Feeling down about San Francisco? London Breed disagrees

It's not easy for a sitting mayor to keep her job as the city endures a severe image crisis, but London Breed wants to convince voters that San Francisco is on the road to recovery.

In a forum for mayoral candidates hosted by The Standard, ABC7 News and tech journalist Kara Swisher, Breed acknowledged that many outsiders might think San Francisco has a “bad reputation” because of crime, homelessness and open-air drug dealing , but argued that we are working to address the most difficult problems.

“We need to do more work beyond that,” Breed said. “But we’re starting to see improvements and I’m excited to see what that means for the future.”

Breed said crime rates are at historic lows, but people may not feel the difference. She pointed to new technology tools for law enforcement officers to fight crime and said she has a plan to fully staff the San Francisco Police Department within two and a half years.

On homelessness, Breed said she has built more shelters and permanent supportive housing than any previous mayor, and the recent Supreme Court ruling allows her to be more aggressive in placing people in shelters. She has also worked with state and federal agencies to address the drug crisis on city streets.

When asked who she would name as a second choice in the city's ranked-choice voting, she demurred.

“It's hard to believe with most candidates that they're someone I would ever want to see as mayor of San Francisco,” Breed said. And she particularly targeted Daniel Lurie, the nonprofit founder and Levi's heir who has never worked in government.

“Would you get in? [Boeing] “737 with a pilot with no experience?” Breed said. “It’s dangerous to consider someone just because they have money and no experience.”

Breed also spoke about how to revitalize the struggling downtown and use San Francisco's huge budget to improve services, as well as her plan to root out suspected corruption in city-funded nonprofits, according to The investigative reporting Standard emerges.