Rafael Mandelman
The well-documented San Francisco tech exodus continues to persist with no end in sight. To counteract this trend, how would you incentivize current San Francisco tech companies to stay or expand in the City, and how would you attract non-San Francisco tech companies to move to the City?
Tech companies will come to or expand in SF if their employees want to be here. One of the greatest causes of firms and talented people leaving San Francisco is the high cost of living and long commute times. As a Supervisor, I have tried to revise San Francisco’s zoning to allow construction of small and medium sized apartment buildings to address our housing shortage and proposed streamlining of those approvals to make those types of projects more attractive to potential developers. I have also championed increased investment in local and regional public transportation to increase frequency and reliability.
Name two concrete actions the City should take to ensure that San Francisco maintains its title as the world's tech capital.
San Francisco needs to clean up our streets and make our public spaces places where everyone feels safe and welcome. To get there, we need to provide compassionate exits from the street for unhoused people willing to take them, and we need to be willing to take responsibility for the care of people who may be so sick that they insist they do not need or want that care. I authored the ‘Place for All’ ordinance to move the City closer to providing “shelter for all” and to create the conditions in which we could actually end encampments consistently across San Francisco. I have also been the Board’s leading advocate for expanded use of conservatorship for people who cannot care for themselves and the addition of appropriate locked and unlocked treatment beds for San Franciscans with significant behavioral health issues.
Of the 25 largest cities in the U.S., San Francisco has the highest property crime rate in four of the most recent years. What policies or other approaches would you support to curb the City’s staggering property crime rate?
San Francisco has a police staffing shortage that is approaching crisis proportions. We are currently short approximately 500 officers, a number that could increase by hundreds more this year alone. We have to be willing to compensate officers with a package of wages and benefits that makes service in the San Francisco Police Department an attractive option; currently, we are competing for new recruits with other Bay Area jurisdictions where the pay may be better and the job may not be as hard. We also need to push the Department to civilianize positions that can be civilianized and otherwise to make the most of the staffing we have. I am hopeful that the selection of a new District Attorney will lead to a better relationship and more collaboration between the Police Department and the DA’s office.
With a significant portion of San Francisco’s budget relying on tax revenue from employees working downtown and healthy tourism and convention numbers, are you concerned about the City’s ability to balance future budgets? If so, how would you address this potential budget shortfall?
I am very concerned about this, which is why at a recent Board meeting I asked the City Controller and Treasurer to analyze the City’s current economic climate and likely impacts on the City’s tax base and budget and to make recommendations for the Board and Mayor to consider regarding changes to our business tax structure to encourage more economic activity and shore up our City budget. Insofar as our tax policies may be precluding some types of tech and other businesses from locating in San Francisco, we should consider modifying those tax policies.
What is one significant action you would take to address homelessness in the City?
No issue has occupied more of my time and attention over the last four years than our City’s homelessness crisis, and especially the mental health and addiction challenges experienced by many of our unhoused residents. I have strongly supported and will continue to fight for additional resources to end homelessness for as many people as we can. I will also continue to push for immediate exits from the street for any unsheltered person willing and able to accept an exit and for a more assertive response (through case management where possible, conservatorship where necessary) and appropriate placements for people who need higher levels of care.
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Kate Stoia
The well-documented San Francisco tech exodus continues to persist with no end in sight. To counteract this trend, how would you incentivize current San Francisco tech companies to stay or expand in the City, and how would you attract non-San Francisco tech companies to move to the City?
San Francisco needs to make itself into a place that people want to and can afford to live and work. Clean, safe streets, good schools, working public transit, energized small businesses and cultural organizations all draw people towards San Francisco. The city needs to focus on improving its performance on these basic metrics.
Name two concrete actions the City should take to ensure that San Francisco maintains its title as the world's tech capital.
(1) Move to "as of right" housing development to create an affordable city that welcomes young people; (2) create a culture of responsive city government that values tech workers and the brain trust they contribute to our city.
Of the 25 largest cities in the U.S., San Francisco has the highest property crime rate in four of the most recent years. What policies or other approaches would you support to curb the City’s staggering property crime rate?
San Francisco has become a city of extreme wealth and extreme poverty and has driven the middle class out. This all starts with housing. We need to allow the market to work and the supply to meet the demand for housing. We must also make it easier for people to start small businesses through streamlined permitting.
With a significant portion of San Francisco’s budget relying on tax revenue from employees working downtown and healthy tourism and convention numbers, are you concerned about the City’s ability to balance future budgets? If so, how would you address this potential budget shortfall?
People want to live and work here. But San Francisco's failed approach to housing/homelessness/drugs have made the city dirty and unsafe. Public transportation is the same -- and unreliable and slow to boot. City government should be in the business of making residents' lives better. Improve city services and business will roar back.
What is one significant action you would take to address homelessness in the City?
Move to "as of right" development and allow the supply of housing to meet the demand. Houston's example is informative.
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