I am writing to you to express my opposition to the San Francisco Police Full Staffing Act as amended by Supervisor Safai and to urge you to vote against it. Safai’s amendment ties increased public safety to an unknown future tax that voters must approve and leaves the legislation without an actual funding source. Asking voters to raise taxes in order to get a fully staffed police department, a basic city service that should be included in a $14 billion budget, is both bad budgetary policy and bad governance. As San Francisco continues to grapple with severe public safety challenges including rampant car break-ins, shoplifting, and unprecedented open air drug markets, we as a City must do everything we can to increase public safety, including addressing the ongoing officer shortage in the San Francisco Police Department. Unfortunately due to Supervisor Safai’s amendment, this legislation will not help us address these issues, but instead prevent SFPD from recruiting and hiring the officers needed to keep residents and small business owners safe. As President of the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Aaron Peskin should do everything in his power to halt this measure from going to voters. I hope you will vote in opposition to this legislation and work with Supervisor Dorsey to draft legislation that will actually prioritize the safety of your constituents, as well as residents of and visitors to San Francisco.