to state hospitalization or LPS conservatorship. San Francisco is the only county implementing both SB43 and CARE Court already. We have a wide continuum of care both fit in and help in different ways. CARE Court is and always has been intended to be less restrictive than conservatorship and addresses only one specific class of mental health disorders.

I also endorsed Proposition 1 on the March 2024 ballot, which successfully passed and is a $6.8 billion state-wide measure that will fund the expansion and modernization of the State's mental health system and provide housing for those on our streets.

In December 2019, I put forward Mental Health SF, which was legislation to reform the City and County of SF's behavioral health system to improve the provision of mental health and substance use services for all San Francisco residents, with a focus on the most vulnerable individuals including those who are unhoused and unstably housed. Mental Health SF increases support and care for people who have mental health and or substance use disorders, and expands the City's mental health services and includes a central access location for behavioral health services. Mental Health SF includes four key components that have already begun implementation:

Office of Coordinated Care: Improves coordination of case management so that the City can better meet the needs of clients; supports people to enroll and maintain healthcare benefits.
Street Crisis Response Team: Responds quickly to people experiencing crises with a trauma-informed approach; provides follow-up and connects clients to services, such as treatment and housing.
Mental Health Service Center: Serves as a central hub for advanced behavioral health services and we have recently extended hours 7 days a week to access treatment and behavioral health referrals, including telemedicine, medication distribution, and innovative responses to fentanyl use.
Expansion of new beds and facilities: San Francisco has expanded its existing capacity by approximately 20% since 2020 to total nearly 2600 overnight treatment spaces or beds; this allows for expanded residential treatment and care services for short and long-term stays, and enhances timely care. Notable models of expanded beds:

In 2023, I directed the Department of Public Health (SFDPH) to launch BEST (Bridge and Engagement Services Neighborhoods Team), a neighborhood-based team of behavioral health clinicians and peer specialists that focus on the most disruptive individuals living on our streets. In just the first year, BEST made more than 1,100 direct connections to services, helping hundreds access mental health services, substance use treatment, medical care, and shelter.

If you agree with this view, please outline some guardrails and oversight the City must provide to prevent abuse.

*Note – the answer to the first question in the Mental Health section addresses this question.

If you disagree with this view, please outline your preferred alternative solution, possible drawbacks, and the oversight it might need.

*Note – the answer to the first question in the Mental Health section addresses this question.

Education

What reforms should be made to the way the Board of Education is elected or conducts business?

Given the many challenges facing public education across the state and nationally, effective governance of SF Public Schools is critical. Whether it relates to their fiduciary responsibility to enact a balanced budget or when tackling the opportunity gap, I believe in competent leadership that prioritizes students and their learning outcomes. With my appointees at the helm, the SF Board of Education has regained focus and steered the District to prioritize student learning and wellness post-pandemic. My appointees to the Board of Education instituted a nationally recognized governance framework and led an extensive community engagement process to develop goals aimed at improving student outcomes in math, literacy and college and career readiness.

Some parents prefer their children attend private religious schools, others prefer public magnet schools for specific skills (like the Ruth Asawa School for the Arts or Lowell), others prefer public or private charter schools with nontraditional curricula, and others prefer homeschooling. Should all of these educational options be available to students in San Francisco? Why or why not?

Yes. I believe that every child deserves a high-quality education, regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, or faith.

As Mayor, how will you support SFUSD in its efforts to achieve financial stability and sustainability, especially in regards to school closures?

San Francisco is a place for young people to unlock their greatest potential and is home to a world-class public education. I am a proud alum of San Francisco's public schools, having attended Rosa Parks Elementary, Benjamin Franklin Middle School, and Galileo High School. As a child, I walked with my friends to Rosa Parks Elementary and then to Ben Franklin Middle School. I rode Muni to Galileo High School and it is due to the amazing teachers who believed in me and supported my journey that I attended the University of California at Davis. (I also attended University of San Francisco, where I earned my masters.)

As Mayor, I have continued the City's strong commitment to fund public schools. Almost one-third of SFUSD's revenue comes from the Mayor's budget, which accounts for an unprecedented amount of local funding compared to any school district in California. In FY 23-24 alone, I committed a total of almost $120M to SFUSD across various revenue streams, including the PEEF, Student Success Fund, soda tax, graduations, and paraeducator stipends. Additionally, the City has spawned multiple partnerships with the District to strengthen enrollment and retention, and address issues around chronic absenteeism in SF public schools through policy and funding for programs through DCYF and other city departments. I have historically supported the augmentation of ERAF, such as Prop G in 2022, to appropriate excess ERAF to schools. The Student Success Fund will allocate up to $11 million this year and will grow to $60 million by 2026-2027 to go directly to schools and enhance grade level success and the social emotional well-being of SFUSD students.

Additionally, when previous approved parcel tax funds were being held due to ongoing litigation, I placed Proposition J on the ballot in 2020 to reaffirm the public and city's support for funding key SFUSD priorities including academic programs, increased educator and paraeducator salaries, professional development for staff, and other programming. I supported the historic pay increases won by UESF, and am committed to working with the school district and board of education to soften the impact of tough decisions around school closures and mergers. The District has to make important changes in order to address declining enrollment while remaining respectful to the diverse, engaged, and deeply rooted communities in San Francisco. The District must also develop educational solutions so as to not compound the opportunity gap for communities who are underserved and disenfranchised in San Francisco. I have built a strong working relationship with the school district and Superintendent, and intend to continue working with the Board of Education to ensure that the district is able to deliver on its outcomes and commitments to parents and students.

My administration has done all that is jurisdictionally possible to break down silos and foster collaboration across City departments and SFUSD, and make financial commitments to support teachers and students first.

Department of Early Childhood: In 2022, I, along with Supervisor Melgar, announced the creation of the Department of Early Childhood (DEC) to serve children under age six and their families. DEC implements the $180M that I invest in early childhood initiatives every year. San Francisco has been nationally recognized for these cutting edge strategies.
Bridge to Excellence Scholarship: In 2019, I launched the Bridge to Excellence Scholarship to inspire and encourage graduating seniors in San Francisco to pursue a four-year higher education and to give back to their community. In its sixth year, the City has awarded over $300,000 to students. Through this opportunity, I paved the way for 76 highly motivated, low-income, and first generation students to attend four-year colleges to jumpstart their future.
Graduations for All: Since 2021, my Administration has prioritized and sponsored all SFUSD high school graduations. To ensure every graduating high school senior has an equitable and memorable experience, the City invests $500,000/year so that almost 4,000 high school students every year can celebrate their milestone at Kezar Stadium and Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park.
Educator Housing & Support: In 2019, in efforts to address the statewide and national teachers shortage, I provided $10 million in teacher stipends to attract high-quality educators to teach at San Francisco's highest need schools and retain talent in SF public schools classrooms. To further support public educators in San Francisco, my Administration helped bring to fruition educator housing projects like Shirley Chisholm Village which prioritizes SFUSD educators and employees for the 135 affordable housing units for families and individuals.
Opportunities for All: In 2018, I launched Opportunities For All. The program provides paid internships to young people ages 13-24. Since it started, Opportunities For All has placed more than 10,000 youth in paid internships, providing them with paid professional opportunities where they can explore a wide variety of career interests.
Community Learning Hubs: Beginning in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I announced the transformation of facilities around the city into supervised community learning hubs to support distance learning for high need SFUSD students.

Did you support the recall of Board of Education members Collins, López, and Moliga? Please explain why you did or did not support the recall of each member.

I did support the recall of all three members because their priorities on the school board were often severely misplaced. They prioritized political agendas instead of focusing on school reopenings and delivering a quality education for all SFUSD students. Recalled school board members were also negligent of their fiduciary responsibilities. Under their leadership, the District was on the edge of a fiscal cliff. SFUSD's budget deficit doubled to over $125 million, the District risked state takeover, and the loss of local control was imminent. Students and staff at SFUSD bore the brunt of their ineffective leadership. SFUSD parents and San Francisco wanted change.

Should San Francisco…	Yes	No
Offer Algebra in 8th grade to students who want it?	X
Offer Algebra in 7th grade to students who want it?	X
Require schools to improve student performance, and fire teachers who consistently underperform?

If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:

N/A

Housing

Do you believe that San Francisco has a shortage of market-rate homes? Why or why not?

Yes. San Francisco has not done nearly enough to build housing over the past several decades. Jobs have grown significantly, and new housing construction has not kept pace. This means that we have to make up for years of lagging housing construction that has intensified our housing shortage. It is our responsibility as a city to continue to create new housing opportunities —market-rate, mixed income, and affordable. This is the only way to keep San Francisco true to its identity as a diverse, dynamic, and inclusive city.

Do you believe that housing prices are set by supply and demand constraints? Why or why not?

San Francisco's housing shortage has driven up housing costs. When we fail to build new opportunities for young people who grew up here, or for new workers who want to live here, we face increased demand for the limited stock of housing that exists. That's why starter homes in San Francisco cost over $1.4 million on average. By creating more homes, we prevent housing costs from rising even more.

Under State law, San Francisco must build over 82,000 new homes by 2031. Do you think this is a good goal?

The state mandate to allow for 82,000 new units is a lofty but necessary benchmark to move San Francisco forward towards more housing availability and affordability for more people. Rather than viewing this as a burden, City decision makers must embrace this as an opportunity to allow long-time residents to stay here, attract new residents, and create affordable options for artists, service workers, construction workers, teachers, and all the people that are the lifeblood of San Francisco.

Follow-up: Do you believe we're on track to achieve this goal?

No, we have a lot of work to do to make new projects more likely to proceed and reduce permitting processes. I am working with Planning and DBI to continue to improve our internal review processes, and we also need leadership from our City legislators to advance programs that will allow for more housing, like my density decontrol legislation, which is currently stalled at the Board of Supervisors. I will continue to push for reforms that will allow for more housing, including density decontrol and rezoning, process improvements, and new funding tools that will help unstick projects in our pipeline.

Follow-up: What will you do to meet the goal?

See above. I have also already done a great deal to help ease barriers to new housing, including reducing our housing fees, eliminating Planning approval processes, creating financing tools for infrastructure, passing two affordable housing bonds, allowing for commercial-to-residential housing production downtown, and moving forward large projects like Stonestown and Treasure Island, which will create over 10,000 units of housing alone once completed.

Should homeless shelters be exempt from CEQA, Discretionary Review, and Conditional Use permits?

Yes.

As Mayor, will you order the construction of thousands of new homeless shelters across the City, even if neighbors object?

Homeless shelters are necessary for our city, and we cannot let fear get in the way of creating safe places for our neighbors to sleep and be connected to services. I'm proud to have fought for and won approval of the Embarcadero Navigation Center in 2019 over intense opposition by neighbors at that time. We also must expand services that help people find a way out of homelessness. We must create shelters while also continuing to fund and construct affordable housing to create long-term solutions to our housing shortage.

Should subsidized affordable housing be exempt from CEQA, Discretionary Review, and Conditional Use permits?

Yes, and I have supported SB 35 and SB 423, which have streamlined affordable housing at the state level. Under SB 35, we have allowed over 3,000 units of affordable housing since 2017, with more on the way.

Should market-rate housing be exempt from CEQA, Discretionary Review, and Conditional Use permits?

Yes. Where a project complies with our local code requirements, it should be allowed to move forward without discretion and politicized decision making. That's why I passed local legislation to remove conditional use permits for new housing, and that's why I strongly supported SB 423, which will help mixed-income projects move forward without these unnecessary layers of review and discretion.

Market-rate housing is currently infeasible to build in San Francisco even though it's being built elsewhere, such as Seattle and Minneapolis. San Francisco's fees and requirements make building housing much more expensive here, including the requirement that 12-16% of homes must be sold to income-restricted households at below market rates. Do you support lowering this requirement to an economically viable percentage, even if that percentage is 0%?

To benefit from the state streamlining under SB 423, housing projects of 10 units or more must provide at least 10% of its units as affordable units. The recent reductions in the inclusionary requirements were a hard-fought compromise, but I would have supported reducing these rates further to bring us into alignment with state requirements and allow more projects to move forward.

Should San Francisco retain, loosen, or even abolish existing limits on height, density, and bulk for residential buildings? If so, where and how?

Yes, San Francisco needs to allow for more housing in areas of the city that have not allowed for housing in the past decades. That means adding new housing opportunities in locations on and near our major corridors everywhere in our city through our rezoning work, and it also means kick-starting housing on large sites across our city, like Stonestown. This will add housing in neighborhoods and along our transit lines, bringing new life and vitality to our city, and making housing more affordable for everyone.

San Francisco Planning requires that new street-facing windows comply with City-imposed design requirements². Supporters argue that this policy enhances 'neighborhood character' while critics argue that these policies raise the price of window replacements while lowering their thermal and noise insulation. As Mayor, you can direct the Planning Department to maintain or discard these requirements. What will you do?

I am actively working with the Planning Department to reevaluate our requirements and reduce unnecessary burdens to renovations and small projects. We have to be practical about our requirements, and basic home improvements should not be as complicated as they are.

In general, is it too hard, just right, or too easy to…	Too hard	Just right	Too easy
Expand your home (adding new stories, rooms, decks, etc)?	X
Renovate your home (update bathroom, kitchen, etc)?	X
Demolish your home and redevelop it into multifamily housing?	X
Redevelop things like parking lots and single-story commercial into multifamily housing?	X
Build subsidized housing?	X
Build market-rate housing?	X
Build homeless shelters (including navigation centers and "tiny homes")?	X

If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:

For demolitions, we should still protect tenant-occupied, rent controlled, and deed-restricted housing, but property owners should be able to demolish their own home to add more housing as long as they are not displacing any residents.

Small Business

Should all businesses be permitted by-right? If not, which business categories should require special government approval?

As Mayor I have put forward initiatives including the 2020 Save our Small Businesses measure (Prop H), which streamlined the permitting process for neighborhood storefront businesses and guaranteed a 30-day approval timeline for business permits, and the Small Business Recovery Act (SBRA), which has allowed many businesses to now be instantly approved "over the counter," without neighborhood notification requirements for most changes to storefront businesses, shaving months off of the permitting timeline. To date, Prop H and SBRA have helped over 5,000 small businesses receive their City permits within 30 days. Of the over 5,000 businesses aided through this process, a large percentage received their permits in just one day, whereas, before these measures were implemented, it could take up to a year, if not longer. This is effectively making many businesses, such as retail, by-right. My focus has been allowing entrepreneurs to focus on running their business and making a living, rather than navigating government bureaucracy.

In June 2023, I put forward legislation to simplify small business permitting to encourage economic growth and address commercial vacancies. The proposal principally permits a wider and more flexible variety of business types so they can open or expand into new ground floor spaces quickly. Under my leadership, City departments are working together to leverage the Permit Center to further improve the customer service experience for business owners by simplifying and modernizing the application process, such as the recent change to remove a requirement for costly architectural drawings for certain minor permits for small businesses. In March 2023, the Permit Center launched a pilot program to digitize the permit application and review process for some of the most common permits required by new businesses, reducing the need for business owners to submit applications and supporting materials in-person. And with my direction, the Office of Small Business and permitting agencies that require inspections prior to permit issuance are developing a simplified checklist that their staff will use during inspections. By identifying clear expectations that allow business owners to prepare their businesses for an inspection, the City aims to reduce the need for repeat inspections and increase the speed of opening a business.

Lowering costs, simplifying the process, and proactively supporting businesses will encourage growth and increase diversity among our business owners.

For businesses that require government approval or permits, what will you change about the process of new retail business formation in San Francisco?

Throughout my time as Mayor, my administration has made it easier and less costly to open and operate a small business in San Francisco. When I first came into office, it could take between nine months and a year (and in some cases even more) to get City permits to open a small business. I have implemented new policies, removed unnecessary bureaucracy, and passed legislation that has cut this time in half.

Due to policies and reforms my Administration has advanced over the last three years, small businesses in every corner of San Francisco have directly benefited. Below are examples of successful efforts.

First Year Free Program: Originally introduced in November 2021, I co-led an effort to launch "First Year Free'' an innovative, new citywide program that waived the following costs to make it easier for small businesses in San Francisco to operate – (1) first-year permit fees, (2) initial license fees, (3) initial business registration fees. The program applies to new ground floor commercial locations, and has $2 million in gross receipts. The program is not eligible for formula retail. Since I launched the First Year Free program in 2021, approximately 6,211 businesses have enrolled, of which 3,947 are completely new, and the remainder are existing businesses adding a new location. In total, the City has waived more than $2.58 million in fees since the program's inception, and I extended the program two additional times since it was launched in 2021.
Prop H / Save Our Small Businesses Ballot Measure (Nov. 2020): Approved by voters in the November 2020 election, Prop H made many improvements to the small business permitting process. The initiative shifted the approval action for many small business uses from a Conditional Use authorization granted by the Planning Commission at a public hearing to an over-the-counter administrative approval. The initiative also calls upon the City to streamline the review and approval processes for most small business permits to 30-days. In addition, the initiative eliminates neighborhood notification for most storefront land use changes and provides existing businesses with greater flexibility to adapt their operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting retail landscape. As of January 1, 2024, over 5,000 businesses have benefited from the program, which was implemented in January 2021. Today, nearly two thirds of businesses that are changing from one business type to another can receive their approval from the Planning Department within one day over the counter.
The Permit Center, opened in 2021 offers 23 distinct service areas through the Planning Department, Department of Building Inspection, Department of Public Health, Department of Public Works, among others. By centralizing services in one place, customers can move between permitting departments efficiently, resulting in a better experience and improved government function. Since the start of this year, the Permit Center has served an average of 191 customers per day and provides on average 531 services daily.
100 Small Business Planning Reforms Legislation: In December 2023, the Board of Supervisors approved my small business reforms that moved forward 100 changes to Planning Code to improve the small business permitting process and will result in filling commercial vacancies faster. This effort builds on the significant small business reforms the Mayor has advanced over the last three years, including Prop H and Small Business Recovery Act (each summarized above). In short, the core components of the legislation will ease restrictions across five main categories:
- Allow more business uses on the ground floor
- Lift restrictions on bars and restaurants
- Incorporate new liquor license for music venues
- Remove certain public notice requirements
- Enable priority processing for nighttime entertainment, bars, and restaurants

Some in the small business community have argued that San Francisco should increase the number of available ABC permits (also known as liquor licenses). Currently, some bars and restaurants buy licenses from each other³ because there aren't enough licenses available, which increases those establishments' operating costs and deprives others who don't participate in trading licenses of revenue opportunities. Others have argued against increasing the number of permits because they don't want more competition, or have already paid a lot of money for their liquor license. What do you think the City should do?

The solution to helping our existing small businesses is not to limit competition. San Francisco should be a city where anyone can come and open up a small business, even one that serves alcohol. We can find other and more innovative methods to ensure that all of our small businesses new and existing are supported.

For example, In May of this year, I introduced San Francisco's first "entertainment zone" downtown, which will allow restaurants and bars to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption during outdoor events and activities. The legislation establishes a framework for the designation of future entertainment zones, revises local open container laws to permit the operation of these zones, and designates Front Street, between California Street and Sacramento Street, as the City's first entertainment zone. To support activations in entertainment zones and throughout Downtown, I have also directed the Office of Economic and Workforce Development to launch the Downtown ENRG (Entertainment & Nightlife Revitalization Grant) Program, a program that will offer up to $50,000 to fund new economic revitalization projects to support new activities, events, and campaigns to attract patrons and increase downtown activity.

In December of last year, the Board of Supervisors approved my legislation to support small businesses by making 100 changes to the planning code to improve the small business permitting process and help small businesses operate more efficiently. Examples of this legislation include (1) lifting restrictions on restaurants and bars so that more businesses can be granted approval and established, (2) implementation of a new liquor license for music venues, (3) removing costly public notice requirements, and (4) enabling nightime entertainment, bars, and restaurants to benefit from priority processing at the Planning Department and Commission.

As San Francisco continues to recover from the global pandemic, it is important that we put forward creative solutions and build on successes. Since 2022, San Francisco has become the AI capital of the world, has welcomed the largest Venture Capital market in the world, seen over 700 new businesses a month in the last quarter of 2023, and is now experiencing a rebounding tourism industry. This growth must be met with policies that make it easier for businesses to operate and that includes increasing nightlife establishments and making it easier to operate.

Should San Francisco…	Yes	No
Reduce the time to obtain all permits to open a new business to no more than 3 months?	X
Reduce the cost of obtaining permits to open a new business?	X
Reduce the number of activities which must obtain permits, and expand the number of by-right activities?	X
Try to attract businesses of all sizes to the City?	X

If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:

N/A

Transit Infrastructure

Some have argued that the cost of fare enforcement exceeds the benefit. Others say not enforcing fare payment starves Muni and BART of revenue, lowers the quality of service, and makes the systems less safe. What is your position?

I spent most of my life riding the 31 Balboa, 5 Fulton and the 22 Fillmore. People in San Francisco should be able to get around our city safely, reliably and comfortably, regardless of whether they walk, bike, take Muni or drive. Since taking office, I have championed a transportation system that supports the city's economy, our workforce and our families.

During the pandemic, I saw Latino, Black and low-income residents in San Francisco disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 virus. It was critical, therefore, that the SFMTA maintained equitable service in the various stages of pandemic response and recovery. Through multiple efforts, the SFMTA prioritized equity in our decision-making processes as we restored and adjusted Muni service and made improvements to our streets to serve people who relied on transit the most. This included suspending fare increases through July 2022 to make transportation more accessible to low-income San Franciscans during the pandemic. Our Essential Trip Card program subsidizes taxi trips for seniors and people with disabilities. During my time in office, SFMTA provided Free Muni for all youth, 18 years and younger, regardless of household income level and residency. The program is a result of my Fiscal Year 2022 budget, which included $2 million to fund the program for 12 months. The change eliminated the requirement for families or households to submit an application with proof of age and self-certification of income. We have also continued Free Muni for Seniors, Free Muni for People with Disabilities, and Access Pass for people experiencing homelessness, and a Lifeline Pass for customers on a limited income. Plus, anyone going to the Chase Center for a game or event gets free Muni as part of their ticket. We've also made paying for your fare easier than ever; people can use Clipper, cash or a Muni Mobile app.

I feel confident that we are providing affordable Muni fares and a great service. We've seen a rise in fare evasion in recent years, which is why we're increasing the number of fare inspector staff on Muni. In addition to ensuring people pay their fare to ride transit, the fare inspectors also help educate people about fare programs, including discount passes, inform riders about supportive services for people who may be experiencing homelessness, and encourage safety and security on Muni. Plus, I know the feeling of paying for my own transit ticket and then watching other people break the rules - it doesn't feel fair, and it hurts people's trust of SFMTA. We expect people to follow the rules; and we need fare inspectors to help ensure people are informed, the system is working, and we can continue to provide great service.

As Mayor, will you direct SFMTA to build a citywide protected bike lane network? Why or why not? Please also explain how you will hold MTA accountable for this task.

Yes and I'm currently doing this. During my time as Mayor, I have built the majority (72%) of our 41 miles of protected bike lanes, 32 miles of Slow Streets, and seven miles of car-free streets, ranging from our South of Market protected bike network Downtown to JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park. My Administration boasts the highest rate of commuting to work by bicycle (3.4%) of any major city in the United States, and 10% of San Franciscans use a bike or other mobility device every day. Riding a bike, scooter, or skateboard can be a joyful and safe way to move around San Francisco. At just 49 square miles, biking or rolling can be the most efficient way to get to work, school, shopping, or meeting up with friends or family, especially with young children. Making this option more accessible means we need to create a connected network that feels safe, accessible, and comfortable for everyone to use. That network will include protected bike lanes, and it will also include Slow Streets and promenades, like JFK. Our safety efforts are bearing fruit. Bicycle injuries and fatality totals are down in recent years, particularly compared to other larger U.S. cities, decreased by 50% in the last four years. In 2023, bike fatalities were at a historic low.

As Mayor, will you direct SFMTA to install more automated red light cameras and automated speed enforcement cameras?

Yes. Our City has been fighting for speed safety cameras for years. I supported Assembly Bill 645 (Friedman), signed by Governor Newsom last year, that allows San Francisco to install speed safety cameras at no more than 33 locations for a 5-year pilot. I have directed the SFMTA to ensure we are the first City to install and operate the cameras in the State; and we are well on our way. I authored local legislation to expedite the deployment of the new speed safety cameras, which was approved unanimously at the Board of Supervisors in April. As we track the success of the program, I will work closely with the SFMTA and our State Delegation to find opportunities to expand the program beyond the current 33 locations and 5 year limit.

The SFMTA's Automated Enforcement Program uses additional automated cameras to enforce traffic laws, including automated cameras to ticket illegal red-light running and illegal right turns, and cameras on buses to enforce private vehicles stopped or parked in Muni's transit-only lanes and or transit stops. We've worked hard to make sure automated enforcement is thoughtful about privacy protections and we put up robust signs and warnings to ensure drivers are not caught off guard. Furthermore, by shifting to automated enforcement, our San Francisco Police Department can put their resources towards other pressing safety issues in the city.

Should Market Street remain off-limits to private vehicles and remain a bus/bike/taxi-only street? Why or why not?

Since 2020, I have made it clear that Market Street should be car-free. San Franciscans have waited a long time for this to become our reality and although some of the elements of the Market Street redesign will take time, I have put forward improvements such as extended Muni-only lanes, new two-way streets, and numerous much-needed safety improvements at intersections as clear examples of progress. Since removing private automobiles from Market Street, we have seen significant improvements in safety for people who walk and bike, as well as in Muni travel times and reliability. With this change on Market Street, we are proud to be part of a growing movement of cities around the world who are designing for a more sustainable, safer future for everyone on our streets.

I recognize that there are varying driving needs on or directly off Market Street. That is why I've asked my staff and departments to work directly with stakeholders on addressing their specific concerns around vehicle access - such as ensuring clear, comfortable and safe pick-up zones after a show at one of our many theaters, or ensuring visitors know exactly how to access a nearby garage. We're doing that work now, including working with Ride Hail companies on additional passenger zones and working with taxis on dispatching after late evening shows.

