Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

2 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

2 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

2 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

2 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

3 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

3 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

3 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

3 days ago
San Francisco Mayor Wants Millions More for Cops, Seeks to Remake Downtown
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
February 10, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In her San Francisco state of the city address Thursday, Mayor London Breed pushed back against critics who said the city was dead or dying and pledged to beef up police staffing, crack down on drugs, offer tax breaks to new businesses and build more housing for essential workers like bus drivers.

Breed said her San Francisco is one of resilient dreamers and talented reinventors who go on despite challenges such as a rampant fentanyl crisis, shuttered businesses and learning loss among students. But San Francisco’s downtown, once bustling with office tech workers, is not returning to its pre-pandemic hustle, Breed said.

“And you know what? That’s ok,” she said. “Let’s keep some perspective. In 1907, downtown was mostly rubble and ash. That’s considerably worse than today’s shift in how people work.”

Last year, voters recalled three politically progressive members from the San Francisco Board of Education and ousted the district attorney, saying he sympathized too much with criminals. They voted in Brooke Jenkins, who shares Breed’s vision of improved relations with police, heavier law enforcement and consequences for people who commit crimes.

Like many other U.S. cities, San Francisco struggles to house its homeless residents, estimated at 7,800 in a city of about 835,000. Residents and businesses complain frequently over tent encampments, vandalism and street trash. And San Francisco, like the state, faces a budget shortfall.

Seeks $25 Million for Police

Nevertheless, Breed told a room filled with cheering supporters Thursday that she will seek an extra $25 million for overworked police, improve the city’s permitting process so small businesses can more easily open and grow, and remove barriers to building more housing. The mayor is looking to build 82,000 homes partly by rezoning for taller buildings and cutting red tape that makes it expensive to build in San Francisco. Critics have said the plan would result in too many luxury units and not enough homes for low- and middle-income households.

Breed also announced a plan to remake downtown San Francisco, in part through tax relief for businesses hardest hit by the pandemic, such as retail shops, restaurants, arts and entertainment venues. She also wants to offer tax breaks for up to three years to office businesses that open in the city.

San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, who is a frequent critic of the mayor’s policies, said she is putting corporate profits ahead of working people.

“Tax breaks for rich corporations, deregulation of luxury housing development, and a $25 million giveaway for the police department. That’s the mayor’s plan in a nutshell, and it’s nothing more than doubling down on failed strategies that don’t work,” he said in a statement.

She previously announced intentions to crack down on open-air drug dealing and drug use, especially in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, once in December 2021 and then in October. But there has been no change.

Breed is a native San Franciscan who grew up in public housing and is the first Black woman to be elected mayor. She was elected in 2018 following the sudden death of Ed Lee and she faces re-election next year.

“We are San Franciscans,” she said. “We’re not victims of circumstances. We are the captains of our own ship. We are the city that knows how.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Burns More Than 52,000 Acres in San Luis Obispo County

UP NEXT

Valadao, Costa Spar on What Passage of Trump’s Bill Means for Medicaid Recipients

UP NEXT

Over 100 Former Senior Officials Warn Against Planned Staff Cuts at US State Department

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Bill on Friday at 5 p.m., White House Says

UP NEXT

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

UP NEXT

Presidential Election Reveals Big Shift in California Voting Patterns. Will It Last?

UP NEXT

After Record Democratic Speech, House Republicans Begin Final Vote on Trump Tax-Cut Bill

UP NEXT

Jeffries Sets Record for Floor Speech Before Vote on Trump Tax Bill

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Will Focus on Fed Chair Replacement in Fall, Bessent Says

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

1 day ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

2 days ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

2 days ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

2 days ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 days ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

2 days ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

2 days ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

2 days ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

2 days ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Can you hear it — that loud roar coming from the East? It’s the sound of 1.4 billion Chinese laughing at us. Thomas L. Friedman The New Yo...

16 hours ago

Solar Farm in Riesel, Texas
16 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Caitlin Clark Signs T-Shirt
16 hours ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 day ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

The Madre Fire burning near New Cuyama has scorched 70,801 acres as of Friday, July 4, 2025, afternoon, making it California’s largest wildfire of the year, with only 10% containment and multiple evacuation zones in place. (CalFire)
1 day ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

2 days ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

A pumpjack operates at the Vermilion Energy site in Trigueres, France, June 14, 2024. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend