California’s Big City Mayors Ask State for Help With Crime and Office Vacancies

City leaders visited Sacramento to share their concern about downtown areas beset by public safety woes and low foot traffic.

(L-R) Big city mayors Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, London Breed of San Francisco, Patricia Lock Dawson of Riverside, and Rex Richardson of Long Beach gather at the Capitol for the first meeting of the Assembly's Select Committee on Downtown Recovery in Sacramento, Calif., on April 8, 2024. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

SACRAMENTO—Mayors from across the state gathered at the Capitol on April 8 to ask lawmakers for help reviving downtowns that are struggling to return to pre-pandemic levels of economic activity.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed voiced concerns about needed regulatory reform and called on the state to help the city address retail theft issues.