You can always trust former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown to speak his mind, no matter who is offended.
So when he went after Democrats for ignoring the reality of decline in San Francisco, he didn’t pull any punches.
Well, maybe a few.
Brown wouldn’t say which politicians, in particular, were responsible for rampant homelessness, drug use, and crime.
You can always trust San Francisco mayor Willie Brown to speak his mind, no matter who is offended.
(He was succeeded as mayor by Gavin Newsom, of course.)
But he did talk about the problem of “idealism” in city government, where activists insist on turning San Francisco into their own idea of utopia, while they neglect basic public safety and sanitation.
To govern, he suggested, you might have to be “mean” to lawbreakers and to people who create public disorder.
And “newcomers” who arrive in California to live rent-free on the streets, in a world beyond the reach of the law, need to face some strong discouragement.
Brown wouldn’t say which politicians, in particular, were responsible for rampant homelessness, drug use, and crime in his interview with Bill O’Reilly.
Brown said that he was “focused on having all of us obey and mutually respect each other and obey the law and obey all the rules.”
What a novel concept.
It is a shame that only a retired politician and kingmaker has the courage to state the obvious.
But Democrats should listen to Brown — and to San Francisco voters, who have been rebelling against far-left rule for the last five years.
Brown said that he was “focused on having all of us obey and mutually respect each other and obey the law and obey all the rules.”
They put Daniel Lurie in office in 2024 — who, to his credit, has moved in the direction of reform, even if he isn’t all the way there yet.
All it takes is a little bit of hope to turn a city around — and Lurie seems to be providing at least that much.
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AI companies are expanding in the city, and the real estate market is hot in the Bay Area again, a sign of renewed confidence.
But there is a long way to go.
But Democrats should listen to Brown — and to San Francisco voters, who have been rebelling against far-left rule for the last five years.
Brown’s message needs to be amplified across his party — all the way to New York, where Zohran Mamdani is allowing people to die in homeless encampments that he won’t disperse.
And Brown’s warning needs to spread down to Los Angeles as well, where the Democratic Socialists of America are making a play for power in this year’s elections, both in the city council and the mayor’s office.
Democrats and Republicans can disagree on everything else, but we need to agree on basic rules of law and order and cleanliness.
Thanks to Willie Brown for saying it out loud.
