6 ms·

So, is SF dead like everyone is claiming or is that just a misconception? Sometimes I fantasize about running for mayor and saying: 1/ No tolerance for drugs a

So, is SF dead like everyone is claiming or is that just a misconception? Sometimes I fantasize about running for mayor and saying: 1/ No tolerance for drugs and crime 2/ Rehouse and rehabilitate the homeless 3/ Improve public schools But I wonder if saying that would get me canceled in 2023. Or if not those three what are the top of mind issues for SF residents?

encoderer 4y ago
Run on number one. That’s the mandate. A safe and clean city. It requires homeless solutions and better schools to achieve.
- uptownfunk 4y ago
  Funny how something so tablestakes and common sense can be the basis for a potentially successful political run
zdragnar 4y ago
#1 will almost certainly get you cancelled, but you can't even get #2 as mayor. The best you could hope for is to pull a Giuliani. Not all homeless need rehabilitation, not all homeless want housing. When they do, not all trust the government enough to make their lives better through these efforts. (I say this through the experience of friends who are social workers specializing in dealing with homelessness) If you really wanted to get rid of homelessness, you need: 1/ A massively expanded budget for running shelters, temporary and long term housing 2/ Compulsory institutionalization to get people who are addicted or mentally ill off of the wrong drugs and onto the right ones (along with the requisite therapy) as appropriate 3/ Eliminate all of the feel-good laws, policy changes and cash handouts that allow camping in public spaces which enable long-term homelessness. An actual goal of no vagrancy means pushing people into steps 1 and 2. Pitching a tent on a sidewalk or in a public park either gets you a fine or, if you can't pay, put into the system. 4/ A massive police presence in the short term to deal with the gangs and cartels - local and foreign - who have been making a killing running hard drugs into and through legal grey zones such as (though certainly not limited to) homeless encampments. Simple legalization of drugs won't be sufficient to stop this, though it may help. Unfortunately, that does also run counter to #1.
AJ007 4y ago
Public schools need state money and will get less of it, not more, with declining student population. The drugs and crime thing is a done deal, at least for the next generation or two. There were too many civil rights issues that artificially suppressed crime in the United States over the past 30+ years. Just look at stop and frisk in NYC -- that isn't happening again. Consider where we are now, all of the "bad" stuff you see in regards to crime, drug use, and homelessness has occurred during one of the longest economic expansions and lowest unemployment rates in US history. The blue collar labor market never was this tight. Maybe high unemployment and a terrible economy will reduce crime, drug use, and homelessness, but that would be a surprise to any prognosticators.
- whateveracct 4y ago
  > Just look at stop and frisk in NYC -- that isn't happening again. Are you suggesting that it's a shame stop and frisk was stopped? And that it was stopped for artificial reasons?
pengaru 4y ago
#2 is likely an effectively bottomless pit you can't afford to do, certainly not within the city. Homelessness is a problem across the country, and they'll just flock to the city once the word gets out that you're giving away housing in one of the greatest places to live in the continental US. States like FL and TX will even buy the one-way bus tickets.
- uptownfunk 4y ago
  Bus ‘em somewhere else where it’s easier to build something more affordable. Agree there needs to be a short term and long term solution.
  - pengaru 4y ago
    If it were so easy we wouldn't be talking about it.
istillwritecode 4y ago
No tolerance for drugs? So you're going to outlaw bars? Maybe you haven't heard but marijuana is legal, and not all drugs are the same.
- uptownfunk 4y ago
  Fair not all drugs, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana OK, really more for fentanyl, heroin, illegal prescriptions
karpierz 4y ago
That's basically the platform of every SF mayor. The issue is: 1) You gonna lock up everyone who jaywalks? 2) When someone who's homeless decides that they don't want to be forced into your rehabilitation program, are you gonna throw them in prison or force them into rehab? 3) How?
sagarm 4y ago
All three of these are (obviously) mainstream positions in SF. But actually fixing these issues and participating in the political process is harder than talking about it on HN. > that would get me canceled in 2023. Is this what the snowflakes call not getting elected now?
- uptownfunk 4y ago
  Well there are many other cities who’ve figured it out.. wake up SF! I love SF, but with the amount of tech money flowing through it’s very surprising to me that we have such a high degree of homelessness, filth, crime and poor quality of school.

