San Francisco bidding to reverse image of a city in decline as host of APEC trade summit

World leaders, CEOS, protesters and thousands of others will soon descend on San Francisco for a high-profile trade summit that could give the battered city a chance to reverse its image as a powerhouse in decline. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit starts Saturday in San Francisco. Mayor London Breed says her California city has been unfairly portrayed by negative press. She wants visitors to see that San Francisco is safe, clean and open for business. The city and its partners are polishing sidewalks, scrubbing away graffiti and moving homeless people into accommodations. Critics of the 21-nation trade group known as APEC say the summit promotes profit over people.