If you look at San Francisco today, you can’t help but ask, “What happened?”
What happened to the City That Knows How? What happened to the City That Everybody Loves? What happened to that shining City on the Hill that inspired so many dreams, memories, and good times for millions of people who have lived or visited here, made their lives and raised their families here, or traveled from the four corners of the world to experience a unique bit of civilized class in a beautiful setting?
Background and History
Since the gold rush days of the 1880s through the world wars, Korea, and Vietnam right up into the 1970s, San Francisco was a City/Town that was envied by all who visited as a place that encompassed a lifestyle unlike anything in the rest of the United States. It had all of the cosmopolitan charm of a European city, the mystic allure of the Far East, the roguish attitude of the Wild West, and a bustling business climate to rival that of cities 10 times its size. All of this in a magnificent setting with nearby institutions of higher learning.To the outsider, it could mistakenly have been viewed as parochial in the sense that it exuded tradition, hospitality, benevolence, and the good life all at once. Its population, though small compared to other cities, was imbued with a sense of civic pride that was readily noticeable and envied by outsiders. By and large, its City governance was ruled by those who came up through the local ranks with the ever-present goal of making the City even greater.
Most of the elected were locals and were judged on what they did to make San Francisco better for the people who lived here, and not the political party they belonged to. Self serving was loathed, regarded as bad taste, and readily attributed to “outsiders,” as many of the people who lived in the City came up the hard way and were not about to let some grifter destroy what they worked so hard to create.
This is not to say that it was crime or corruption free; what city is? But what of that did exist, was handled in a manner unique to the expectations and acceptance of all else that was going on in such a rare environment.
As we moved into the 1970s, the “me” culture in the United States was beginning to take root. Virtues like honesty, integrity, loyalty, and pride were waning in their meaning to a new generation of privileged who did not want to be burdened by such restrictions in their quest to have it all.
San Francisco, though small and compact, was steeped in the tradition of a harmonious conglomerate of people from all walks of life who were successful in creating an enviable environment. It was a population obsessed with local politics and the intrigue of which of its ruling clans would next rule the “roost.” The City, always noted for its appetite for the adventurous, unusual, and exciting, became a destination for those escaping the conformity, boredom, and predictability that exists in a larger metropolis.
Enter: San Francisco as a Business
In the early 1990s, San Francisco was invaded by a group of statewide politicians and political hacks the likes of whom never were able to gain a foothold in the local political scene. These were people who viewed the art of governance in a whole different fashion than the socially astute yet homebound San Franciscan.These were people who largely came from nondescript environs with nothing to lose and a lot to gain if they could become a “player” in the San Francisco scene. They were used to trading political favors in an anonymous atmosphere without paying regard to what “high school” or “parish” you were affiliated with as most San Franciscans did.
In brief, these were interlopers who smelled the chance to make their mark in a place that was small enough to infiltrate and had name, respect, and recognition throughout the country. They accomplished this by systematically involving themselves in the workings of the local Democratic Party, which so many San Franciscans identified with because of their ethnic, social, or immigrant status.
They set up a network of clubs, neighborhood groups, and idealistic volunteers all out to set the world on fire. While the natives were busy working and enjoying the good life, these exploiters got themselves elected by playing San Franciscans, with their intrinsic welcoming and benevolent spirit, for fools.
It was a town ready to be taken over by these people who were by no means interested in making San Francisco better, or even maintaining the status quo. They were only interested in getting themselves elected to office. They were successful in achieving something not attainable to them in a less open and tolerant environment. Here, in their newfound breeding ground, they could achieve power and wealth by monetizing city services, and they could establish a political base to export their protégé into higher office all throughout the United States.
Why San Francisco?
San Francisco is a blessed City because unlike other cities, it has always had, at least up until present times, a very positive cash flow. This is what first attracted the interlopers.The positive cash flow was due to a booming world-class downtown business sector and the taxes they paid; a real estate market that is among the most expensive in the country; what was a thriving tourist, convention, entertainment, and shopping Mecca; and a bevy of income-producing enterprise agencies like the airport, transportation, port, and public utilities, all run by the City.
San Francisco is a City and County in one. Unlike other jurisdictions that have a separate county administration, it is ruled by a mayor and a single Board of Supervisors representing 11 districts in this small municipality of only slightly more than 800,000 people. (God forbid that any one supervisor be given too much territory to represent, or he may want to challenge the ruling machine.)