encoderer 4y ago

Run on number one. That’s the mandate. A safe and clean city. It requires homeless solutions and better schools to achieve.

uptownfunk 4y ago
Funny how something so tablestakes and common sense can be the basis for a potentially successful political run

zdragnar 4y ago

#1 will almost certainly get you cancelled, but you can't even get #2 as mayor. The best you could hope for is to pull a Giuliani. Not all homeless need rehabilitation, not all homeless want housing. When they do, not all trust the government enough to make their lives better through these efforts. (I say this through the experience of friends who are social workers specializing in dealing with homelessness) If you really wanted to get rid of homelessness, you need: 1/ A massively expanded budget for running shelters, temporary and long term housing 2/ Compulsory institutionalization to get people who are addicted or mentally ill off of the wrong drugs and onto the right ones (along with the requisite therapy) as appropriate 3/ Eliminate all of the feel-good laws, policy changes and cash handouts that allow camping in public spaces which enable long-term homelessness. An actual goal of no vagrancy means pushing people into steps 1 and 2. Pitching a tent on a sidewalk or in a public park either gets you a fine or, if you can't pay, put into the system. 4/ A massive police presence in the short term to deal with the gangs and cartels - local and foreign - who have been making a killing running hard drugs into and through legal grey zones such as (though certainly not limited to) homeless encampments. Simple legalization of drugs won't be sufficient to stop this, though it may help. Unfortunately, that does also run counter to #1.

AJ007 4y ago

Public schools need state money and will get less of it, not more, with declining student population. The drugs and crime thing is a done deal, at least for the next generation or two. There were too many civil rights issues that artificially suppressed crime in the United States over the past 30+ years. Just look at stop and frisk in NYC -- that isn't happening again. Consider where we are now, all of the "bad" stuff you see in regards to crime, drug use, and homelessness has occurred during one of the longest economic expansions and lowest unemployment rates in US history. The blue collar labor market never was this tight. Maybe high unemployment and a terrible economy will reduce crime, drug use, and homelessness, but that would be a surprise to any prognosticators.

whateveracct 4y ago
> Just look at stop and frisk in NYC -- that isn't happening again. Are you suggesting that it's a shame stop and frisk was stopped? And that it was stopped for artificial reasons?

pengaru 4y ago

#2 is likely an effectively bottomless pit you can't afford to do, certainly not within the city. Homelessness is a problem across the country, and they'll just flock to the city once the word gets out that you're giving away housing in one of the greatest places to live in the continental US. States like FL and TX will even buy the one-way bus tickets.

uptownfunk 4y ago
Bus ‘em somewhere else where it’s easier to build something more affordable. Agree there needs to be a short term and long term solution.
- pengaru 4y ago
  If it were so easy we wouldn't be talking about it.

istillwritecode 4y ago

No tolerance for drugs? So you're going to outlaw bars? Maybe you haven't heard but marijuana is legal, and not all drugs are the same.

uptownfunk 4y ago
Fair not all drugs, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana OK, really more for fentanyl, heroin, illegal prescriptions

karpierz 4y ago

That's basically the platform of every SF mayor. The issue is: 1) You gonna lock up everyone who jaywalks? 2) When someone who's homeless decides that they don't want to be forced into your rehabilitation program, are you gonna throw them in prison or force them into rehab? 3) How?

sagarm 4y ago

All three of these are (obviously) mainstream positions in SF. But actually fixing these issues and participating in the political process is harder than talking about it on HN. > that would get me canceled in 2023. Is this what the snowflakes call not getting elected now?

uptownfunk 4y ago
Well there are many other cities who’ve figured it out.. wake up SF! I love SF, but with the amount of tech money flowing through it’s very surprising to me that we have such a high degree of homelessness, filth, crime and poor quality of school.