Business owner Ben Wang refuses to give up on San Francisco even though his fashion shop had six figures worth of costumes and merchandise stolen, and it was just the most recent robbery he's endured.
Wang, the proud owner of Dare Fashion in San Francisco, has seen his store robbed five times over the last three years. The most recent thievery, which cost Wang's business over $300,000, has forced him to set up a GoFundMe page.
But Wang has not given up on the city where he has run his business for 17 years. Instead, he told Fox News Digital that the dream of San Francisco is still very much alive for him.
"I love San Francisco," Wang said. "I really, really do. I really believe in what San Francisco has always stood for, which is a progressive place where we're going to try new things, and it's always been a place where we would think compassionately about other people."
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"But I really do think that we got ahead of our skis a little bit. We tried some things, and when they didn't work, we doubled down on them."
California passed Prop 47 in 2014, which downgrades certain thefts and drug possession crimes from a felony to a misdemeanor if the value of the stolen goods was less than $950.
While Wang emphasized that he was not a politician and did not have specific policy advice for his city, he did say that it is time for San Francisco to "rethink things."
In recent years, the homelessness and drug problem in San Francisco has become worse, Wang said.
"There is a lot of human poop and pee on the street," Wang said. "And we have to acknowledge that's not hygienic and that's disgusting."
Even after his shop was burglarized, Wang said that he pushed to relocate to a different part of San Francisco because he still loves the city. However, he acknowledged that he also knows business owners whose companies have failed in the wake of COVID.
"I do know businesses that have shut down for sure," he said. "And people who have lost everything or they lost their business."
"I know people who have left," Wang said, arguing that San Francisco politicians have an opportunity to ask themselves "why people are leaving" and "what is so difficult about running a business in San Francisco?"
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"Overall," he said, Wang cares about connecting people in San Francisco, especially after COVID.
"One of the reasons I love San Francisco [is that it] has always been a place throughout history that has served people who didn't necessarily feel like they belonged in the communities where they were coming from," he said.
"People have always come to San Francisco to let their free flag fly and to be themselves," Wang continued.
"I just don't think that even if with bad policies, even with all this other stuff happening, you can't crush that spirit," he said.
