Goings-on in SF -- Week of May 22-28
Happy Monday, Republicans –
We are a little over 2 weeks away from June 7, election day, and to date only 38,000 ballots have been returned (~8% of ballots issued). This one’s going to come down to turnout. If you care about your city, just voting (here’s how) is not enough this time around – we need your help to get out the vote and ensure the voices of everyday San Franciscans are heard! On that note…
Stuff you should know
If you’re inclined to vote Yes on Proposition H (and recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin), sign up for a few volunteer shifts with the recall campaign here.
This past week saw the release of yet another poll (the fourth in recent months) showing Boudin underwater by at least 10+ percentage points. San Francisco apparently wants him gone, but that will only happen if enough people actually turn out to vote.
It was reported this week that Boudin only obtained three convictions for drug trafficking in all of 2021. DAs across California are (rightly) starting to pursue murder charges against fentanyl dealers, who knowingly prey upon vulnerable populations to get them hooked on perhaps the most lethal drug in America. Boudin hasn’t convicted a single person for selling that drug. According to him, Tenderloin residents “aren’t particularly upset that there are drug sales happening there.”
Speaking of GOTV, a couple of recap items from last week:
There’s still time to volunteer for some great local candidates in this election, including John Dennis for Congress (CD-11), Gus Mattammal for Congress (CD-15), Bill Shireman for State Assembly (AD-17), and Karsten Weide for State Assembly (AD-19). Contact the San Francisco Republican Party at volunteers@sfgop.org to learn how to get involved.
Interested in ensuring a free and fair election on June 7? The SFGOP’s Poll & Ballot Watch team could use your help! Contact volunteers@sfgop.org to learn more.
Also: check out the SFGOP voter guide here, and the CAGOP’s statewide endorsements here!
City Hall
Wednesday, May 25 at 1030am: Regularly scheduled meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here), and Wednesday, May 25 at 2pm: Regularly scheduled meeting of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (agenda and call-in instructions here)
We’re highlighting these two committees this week because, oops, it turns out our city’s two year budget surplus is going to be just a teensy bit lower than was projected a few months ago. By about $100 million. No biggie.
Why the downgrade? Because, to the shock and dismay of too many Democrats and Modern Monetary Theory enthusiasts, you in fact cannot spend like a drunken sailor under the assumption that the good times will last forever. In the real world, things happen – for example: (a) the Biden administration pumping trillions of dollars into an already overheated economy, causing massive inflation; (b) macroeconomic headwinds pummel the shaky basis of your city and state’s respective budgets, which are over-reliant on income, capital gains, and gross receipts taxes from an inherently volatile tech industry; or (c) your most productive businesses and earners leaving the state for more competently-run, reasonably regulated, and affordable locales.
In fact, the only reason San Francisco even has a surplus at the moment is because we received federal COVID stimulus last year. This was only a temporary reprieve however. The city’s long-term budget projections remain grimly in the red.
None of this news from the real world seems to have reached the la la land of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, of course, which continues to award tens of millions of dollars in city contracts to the “harm reduction” and “housing first” nonprofits that cynically perpetuate homelessness and drug addiction on our streets by politicking against alternative, pragmatic solutions to those crises.
Sounds hyperbolic? Take a look at Item 14 on the agenda for the Budget and Finance Committee, which increases the contract amount between the City and the Tenderloin Housing Clinic by $43 million. That’s the same Tenderloin Housing Clinic at the center of this expose. The City’s response to that bombshell investigation? You guessed it: Give us more money.
Other items of interest
Regards,
Jay Donde
Political Affairs Vice Chair
San Francisco Republican Party