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San Francisco’s digital future is becoming a central issue in the 2024 campaign for mayor.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Digitized city services are taking center stage in the San Francisco mayor’s race, with one candidate proposing to make all city services “digital by default.”
The platform, revealed by mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, was detailed in a recent report on StateScoop.com.
A statement from Farrell, published on the news website, pledges to promote San Franciscos’s digital future.
According to the published comments, Farrell plans to leverage the city’s technology and talent.
The policies will be part of a goal to make San Francisco “digital by default,” according to Farrell’s comments on StateScoop.com.
In the statement, Farrell said San Francisco’s current mayor, London Breed, has failed to make city services more digitally accessible.
Ratings of city services on the decline
Meanwhile, in her State of the City address earlier this year, Breed took aim at the negative press that has plagued San Francisco.
“I’m tired of the people who talk about San Francisco as if our troubles are inevitable and our successes a fluke. Our successes are not a fluke, and they’re not fleeting,” she said. “They’re the product of years of hard work, collaboration, investment, creativity, and perseverance. They’re the output of thousands of people, in government and out, who believe in service not cynicism.”
Last month, Breed also released a proposed budget that included priorities like delivering new technology to public safety departments, downtown economic revitalization efforts, and drug treatment programs.
According to a 2023 survey conducted by the city, resident ratings of most city services have decreased from 2019 to 2023.
Libraries received the highest ratings in the survey.
In 2021, during Breed’s tenure as mayor, San Francisco adopted the city’s “Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Standard.”
The standard, which outlines design requirements for the city’s web content, was fully implemented by May 2024, according to the city’s website.
Included in the standard are strategies for disability access and translation of vital information online.
‘It’s really anyone’s race’
Breed has served as mayor since 2018.
She succeeded Farrell, who previously served as San Francisco’s appointed mayor.
Farrell previously served for several months following the death of former mayor Ed Lee.
According to GrowSF.org polling from May, Farrell is polling second in the race behind Breed.
“It’s really anyone’s race,” the website wrote in May.
According to the website, 28 percent of respondents remained undecided when last polled.
“Breed’s victory is solidly within the 4.9 percent margin of error,” the website stated.
The election is set to take place Nov. 5.
Along with Farrell and Breed, Daniel Lurie, Aaron Peskin, and Ahsha Safaí are also listed as main candidates.
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