This isn't abstract policy debate. These are storefronts with people sleeping in their doorways, BART stations that commuters actively avoid, and fires that threaten the lives of both unhoused individuals and the surrounding community. The 16th Street and 24th Street BART corridors — long problem spots — appear to be hitting new lows.

As one Mission resident put it bluntly: "The Mission is the worst it's been in a decade-plus. 16th and 24th BART are the dirtiest and most disgusting they've ever been." That's not hyperbole from a newcomer. That's someone watching their neighborhood slide backward in real time.

What makes this particularly infuriating is the leadership vacuum. District 9's supervisor seat has been effectively absent during a period when the neighborhood desperately needs someone fighting for resources, enforcement, and accountability at City Hall. Another local summed up the frustration with three words and an eye-roll: "Jackie Fielder? Oh wait, never mind."

Look, the city has made progress in some areas. Tenderloin open-air drug markets have seen increased enforcement. Downtown foot traffic is ticking upward. But progress in one neighborhood shouldn't come at the cost of neglecting another. If the city's strategy is just shuffling crises from block to block, that's not a strategy — it's a shell game.

The Mission needs a surge of attention: more street-level enforcement, faster encampment fire response, and actual consequences for open drug dealing. Business owners who've invested their savings into storefronts along Mission Street shouldn't have to compete with fentanyl smoke for their customers' attention.

San Francisco loves to talk about compassion. But there's nothing compassionate about letting people smoke fentanyl in doorways while small businesses die and fires break out next to residential buildings. Real compassion requires action — and right now, the Mission isn't getting any.