Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / San Francisco mayor says city ‘lost its way’ on progressive values

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San Francisco mayor says city ‘lost its way’ on progressive values · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: For years, San Francisco has been the poster child, particularly
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  Speaker 1: thanks to Republicans, President Trump in particular, on Democratic governance
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  Speaker 1: and big cities not working. High crime, homelessness, disorder. You
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  Speaker 1: ran two years ago to turn that around, and you are.
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  Speaker 1: There are statistics that we've seen. Homelessness is down 4%
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  Speaker 1: from 2024, violent crime. in 2025 fell 17%. What do
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  Speaker 1: you want other big city mayors, Democrats, to know about
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  Speaker 1: what you're doing here and why you think it's working?
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  Speaker 2: Dana, I've been clear. We lost our way as a city.
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  Speaker 2: We were focused on the wrong things. And today we're
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  Speaker 2: focused on common sense. We're focused on good governance. We're
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  Speaker 2: focused on delivering results for the people of San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: I said from day one, public safety was going to
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  Speaker 2: be my number one priority. The crisis on our streets,
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  Speaker 2: the mental health and drug crisis is another top priority
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  Speaker 2: of mine. And I want to get the basics of
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  Speaker 2: governance right. We have to be relentless in our focus
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  Speaker 2: on delivering for the people of San Francisco.
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  Speaker 1: So is it as simple as that, as focus and
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  Speaker 1: just changing your priorities? Or is it about how you're
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  Speaker 1: doing it? For example, when you just said we didn't
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  Speaker 1: focus on the right things, what do you mean?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we got so entrapped in our progressive values
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  Speaker 2: and talking about progressivism that we weren't taking stock of
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  Speaker 2: what was happening on our streets. We had 810 people
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  Speaker 2: die of overdose in San Francisco three years ago. There's
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  Speaker 2: nothing progressive about that. There's nothing progressive about 30,000 car break-ins.
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  Speaker 2: Everyone had to deal with whether or not their car
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  Speaker 2: was going to be broken into. That number, by the way,
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  Speaker 2: has dropped by 90%. And instead of talking about ideological
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  Speaker 2: issues and instead of talking about all the dysfunctions, We
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  Speaker 2: are focused. If you ask me a question, I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to focus on how do we keep that mother walking
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  Speaker 2: their child to the bus stop safe and also not
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  Speaker 2: seeing open air drug use? How are we going to
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  Speaker 2: make it easier for families to stay and afford to
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  Speaker 2: live in San Francisco? Because our families, our creative class,
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  Speaker 2: our artists make San Francisco the unique place it is.
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  Speaker 2: We haven't built housing in San Francisco yet. In 40 years,
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  Speaker 2: we've said no to new neighbors for decades now.
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  Speaker 1: When you say that your focus is on getting things
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  Speaker 1: done that you described and not progressivism, are those two
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  Speaker 1: in conflict?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think too often in this country, we think
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  Speaker 2: about left, middle, right, instead of focusing on what is
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  Speaker 2: going to deliver. What do the people of San Francisco
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  Speaker 2: want from their mayor? They want them focused on everyday
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  Speaker 2: issues like public safety. Is small business able to thrive
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  Speaker 2: in San Francisco? I mean, I can't tell you how
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  Speaker 2: many small business owners I've talked to that years ago
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  Speaker 2: would say that City Hall was an opponent to their
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  Speaker 2: being successful. And now we're cutting red tape, we're cutting
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  Speaker 2: permitting requirements so that small businesses can thrive. And I
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  Speaker 2: think we lost our way as a city. And it's
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  Speaker 2: why I ran. I could not explain to my two
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  Speaker 2: kids what they were seeing on the streets of San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: And now we have that sense of pride back in
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  Speaker 2: San Francisco. We have that sense of hope and optimism.
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  Speaker 2: If you ask anybody around the world what they think
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  Speaker 2: of San Francisco, they'll say, I love your city. I
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  Speaker 2: want to come visit. But they weren't saying that for
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  Speaker 2: a number of years. Now we're getting that spring in
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  Speaker 2: our step back. You know, we got this beautiful backdrop.
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  Speaker 2: We're the most beautiful city in the world. There is
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  Speaker 2: no question. And when we're at our best, we're the
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  Speaker 2: greatest city in the world. Our job at City Hall
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  Speaker 2: is to create the conditions for our families and for
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  Speaker 2: our creatives and for our small businesses to thrive. And
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  Speaker 2: that's what I'm focused on every single day.
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  Speaker 1: You use the word progressive, unsolicited. So I'm trying to
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  Speaker 1: understand that. when you say we were too focused on
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  Speaker 1: progressive ideals versus getting things done, how you define that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I believe in our progressive values here in San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: That means that we look out for one another, that
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  Speaker 2: we take care of our immigrant community, that we take
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  Speaker 2: care of our LGBTQ plus community. But we got to
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  Speaker 2: a point where we said, well, it's that person's right
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  Speaker 2: to be on the street using drugs, or it's that person,
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  Speaker 2: it's okay for someone to just go in and take
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  Speaker 2: what they want from a small business. In my mind,
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  Speaker 2: that's not progressive. There's nothing progressive about small businesses having
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  Speaker 2: to shutter because they're a victim of crime over and
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  Speaker 2: over again. There's nothing progressive, as I said before, about
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  Speaker 2: 810 people dying of overdose. I'm not going to walk
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  Speaker 2: by somebody on the street and not do anything anymore.
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  Speaker 2: We have to get that person off the street and
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  Speaker 2: we have to get them into recovery and into treatment.
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  Speaker 2: We stood up 600 treatment and recovery beds last year.
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  Speaker 2: And we still have work to do. But I'm proud
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  Speaker 2: of the progress we've made here in San Francisco.
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  Speaker 1: Homelessness is obviously one of the main things I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to talk to you about because when, again, when San
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  Speaker 1: Francisco had become Democrats not knowing how to govern, it
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  Speaker 1: was crime but also homelessness. How are you helping to
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  Speaker 1: get people off the street but do it in a
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  Speaker 1: way that that people are able to get real help?
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Well, first, let me say, we have a drug
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  Speaker 2: crisis on our streets. That's the main focus right now.
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  Speaker 2: We have set up voluntary treatment facilities, and we also
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  Speaker 2: need involuntary treatment facilities. We're working with the governor on that.
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  Speaker 2: I also want to be very clear that, and I've
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  Speaker 2: said this from the day I got into office, if
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  Speaker 2: you are expecting to come to San Francisco to deal drugs,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to arrest you and we're going to prosecute you.
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  Speaker 2: I'm out there every day saying, hey, can we get
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  Speaker 2: you off the street and into treatment, into shelter, into recovery?
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  Speaker 2: We've made progress. We have the lowest encampment numbers in
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  Speaker 2: 15 years.
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  Speaker 1: You are focusing a lot on trying to bring the
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  Speaker 1: cost of housing down here in San Francisco. The median
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  Speaker 1: sales price of a home is around $ 1. 6 million. That's,
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  Speaker 1: of course, very out of reach for most people.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. San Francisco has had an affordability crisis for decades.
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  Speaker 2: We've said no to new neighbors and housing for so long.
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  Speaker 2: It's why the day I got into office, we started
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  Speaker 2: working on a new zoning plan. We called it our
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  Speaker 2: family zoning plan to create more density and more opportunities
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  Speaker 2: to build affordable housing in San Francisco and market rate housing.
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  Speaker 2: That coupled with our reforms around permitting, shortening the time
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  Speaker 2: it takes to get your permit so you can get
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  Speaker 2: building more quickly is starting to yield results. We're absolutely,
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  Speaker 2: we're in a rental emergency in the city. It went
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  Speaker 2: up 25% year over year. That's not sustainable.
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  Speaker 1: So how do you turn that around?
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  Speaker 2: Our nurses, our firefighters, our teachers, our artists, they can't
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  Speaker 2: afford to stay in San Francisco. And if we lose that,
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  Speaker 2: those people, they give the city the soul. And, and
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  Speaker 2: so We're doing everything in our power to keep people
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  Speaker 2: in their homes today while building housing for tomorrow. It's
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  Speaker 2: going to take us time, but I'm proud of what
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  Speaker 2: we've been able to accomplish in the first 20 months.
