Category: Update

By J.D. Morris : sfchronicle – excerpt

San Francisco reduced the number of homeless tents on its streets by about 17% last year in the months after the city ramped up encampment sweeps in response to a court ruling, Mayor London Breed’s office said Thursday.

The city counted 609 tents in July, prior to receiving September guidance from a federal appeals court that local officials said empowered them to take a more assertive approach to clearing encampments. In November, after San Francisco had begun incorporating the court guidance, the tent count dropped to 508, Breed’s office said.

The initial July tent figure was the highest since October 2020, when the city counted 703 tents. And the November tent count of 508 was the lowest since June 2022 when there were 492 tents, according to city data.

However, the number of tents tends to fluctuate and it’s unclear from the data whether the court guidance was behind the drop…

Under an injunction in place since December 2022 — which San Francisco is challenging in court — the city is restricted in its ability to remove homeless tents from streets and sidewalks without providing shelter and from enforcing certain laws against public camping. The city has still been able to remove tent camps, after giving 72 hours’ notice, to ensure access for disabled people and first responders. The injunction also allows for sweeps to be conducted for health and safety reasons, and it permits the city to force encampment residents to move temporarily for street cleaning.

But after the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released guidance in the case in September, the city said it could begin enforcing anti-camping laws against people determined to be “voluntarily” homeless, which means they “declined a specific offer of available shelter” or already had access to shelter…(more)

By Adam Shanks : sfexaminer – excerpt

Greg Wagner accepts his appointment as the new San Francisco city controller by Mayor London Breed

Greg Wagner is poised to be the next San Francisco controller.

Wagner’s appointment — which was announced by Mayor London Breed on Wednesday and still requires approval by the Board of Supervisors — will fill the vacancy left by outgoing Controller Ben Rosenfield.

The controller, who serves as The City’s chief financial officer and auditor, will be key to The City’s navigation of a daunting array of financial challenges in the coming years. Though the job typically has a low public profile, its occupant is often thought of as an unsung hero to those within city government…(more)

• By Erin Roach : sfexaminer – excerpt (includes audio)

The SF Recreation and Park Department plans to build a 235-slip harbor near Marina Green.

In the song “Big Yellow Taxi,” Joni Mitchell famously sings, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?.”

The Marina Green waterfront — an iconic symbol of our city — will soon be gone if the Recreation and Park Department goes through with a plan to build a 235-slip harbor at that very location, and most San Franciscans are unaware of it.

This ill-conceived plan is the result of a legal battle between The City and PG&E. Instead of cleaning up PG&E’s toxic waste and rebuilding Gashouse Cove in the East Marina as the lawsuit stipulated, RPD worked out a deal with PG&E in which it would relocate half of the east harbor,leaving Gashouse Cove to silt over.

But there may be time to stop it if supervisors Ahsha Safai, Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan successfully pass their Gashouse Cove Project ordinance in the coming weeks.

If you, too, don’t want to see the Marina Green waterfront become a parking lot for 40-foot yachts, write a letter of support to your district supervisor and the mayor today…(more)

Contacts for Supervisors are here: https://wordpress.com/view/discoveryink.wordpress.com

By Erica Sandberg : city-journal – excerpt

The Way Out, a new nonprofit program for drug addicts, is challenging the city’s culture of permissiveness.

Misdiagnose a disease, and the results can be lethal. Case in point: San Francisco officials call the city’s drug-addiction crisis a homeless problem. Until recently, the city’s remedy has been to provide addicts with indoor spaces and drug-use gear—a strategy that has proven increasingly deadly. As of mid-December, San Francisco had 752 fatal overdoses in 2023, the highest number on record…

Two flawed schools of thought are to blame for these record numbers. San Francisco embraced California’s Housing First model, which gives the so-called homeless population unconditional, permanent housing. Meantime, the city’s Department of Public Health has leaned hard into a Harm Reduction policy rather than actively promoting recovery. Loath to stigmatize drug users, city officials are focused on developing campaigns designed to encourage safe drug use and to distribute drug supply paraphernalia, including foil for inhaling illegal fentanyl…

Now, disruption has begun. The Way Out, an on-demand, recovery-focused homeless initiative of the Salvation Army in San Francisco, is vigorously challenging the city’s entrenched approach to addiction. The Way Out coordinates the Salvation Army’s local efforts into a complete recovery system. What it offers people in need is impressive, both in the scope of services and in its intention.

