Political and economic stakes are high for San Francisco's APEC conference

San Francisco has been going through a rough patch in recent years, which raises the stakes for the city as it hosts a massive economic conference of Pacific Rim nations this week.

The city is besieged by what some call a “doom loop” of often violent street crime, a drug abuse epidemic, a flight of corporate and commercial business and — most visibly — rampant and extremely visible homelessness.

San Francisco’s civic ills have so far defied officialdom’s efforts to restore the city’s once envied status as a global icon — in part because Mayor London Breed, who could face a dicey re-election next year, squabbles incessantly with the city’s Board of Supervisors over every fine point of policy.

Breed, on behalf of the city and her own political career, hopes that the thousands of government officials, corporate executives and international journalists attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Commission, or APEC, gathering will depart with positive views of her city.