{"id":26677,"date":"2023-05-24T12:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T19:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26677"},"modified":"2023-05-24T12:25:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T19:25:01","slug":"why-do-sf-progressives-defend-open-air-drug-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/05\/24\/why-do-sf-progressives-defend-open-air-drug-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY DO SF PROGRESSIVES DEFEND OPEN AIR DRUG MARKETS?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0May 22, 2023 (behondchron.org)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Ignoring the Public Safety Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many progressives are outraged by TogetherSF Action\u2019s \u201cThat\u2019s Fentalife!<\/a>\u201d advertising campaign targeting San Francisco\u2019s open air drug markets. Instead of blaming Mayor Breed for the crisis, progressives are denying that stopping sellers of deadly drugs should be a priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some elected progressives, like Board President Aaron Peskin, have called for crackdowns on drug markets. But Dean Preston and his backers in the media and public defender\u2019s office are irate to see public ads highlighting the scourge of fentanyl and open drug markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denying the Public Safety Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many progressives believe arresting drug dealers is a failed strategy. They view drug cartels selling deadly drugs as strictly a public health crisis, not an issue of public safety.  That Tenderloin families don\u2019t feel safe walking to and from their homes, and neighborhood small businesses can\u2019t attract customers unwilling to walk by dealers is not their concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city\u2019s massive overdoses is clearly a public health crisis. But when even Urban Alchemy feels it\u2019s not safe for its workers to patrol blocks controlled by the drug cartel, open drug markets are clearly a public safety issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tenderloin Business Coalition explained to Supervisor Preston that ambassadors cannot stop drug dealing. They described how businesses were being hurt by drug markets. Yet the D5 Supervisor continues to claim that a police response to drug markets is wrong. His stance conflicts with what is actually happening on the streets. It also ignores the nearly 200 Tenderloin businesses<\/a> that signed  petitions<\/a> calling for more police enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progressives used to champion small business. Now many oppose enforcement measures that small businesses need to survive. The city\u2019s left used to be strong allies<\/a> of the Tenderloin; now many ignore the community\u2019s public safety concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a very curious strategy for progressives eager to unseat Mayor Breed in 2024. Defend the mayor on the issue where she is most vulnerable and instead run a campaign denying that she has made the city less safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro-Police Agenda?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some criticize TogetherSF Action\u2019s budget proposal for including more police funding.  They also believe the city should continue to spend millions of dollars promoting drug addiction; that\u2019s an expenditure of city funds that the ad campaign has questioned. Critics also believe that drug users should be allowed to shoot up wherever they want without facing risk of arrest; TogetherSF Action\u2019s campaign challenges this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But putting aside whether low-income communities of color favor more police\u2014which recent mayoral elections in New York City, Oakland and Philadelphia say they do\u2014TogetherSF Action\u2019s overwhelming goal has always been to close open air drug markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s what the ad campaign is designed to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see Preston and others tweeting about how great things are going in Hayes Valley and other gentrified San Francisco neighborhoods. Don\u2019t San Francisco progressives oppose gentrification? Haven\u2019t progressives fought to protect working-class neighborhoods like the Tenderloin from displacement and gentrification?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new 100% affordable family housing project recently opened in the Tenderloin. And despite calls for more family housing in the neighborhood, the project can\u2019t attract tenants. Why? Because they fear living in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That should be a wake up call to all progressives that their top priorities like affordable housing are endangered by drug dealers. Progressives should realize by now that closing open air drug markets is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look forward to hearing the questions about drug markets raised to the mayor at the May 23 special Board meeting that Board President Peskin pushed to have in UN Plaza. You\u2019ll never see fewer dealers in the plaza as during the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s latest book is Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. He is the author of four prior books on activism, including The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. He is also the author of The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Randy Shaw\u00a0on\u00a0May 22, 2023 (behondchron.org) Ignoring the Public Safety Crisis Many progressives are outraged by TogetherSF Action\u2019s \u201cThat\u2019s Fentalife!\u201d advertising campaign targeting San Francisco\u2019s open air drug markets. Instead of blaming Mayor Breed for the crisis, progressives are denying that stopping sellers of deadly drugs should be a priority. Some… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[631,281],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26677"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26677"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26678,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26677\/revisions\/26678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}