- Silicon Valley investors, executives, and CEOs are using their influence and money to sway public opinion by hosting fundraisers for local candidates.
- They successfully ousted San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and three school board members in 2022.
- Silicon Valley blames San Francisco's crime, drug and homelessness problems largely on the laxity of the current progressives in charge of the city.
San Francisco's tech giants are pouring money into the campaigns of moderate elected officials to make the city safer and more livable.
Silicon Valley investors, executives, and CEOs are leveraging their influence and money by hosting fundraisers for local candidates and funding city polling efforts. is trying to sway public opinion.
They successfully ousted San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and three school board members in 2022.
Technology industry leaders are now urging residents to support moderate Democrats running in local elections this year. This is part of a movement to make cities not only safer, but also better places to raise families and run businesses.
Silicon Valley largely blames San Francisco's crime, drug and homelessness problems on the naivety of the current progressives in charge of the city.
The tech industry's goal is to elect less liberal candidates to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, more than half of whom will be up for re-election in November.
The city controls the city's budget and can block Mayor London Breed's policies, which are largely supported by Silicon Valley.
“San Francisco has, in a sense, gouged out its own eyes,” Gary Tan, CEO of startup incubator Y Combinator, told the Wall Street Journal.
About 100 startup founders gathered at his home to learn about local politics.
The PowerPoint presentation was presented by a technology-supported nonprofit that plans to solve problems such as crime, homelessness and public education.
But Dean Preston, a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors who is running for re-election, believes the tech movement is about self-interest.
“It just looks like a cynical effort to control the city,” he said. He believes any attempt to support new leaders or policies is a clear attempt to “buy political power and rewrite the rules for their own economic benefit.”
Preston believes she is being targeted because she supported increasing taxes on high-value real estate sales during the pandemic.
Elon Musk previously accused Preston of ruining the city after he blamed capitalism for San Francisco's homelessness crisis and criticized moves to arrest people for using drugs in public. he accused.
Boudin, a former San Francisco district attorney, was charged in 2022 with failing to do enough to protect public safety and implementing policies that allowed repeat offenders to commit crimes without fear of incarceration. It was recalled by voters in June.
“Right-wing billionaires outnumbered us three to one,” Boudin said in a speech to supporters after news of the recall results, echoing San Francisco residents fed up with the city's crime-ridden state. More than 60% of voters said they voted to recall him. .
He went on to claim that citizens have been “exploited” by these groups, saying they have “taken advantage of an environment where people are properly agitated.”
In February 2022, they lobbied to remove three San Francisco school board members in an election in which 70 percent of parents in the liberal city voted.
Board of Education President Gabriela Lopez, Vice President Fauga Moriga, and Commissioner Alison Collins were dismissed.
The effort is backed by some of Silicon Valley's billionaires and billionaires, led by early Apple investor Arthur Locke, who put more than $500,000 of his billion-dollar fortune into the recall. provided funding. PayPal CEO David Sachs (who has three children and opposes mask mandates and school closures) donated $75,000, and venture capitalist Gary Tan donated $2. Donated $6,000.
One of parents' main complaints is that the school board failed to address school reopening during the pandemic and instead renamed 44 schools after “problematic” Americans. That's what I worked hard to change.
Collins was also accused of branding Asian parents who want their children to do well as “white supremacists.”
After the pandemic, high-tech workers left in droves and crimes such as theft, hate crimes and break-ins soared.
Companies like Whole Foods, Banana Republic, and Nordstrom have decided to close and relocate their flagship stores.
Tony Winnicker, who worked for two former San Francisco mayors, said Silicon Valley investors “have been here for 10 to 15 years now.”
“They're rooted here and they're like, 'What the hell happened to my city?'” They're angry. ”
Mr Tan first became involved in local politics in 2022 after dissatisfaction with his school's curriculum.
“I was able to study algebra in middle school, so I could become a computer engineer,” he said.
“Technology has given me everything I have, and I aspire for people of all backgrounds to have access to it.”
Last month, he aired his grievances about X to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
He called Preston and other progressives on the board the “motherfuck crew.”
“Late mothers die,” he added, before deleting the post and apologizing.
Mr Preston and three other board members said they received hate mail after the riot, and two of their bosses filed a police complaint against Mr Tan.
Investors and CEOs in San Francisco have started a nonprofit organization to try to clean up the city during the pandemic.
TogetherSF Action is backed 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 a variety of issues in the city, from the opioid crisis to homelessness.
Representatives from TogetherSF distributed pamphlets on voting measures next month.
The document asserted that people would vote for police modernization and returning algebra to middle schools, and vote against police staffing contingent on new taxes.
TogetherSF has used Instagram ads and TikTok videos to appeal to younger voters.
This encouraged thousands of residents to petition the city to take action on the opioid crisis, and City Hall later adopted several proposals.
