Amid staffing concerns, San Francisco mayoral candidate and District 11 supervisor Ahsha Safaí is proposing to forgive $25,000 student loan debt for some first responders.
In an effort to address struggles in hiring first responders such as police officers, nurses, and 911 dispatchers for the city, Safaí is proposing to start a new $1 million fund to forgive up to $25,000 in student loan debt for newly hired first responders after three years of service.
Read more: Student Loan Forgiveness Updates and FAQs
The fund would cover any student loan debt that new hires incurred before joining the city as well as any job-related education and training expenses that aren’t already eligible for reimbursement.
Safaí is expected to introduce the proposal during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting as the board will need to approve it. A vote on the proposal is expected sometime this summer.
Newsweek has reached out to Safaí’s office via email for comment.
According to an article published on Saturday by the San Francisco Chronicle, Safaí said the legislation would be funded through philanthropy as well as “looking for cost savings” within the police department budget.
“If we want to see more sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and police officers, we have to put the incentives in place to recruit people and retain them,” Safaí told the Chronicle. “If you come in with debt, we’re going to help support you, support your family and help with the sacrifices you’ve made to be part of the city and county.”
In addition, Safaí has warned the staffing issues are leaving the city unequipped to address public safety issues and provide vital city services.
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“I’ve talked to firefighters and paramedics and sheriff’s deputies. What I hear over and over again is they need more support and incentives to do these difficult jobs. The best way to recruit people is by word of mouth. When you show people that they are taken care of, that will spread and they’ll know we are elevating and prioritizing them,” he told the newspaper.
The proposal comes as San Francisco’s mayoral race continues to unfold with Safaí facing off with incumbent London Breed, former Mayor Mark Farrell, philanthropist Daniel Lurie and District 3 supervisor Aaron Peskin, as the first mayoral debate took place on Wednesday.
However, Safaí is not the only mayoral candidate to note the vacancy issues among first responders the city is facing, as Lurie took aim at the other candidates at Wednesday’s debate as he said all of the politicians on the stage seemingly couldn’t fix the problems the city is facing including the staffing issues.
“We need a fully staffed police department. We need a fully staffed sheriff’s department. 911 dispatch office also needs to be fully staffed. And, frankly, the last two mayors have underwhelmed on this issue,” Lurie said.
According to the Department of Human Resources, San Francisco’s citywide vacancy rate is 8.2 percent, with about 1,870 vacant positions. The city has hired more than 10,000 employees over the last 12 months.
In addition, Peskin is also looking to address the vacancy issue with his own proposal to create a fund that would forgive up to $100,000 in student debt for new officers over five years as new hires would receive $20,000 in loan forgiveness every year for up to five years if they stay on the force.
Newsweek has also reached out to Peskin’s office via email for comment.
However, according to the Chronicle, Peskin is also willing to work with Safaí and potentially combine the legislation. “These things are not mutually exclusive, and once we figure it out, we can see if they can work together. But the devil is in the details,” Peskin said.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
