Greenberg: Trump Federal Intervention is Needed in California, & San Francisco Specifically

Its no secret taxpayer’s hard-earned money continues to be squandered by government officials, more so in California and indeed in the city of San Francisco. Power-drunk narcissists like Governor Gavin Newsom, State Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senator Scott Wiener and to some extent, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu are proof the far-Left ideologues care more about their collective agenda than to scrutinize spending and seek protecting the welfare and quality of life of citizens.

California, as most know, has the unique yet appalling track record under Governor Newsom of the highest homelessness, unemployment and illegal alien numbers in the nation, together with taxes and regulations unfriendly to business. San Francisco has among the highest gasoline prices, highest housing costs, highest cost-per-unit building costs, the highest vacant office space. Yet somehow, Newsom feels he is qualified to potentially make a run for US President.

We are fast approaching the two-month mark since elections November 5^th.  Incoming president Donald Trump has made numerous campaign promises, assembled a strong team of appointees to his cabinet, many which reflect his desire to reverse the country’s downward spiral caused by years under Biden and Obama. Trump appears to have already galvanized change in anticipation of his coming to power January 20^th, as his threats of import tariffs, sanctuary city accountability, action on drug dealers and fentanyl have rattled Canada, Mexico and put China on notice.

We need Federal intervention here in San Francisco. It should be swift, decisive, and exemplary. The city’s public officials, elected and appointed, must be held accountable for their reckless waste of funds which have all but enabled addicts to be preyed upon by drug dealers while nonprofits lobby to prevent city hall to hold those dealers accountable. The city’s Board of Supervisors (our city council) which continuously blocks any effort to reform Sanctuary City policies, together with the vast corrupt misuse of taxpayers’ funds funneled through unaccountable grants to local NGO’s, many under no-bid contracts. Federal intervention must come, with fiscal, civil and criminal repercussions.

San Francisco’s air reeks of the stench of fraud and rampant money grabs. Unconstitutional initiatives including those race-based programs established under outgoing mayor London Breed deserve and demand permanent injunction to cease operations together with a disgorgement of taxpayers’ funds from program recipients and those who oversaw the distribution. Restitution must be made to taxpayers. Mayor Breed championed Reparations, and though that plan was shelved (for now), many segments of that plan were enacted piecemeal. Breed has had no qualms over breaking the law, since her election back in 2018. Nor do the city’s Board of Supervisors who approved her plans. Federal investigation and enforcement is warranted. Tens of millions of dollars have already been squandered, and unconstitutionally.

Defeated Mayor Breed, in days leading to election day, touted work done to rein in rampant drug dealing mere blocks from her office in City Hall. Instead, citizen journalists broadcast the 24-hour illicit drug market had simply shifted to the south, active and deadly as ever, exposing her campaign lies. Overdoses occur daily, in plain sight, and the media all but ignores it. In defiance of federal law, so-called Safe Injection Sites were in operation these last several years, clandestinely.  Of all the issues facing San Francisco, the drug dealing, needles and foil dumped on the street, and exasperated shop owners leaving town make for a dystopian humanitarian disaster nightmare, preventing a return of the City to normalcy. Hotels and convention centers struggle to attract visitors. The city’s budget deficit is reaching ever close to a $1 billion shortfall, with no relief in sight. Tourists will not return, nor will the retail stores and office workers, until the streets are clean and safe again.

Nonprofits-as-lobbyists have been having a field day these last few years, receiving billions collectively, to essentially provide little to no meaningful purpose to cure homelessness, instead enriching their CEOs and staff, while numbers of those living on the street, often addicts, holds steady or continues to climb. There is no incentive to cure the City of this perpetual mechanism of despair and death, as it makes money for the NGOs. Housing First, a policy of prioritizing building and placing homeless individuals into homes has instead wasted billions, led to increased homelessness, and enabled deadly overdoses. It’s another fiscal calamity to focus on.

DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) has been embedded and indeed mandated in City Hall’s daily operations since 2019. Every San Francisco city department has a DEI Equity Plan and has an appointed equity officer. Legislative proposals before the Board of Supervisors must be reviewed and approved for DEI compliance. Third-party vendors to city contracts must submit to DEI requirements. This racist policy must be stopped. However, there exists no local political will to do so. Moreover, San Francisco’s public schools are rife with chronic absenteeism and curriculum deserving of heavy scrutiny. Youth have become activists, their teachers trading merit and scholastic excellence for judging one another by the color of one’s skin.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a newly created federal office within the incoming Trump administration tasked with identifying gross financial waste. We need the equivalent here in San Francisco, as funds flowing into city coffers does not sustain budgetary needs. Explosive, nearly doubling of the annual operating expenses since 2018 cannot be rationally explained, not prudently justified. Something fishy has been going on for years. An independent, thorough audit is sorely needed.

Governor Newsom called a special session of the state legislature for December 2^nd to shore up defense of State policies against incoming president Trump. No doubt, whatever actions they took, or seek to take, became merely more of a reason – and excuse – to grab public funds. Making the taxpayer suffer for abuse by government officials is clearly de rigueur.

Federal money flowing into San Francisco’s city hall coffers must be heavily scrutinized. Contrary to published reporting across the nation, this past election day has not resulted in San Francisco moving towards the center politically. More accurately, several outgoing left wing members of the Board of Supervisors has been replaced with a new Progressive left-wing members. The balance effectively remains the same. We can therefore expect little to no net change legislative-wise to come from City Hall. That is, unless outside intervention ensues. Again, the Trump administration is beckoned to descend on San Francisco. The failed Biden administration clearly ignored the issues here, or more likely, condoned them.

Consider this a plea to Donald Trump and his new administration, to focus on the city of San Francisco. With a mere forty-nine square miles, it’s a very compact town, with less than eight-hundred fifty thousand residents. Yet, corruption, NGOs running wild, a city council hostile to and thumbing noses at federal law and the constitution, Trump can, and must, make a prime example of accountability for the nation to witness, and a city to be saved.