London Breed’s leadership has been criticized by a candidate who is seeking to unseat her. She claimed that the streets in the city had “never looked worse”, the economy was collapsing, and now San Francisco is the “butt of jokes” nationally.
Mark Farrell, former interim mayor of San Francisco spoke to the New York Times about his upcoming mayoral race against Breed. He described how the city fell apart under Breed. Farrell explained how he intends to bring the city back together by hiring more police officers and holding drug users and homeless people responsible.
Farrell who served as the mayor of the City for six months in 2018 expressed his regrets about the state the city is in under the current leadership. Breed who was elected mayor in 2019 will be up for election in 2024 due to a change in the city’s election schedule.
London Breed is the current mayor of London, and Mark Farrell is the interim mayor of San Francisco. Farrell told the New York Times he planned to run again as mayor because the city has become a “buttful” of jokes since Mayor London Breeds took office.
He said, “I’ve watched San Francisco fall into disarray over the last five years. Public safety is now more important than before. Our streets and local economy are in ruins. And we’ve become the joke of the nation.”
Farrell, a Democrat, announced his candidacy in office this week. Breed is not the only challenger, according to the Associated Press. There will be no primary. All the candidates running for the mayor’s position will be on the ballot in November, and the voters will vote according to their preference.
The Times reported on the “common sense” platform he will implement for the city. It is “a firm style which would increase police number massively, clear all homeless camp, detain any overdose survivors that survive and return cars to the city’s main thoroughfare.”
The Times reported that, if voters choose Farrell for the next election, “it would show that San Francisco has moved from a very leftist position to one that is much more centrist.”
Residents and business owners have been concerned by the recent crime wave that has affected the city and the Bay Area.
The article described Farrell as having the “most right-leaning platform” in San Francisco’s “narrow and very blue Political Spectrum.”
His personal experience of the crime wave that has swept the city inspired him to create his platform. A year ago, he woke up and found his dining room window broken. His laptop was also taken.
Farrell’s policy will include a proposal to increase police presence in the City.
Although the suspect wasn’t caught, he was brave enough to enter his home while he and his family were asleep.
Liz Farrell is Farrell’s spouse and was instrumental in the recalling of former far-left district attorney Chesa Bodin, a year earlier. She supports Farrell returning to political life because she has friends and neighbors who have been affected.
She told The Times: “You believe that this is the way life is and how you should live, but it’s not true.”
Farrell told the outlet what he’d do if elected. The Times said that Farrell “would fire Bill Scott, chief of police”. Farrell would not cut the budget of the Police Department and would work to add hundreds of officers to the Department.
