Few political differences seen in first SF mayoral forum

Of the many issues all the candidates for San Francisco mayor could agree on, the problem of car break-ins was just one. Of the many issues all the candidates for San Francisco mayor could agree on, the problem of car break-ins was just one. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Few political differences seen in first SF mayoral forum 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

When five Democratic mayoral candidates were asked Saturday whether they had ever suffered the myriad frustrations of being victim of a car break-in, all five hands went into the air.

So did the hands of many of those who packed into an auditorium at the San Francisco Main Library on the balmy weekend afternoon for a mayoral forum hosted by the United Democratic Club. The event was moderated by The Chronicle’s editorial page director, John Diaz, and featured all but one Democratic candidate, Michelle Bravo, who declined to participate.

San Francisco’s recent epidemic of car break-ins was one of the many city issues the candidates briskly moved through, along with homelessness, traffic congestion and the city’s current political climate.

Despite the wide range of topics, the candidates did little to separate themselves politically, with some audience members remarking after the forum that they’d be content with any one of the five candidates serving as mayor. Every candidate supported San Francisco’s status as a sanctuary city, and all were in general agreement about the need to address traffic congestion by reforming the city’s relationships with widely used ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft.

All but one mayoral hopeful was in favor of supplying law enforcement officials with more resources to investigate and prosecute break-ins.

“Currently, these criminals are acting with impunity. They just know they’ll get away with it. There must be consequences,” said Mark Leno, a former state senator. Supervisor Jane Kim recommended creating a “centralized investigative unit” within the city’s Police Department and enlisting community volunteers to patrol the streets. London Breed, president of the Board of Supervisors, said “we need more beat officers on the street, and we need to be able to prosecute the people who are doing this.”

Attorney Angela Alioto, a former supervisor, also supported hiring more patrol officers and providing stricter penalties for convicted thieves.

Amy Farah Weiss, a housing and homelessness advocate, recommended a gentler touch, suggesting the city work to address “the economic, the social, the racial injustice” that she sees as motivating people to commit crimes out of desperation.

When it came to the city’s homeless crisis, Kim and Leno focused on cracking down on illegal evictions.

“We need to do the work to stop unfair evictions and continue San Francisco’s work of increasing rent subsidies so people at risk of being evicted” are able to stay in their homes, Kim said. She also supported building more Navigation Centers.

Leno said he also favored reforming the city’s network of assistance programs to reduce the hurdles facing people in need of services.

Weiss, leaning on her experience as a homeless advocate, plugged a transitional shelter program she’s been championing that would create temporary villages where people can live once their tenure at a shelter or hospital has ended.

Alioto, touting her role as the point person for homelessness during her time as a supervisor, said all roads out of homelessness must lead to “permanent, supportive housing.” She called for changes to programs that bring people off the streets only temporarily.

Breed said that during her brief stint as the city’s acting mayor after the surprise death of Mayor Ed Lee in December, she began working with a constellation of city departments to “develop a plan of action to work on these tent encampments.”

There was also a general consensus among the candidates that the City Charter should be tweaked to prevent someone from serving as a supervisor, board president and mayor all at the same time. Breed served in such a role until the board installed Supervisor Mark Farrell as mayor Jan. 23 in a deeply contentious vote.

When it came time for Breed to respond, she said the time had come to move past political discord and focus on the issues important to city residents.

“What happened in the past is unfortunate, but it happened,” Breed said. “We have to be bigger than that. San Franciscans are counting on us to do so.”

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DominicFracassa