Mayor’s Race

The View compiled responses to a series of questions from the most competitive candidates for Mayor.

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London Breed is San Francisco’s 45th mayor, elected in 2018. She previously served as District 5 Supervisor and Board president. “San Francisco is on the upswing, with every major category around crime, homelessness, addiction, and housing trending in the right direction.”

Mark Farrell was appointed San Francisco’s 44th mayor by the Board of Supervisors, an office he held for six months. Farrell served for seven years as District 2 Supervisor and is the City’s longest serving Budget Chair.“I believe I’m the only candidate in this race that has the right experience, right policies, and, most importantly, a track record of leadership inside and outside of City Hall. As Mayor, I cleared all large tent encampments, created a plan to hire 250 more police officers and aggressively fund academy classes, launched a first-in-the-nation specialized street medical team to address opioid addiction, and created more exits from homelessness.”

Daniel Lurie is founder of Tipping Point Community, a nonprofit organization that’s raised more than $500 million directed at alleviating poverty. “As CEO of Tipping Point, I held nonprofits accountable to deliver measurable results on housing, education and employment. I’m the only candidate to build affordable housing; and I did it at a fraction of the cost, and in a fraction of the time that it takes San Francisco. I’m the only candidate that’s helped house 40,000 people and helped keep thousands more from falling into homelessness.” 

Aaron Peskin is Board of Supervisor president, and has been District 3 Supervisor since 2015, previously serving for two terms. “I am from the Bay Area and love calling San Francisco home. My record in City Hall shows I stand up for small business owners, neighborhoods, and affordable housing. As voters decide who will lead our city, I ask that they look at my effective record.”

Ahsha Safaí has been District 2 Supervisor for seven years. He previously was a city planner and labor organizer. “I’m the candidate for mayor who is ready to make San Francisco work again for working families. I’m a proud immigrant who fled violence in Iran and came to this country when I was five years old. I was raised by a single mom, worked my way through college, and then became a math tutor for underserved students. I worked with Mayor Brown to stop youth violence and protect immigrant families from eviction, and with Mayor Newsom to connect formerly incarcerated people to good jobs.”

What’re San Francisco’s most pressing issues?

Breed: “Housing, public safety, drugs and street conditions, homelessness, and Downtown revitalization.”

Farrell: “Number one is public safety. I believe it influences everything else in San Francisco, and it’s the number one thing that City Hall has failed at over the past six years. Second, we have a homelessness and drug crisis that is out of control and urgently needs addressing. Lastly, our local economy, which has collapsed as major companies leave Downtown and local businesses are forced to shutter their doors, needs revitalization.”

Lurie: “My top three priorities if elected are public safety, mental health and drug crisis, and government reform. Public safety will be my number one priority every day…I will fully staff the police and sheriff’s department as well as 911 dispatch. We also need to make sure we’re not asking officers to be our social workers and mental health professionals; a reality which impacts morale and impacts the allure of joining the SFPD.”

Peskin: “Affordability and housing. We need to…ensure that we expand rent control options, build shelter beds, and expand complete neighborhood development in key areas. I’ve always been an advocate for more affordable housing and my track record in City Hall shows that.”

Safaí: “Public safety challenges, City Hall corruption, homelessness, and rising housing costs are jeopardizing San Francisco’s future as a great city. The question in this election is about whether, four years from now, working and middle-class families will still be able to live and thrive in this City. I’m running because I know that with new leadership, that answer can be a resounding yes.”

Homelessness

Preliminary 2024 Point-In-Time Count (PITC) data indicates that sheltered and unsheltered homelessness increased by 6.8 percent since 2022, from 7,754 to 8,323 individuals, near 2019 levels. However, unsheltered homelessness declined by 16 percent since 2019, from 5,180 to 4,355 individuals. The unsheltered homeless population has skyrocketed in District 10, nearly doubling from 566 in 2022 to 1,010 in 2024, in an area that includes Dogpatch and Potrero Hill. San Francisco has a total shelter capacity of 3,588 units and beds with a 93 percent occupancy rate. 

Breed plans to increase shelter and homeless housing capacity, continue “Housing for All” to add 82,000 units, support individuals new to homelessness through short-term financial assistance, utilize state funds to provide treatment beds while mandating conservatorship for those who resist treatment, expand the Homeward Bound program which sends homeless people back to their families, and remove encampments and tow RVs if shelter is refused.

Farrell proposes zero-tolerance for “dirty streets and unsafe street behavior” while working to address the issue’s underlying causes. He’d audit spending on homelessness, expand the Homeward Bound program, utilize a shelter-first approach, hire a new head of Public Works, restore the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (MONS), add more Big Belly trash cans and trash pick-ups, and clear large tent encampments. 

Lurie’s “Home Run Plan” would create 1,500 emergency short term beds within his first six months in office and 2,500 interim bridge units within two years. He’d work with neighborhoods to address local shelter needs to reduce encampments. Long term strategies include providing rent assistance, rapid re-housing, and tenant legal representation programs.

Peskin’s “Marshall Plan” would add at least 2,000 shelter beds. He wants to expand rent control, rent relief, and eviction protection.

Safaí’s five-point plan includes re-establishing the MONS, achieving 1,000 exits from homelessness to permanent housing a year, and funding at least 1,000 Homeward Bound trips annually. He’d reform PITC to gather regular homeless counts. No-camping orders would be enforced after providing enough shelters to do so, including erecting 600 “tiny-home” sleeping cabins, adding up to 10 safe parking sites, and immediately converting 1,000 hotel rooms to shelter while leasing 500 hotel rooms to families. Safaí wants to create a “Homeless to Housed” Fund and continue using the Homelessness Oversight Commission to audit programs.

Housing

Starting in 2023, San Francisco must meet a state-mandated order to build 82,000 residences by 2031 as part of the Regional Housing Needs Allocation or lose its ability to enforce local zoning. To meet this quota, San Francisco would need to construct 12,000 units a year; only 3,039 units were authorized in 2023, with just 831 approved so far this year. Of the 82,000 units, half must be affordable to low- or medium-income households. 

Breed favors adding to the $600 million 2019 and $300 million 2024 affordable housing bonds, rezoning near major commercial corridors, and streamlining approval processes. 

Farrell would revise zoning codes to allow for more development, streamline approvals, lower development fees, provide housing assistance to first responders and teachers, and incentivize converting commercial spaces into residences Downtown.

Lurie would reform the permitting process, monitor contracts above $1 million, register large nonprofit representatives as lobbyists, reform the Department of Building Inspection and prioritize “best-value” contracts, as outlined in his City Hall Accountability Plan.

Peskin believes it’s possible to be both “pro-neighborhood” and “pro-housing.” He supports Historic Districts Adaptive Reuse legislation to preserve historical elements, and wants to create 5,000 residences for teachers, nurses, firefighters and families. 

Safaí supports incentivizing office-to-residential conversions Downtown. He’d implement a 10-year transfer tax reduction, from six to three percent, for developers who meet a minimum of 12 percent affordable units, using solely union labor, and invest $25 million in union pension funds.