Should San Francisco prioritize buses over car traffic by creating more bus-only lanes and directing traffic enforcement officers to ticket drivers who ignore the restrictions?

Yes. As Mayor, I have prioritized transit as the most cost-effective and space-efficient way to move large numbers of people around our growing city. We are doing the work to make improvements to Muni now, while planning for the future. Over the past ten years, we have built over 100 miles of projects that make Muni more reliable and faster, including transit-only lanes to help Muni get out of traffic congestion. And our efforts are working: Muni ridership was up 25% in 2023 compared to 2022. People who used to drive are now choosing to take Muni because it is easy, affordable and reliable. Muni routes on Van Ness, 16th Street and Mission St have higher ridership now than before the pandemic. Travel time for these routes has been reduced by up to 30%. Muni remains the most heavily used system in the Bay Area — more than half of all Bay Area transit trips are on Muni. Through our proactive maintenance work and investments in new vehicles, we've reduced major subway delays by 76% since 2019 and short-term delays by 89%. Due to my leadership, San Francisco is creating a more reliable, faster, and more equitable transit system for all San Franciscans. More people who choose to take transit instead of drive means there will be more room for people who need to drive.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in San Francisco, more than all buildings combined. As mayor of a coastal city with many low-lying neighborhoods, I also have a responsibility to significantly reduce these emissions and achieve the goals of the City's Climate Action Plan.

As Mayor, how will you increase the frequency and reliability of buses and trains?

The SFMTA is faster and more reliable than it has been in decades. The SFMTA has made major improvements to Muni's speed and reliability in the last few years, and we will continue to build on our success to be a transit-first City. Ridership had increased 25% from 2023 to 2024, and was its highest since ridership plummeted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Muni carried nearly half of all transit trips in the Bay Area in 2023, more than the next eight largest transit operators combined. Increasing ridership reflects confidence in our public transit systems ability to deliver clean, safe, frequent transit service. Additionally, Muni service is more reliable than ever, with faster buses and fewer subway delays from improved maintenance strategies. Major subway delays have fallen 76% since 2019, and short delays are down 89%. 66% of Muni riders rate service as good or excellent, +9% increase from 2021.

Frequency and reliability have improved due to transit priority lanes. During the pandemic, SFMTA implemented more than 21 miles of new transit priority lanes, bringing San Francisco's transit-lane network to more than 75 miles.

1 California travel times are up to 11% faster
14 R Mission downtown travel times are up to 31% faster
38 Geary travel times are up to 20% faster
49 Van Ness/Mission travel times are up to 35% faster

Most Muni bus routes now use headway management rather than time point schedules. This means operators keep vehicles evenly spaced throughout the line, reducing wait times for passengers and keeping more vehicles in service at once. Demand curves have flattened since the pandemic, which allows operators to be scheduled with more time spent in service.

The most frequent buses are arriving on time 90% of the time, decreasing gaps and increasing reliability
100% of scheduled service was filled on the most frequent Muni routes,
Pinpointed service adjustments are addressing crowding on routes to schools during peak times. For example, the percentage of crowded trips on the 24 Divisadero at 7:00am went from 53% to 0% after recent service changes.

SFMTA mechanics have embraced preventative maintenance, using data to repair parts and vehicles before they ever break. This keeps the oldest buses looking like new, reducing delays and breakdowns. Once every quarter, subway service closes early for Fix It! Weeks, when maintenance staff complete hundreds of hours of additional maintenance work. Combined with the new Muni Metro fleet, these reforms have dramatically improved reliability:

Major subway delays fell 76% since 2019.
Short subway delays fell 89% since 2019
Across all vehicles, the average distance between mechanical failures is up 10% since 2022.

As Mayor, will you order SFMTA and DPW to install more pedestrian safety infrastructure, such as protective barriers, bollards, crosswalks, and lighting?

Yes. With our dense network of housing and streets and mild climate, San Francisco is one of the best walking and biking cities in the world. Yet our 49 square miles of 100+-year-old road infrastructure no longer fully meets our needs; these streets were built for another time, with a smaller population, and a world in which cars were prioritized over every other mode, creating congestion and unsafe streets. I have put safety at the center of all our street projects. Thanks to the changes we've made, San Francisco is now one of the safest large cities in the U.S. for pedestrians and bicyclists, with the lowest number of bicyclist fatalities per bicycle commuter and second lowest number of pedestrian fatalities per walking commuters, according to the League of American Bicyclists. Small, incremental changes over time will lead to much safer and comfortable streets. Below are examples of this work.

