San Francisco politics moves to the right

 Politico:

San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell said Thursday that, if elected, he will ask California to send more armed National Guard troops into downtown to fight the city’s open-air drug markets.

The announcement, part of Farrell’s plan to address the fentanyl overdose crisis, is the latest example of how the Democrat and venture capitalist is trying to oust Mayor London Breed in November by outflanking her to the right.

Breed and Gov. Gavin Newsom, both Democrats, have used the National Guard and California Highway Patrol to help local police dismantle fentanyl rings, especially ahead of the city hosting the APEC summit last fall.

But Farrell wants to see more military personnel deployed for an indefinite period of time — though he didn’t specify how many or for how long. His rhetoric, especially his call for “more armed California National Guard,” is sure to strike a political nerve in San Francisco. The city has increasingly leaned into tough-on-crime policies despite its liberal reputation as voters grow frustrated over brazen retail theft, public drug use and sprawling homeless encampments.

Farrell, a former interim mayor and city supervisor, doesn’t see that shift or his aggressive policies in terms of ideology. Rather, he said, it’s a necessary response to soaring drug-related deaths, including at least 811 overdoses in 2023.

“I don’t believe that it’s progressive or compassionate to allow a record number of overdose deaths on our streets every single year,” Farrell said.

He said his approach was inspired, in part, by other blue locales taking aggressive steps in response to similar urban challenges, such as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul deploying the National Guard to fight crime on city subways.

His announcement is just another data point in what’s become a central theme of San Francisco’s mayoral contest: because Breed’s major opponents all share her moderate Democratic stripes, they’re engaging in games of one-upmanship by launching conservative-sounding plans to increase law enforcement and force people into addiction treatment.
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There appears to be a recognition of the failure of liberal policies in dealing with a deadly drug epidemic in San Francisco.  Before that epidemic, I always thought San Francisco was one of the most interesting cities in the US with several scenic vistas.  

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