San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie blamed the city’s progressive politics for fueling its homelessness, drug overdose and business exodus crises, admitting in a new interview that the city had “lost its way.”
Lurie, who has made restoring San Francisco’s battered public image a priority since taking office, told CNN’s Dana Bash that his administration is taking a more hard-nosed approach to crime while working to make the city friendlier to businesses.
But Bash pressed the mayor on why San Francisco needed a turnaround in the first place — prompting a blunt admission about the city’s far-left reputation.
“We lost our way as a city. We were focused on the wrong things and today we’re focused on common sense,” he said.
“I mean, we got so, entrapped in our progressive values and talking about progressivism that, we weren’t taking stock of what was happening on our streets,” he added.
San Francisco has drawn national scrutiny in recent years for controversial policies aimed at addressing its problems, including a proposal to give welfare recipients an extra $100 a week to stay sober and nonprofit groups handing out free tents to homeless people.
Lurie pointed to the deadly consequences of the city’s drug crisis and the toll of rampant property crime.
“We had 810 people die of overdose in San Francisco three years ago. There’s nothing progressive about that,” Lurie went on. “There’s nothing progressive about 30,000 car break ins. Everyone had to deal with whether or not their car was going to be broken into.”
The mayor said some progressives had become so entrenched in their ideology that they treated street drug use and shoplifting as acceptable behavior.
He said his administration is instead focused on making everyday life safer for residents, including parents walking their children to school.
“Instead of talking about ideological issues and instead of talking about like, all the dysfunction, we are focused — if you asked me a question, I’m focused on how do we keep that mother walking their child to the bus stop safe and also not seeing open air drug use,” Lurie said.
The mayor said his version of “good governance” includes cutting red tape for businesses, getting people into drug treatment and establishing involuntary treatment centers.
He has also backed increased investment in police, breaking with the “Defund the Police” movement that gained traction among progressives following George Floyd’s 2020 killing.
Lurie touted what he said was a 90% drop in car break-ins under his administration, arguing that a tougher approach to public safety is delivering results.
Still, the mayor acknowledged that the city has plenty of work left to do, particularly on addiction and recovery.
“We stood up 600 treatment and recovery beds last year, and we still have work to do,” he said. “But I’m proud of the progress we’ve made here in San Francisco.”