In 2019, I directed SFMTA to streamline street safety projects, which led to the creation of the Quick-Build Program, which uses low-cost reversible tools such as paint, signs, and posts to install street safety improvements faster and at lower costs. Since the program was formalized in 2019, the City has completed 28 corridor projects and at least 15 more are in the planning and design phase. Altogether, these projects account for over 70 miles of traffic safety improvements throughout San Francisco.
Speeding is the leading cause of serious and fatal crashes in San Francisco and a trend that is increasing across the United States. To make our streets safer, I directed SFMTA to streamline the installation of Speed Safety cameras, traffic calming elements, like speed humps and sidewalk bump-outs to slow traffic. I also advocated at the state level to ensure that San Francisco was the first City to lower our own speed limits after AB 43 went into effect in January 2022.
I directed SFMTA to pilot a No Turn on Red policy at over 50 signalized intersections in the Tenderloin. There was an 80% reduction in close calls (where a vehicle nearly hits a pedestrian), and a 70% reduction in vehicles blocking a crosswalk. SFMTA has since expanded the policy to downtown and the financial district over the next 18 months. Due to this success, I have directed the SFMTA to bring forward a No Turn on Red plan and policy to the SFMTA Board that prioritizes the treatment at the most dangerous intersections, plus intersections near schools, parks, and areas with high pedestrian volumes citywide.

Budget

San Francisco is facing a large budget deficit due to declining tax revenues from our struggling downtown, increasing payroll costs, and inflexible budget set-asides for special programs. What will your approach be to fix this?

Since becoming Mayor, I am proud to have delivered a balanced budget that maintains essential services for the City, while building on my top priorities and closing deficits. Consistently, my budgets have included investments in public safety, public health, economic recovery and small businesses, children, youth, and families, as well as housing and homelessness. The City's budgets have continued to strengthen coordination and efficiency of government, support our workforce, improve our transportation systems and infrastructure, and ensure that San Franciscans have clean and safe parks and cultural centers to enjoy.

The budgets that I have and will continue to put forward will continue to champion my priorities, provide hope to those that are in need, and build a stronger, more resilient San Francisco.

Do you think San Francisco spends too little, too much, or just enough on…	Too little	Just enough	Enough, but badly	Too much
Police and public safety
Street cleanliness
Homeless services
Affordable housing
Parks
Roads
Bus, bike, train, and other public transit infrastructure
Schools
Medical facilities
Drug prevention and treatment
Arts

If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:

I have opted not to check any boxes. Each of these program areas is worthy of more funding in the abstract. Part of my role as Mayor is to manage the trade-offs of each of these program areas relative to each other and the overall fiscal health and needs of the city.

Personal

Tell us a bit about yourself!

How long have you lived in San Francisco? What brought you here and what keeps you here?

I am a lifelong San Franciscan, born in the Western Addition and raised by my grandmother.

What do you love most about San Francisco?

What I love most about San Francisco is that we are a city that welcomes everyone to be whomever they want to be, without recrimination or judgment; we are a beacon of hope for so many, here and around the world. I'm working to keep it that way by pushing for abundant housing, transportation options of all types, safe public spaces, and thriving businesses of all sizes - guaranteeing that San Francisco can remain a welcoming place and a world class city.

What do you dislike the most about San Francisco?

I dislike the obstruction we often see in our politics and the default to a culture of "no." I've made it my mission as Mayor to break us of this habit and move us to a culture of "yes."

Tell us about your current involvement in the community (e.g., volunteer groups, neighborhood associations, civic and professional organizations, etc.)

As Mayor, I'm able to work with and on behalf of organizations in every neighborhood and community in the city, but the nature of my work does not allow me to be as directly involved in community groups as I may have been in the past.

Thank you

Thank you for giving us your time and answering our questionnaire. We look forward to reading your answers and considering your candidacy!

If you see any errors on this page, please let us know at contact@growsf.org.

London Breed

Table of Contents

Your Goals

Executive experience

The Issues

Public Safety

Drugs

Mental Health

Education

Housing

Small Business

Transit Infrastructure

Budget

Personal

Thank you

Get Informed

Get Involved

Helpful Links

London Breed

Table of Contents

Your Goals

Executive experience

The Issues

Public Safety

Drugs

Mental Health

Education

Housing

Small Business

Transit Infrastructure

Budget

Personal

Thank you

Footnotes