San Francisco Mayor London Breed has sensationally criticized the city’s homeless activists, complaining that they keep people on the streets and allow them to do so.
He claimed that advocates interfere with city workers and discourage those most in need from going to shelters and seeking help.
“These activists are the same people handing out tents to keep people on the streets instead of working to bring them inside, as we are trying to do,” Breed wrote on the online platform Medium.
“And they are the same people who instruct and encourage people to refuse to take shelter, to remain on the streets instead of entering their homes. “His agenda is clear.”
Over the past year, San Francisco has been embroiled in a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Coalition on the Homeless, which claimed the city violated state and federal laws by clearing encampments and destroying belongings of homeless people without offering them shelter. .
An appeals court ruled Monday that people who have access to shelter but refuse it “are not involuntarily homeless,” clearing a path for the city to restart cleaning up the mass of tents, trash and discarded needles. that have taken over the city’s sidewalks in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin and Union Square.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks during a rare outdoor meeting of the Board of Supervisors at United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, California, on May 23, 2023. AP
This homeless encampment is located in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. An appeals court ruling Monday said the city could begin clearing the tents of people who refuse shelter because “they are not involuntarily homeless.” Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
San Francisco’s homeless population is estimated to be around 8,000 people, with half refusing to accept services and shelter when offered, according to television station Kron4.
The city’s Healthy Streets Operations Center reached out to 2,344 homeless people living on the streets, but 1,278 people (or 54%) refused to accept housing, according to the latest data collected by the organization.
Breed said he hopes Coalition members will keep the lawsuit going and could even try to block city workers from carrying out the latest injunction.
Mayor London Breed delivers the State of the City address in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2023. AP
“Unfortunately, the plaintiffs in this case will continue to interfere with [our] work,” Breed said. “They will film our city workers. “They will try to tell our workers what they can and cannot do.”
The mayor said city staff will be trained over the next few weeks to review the appeals court’s instructions on what they can and cannot clarify under the latest court order, which Breed called “a step in the right direction.”
The Post has contacted attorneys representing the Coalition on Homelessness.
In its settlement proposal, the Coalition listed its demands on the city, including filling all vacant shelter units within 30 days.
A homeless and homeless encampment is seen in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco on August 28, 2023. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Homeless people are seen in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco on June 6, 2023. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
They also want the city to maintain a waiting list to track all available beds and provide an “emergency interim measure” leading to permanent housing. They also demanded better trash removal and sidewalk cleaning around the camps.
“Everyone, including the homeless, wants streets free of trash and debris,” the Coalition wrote. “Such cleaning schedules should follow postal signs and should not occur between 7:00 pm and 7:00 am when homeless residents are trying to sleep.
“The city cannot use street cleaning as a pretext to harass homeless residents instead of properly cleaning the area.”
A homeless encampment in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco on August 28, 2023. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
San Francisco has experienced an exodus of businesses and residents since the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the City by the Bay into a so-called “doom loop” where drugs are openly produced on federal property.
A tour last month of the city’s Tenderloin district hoped to counter that “doom and gloom” narrative, but only showed the growing need for services and shelter as tour participants found store after store blocking sidewalks and piles of trash. in the neighborhood.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn