SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – San Francisco Mayor London Breed is calling out the city’s board of supervisors, demanding they stop playing politics and spend the money need to keep the city safe.
“I’m fighting for this city,” she said. “No one’s gonna push me out of the city. I was born and raised in it. No one’s gonna stop me for standing up for what I believe in.”
Both energized and combative, Breed came to the Tenderloin Tuesday, demanding the board of supervisors set politics aside and fund her supplemental budget proposal of $27 million to fund police overtime through the end of the year. The mayor says San Francisco is short 541 cops, and its future depends on this proposal.
“If the board of supervisors doesn’t calendar or rejects this $27 million supplemental, then you think it’s challenging to get police officers in this community now. It will be virtually impossible. And you think that our city is unsafe. It will be terrible for the city and county of San Francisco,” she said.
Joined by the police chief, the district attorney and several supervisors, the mayor also demanded the board stop dragging its feet and allow a contract extension for Urban Alchemy that puts civilian ambassadors on the street
“We are creating peace so that some of the most vulnerable people in our city no longer have to suffer a wild west type of environment,” said Dr. Lena Miller, the CEO of Urban Alchemy. “We help people in crisis get connected to services and support and we intervene in somebody’s acting in a threatening way while kids are walking to school, disabled people, women and other vulnerable populations walks the street, outside their home.”
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In a statement, supervisor Connie Chan, who chairs the budget committee, said, “I believe the poor conditions of our streets is due to the mismanagement of our city government and its budget. While she says funding must be provided for first responders, she also says the city must bridge its budget deficit. At some point, we have to question how we are spending our money, and spending money we don’t have, for very little results.”
The mayor has also called for funding more prosecutors in the DA’s office to focus on open-air drug dealing and approval of a new contract that sees police getting a significant pay hike.
