Lee Heidhues 12.31.2022
San Francisco had the best and the worst for Progressives in 2022.
There are two events which hi-lite political life in The City.
Car Free JFK Promenade and The Great Walkway will stand out as the most Progressive accomplishment of the year. On November 8 the voters overwhelmingly cast their votes in favor of more car free spaces in The City.
The June 7 political lynching of Progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. With a nearly 9MM war chest funded by arch conservatives. Appealing to the most base law and order instincts of the voters. Chesa’s ouster is a permanent stain on the reputation of San Francisco.
Prior to the ouster of Chesa there was the February Recall of three Progressive members of the San Francisco School Board. This was the warm up act for the MAGA crowd which, emboldened by their School Board take down, successfully set their sites on the Progressive DA.
The political irony is the undisputable fact that many of the same individuals and organizations which supported Chesa’s Recall were firmly on the side of car free spaces.
On the other hand, a number of Progressives and like minded organizations either remained neutral or flat out opposed car free areas in San Francisco. Falling for the nonsense that somehow car free spaces discriminate against marginalized communities.
Where are we as San Francisco turns the clock to 2023?
The ouster of a Progressive DA has done nothing to mitigate the crime problem. Which presumes there was a problem during Chesa’s 30 month tenure. Since Chesa’s Mayoral picked successor Brooke Jenkins became DA crime has not abated. The only substantive change is that the too often shameful mainstream media, which was instrumental in Chesa’s ouster, is no longer beating the law and order drums to stir up the paranoid and fearful people.
On a more favorable side, the car free spaces at JFK Promenade, The Great Walkway and an abbreviated Slow Streets program appear to be a permanent fixture in San Francisco life.
Even though 2023 will not be an election year in San Francisco the close quarters political combat can be expected to continue non-stop.
Lee's Perspective 