First, participants receive stabilization services and drug-addiction treatment at the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center. Immediate intake is available six days a week, with plans to expand to seven days soon. Recovery begins on arrival, including detox and six months of residential care with an evidence-based curriculum…(more)

By Rick Paulas :theguardian – excerpt

Municipalities and non-profits are establishing secure lots to address the rising number of people who live in cars or RVs

Starting in October 2021, about 40 motorhomes or recreational vehicles (RVs) parked in a lot on Grayson Street in Berkeley, California, as part of the city’s first attempt at a “safe parking lot”.

According to Google Maps photos, the space had been mostly unused since 2008. But a local non-profit, the Dorothy Day House, created the Safe Parking and Respite Kickstart (Spark) program to help “alleviate the crisis of unsheltered and encampment homeless” in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.

The space filled a pressing need for those who didn’t have traditional lodging. People without stable, stationary housing could park their vehicles there for free without fear of violating city ordinances against sidewalk occupation and long-term parking. Spark provided water and toilets, and it allowed occupants to have pets and in-and-out privileges without a curfew – features that are often hard to come by on the street or in homeless shelters…(more)

By Danielle Echeverria : sfchronicle – excerpt

San Francisco Mayor London Breed joined other local leaders Saturday in Japantown to urge voters to back three ballot measures that supporters say will make the city safer and more vibrant.

The three measures, which will appear on the March ballot, attempt to address some of the city’s most visible, persistent issues — downtown’s sluggish economic recovery, public safety concerns and the drug crisis — that Breed has been focusing on ahead of her upcoming, potentially tough reelection campaign. Standing in front of dozens of supporters at Japantown’s Peace Plaza, Breed said the initiatives will face the issues head-on.

“We need to dig in, and we need to go harder and stronger and not be afraid to make the hard decisions that are going to get us to a better place,” she said.

The first of the three initiatives the leaders touted, Measure C, would waive the city’s transfer tax, which currently ranges from 0.5% to 6%, for buildings converted from offices to housing the first time they are transferred to new owners, in an effort to diversify and revitalize San Francisco’s downtown core…

The other two measures Breed and her allies promoted Saturday, E and F, have drawn more controversy.

Measure E, called the police policies and procedures measure, would cut down on the amount of paperwork officers must fill out, including after certain use-of-force incidents, with the goal that officers spend no more than about a third of their time on recordkeeping and reporting.

It would also allow the Police Department to use public surveillance cameras, drones and facial recognition technology without approval from the Police Commission, which sets policy for the agency, and would expand when officers are allowed to engage in a vehicle pursuit when they believe someone is committing a felony or violent misdemeanor, as long as it can be done safely…

Finally, Measure F would require welfare recipients with substance use disorders to enroll in treatment to continue to receive cash assistance through the County Adult Assistance Program — an idea Breed floated in the fall that received immediate pushback… (more)

By Aldo Toledo : sfchronicle – excerpt

The office of San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan wants the city attorney to sue the state of California over efforts, led by state Sen. Scott Wiener, Chan says, to “singularly penalize” the city in its efforts to build market-rate housing. Chan’s office said in a statement that “San Francisco has more than 70,000 units of housing approved and waiting to be built, we should not be penalized because some politicians want to sell out to realtors and developers.”

San Francisco Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan want the city attorney to sue the state of California over what they say are efforts, led by state Sen. Scott Wiener, to “singularly penalize” the city in its efforts to build market-rate housing.

