Latest San Francisco mayoral debate begins with crime, public safety as main topic

Candidates for Mayor of San Francisco met Wednesday evening for the latest in a series of debates, once again without the incumbent in attendance, with crime and public safety at the top of the agenda.
Wednesday’s at the Julia Morgan Ballroom, co-hosted by CBS News Bay Area, KCBS All News radio and the San Francisco Examiner, was initially scheduled to include all five people in the mayoral race, but on Tuesday current San Francisco Mayor London Breed bowed out after initially saying she would be in attendance. 
Breed’s spokesman said the mayor has already participated in four debates and noted Breed does plan on attending another mayoral debate on Sept. 19.
The candidates who were there Wednesday night, former interim mayor Mark Farrell, non-profit executive Daniel Lurie, supervisor Aaron Peskin, and supervisor Ahsha Safaí, were asked at the outset how they would deter and lower property crime in San Francisco.
Lurie said public safety has been his number one priority since he began his candidacy and committed to fully funding the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco Sheriff’s Office along with recruiting police officers and 911 dispatchers. Safaí has also pledged to fully fund law enforcement, using money currently being paid for overtime salaries, and pointed to his proposed ballot initiative that would provide $25,000 toward student loan forgiveness as an incentive for police recruits. 
Both Lurie and Safaí criticized Breed for not fully funding police, with Safaí adding “It’s not theory for me like Daniel Lurie, this is something I’m on the ground doing every day.”
Regarding police staffing, Peskin said, “There are a lot of candidates on stage who talk tough, but in my experience … the tough talkers often don’t get the job done.” The progressive supervisor said he agreed with Safaí on loan forgiveness for new San Francisco workers, and said as president of the Board of Supervisors he has presided over a budget increase of over $100 million.
Farrell began his remarks with a rebuttal to Peskin’s citing of police statistics showing crime was higher during Farrell’s brief stint as mayor compared with the same period this year. “I find it hilarious that Supervisor Peskin is here lecturing me about public safety when he is the one on the Board of Supervisors, who also presided over the Board of Supervisors over the last few years, when we’ve seen a record decrease in police staffing, did not object when Mayor Breed defunded the police department three years ago,” said Farrell.
Farrell added he is proud to have the endorsement of most first-responder unions, pledged to give back the funding to the police department, and seek a new police chief who would inspire the rank-and-file and fight for more budget dollars.
Candidates Farrell, Lurie and Breed are polling high but don’t yet have the majority ranked-choice voting requires. 
CBS News Bay Area anchor and reporter Ryan Yamamoto, KCBS All News political reporter Doug Sovern, and San Francisco Examiner political reporter Adam Shanks served as the moderators for the event. 
Learn more about the main candidates in reporter Lauren Toms’ “Beyond the Ballot” series of profiles:
London Breed ∙ Mark Farrell ∙ Daniel Lurie ∙ Aaron Peskin ∙ Ahsha Safaí