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San Francisco tech tycoons are pour ingmoney into the election campaigns of moderate lawmakers in a bid to make the city safer and more hospitable.
The Silicon Valley investors, executives and CEOs are trying to use their influence and money to sway public opinion by hosting fundraisers for local candidates and funding city ballot initiatives.
They successfully worked to oust San Francisco’s district attorney Chesa Boudin and three school board members back in 2022.
The tech leaders are now calling on residents to support moderate Democrats who are running for local elections this year. It is part of a move to make the city safer as well as a better place to raise families and run businesses.
Silicon Valley largely blames San Francisco’s crime, drug and homelessness problems on the current progressives in charge of the city for being too soft.
San Francisco tech tycoons are binding together to pour money into the election campaigns of moderate lawmakers in a bid to make the city safer and more hospitable
The tech leaders, including Garry Tan (pictured) are now calling on residents to support moderate Democrats who are running for local elections this year
Silicon Valley investors successfully worked to oust San Francisco’s district attorney Chesa Boudin (pictured) back in 2022
The goal of the tech industry is to elect less liberal candidates to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors as more than half are up for re-election in November.
It is in charge of the city’s budget and can block policies from Mayor London Breed who largely has the support of Silicon Valley.
Garry Tan, the CEO of startup incubator Y Combinator, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘San Francisco, to some extent, has gouged its own eyes out.’
Around 100 founders of startups gathered at his house to learn about the local politics in the area.
PowerPoint presentations were presented by tech-backed nonprofits with plans to fix issues like crime, homelessness and public education.
But Dean Preston, a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors who is up for re-election, believes the tech movement is one of self-interest.
‘I just see a cynical effort to control the city,’ he said. He believes the attempt to back new leaders and policies is an obvious attempt to ‘buy political power and reshape the rules for their own economic benefit’.
Preston believes he is being targeted because he backed higher taxes on expensive property sales during the pandemic.
Elon Musk previously accused Preston of ruining the city, after Preston claimed capitalism was to blame for San Francisco’s homelessness crisis and criticized moves to arrest people doing drugs in public.
Former San Francisco District Attorney Boudin was recalled by voters in June 2022 after he was accused of not doing enough to keep citizens safe, and introducing policies that allowed repeat offenders to commit crimes without fear of incarceration.
‘The right-wing billionaires outspent us three to one,’ Boudin said in a speech to supporters following news of the recall results, which saw more than 60 percent of San Franciscans fed-up with the city’s crime-ridden state vote to recall him.
He went on to assert that citizens had been ‘exploited’ by these groups, saying they ‘took advantage an environment in which people are appropriately upset.’
Silicon Valley largely blames San Francisco’s crime , drug and homelessness problems on the current progressives in charge of the city for being too soft
In February 2022, tech investors, executives and CEOs worked to remove three San Francisco school board members, including Alison Collins (pictured) in an election where 70 percent of parents in the liberal city voted
Dean Preston, a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors who is up for re-election, believes the tech movement to oust him is one of self-interest
In February 2022, they worked to remove three San Francisco school board members in an election where 70 percent of parents in the liberal city voted.
School board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins were ousted.
The effort was well-funded by some of Silicon Valley’s billionaires and millionaires, led by early Apple investor Arthur Rock, who poured more than $500,000 of his billion-dollar fortune into the recall. PayPal CEO David Sacks – who has three children and opposes mask mandates and school closures – donated $75,000, and venture capitalist Garry Tan donated $26,000.
Among parents’ main frustrations were that the school board failed to address reopening schools during the pandemic, and instead focused their efforts on renaming 44 schools because they claimed they were named after ‘problematic’ Americans.
Collins was further blasted for branding Asian parents who wanted their children to do well as ‘white supremacists.’
Tech workers left in droves following the pandemic and crime including theft, hate crime and break-ins rapidly increased.
Companies including Whole Foods, Banana Republic and Nordstrom decided to close their flagship stores and move out.
Silicon Valley investors have ‘now been here for 10 to 15 years,’ Tony Winnicker, who worked for two former San Francisco mayors,’ said.
‘They’ve put down roots here and they’re like, “What the hell happened to my city?” They’re angry.’
Tan first became involved in local politics in 2022 due to frustrations over the school curriculum.
‘Being able to study algebra in middle school allowed me to be a computer engineer,’ he said.
‘Tech gave me everything I have and I desperately want people from any background to be able to access that.’
Last month, he vented his frustration with San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on X.
Drug overdose deaths have reached an all-time high in the Golden Gate City, with 752 deaths in 2023
He called Preston and the other progressives on the board a ‘motherf***ing crew’.
‘Die slow motherf***ers,’ he added before deleting the post and apologizing.
Preston and three other board members said they received hate mail following the outburst and two supervisors filed a police complaint against Tan.
Investors and CEOs in San Francisco launched nonprofits during the pandemic in an attempt to clean up the city.
TogetherSF Action, is supported by former Sequoia Capital Chairman Michael Moritz, Abundant SF, was started by Pantheon CEO Zack Rosen and Grow SF is backed by Tan.
They focus on different issues in the city from the opioid crisis to the homelessness issue.
TogetherSF representatives have handed out pamphlets on the ballot measures next month.
The document insisted people vote yes to a modernized police force and bringing algebra back to middle school and no to making police staffing contingent on a new tax.
TogetherSF has used Instagram adverts and TikTok videos to appeal to younger voters.
It encouraged thousands of residents to petition the city to take action on the opioid crisis and City Hall later adopted some suggestions.
