Mark Farrell, a venture capitalist who served as the interim mayor of San Francisco for six months in 2018, threw his hat into the ring Tuesday as the latest challenger to Mayor London Breed, who is up for reelection in November.
Farrell had been interim mayor when Breed was elected to finish Mayor Ed Lee’s term after he died unexpectedly in office. Farrell had not planned to return to politics but said he couldn’t stand by and watch the city crumble under Breed’s leadership.
“It is really painful to watch the city you love and you grew up in maligned across the globe,” he said.
Farrell, speaking with several local media outlets, said his plan of attack will be centered on the homelessness crisis, crime, and the economy.
“I have watched San Francisco crumble over the last five years since I left City Hall,” he said. “People don’t feel safe. The condition of our streets has never been worse. And our local economy has collapsed. And we’ve become the butt of jokes across the country.”
As mayor, Farrell said he would hire a new police chief, “aggressively” hire more police officers, and “clear all tent encampments” during his first year in office. He said he would also detain drug overdose victims who survive and exempt small businesses making less than $5 million from paying business taxes.
“[Breed] has completely failed us,” he added.
Farrell, who made his announcement to run at a baseball batting cage, said he would also add shelter beds rather than building more permanent housing for homeless people. He’d also require people who sleep in tents to move into shelters and, if they don’t, seize their tents and belongings. When it comes to drugs, he said anyone who had been given Narcan, the medicine administered to people who have overdosed, two times or more would be detained at San Francisco General Hospital on a mandatory 72-hour hold.
Farrell joins a competitive field of candidates all vying for Breed’s job, including Supervisor Ahsha Safai and Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to Levi Strauss, who has already outraised Breed.
“Polls show she is going to have a very difficult reelection,” Eric Jaye, a veteran Democratic political consultant, told the Associated Press of Breed’s chances. “Her challenge is that voters in San Francisco are in a pretty sour mood … and they want to hold someone responsible.”
Residents and businesses in San Francisco have complained that the city has not bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as others, and they continue to complain about the homelessness crisis, retail theft, vandalism, and open drug use.
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Breed, a centrist by San Francisco standards, has aligned herself with the Right and is backing measures on the March ballot that would expand the power of police officers as well as another that would require those on welfare be tested for drugs and, if they test positive, enter into treatment.
All of Breed’s challengers so far are Democrats, though Farrell is the most centrist.
