Greenberg: San Francisco’s Latest Failed Social Programs

San Francisco, a city under uninterrupted and total Democratic control for decades, is a cautionary tale of progressive policy failures. Despite pouring billions of taxpayers’ money into social programs and city departments annually, City Hall has overseen a cascade of failures, particularly in addressing homelessness, nonprofit oversight, and community initiatives. The most egregious examples reveal a pattern of inefficiency, corruption, and misplaced priorities, leaving San Francisisco’s most vulnerable residents to suffer the consequences. Yes, it’s the Democrats to blame.

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) exemplifies this failure. With a budget exceeding $1.5 billion for the 2025-2027 two-year budget, HSH has failed to reduce homelessness, with nearly 8,300 people still on the streets as of 2024. Audits uncovered $87 million in contracts to non-compliant nonprofits, including the United Council of Human Services, which faced FBI scrutiny for fraud and illegally selling housing units. Democratic mayors, from Gavin Newsom (in 2004)  to London Breed (and now the new mayor Daniel Lurie, 2025), have championed HSH’s expansion, yet their leadership’s lax oversight has allowed funds to be squandered while tent encampments proliferate. Chaotic conditions in HSH-funded hotels, where 25% of tracked tenants actually died, often from overdoses, highlight the human cost of shocking mismanagement. The city’s reliance on a sprawling nonprofit network, without rigorous accountability, reflects a failure to prioritize results over rhetoric.

The Dream Keeper Initiative, launched by previous Mayor Breed to uplift the Black community specifically, has instead become a scandal-ridden embarrassment. The nonprofit Collective Impact, a major recipient of Dream Keeper funds, lost $10.6 million in contracts after revelations that Sheryl Davis, a Breed ally and former San Francisco Human Rights Commission director, approved funds while sharing a home with the same nonprofit’s director. Collective Impact spent on lavish expenses, including copies of Davis’ book and sponsoring her podcast. This initiative, hailed by local Democrats as a racial justice triumph, has instead exposed ethical lapses under their watch. Simply put, leadership failed to enforce transparency.

The San Francisco Parks Alliance, another nonprofit, collapsed after being used as a $1 million “slush fund” by former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru, an appointee ultimately convicted of corruption. Audits revealed $3.5 million in suspicious anonymous donations, with funds meant for park improvements instead spent on lavish parties and swag. City Hall failed to monitor this organization, allowing corruption to fester unchecked. This collapse is a direct result of negligence.

The San Francisco Zoo, managed by the Zoological Society, faced a 2024 audit labeling it “unsafe,” “dilapidated,” and “outdated.” Leaders ignored the zoo’s financial opacity and leadership disputes, prioritizing flashy projects like acquiring pandas from China over addressing critical infrastructure issues. Journalists exposed this neglect, showing how Democrats focus on optics over substance.

The Aquarium of the Bay, a nonprofit, imploded in 2024 after nearly all staff resigned over internal disputes, followed by the CEO’s resignation amid a $460,000 Dubai trip scandal. Another underscoring of City Hall’s inability to manage its nonprofit partners.

The Providence Foundation, tasked with homeless services, settled for $1 million in 2024 over wage theft and fraudulent invoicing.

SF SAFE, an SF police-affiliated nonprofit, collapsed after its director, Kyra Worthy, misspent $80,000 on luxury expenses like a Lake Tahoe trip. City Hall’s leaders failed to enforce accountability, allowing public safety funds to be squandered, another stain on Democrats’ governance.

PRC/Baker Places, a provider of mental health and drug treatment, faced a cash flow crisis, threatening to close treatment beds. A Department of Public Health employee’s unapproved second job at Baker Places raised ethical concerns, while programs like Valencia Hummingbird met only 50% of their goals. Reliance on flawed nonprofits has left addicts and the mentally ill underserved.

The Ten Year Plan to Abolish Chronic Homelessness (2004), launched famously by Gavin Newsom, promised to end homelessness by 2014 but failed to eliminate street presence. While 11,362 people were housed, many remain on the streets during the day due to inadequate services. By 2018 a visiting UN reporter compared San Francisco’s conditions to Mumbai’s, calling them “unacceptable.” This long-term Democratic failure continues to haunt the city.

Project Homeless Connect, a 21-year nonprofit initiative, closed in 2025 after losing funding amid budget cuts. Serving a mere 60 clients daily, its abrupt end left vulnerable residents stranded, a result of Democrats’ inability to prioritize effective programs.

These failures stem from the Democratic playbook, a model that prioritizes grandiose promises over accountability, a failure to prioritize results over rhetoric. Leadership failed to enforce transparency, often a direct result of negligence. San Francisco’s “nonprofit industrial complex,” fueled by over $1.5 billion in contracts, thrives on patronage but lacks rigorous oversight. Or a refusal to seek accountability.

The human toll is evident: Democrats’ unchecked spending and reliance on poorly vetted nonprofits have wasted billions while homelessness, addiction, and despair grow. Can San Francisco’s Democrats, the sole elected officials in city hall, do the right thing for constituents via stricter audits, competitive bidding, and transparent metrics for nonprofit performance? Or will they continue to refuse to deflect instead and blame the other party?