In anticipation of San Francisco hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference this November, city leaders mobilized a formidable fundraising effort. Major corporations like Salesforce and Apple contributed millions to support the city's global event preparations. Could similar public-private partnerships tackle San Francisco's critical issues?
In advance of November’s arrival of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, San Francisco political and business leaders sprang into action.
With a goal of raising funds to support APEC hosting duties, nearly 50 companies, family foundations, and large non-profit groups contributed major dollars to APEC’s San Francisco Special Event Committee.
Salesforce donated $1 million to get the ball rolling.
Apple, VISA, Sutter Health, and Kaiser Permanente all wrote 7-figure checks.
From September 21 to October 3, San Francisco raked in $7.5 million in mostly unrestricted funds.
Ultimately, APEC’s public-private partnership raised more than $20 million from Bay Area adjacent entities to support The City’s global PR makeover.
Not too shabby.
Which begs the question, what if we actually made the same type of fundraising push to solve real city issues that actually matter?
That’s exactly what recent Memphis, Tennessee, mayor Jim Strickland did when he raised $6.1 million from area businesses in a public-private partnership to support police recruiting and retention bonuses.
Without tapping into public funds, Memphis was able to offer officers a retention bonus ranging between $6,400 and $7,000 over four years if they committed to staying in the city — plus an additional $2,000 bonus for referring a candidate to the police academy who graduates and joins the force.
Leveraging existing police officers to recruit more of them? All without needing city funds? It almost makes too much sense.
Memphis was able to do this, in part, with financial support from the three members of the Fortune 500 — FedEx, AutoZone and International Paper — that are headquartered in the area.
What could San Francisco raise with close to 40 such companies in the Bay Area — including three in the Top 10 — and another 20 or so just a bit further south down the I-5 corridor?
Consider that proponents and opponents of Proposition B on the March 2024 election ballot are debating, in part, the source of revenue for $30 million in funding to help fully staff the police force.
Instead of raising a new so-called “cop tax” or even earmarking set-asides from the city’s General Fund, could we financially support this by embracing APEC’s public-private partnership model?
Hurry, Ms. Mayor, let’s get the heads of Apple, Alphabet, Chevron, Meta, and some other not-so-small local businesses on the phone.
Bam. Budget issue solved.
In areas of California mostly outside of San Francisco, public-private partnerships have been embraced.
According to a report from California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state has launched 59 public-private partnerships totaling $4.2 billion over the past five years. In 2023, new public-private partnerships in the state funded disaster relief, workforce training, anti-poverty funding, border humanitarian aid, and more.
If San Francisco is the innovation capital of the world, what could we accomplish if we empowered all types of public and private entities the ability to unleash innovation at City Hall?
Could public-private partnership examples from some of the San Francisco’s most innovative offices — such as the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) under the purview of the the city’s Treasurer & Tax Collector — be used as a model to tackle priority issues like public safety, the drug crisis, and homelessness and housing?
You’d be surprised at what is possible.
In 2020, the mayor of Bratislava, Slovakia, partnered with the world’s largest furniture retailer, IKEA, to create rapid housing for homeless community members during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Closer to home, IKEA also donated furniture, home decor, interior design work, towels, and bedding for a 72-bed homeless “bridge shelter” just down the road in Costa Mesa.
In the final accounting, APEC managed to surprisingly highlight what San Francisco city government can accomplish with focus, a clear vision, and a time-sensitive deadline.
The only problem? We spent a big chunk of those $20 million in raised funds on an $8 million blowout bash at the Exploratorium for President Biden and foreign dignitaries featuring pop star Gwen Stefani.
Could we channel the power of public-private partnerships in 2024 to do something much more meaningful?
As Gwen Stefani might say, No Doubt.
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