The Weekly Digest (June 4, 2023)

Written By Bill Jackson

Happy Pride Month, Brionies! While discrimination and hate are alive and well in many parts of the world, in the US we can all be proud of how far we’ve come over the last 53 years towards forming a society of mutual tolerance and respect – or, to borrow a phrase, a “more perfect union.” Of course, the “mutual” part of the foregoing is no less important than the rest, so we can’t help but question the wisdom of awarding a Community Hero award to a drag-performance troupe that pole dances on crosses and hosts foxy Mary and hunky Jesus contests. 

What can we say? Go Giants.

Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:

City Hall

  • Tuesday, June 6 at 2pm: Regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors (agenda and call-in instructions here)

    • Item 11 – A motion by Supervisor Dean Preston directing the Budget and Legislative Analyst to conduct additional performance audits this year and next of SFPD’s management and use of overtime. One could certainly question why Supervisor Preston, who’s never shown the slightest interest in auditing the performance of the myriad “nonprofits” that receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the City to provide “harm reduction” and “housing first” services, is suddenly Mitch “the Blade” Daniels when it comes to the SFPD. But what we really want to know is: Who could possibly be responsible for consistently pushing legislation to defund, disarm, and debilitate the police, thereby causing a precipitous drop in the number of full-duty sworn officers and necessitating a reliance on exorbitant overtime expenditures just to meet baseline coverage standards? It truly is a mystery.

    • Item 13 – An ordinance proposed by Supervisor Asha Safai to cease accepting new permit applications for cannabis businesses in San Francisco. Basically, Supervisor Safai, having no discernable reason to run for mayor other than “it’s the next step in my career,” is wildly flailing about for (a) a wedge issue and (b) a constituency – and landed on (a) banning pot shops and (b) existing dispensary owners who want to restrict competition. 

Happenings around town

What we’re reading

  • After last month’s chaotic Board of Supervisors’ meeting at UN Plaza, it appears that Mayor London Breed has finally manifested the courage to order commonsense enforcement of public intoxication and drug trafficking laws in San Francisco. Apparently, all it took was a brick thrown from the audience and Supervisor Aaron Peskin suggesting lifting wholesale the immediate action plan that the Briones Society has long recommended to combat crime in the Tenderloin. These initial measures, along with the arrival of the National Guard and Highway Patrol last month, appear to be having an impact, according to Tenderloin residents. We’ve written extensively about compassionate, sensible, and effective crime reduction strategies, but when it comes to an issue as complex as the drug war, there’s always more to learn. On that note, we highly recommend this interview by Rep. Dan Crenshaw with John Walters, former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Bush White House.

  • The headline says it all: San Francisco Mayor Proposes Record Spending Despite $780M Deficit. We’ll have more to say about the City budget in the coming weeks, but to tide you over, here’s an excellent summary of how San Francisco’s annual process of formulating its two-year budget (yes, you read that right) goes down.    

  • Confused by recent attacks from the left on the integrity of the Supreme Court? National Review published two excellent articles this month explaining what’s going on and why.    

Quick hits

Palate cleanser (literally)

Bill Jackson
Previous

The Weekly Digest (June 11, 2023)
Next

The Weekly Digest (May 28, 2023)