Two-and-One-Half Years Was Enough

Chesa waved at cars. The voters waved back. (Chron)

When Chesa Boudin was elected to the office of San Francisco District Attorney 2½ years ago, we half-jokingly asked if San Francisco was headed in the same direction as Caracas.

Since then his Progressive policies have failed so miserably in the eyes of San Francisco voters that they weren't willing to wait until November, 2023 but removed him from office in yesterday's recall election.

San Francisco voters overwhelmingly voted to remove District Attorney Chesa Boudin from office on Tuesday, favoring a recall effort that argued his progressive reforms were too lenient and made the city less safe.

Boudin trailed by about 20 percentage points Tuesday evening, according to the latest figures from city elections officials. Around 60% of San Franciscans who cast ballots voted to recall him...

Boudin was part of a wave of progressive prosecutors who took power in American cities, channelling the energy of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Boudin eliminated cash bail, which favors wealthier defendants; helped divert more defendants to treatment instead of trials; and pursued criminal prosecutions against nine police officers.

As expected, the Boudin campaign blamed Republicans. Even the San Francisco Chronicle was incredulous:

Boudin blamed the recall on conservative forces, pointing to the fundraising against him, but only 7% of voters register as Republican in San Francisco. Rather, he split Democrats in a city where many residents are frustrated with chronic problems, including high rates of burglary and drug overdoses.

Some of the recall team’s most vocal advocates were Democrats, who said they believed in Boudin’s overarching goals but said his leadership had created an office in disarray and a system that let offenders off without meaningful consequences.

Since the rest of us in the Bay Area had to accept Chesa Boudin's 2019 election, we tried to make the best of it by satisfying our curiosity about "anti-carceral" policies. Would devoting more funds to mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness reduce crime?

Each side tried to show statistics in their favor, but the public perception was that there was an explosion in lawlessness across the board.

As for your humble blogger, the 18-year-old Toyota Camry has become less reliable. I'm looking forward not having to drive it whenever we go into the City.