San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s verbal sparring match with a city official over the role of police in fighting the drug crisis could signal a tone shift, according to one cautiously-optimistic activist.
“It sent a message, I think, to San Franciscans that the age of this kind of Democratic Socialist, radical politicking in San Francisco is coming to an end,” recovering addict-turned-activist Tom Wolf told Fox News.
Addict-turned-activist Tom Wolf shared pictures of the drug and homeless crisis in San Francisco. He was addicted to heroin in 2018, but now in recovery, he pushes back on progressive policies he says have driven San Francisco “into a ditch.” (Courtesy Tom Wolf)
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Breed recently committed to cracking down on open-air drug markets in San Francisco, and announced during a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday that police made 38 arrests in about one week. During a question and answer period, Supervisor Dean Preston criticized Breed’s approach as contradicting the city’s 2022 overdose prevention plan stating that “Black, Brown and indigenous communities nationwide” have been disproportionately impacted by racist drug policies.
Wolf was addicted to heroin and homeless in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district in 2018. He said his sixth arrest landed him in county jail long enough to get clean and reevaluate his life. Now he is a recovery advocate and has often criticized Breed and other government officials.
“Even though she was right [on Tuesday], a lot of what we see that’s happened in San Francisco happened on her watch. So she also has to bear some responsibility for that,” Wolf said.
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Tents line the sidewalk of a San Francisco street. (Jon Michael Raasch/Fox News Digital)
Far-left progressives and Socialists have controlled politics in Golden Gate City for years and “drove San Francisco into a ditch,” Wolf said.
“Our downtown has cratered,” he said, pointing out that the city’s most prominent mall recently opted to default on its loan and hand its property over to lenders. “They walked away because they had lost confidence that shoppers would return to this town.”
Wolf said the “jury’s still out” on whether Breed will follow through with a tough-love approach to the drug crisis, combining public health with accountability.
“If she can figure that out,” he said, “then we can maybe make some real progress in San Francisco.”
To hear more from Wolf, click here.