Dean Preston: Is San Francisco Living Up To Its Promise?

San Francisco is facing deepening crises, with rising rents, increasing income inequality, large-scale displacement, and criminalization of homelessness. Our political leadership has been mostly silent on the erosion of civil liberties, ICE kidnappings, and, in many cases, has mirrored the cruel policies of the Trump administration. Meanwhile, in New York City, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo in an historic win, running on a bold socialist platform that centered tenants’ rights and policies that benefited the everyday New Yorker, while standing firm on Palestinian human rights in the face of a hostile media landscape. His victory is a challenge to corporate Democrats everywhere by showing that unapologetically left policies can break through. What lessons can San Francisco take from this victory? How can San Francisco better live up to our progressive, humanist values?

Dean Preston is a statewide housing advocate, tenants rights attorney, and member of the
Democratic Socialists of America. He served as the elected representative of District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2019-2025.