Guest:

Jay Cheng, Executive Director - Neighbors for a Better San Francisco

Guest Bio:

Jay Cheng is a San Francisco-based business leader and political advocate known for his work on education reform, public safety, and government accountability. He has played a key role in supporting more moderate leadership in San Francisco and focuses on restoring functionality to city governance.

Show Summary

San Francisco has become a case study in what happens when policy, leadership, and accountability fall out of alignment, but it may also offer a glimpse of what positive change can look like.

In this episode of State of Gold, Jon Slavet sits down with Jay Cheng to discuss how San Francisco voters began pushing back, from recalling school board members to demanding better outcomes in public safety and education. Cheng explains why that shift happened, what triggered it, and whether California as a whole is ready to follow.

The conversation dives into the realities behind San Francisco’s struggling school system, including declining enrollment, budget instability, and the lack of a standardized curriculum. They also explore improvements in public safety, the challenges of rebuilding police staffing, and what it takes for systems to actually function again.

They close with a deeper look at California’s broader fiscal challenges and the proposed billionaire tax, unpacking why it could set a precedent far beyond the ultra-wealthy. It’s a candid conversation about accountability, consequences, and whether voters are ready to demand better.

Chapters

00:00 – “If You Don’t Like Your Leaders, Fire Them”
00:48 – Is California at a Breaking Point?
02:55 – What Triggered San Francisco’s Shift
05:18 – The School Strike and Budget Crisis
06:50 – Why Families Are Leaving the City
08:52 – No Standard Curriculum? How It Happened
10:08 – Leadership Failures in Education
10:32 – Public Safety: Is It Actually Improving?
11:47 – The Police Staffing Shortage
13:01 – San Francisco’s Budget Problem
14:42 – Why the City Can’t Keep Kicking the Can
16:48 – A Budget Bigger Than Some Countries
17:04 – The Billionaire Tax Debate
19:05 – Why the Tax Scares More Than Billionaires
20:23 – Rapid Fire: Fixing San Francisco & California
22:40 – Expanding the UC System

Connect with Jay Cheng

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaychengsf/
X: https://x.com/jay_jay_cheng

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