Liberal San Francisco on brink of drug-testing welfare recipients: 'The pendulum is swinging'

San Francisco residents will soon vote on measures that would implement drug screenings for welfare recipients as well as expand police powers, and polling shows they're likely to pass in the famously progressive city.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that partly due to the explosion of drug use and crime in the city, locals will be voting next Tuesday on this "pair of law-and-order ballot measures," with recent polling showing that more than half of likely voters support both. 

Proposition F would require drug screening for people receiving public benefits and would force drug addicts to go into treatment if they want to continue receiving those benefits.

Proposition E would give law enforcement better surveillance tools and rein in oversight over the force. The outlet explained it "would loosen restrictions on car chases" and "ease reporting requirements in use-of-force cases and end a requirement that the Board of Supervisors approve the purchase of technology such as drones."

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San Francisco mayor London Breed has faced political heat over the city's drug crisis. (Getty Images)

According to a survey conducted by San Francisco’s Chamber of Commerce, 61% of voters support the ballot measures, while 72% believe the city is on the wrong track in general.

Crime and homelessness in the Bay Area have become a plague for residents, local business owners, and even visitors. Residents have relocated, beloved long-running businesses have shuttered, and people vacationing in the area have been mugged.  

Even big corporate franchises like Nordstrom and Macy’s have decided to pull stores from the area because of rampant theft, and their consumers being scared away by crime. 

San Francisco native Malcolm Weitz, who plans to vote "yes" on both propositions, told the Wall Street Journal the vote represents city voters rejecting progressive polices.

"The pendulum is swinging," he said, adding, "It’s coming hard-core back to the center."

Weitz’s own voting record is evidence of this swing back.  The resident, who runs a local cannabis store, voted for former progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2019, and then voted for his recall in 2022 after residents ripped him for soft-on-crime policies.

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed is seen during a news conference in San Francisco on Jan. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

San Francisco’s Democratic mayor, London Breed, has been widely criticized for policies that some say have contributed to the city’s state of lawlessness. However, the mayor, who is seeking re-election against several challengers, created these propositions, as her spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

The spokesperson noted, "It seems as though the public here has had enough, and is fed up and wants action on these issues." 

Breed's spokesman told Fox News Digital that these ballot measures are the latest efforts in the city's attempt to make "big strides in bringing crime under control." He added, "There are still some gaps in the system" that these propositions will fix, particularly when it comes to policing.

The outlet quoted Breed, who recently said, "People keep trying to make this about being liberal or conservative, but it’s really about being compassionate, with some tough love in the process."

She insisted she wasn’t supporting these ballot measures to bolster her campaign, adding, "I will not do this job in fear of losing it."

Proponents for both initiatives have raised $2.5 million in support of them, while opponents have raised around $234,000, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Despite Breed claiming she’s pushing the propositions for political gain, progressive San Francisco supervisor Aaron Peskin said the ballot measures "are all about performative mayoral re-election politics."

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