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  Speaker 2: But we haven't built housing for going on 30, 40
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  Speaker 2: years now. We're getting started now, and we are going
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  Speaker 2: to build more housing because that's what everybody expects and
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  Speaker 2: that's what I demand.
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  Speaker 1: Is what you're talking about and what you're doing here translatable?
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  Speaker 1: two other big cities?
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  Speaker 2: I don't think anyone should take a mayor's advice who's
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  Speaker 2: only been in the job for 20 months. I think
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  Speaker 2: how we're managing is different, though. You and I were
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  Speaker 2: talking about Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Feinstein, and those are
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  Speaker 2: two models for me.
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  Speaker 1: Dianne Feinstein, who, of course, we all know is senator,
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  Speaker 1: but she was mayor.
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  Speaker 2: She would be out on the street. She bringing out
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  Speaker 2: department heads saying, hey, there's a problem here. Let's fix it,
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  Speaker 2: whether it was a pothole or a streetlight that was out.
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing that every single day. I feel like I
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  Speaker 2: cannot do this job from behind a desk. I have
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  Speaker 2: to be out walking the streets, getting close to the
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  Speaker 2: challenges that we face. I ask all of our department
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  Speaker 2: heads to do the same thing. Mayor Bloomberg and how
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  Speaker 2: he structured his office is similar to how we've set
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  Speaker 2: up ours because you need to execute And you need
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  Speaker 2: to deliver results for the people of San Francisco. And
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  Speaker 2: I think for far too long, we as a city
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  Speaker 2: were managing a decline as best as our former elected
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  Speaker 2: leaders could do. Today, we're managing for results. It's not
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  Speaker 2: about how much money you spend or how many meetings
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  Speaker 2: you have. It's whether or not families feel safe, whether
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  Speaker 2: or not they can afford to put down roots here
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  Speaker 2: in this city, whether or not we keep that soul intact.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just also thinking of what you're doing here and
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  Speaker 1: comparing it to what we're seeing on a national level.
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  Speaker 1: We're a month away from the midterms. And you have
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  Speaker 1: a lot of very, very blue areas, which San Francisco
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  Speaker 1: is one of them. And then you have other more
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  Speaker 1: swing states like Michigan, for example, where you are seeing
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  Speaker 1: the results of a leftward pull of the party, the
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  Speaker 1: candidate there. How do you see that dynamic on a
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  Speaker 1: national level I'm focused.
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  Speaker 2: On common sense and getting results. And I love watching
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  Speaker 2: your show. I take note of what's happening nationally. But
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  Speaker 2: if I start thinking about what's happening in states on
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  Speaker 2: the East Coast, that is not why I got elected.
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  Speaker 2: I got elected because... San Francisco had real challenges. And
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  Speaker 2: we are we've turned the ship around here.
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  Speaker 1: You talk about the clean and safe streets. You're very
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  Speaker 1: open about wanting more police officers. You're part of a
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  Speaker 1: party that is still trying to figure out how to
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  Speaker 1: navigate either through or out of six years ago, calling
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  Speaker 1: some people calling to defund the police. So can you
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  Speaker 1: just talk about that contrast?
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  Speaker 2: I think people want good government. They want to feel
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  Speaker 2: safe on their streets. They want to feel safe in
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  Speaker 2: their homes. And that requires a strong law enforcement presence.
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  Speaker 2: Ones that do their job. I want our police officers
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  Speaker 2: out walking the beat, getting to know their corner stores
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  Speaker 2: and their owners along commercial corridors. That's what I want.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm proud of SFPD. I'm proud of our first responders.
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  Speaker 2: People are feeling safer in the city by huge numbers.
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  Speaker 2: As you pointed out earlier last year, crime went down 30%.
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  Speaker 2: It's down another 20% this year. That's what people want
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  Speaker 2: from a mayor. And once again, I'm going to say,
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  Speaker 2: this is not a left or a right issue. Do
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  Speaker 2: people want to be here in San Francisco? Do they
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  Speaker 2: want to raise their families? Do we want people visiting
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  Speaker 2: from other places?
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  Speaker 1: This area is obviously known for a lot of things,
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  Speaker 1: but including the innovation in the tech industry. OpenAI, Anthropic
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  Speaker 1: were both founded here. OpenAI's founder, Sam Altman, I believe
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  Speaker 1: was on your transition team. Bill Gates said he's worried
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  Speaker 1: that AI could kill a billion people. Do you worry
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  Speaker 1: about the ramifications of the AI companies that are Many
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  Speaker 1: of them are in your backyard.