San Francisco Today
Today, some 30 to 40 years after the “invasion,” the downtown business sector is over 37 percent vacant, and our once world-class shopping center is gone. The real estate market has deteriorated as people are moving out of the City. The tourist, convention, and entertainment industries are nonexistent due to crime and homelessness. Our City-run enterprise agencies are running at an all-time low.What happened? The attention to power, political advancement, and self-promotion won the fight over doing what was best for the City.
The apologetics for the political machine will tell you that it was just fate, that COVID hit, and that every city is experiencing the same, etc., etc.
No, none of these lame excuses is the answer. The answer is just plain simple, and the sooner we acknowledge it, the better we will be.
It is mismanagement by those in charge.
Those who are running the show today, and have been for the past four administrations, haven’t a clue or a care about public administration, fiduciary responsibility, or the role and mission of good government for the people they are supposed to represent. The only thing they know is how to propose and sell illusory programs that will help propel them to higher office, and how to improperly handle your tax dollars.
Tune Into Present Mayor’s Show
As mentioned earlier, it is now a City whose governmental operations are for sale, for sale to the highest bidder. All the bidder has to do is come up with enough cash to ensure that the candidates whom they back get the proper exposure; not rock the boat too much; and, if successfully elected, not forget who brought them to the party.There are millions and millions of dollars to be made in doing business with the government operations of the City and County of San Francisco, since we have been “enlightened” by our statewide interlopers. Proceeds of the political battles no longer go to the taxpayers footing the bill. Contracts, grants, bureaucracy, and the ever-unaccountable nonprofits (at last count 600 doing business in San Francisco) all are now part of the money trail that keeps the political ruling class in power in San Francisco. They run the show.
With control over the City’s one local news publication, they determine who gets elected, and more so, who gets to even play the game. Since today’s political campaigns largely depend upon perception and exposure, they have made the cost of conducting a campaign so ridiculously high that no person of average means could ever compete for office. Only the rich, or those backed by well-healed special interests within the Democratic Party, can compete. All the candidate has to do is play the game, pretend he is concerned about the less fortunate, and “talk the walk”!
Today we have a mayor’s race that will terminate in November. At least five candidates of any name recognition have signed up to run against what appears to be the bottom of the totem pole of the past powerful Willie Brown machine. Since the current mayor’s track record is pretty bad, this is viewed by many as an opportunity for change, but is it really?
I am a person who has always judged those in office by their deeds, not their words or demeanor. This group of candidates has no deeds to show, no track record of real achievement for the betterment of people of San Francisco, and as of yet, nothing of real substance to offer San Franciscans who are crying out for good, honest government.
We are told by the local gossip rag publication that this is a race between moderates and progressives. With the mayor and one or two of the challengers trying to position themselves now as reborn conservatives, all one has to do is look at what they have actually done, and one will realize that this is nothing more than a race between machine-backed liberals whose philosophy has led to the downfall of San Francisco and the remaining left candidates who now smell weakness in the political machine.
Yes, this race will be interesting, but for those of you who are hoping for real change back to a system where the residents are the beneficiaries, don’t hold your breath. As much as I like several of the candidates personally, at this point in time I have heard nothing from any of them that assures me that they have the guts to do what needs to be done to set San Francisco on the correct course, or even buck the expectations of the Democratic Party that they all belong to.
It’s a one-part monopoly, run by the same people who have destroyed today and stolen tomorrow. As a lifelong Independent, I will admit to a certain bias against a particular political party that has done so much to ruin San Francisco and the state we live in.
It is going to take some really bold and drastic measures to rejuvenate San Francisco. Without these, the City will never function as it should for the benefit of its residents.
Homelessness, crime, and corruption are the main culprits that are killing us. These are manmade problems that can be corrected by skillful, intelligent, compassionate, and effective leadership. But it will only happen if you, the average voter, want it to happen. It will only happen if you, the average voter, wake up to the fact that your city has been mismanaged by those whom you voted for. It will only happen when you, the average voter, are no longer willing to be “fooled” by the words the candidates are spinning.
It will only happen when you educate yourselves about the real issues, rise up, and demand that the right thing be done. You are paying the bill. You deserve better. Our City, thanks to its exploiters, is sick. The remedies to fix it are not tasteful, nor will they be acceptable or understood by all, but they need to be done.
