The GrowSF Report: Arrest & prosecute fentanyl dealers
The GrowSF Report: Arrest & prosecute fentanyl dealers
PLUS: Despite population drop, SF is full of energy
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of January 30, 2023:
- GrowSF calls for arresting and prosecuting fentanyl dealers
- Supervisors’ priorities in 2023
- A conversation with DA Brooke Jenkins
- Man shoots gun in SF Synagogue
- Despite population drop, SF is full of energy
GrowSF calls for arresting and prosecuting fentanyl dealers
GrowSF believes that dealers of deadly fentanyl should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that illegal open-air drug dealing in the Tenderloin, Soma, and other neighborhoods should not be tolerated. We must enforce our laws against criminals who are flagrantly breaking them and killing people in the process. These dealers, who have killed more San Franciscans than COVID-19, should face appropriate consequences, including jail time.
The regular, law-abiding residents of San Francisco deserve safe streets free of crime. Children in the Tenderloin deserve to be able to walk to school without being accosted by drug dealers. Seniors in SOMA deserve to be able to walk to the grocery store without having to step over dirty needles and human waste. All San Franciscans deserve a city that enforces our laws.
Email the Supervisors and tell them you want fentanyl dealers to be arrested and face appropriate consequences!
Supervisors’ priorities in 2023
Despite having a “strong mayor” system, our Supervisors wield incredible power. So it’s important to know what they’re planning and prioritizing each year. The SF Examiner asked them this exact question. The responses from the five who responded are illuminating.
Supervisor Ronen will continue to push supervised consumption sites.
Supervisor Stefani will focus on police staffing and nonprofit accountability & oversight, both goals we applaud.
Supervisor Dorsey is also focused on police staffing, as well as San Francisco Recovers, a project to battle the opioid epidemic.
Supervisor Melgar is focused on implementing the housing element, which may have a large impact on her district. Supervisor Melgar’s also wants to improve service at the Department of Building Inspection.
Supervisor Safai is also interested in nonprofit accountability, and in battling the drug crises in San Francisco, primarily through the use of abstinence-based treatment.
We hope our Supervisors will come together to tackle the most pressing issues facing our city.
A conversation with DA Brooke Jenkins
By any measure, Brooke Jenkins, has a tough job. She is also uniquely qualified, with not just relevant professional experience, but also a background and history that gives her insight into the challenges SF is currently facing. As a Black, Latina woman, she is part of a community who has felt the disproportionate effects of violent policing, but she understands that the city has reached a state where, in her words: “Right now, honestly, we need more police.”
The vast majority of San Franciscans feel the same. DA Jenkins understands that solutions like defunding the police have mainly come from people outside of Black and brown communities, and what she (and the entire system around her) need to do is protect those same communities, both with more police and by demanding better from those same forces.
We think DA Jenkins is up to the task, and urge her to keep persevering in making San Francisco safer for all.
Read the full interview by Tim Miller at the Bulwark.
Man shoots gun in SF Synagogue
A perplexing - and scary - turn of events occurred earlier this week when a man with a gun walked into a synagogue and fired a round of blanks. Shortly after, the same man went to the Balboa Theater a few blocks away and brandished the handgun, alarming staff there.
Members of the synagogue are not certain that the encounter was explicitly anti-Semitic, and suggested that the man involved might have been mentally ill.
If you have any information into this event, please call SFPD at 415-575-4444.
Despite population drop, SF is full of energy
During the 12 months starting July 2021, SF lost 4,400 people or about 0.5% of its population. This is less than the 3.7% lost the year prior, but was still enough to bring the city to its lowest population level in a decade. This drop was in line with what happened in California as a whole, with the state losing people due to Covid and a decrease in migration preventing a recovery.
But there are signs that the tide is turning: famed startup accelerator Y-Combinator just inaugurated its latest class of 250 companies, with almost all of them working in-person in SF.
At the state-level, pro-growth candidates are winning and, more importantly, acting once elected. San Francisco also approved its housing element, meaning the city has committed to building more housing.
Good things are coming!
Your Action Plan
Now that you know what’s happening, help us shape what happens next:
Arrest and prosecute fentanyl dealers
Sign our petition to arrest and prosecute fentanyl dealers. Demand action!
Future of downtown
Learn about the ideas being explored to revitalize downtown.
Speakers:
Supervisor Matt Dorsey - District 6 Supervisor
Marisa Rodriguez - Executive Director, Union Square Alliance
Rodney Fong - CEO & President, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
WHERE
Coco Republic - 55 Stockton Street
WHEN
February 09, 2023 at 6:00pm - 7:30pm (doors 5:30pm)
Celebrate San Francisco
There’s a lot to love about our city. Here’s what makes it great:
TODAY: Giants fan fest
The SF Giants Fan Fest is back! Walk on the field, tour the clubhouse, and maybe even get a photo and autograph with a Giants VIP. Stop by Oracle Park today between 10am and 3pm. More info at Fun Cheap SF.
TODAY: Chinese new year parade & street fair
Catch the Chinese New Year street fair today and tomorrow! It’s located in Chinatown on Grant Ave from California to Broadway, plus Washington, Jackson and Pacific.
– Saturday, February 4, 2023 from 10 am to 4:30 pm
– Sunday, February 5, 2023 from 9 am to 5 pm
Then watch the Chinese New Year Parade today, Saturday, February 4, 2023 from 5:15 to 8 pm
The parade is free. Check out the route above to find a great spot to watch!
Asian Art Museum giving away Anna May Wong quarters
On this month’s Free First Sunday, bring the whole family to the museum for our Year of the Rabbit Family Fun Day activities and receive a complimentary, newly-minted Anna May Wong quarter!
Celebrated as an icon of international film and fashion and a trailblazer for Asian American representation, Wong is the first Chinese American to appear on a U.S. coin. Children ages 12 and under will also receive a Chinese/English coin album of the “America the Beautiful National Park Quarters” and California State Treasurer Fiona Ma will be on hand from 10:30 to 11:30 AM to sign autographs. The museum will be open from 10 AM to 5 PM.
Cisterns of SF
Ever wonder what those brick circles on some streets are? They're a vital part of our earthquake preparedness infrastructure! They're big water tanks built during the Michael O'Shaughnessy era after the 1906 earthquake and fire decimated the city. Firefighters can tap into these cisterns if the water mains have broken due to a quake. Read more about the brick circles at Bloomberg news.
Aladdin at the Orpheum
Aladdin is coming to the Orpheum theater this August. Get your tickets early, it’s sure to sell out!
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