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Mayor Mark Farrell urges focus on homelessness and property crime during first appearance before Board
Summary
At his first Board of Supervisors address, Mayor Mark Farrell emphasized homelessness, mental health and property crime as priorities for his interim term and said he would double down on programs such as Homeward Bound and increase public-safety staffing and foot patrols.
Mayor Mark Farrell used his Feb. 13, 2017 appearance before the Board of Supervisors to lay out short-term priorities for his time as mayor, emphasizing homelessness, mental health and property crime while stressing collaboration with supervisors and city agencies.
Farrell, a former supervisor who was appointed mayor following the death of Ed Lee, said public safety and homelessness "are issues I focused on as supervisor and issues that I will focus on as mayor." He called for intensifying programs his office had piloted, including Homeward Bound, citing the program's record of reuniting people with family. "Roughly 70 to 80 percent of the people who took part in our Homeward Bound initiative have been reconnected with their families," Farrell said.
On property crime, Farrell said the city must do more to protect residents and businesses. "Car breakin' should not be the price to pay to live or work in San Francisco," he said, and noted he had asked Police Chief Bill Scott for a staffing analysis and for more foot patrols and a unit focused on property crimes. The mayor urged reforms to staffing constraints and criticized the 1971 police officer charter as out of date.
Farrell said his brief term provided an opportunity to "do what is needed and what is right" without having to campaign, and promised to work with the Board to pursue relief for people living on the street via prevention measures such as move-in assistance and increased investment in shelter and supportive-housing projects.
The mayor's remarks set a policy tone for his interim administration: prioritize rapid, evidence-based responses to homelessness and mental-health crises, and to strengthen city public-safety resources while coordinating across departments. "We can't pretend that the status quo is acceptable," he said.
Farrell thanked the Board for the opportunity and said he looked forward to collaborating with supervisors across districts on the city's short-term priorities.