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  Speaker 2: Listen, when you hear Sam and Dario and Elon all
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  Speaker 2: say the same thing, of course we should all be anxious.
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  Speaker 2: I found that to be positive a couple of weeks
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  Speaker 2: ago that they were all on the same page. I
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  Speaker 2: believe that there should be regulations at the federal level
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  Speaker 2: and at the very least at the state level. I
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  Speaker 2: am proud that those companies are here in San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: We have always been the home of innovation and entrepreneurs,
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  Speaker 2: and we always will be. What I say to the
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  Speaker 2: leaders in this sector and throughout businesses, be involved in
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  Speaker 2: San Francisco. Be involved in our public schools. Support public transit.
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  Speaker 2: Help us build new, beautiful parks. We have a legacy
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  Speaker 2: of great companies here in San Francisco that have been
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  Speaker 2: part of the community, that have been part of our
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  Speaker 2: arts and our culture. And I am telling those leaders,
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  Speaker 2: We need you involved. And I've seen some baby steps,
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  Speaker 2: which are encouraging, but we need them to step up
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  Speaker 2: because I don't want this boom that we're experiencing to
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  Speaker 2: just benefit 5,000 or 10,000 tech workers in a few
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  Speaker 2: downtown offices. I want it to benefit 840,000 San Franciscans.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that is absolutely possible.
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  Speaker 1: What about data centers? Do you want data centers in
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  Speaker 1: and around here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think we're actually working with our board of supervisors,
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  Speaker 2: which is our city council, on how do we define
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  Speaker 2: that here. We have a handful of very small ones here,
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  Speaker 2: but we're going to work with our supervisors to define
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  Speaker 2: what comes next. And anything that comes to our city
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  Speaker 2: better have community first when they're thinking about coming here.
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  Speaker 1: Speaking of San Francisco, just a couple of questions about
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  Speaker 1: some famous San Franciscans who are thinking about running for president,
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  Speaker 1: like your governor. Gavin Newsom.
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  Speaker 2: Dana, you're just wanting me to talk about everything.
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  Speaker 1: Outside of San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no.
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  Speaker 1: He was just at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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  Speaker 2: I know.
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  Speaker 1: He is San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: I saw him a few hours before. I went to
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  Speaker 2: the top of Sutro Tower, which is our tallest tower here.
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  Speaker 1: And he wanted to one-up you?
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  Speaker 2: He did. I've heard it's more frightening to do the
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  Speaker 2: cables up to the.
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  Speaker 1: Better him than me.
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  Speaker 2: That's all I got to say. If you watch the
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  Speaker 2: video of me going up to Sutro Tower, you'll see
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  Speaker 2: that I don't do well with heights.
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  Speaker 1: I feel you.
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  Speaker 2: I was told by the governor that this is not
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  Speaker 2: a choice, that I have to go to the top
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  Speaker 2: of the bridge.
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  Speaker 1: Would he make a good president?
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  Speaker 2: Listen, Mayor Newsom, now Governor Newsom, is someone I've known
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  Speaker 2: for a very long time. His values are true to
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  Speaker 2: California's values, which is where we take care of our communities,
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  Speaker 2: our immigrants, our LGBTQ plus community. I do not. You
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  Speaker 2: do not want a mayor of San Francisco pontificating on
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  Speaker 2: a presidential election that is two years away. I have
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  Speaker 2: too much work to do right here.
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  Speaker 1: So if I asked about Vice President Harris, I'm guessing
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  Speaker 1: you would say the same thing.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. She was a district attorney here and known her
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  Speaker 2: for years.
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  Speaker 1: This is very San Francisco, I just want to say
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  Speaker 1: for the record. They're all San Franciscans.
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  Speaker 2: Right. But no one has approached me about anything. They
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  Speaker 2: haven't even announced if they're running or not. And you
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  Speaker 2: are trying to throw me off my game.
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  Speaker 1: No, I'm not.
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  Speaker 2: My game is San Francisco and I am true to
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  Speaker 2: the game here.