The Potemkin City

Marc Benioff (Chron photo)

In our day trip yesterday your humble blogger didn't see the urban decay that has characterized recent accounts of San Francisco.

Billionaire Salesforce founder and San Francisco native Marc Benioff hinted that the City had been cleaned up for the Dreamforce conference:

“When the city of San Francisco wants to look good and look shiny and safe, it can do it,” he told reporters at the event. “It looks great. It looks very safe right now.”

“Unfortunately, the city doesn’t always take itself as seriously as it does during Dreamforce,” he said. “If they can do it for Dreamforce, why can’t they do it every day?”

Benioff did not say whether Dreamforce will return to the city next year, after previously saying that the 40,000-person conference could move if it is affected by the city’s homelessness and drug-use issues...

Security was robust on Tuesday and Wednesday around Moscone Center, with police officers patrolling the area and event staff vigilant about confirming attendees’ badges and inspecting bags for electronics at security checkpoints on Howard Street.

It's disheartening that even San Francisco's biggest fans like Marc Benioff are skeptical about whether leaders can fix its problems. On the other hand it's encouraging that when the City "wants to look good and look shiny and safe" it still can. It's unclear how it will turn out, but I'm an optimist.