San Francisco mayor claps back at leftist official over drug policies: Another white ‘savior’
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and a Board of Supervisors member got into a fiery exchange this week over the mayor’s recent commitment to using police to crack down on public drug activity as the city deals with skyrocketing overdose deaths.
Supervisor Dean Preston said Breed’s approach — which quickly yielded dozens of arrests — contradicts the city’s 2022 overdose prevention plan stating that “Black, brown and indigenous communities nationwide” have been disproportionately impacted by racist drug policies.
“Will you follow your own Department of Public Health advice and end punitive policies … or will you ramp up these strategies, ignoring the advice of public health experts and causing even more overdose deaths?” Preston, whose biography boasts that he’s the first Democratic Socialist elected to the board in more than 40 years, asked Breed.
“Here we go,” Breed responded. “Another white man who’s talking about Black and brown people as if you’re the savior of those people and you speak for them.”
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The heated exchange during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting came after Breed touted early results of the city’s attempt to crack down on open-air drug markets.
Over the last week, police arrested or cited 38 people as part of these efforts, Breed said. The mayor added that 12 suspects had other warrants, and only three of the people arrested identified as San Francisco residents.
Breed said everyone arrested was offered services and “zero have accepted.”
“We will offer people help,” she said. “But when they refuse, we won’t just let them put themselves and others in danger.”
Preston, who represents the city’s troubled Tenderloin district, pointed out that Breed had previously promised to open the city’s first “wellness hub” to prevent overdoses and offer other resources. He criticized Breed for closing the Tenderloin Center, which he called the city’s “only safe consumption site,” and asked her to commit to moving forward on plans for a Tenderloin wellness hub by the end of the month.
“It’s interesting that you say you want this in the Tenderloin,” Breed responded, adding that every constituent she has talked to in the Tenderloin is “adamant about opposing” more services.
“They want to see safety. They want to see police. They want to see a change in their neighborhood,” Breed said. “They don’t want any more services to continue to dominate their community and then provide an additional layer of problems that have continuously plagued the Tenderloin community.”
“So we’re speaking two different languages,” she added.
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When Preston had a chance to respond, he brought up racial equity and suggested Breed’s new police-heavy policies would cause “even more overdose deaths.”
Breed fired back, accusing Preston of acting like the “savior” of “Black and brown people.”
“I have a sister that I lost to a drug overdose in the city. I have friends and family members who have been lost in the Tenderloin with no aggressive action, no changes to policies,” she said. “Have you ever spent time talking to any of those same Black and brown people who are addicted to drugs on our streets in San Francisco to understand their challenges and what they need and what we need to do as a city to turn their lives around?”
Overdoses have surged in San Francisco, which saw 647 drug deaths last year and is on pace to surpass that figure again this year. A fifth of the deaths occurred in the Tenderloin, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Breed said the solution is “not just services, it’s also force.”
“At the end of the day, when we need to make arrests because someone’s breaking the law and needs to be held accountable and can potentially be forced into treatment services, I’m going to do so,” she said.
To hear Breed and Preston’s exchange, click here.