In a letter sent to the city attorney Dec. 26, Chan and Peskin argue that the city has long been committed to building housing, especially affordable housing, and has taken steps to do so by dedicating hundreds of millions in public funds to housing construction, streamlining permitting processes and approving over 70,000 new units…

“Not only has Senator Wiener set up San Francisco to fail, despite all our legislative and funding efforts, he added a last minute amendment to SB423 that singles out San Francisco for streamlining in 2024, which is years earlier than every other jurisdiction in California,” Peskin and Chan wrote…

In an interview, Peskin said Wiener is “in the pocket of the market-rate development” industry and discriminating against his hometown by holding it to a different, higher standard than the rest of the state …(more)

RELATED:

Letter to the editor: Yes, a taxpayer can sue over the state’s housing laws

By Julie Zigoris : sfstandard – excerpt

Putting out fires is not how you want to start a new year—but that’s what happened for residents of a sleepy street in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood on New Year’s Eve.

Firefighters and police officers responded to reports of cars ablaze in the 300 block of Park Street around 9:30 p.m. Sunday and helped to extinguish fires in four unoccupied vehicles, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Police said witnesses reported seeing people setting the cars on fire and then fleeing the scene.

In security camera footage viewed by The Standard, a person is seen holding a large canister and then pouring what appears to be gas on the sidewalk, the street, and on top of a car. The trail of gasoline subsequently illuminates in flames.

Carlton McMillan, who lives on the block, told The Standard his neighbors’ security footage also showed the perpetrator pouring gas onto garages, into the engine bays of cars and even up the stairs of one home where he said children were celebrating New Year’s Eve…(more)

RELATED:
Man Is Killed by Fireworks on Treasure Island Barely an Hour into the New Year

By Kevin Truoung : sfstandard – excerpt

The end of the year is typically a whirl of activity as deadline pressures hit the holiday season.

Presumably, the same forces impacted Oakland-based utility Pacific Gas & Electric, which used the last business day of the year to file for an even greater rate increase than was approved in November.

Starting Jan. 1, the typical PG&E electricity and gas customer will see their monthly rates rise about $34.50—13%—compared to current bills. That works out to $414 more in utility payments for the year, which would mark a historic increase.

Regulators had previously approved a $32.50 monthly increase in typical residential customers to start in 2024…(more)

After making sure that independent solar producers hooked up to the grid will be paid less for the power they produce, our Governor and the CPUC are giving PG&E another gift this year by setting ratepayer costs at a much higher level. Rumors are they need to charge us for their work on fire safety measures and they also need. To recover their costs to keep the nuclear power on at Diablo Canyon. Think about this when you vote next year.

By Susie Neilson : sfchronicle – excerpt

Valerie Tucker has a tough job even in ideal conditions. As a 911 dispatcher in San Francisco, she handles a barrage of high-stakes and often traumatic situations every day, coordinating the city’s response to emergency calls.

But right now, conditions are far from ideal. Tucker and her fellow dispatchers are working longer hours and getting fewer breaks. Many are on the verge of burnout, she said. And increasingly, they’re unable to keep up with the constant stream of calls that indicate their city is waking up to a turbulent, post-pandemic status quo.

“It’s dire straits for sure around here, and it’s not getting any better,” Tucker said. “Most of us in the room are starting to (ask), is this worth it?”

According to the Department of Emergency Management, San Francisco’s 911 call dispatchers answered just 72% of calls within 15 seconds in October, the latest month available. That’s the lowest share of any month in the last six years, and well short of the department’s goal to answer 95% of calls in 15 seconds or fewer…

The growing crush of emergency calls hitting a shrinking staff means department leaders must force the dwindling workers to work “mando,” or mandatory overtime, for months at a time, increasing their risk of burnout…

And with San Francisco’s hiring process taking an average of 255 days last year, new staff are not coming in quickly enough to replace retiring or burned-out workers — especially because it takes a year to fully train a dispatcher… (more)

It sounds like they need a new approach to managing the system. Shorterless demanding hours and more part time workers woud make the job more appealing, especially if it could be done outside the office. But, this is up to the geniuses at City Hall to figure out, or not.