“This funding represents an investment in the community and addressing the wealth and opportunity gaps created by years of biased policies and approaches.”
Between November 2019 and November 2020 there were: 42% more burglaries, 34% more cars being stolen, and 39% more arsons San Francisco. In the wake of the pandemic, people are fleeing to Florida to get away from cities like this.
These issues do not phase San Francisco’s Mayor, as a few days ago they declared they were going to move $3.75 million in funding from the police and give it to black businesses instead.
Not in the immediate sense, to get technical about it. But by awarding 17 different “community organizations'' this is done. They include "the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, and the Children’s Council of San Francisco."
In a story from the San Francisco Chronicle we learn what Mayor London Breed said in her announcement.
“Across this country, and in our city, we’ve seen how the Black community’s economic growth and prosperity has historically been disrupted and marginalized. We have invested our resources in a way that lifts up and supports African American small business owners, entrepreneurs, and the entire community.”
It’s part of a larger agenda called “The Dream Keeper Initiative,” announced by Breed back in February. The ultimate target for this effort is a $120 million shift in money overall. It’s by these piecewise budget measures over time that politicians plan to get there.
However also this week, California attorney general candidate Anne Marie Schubert chastised San Francisco’s defunding of their police.
“In San Francisco, you have a district attorney [...] who is letting violent criminals out with little oversight or consequences, criminals who go on to victimize again,” Schubert stated.
She went on to say tourists think it’s too dangerous to visit the city, in our current times. If San Francisco got rid of their homeless instead, it’d free up $16 million in funds to give to police and/or black communities.
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