The Tony Hall Blueprint for a Healthy San Francisco
1. Homelessness: The Inn Is Now Full
We are currently spending more money on our homelessness problem than any other jurisdiction in the world, and this is because we are dealing with homeless from all over the country who come here for the benefits, weather, and environment.By restricting our efforts to only those who are from San Francisco, we will have the money and resources to treat the root causes of their specific predicament in an intelligent and compassionate manner, in a way that will hopefully rehabilitate them.
Our existing shelter bed capacity of more than 3,200 beds can easily accommodate the homeless people (approximately 2,800) who are from San Francisco, so there will be a past residency requirement. Priority for shelter and services will go to families, the vulnerable, and those who have fallen on hard times first. The remaining shelter beds will be allocated to those who have signed up for substance abuse or mental health treatment programs. Those who refuse shelter and treatment for their specific problems will not be able to live on the streets and must move on from San Francisco.
Money that is presently allocated for substance abuse and mental health treatment facilities will actually be used to provide such services and facilities, and not administered through the unaccountable nonprofit network as is the case now.
As the City has only limited funds, all homeless from other parts of the country will be given 60 days to make arrangements to leave San Francisco, and depending upon means testing, they might be provided travel assistance to help them leave to return to their last place of permanent residence. This policy will resonate across the country in an effort to encourage other cities to provide for their own. This policy is not based on vagrancy laws but on the health and safety concerns of all San Franciscans, and that should prevail in court.
All nonprofit homeless industry service providers will be scrutinized for their effectiveness, “profitability,” and function before being selected by an advisory group of taxpaying San Franciscans.
Our streets and sidewalks must be cleared of all encroachments so that you, who pay for their maintenance with your taxes, will once again be able to use them without stepping over human bodies or circling around encampments.
2. Crime: A Zero-Tolerance Policy
Replace the police chief with an existing officer in the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) who understands the culture and idiosyncrasies of San Francisco and has the respect of the members of the department as well as the leadership ability to encourage fellow officers to premium performance.Immediately require that the SFPD be fully staffed and deployed in the most rapid, efficient, and effective manner to counter all types of crime in the City. Enforce all existing laws.
3. Corruption Be Gone
Any type of corruption within the civil service rank and file or municipal bureaucracy will not be tolerated, resulting in termination of employment and prosecution under applicable codes of civil and criminal procedure.4. City Services
Zero-based budgeting will be required for all department funding each fiscal year. As our budget will be greatly diminished next year, City agencies will be streamlined and reevaluated for only necessary personnel needs in order to provide basic City services.The “commission system” that has promulgated and exploded in recent years in an effort to make those in charge less accountable will be greatly reduced and/or eliminated.
All nonprofits currently contracted with the City will be reviewed for their “profitability,” effectiveness, and ability to deliver services, or be terminated.
5. Downtown Commerce and Small Business
Once the downtown sector is clean, safe, and accessible, business will return.All regulations and permitting processes relating to downtown corporate and small business enterprises throughout the City will be reviewed and streamlined to encourage their operation as opposed to exploiting and discouraging them as is now the case.
Our streets that have been blocked off to the customers who prefer automobile use will be reopened and repurposed in a manner that facilitates the efficient flow of traffic. Replace the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
On-street parking in the downtown area will once again be available with the usage of specific loading and unloading times relative to usage.
City-run garages will be reviewed for charges that encourage parking, as opposed to punitive fares.
6. Governance
All local government operations will be evaluated with the goal of determining how they serve the people of San Francisco.Use majority rule as opposed to minority rule in all matters that impact residents.
Explore and develop intelligent alternatives and opposition to ruinous “one-shoe-fits-all” statewide mandated programs such as the “Housing Element Mandate” that requires that 83,000 new homes be built in San Francisco and the latest “Daylighting” parking scheme that will destroy 14,000 residential parking places in the City.
Use the Office of Mayor to once again promote and support candidates for the following: members of the Board of Supervisors who have the welfare of the constituents they represent at heart, a district attorney who knows how to effectively prosecute crime to benefit public safety, and a City attorney who knows how to navigate the legal challenges that confront the City in the implementation of the abovementioned policies.
Seek to repeal our misnamed “sanctuary city” status, district elections, and ranked choice voting.
