James Reem has lived in a tent on the nook of Fell and Baker streets for greater than a yr. An artist by commerce, he stated he was evicted from his residence after troubles along with his landlord and for a time lived out of a van. After the van acquired towed, somebody gave him a tent and he turned to the streets.
His tent sits outdoors the town’s solely DMV workplace, throughout the road from the Panhandle, a lush strip of greenery that opens into Golden Gate Park in a family-friendly neighborhood adorned by rows of manicured Victorians.
It’s a snug spot, stated Reem, 59, with a sidewalk vast sufficient to accommodate his tent and nonetheless depart room for pedestrians. Some days, Reem is one among a dozen or extra tent-dwellers on the concrete stretch.
“There are a number of of us that stick collectively,” Reem stated.
His adopted neighborhood is amongst dozens of websites prone to be focused as the town launches what Mayor London Breed has stated can be an assertive marketing campaign to drive individuals off the streets in response to a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Courtroom.
An estimated 8,300 individuals are dwelling homeless in San Francisco. And regardless of a years-long effort to maneuver individuals into momentary shelter or everlasting housing, unsanctioned encampments stay a widespread and visual downside, usually accompanied by rubbish, theft and open drug use.
For years, Breed and different metropolis officers stated their palms had been tied by selections issued by the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers many Western states, that deemed it merciless and weird punishment to penalize somebody for sleeping on the streets if no authorized shelter was accessible.
The U.S. Supreme Courtroom reversed that call in a pivotal June 28 ruling, saying that cities in California and the West might implement legal guidelines limiting homeless encampments on sidewalks and different public property.
On Thursday, citing the ruling, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an govt order requiring state businesses to take away encampments of their jurisdictions. Whereas the directive doesn’t require cities to comply with swimsuit, Newsom urged them to take action, characterizing the proliferation of encampments as a well being and security hazard that requires speedy motion.
Breed, a fellow Democrat, has additionally embraced the ruling. She stated final week that, armed with the excessive court docket’s resolution, she is going to spearhead a “very aggressive” effort to clear homeless encampments starting in August. She stated the trouble may embrace felony penalties for refusing to disperse.
Breed was not accessible for an interview Friday, and her workplace has but to supply particulars of what the sweeps will entail or the place individuals dwelling in tents are anticipated to relocate. Her spokesperson, Jeff Cretan, stated a few of these particulars would come into clearer focus subsequent week.
Throughout a July 18 mayoral debate hosted by the native firefighters union, Breed acknowledged her resolution to orchestrate sweeps was “not a preferred” one however stated it was a needed step.
“Now we have needed to transfer from a compassionate metropolis to a metropolis of accountability,” she stated. “And I’ve been main the efforts to make sure we’re addressing this situation in another way than we’ve earlier than.”
She stated the town has labored over the past a number of years so as to add shelter beds and disperse outreach staff to supply companies and assist. However even when outreach staff supply shelter, in response to the mayor’s workplace, these presents are rejected almost 70% of the time.
Breed’s crackdown is prone to supply headlines out of San Francisco that counter the narratives promoted by conservative pundits as Vice President Kamala Harris ramps up her presidential marketing campaign. Her Republican opponents have lengthy tried to color Harris, who rose to political energy in 2004 as San Francisco’s elected district lawyer, as a California liberal whose insurance policies have helped contribute to the surging homelessness and retail crime plaguing her dwelling state.
However the Supreme Courtroom’s ruling is proving divisive for California’s native Democratic leaders. Extra left-leaning Democrats, together with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, say the choice will permit cities to criminalize homelessness with out doing something to deal with the foundation causes, together with dependancy and a dearth of reasonably priced housing. It’s a sentiment echoed by homeless advocates.
“This order gained’t scale back homelessness or deter encampments, however it would depart weak individuals even farther away from dwelling and well being than they’re at this time,” Sharon Rapport, state coverage director for the Company for Supportive Housing, stated in an emailed assertion.
Whether or not San Francisco has sufficient shelter beds to accommodate the potential wave of individuals pushed off the streets is unclear. Since Breed took workplace, the town has expanded shelter beds from about 2,500 to almost 4,000, her workplace stated, and has expanded everlasting supportive housing to about 14,000 slots.
The DMV encampment the place Reem lives is one among a number of that metropolis officers have cleared again and again, solely to see it return days later. Thus far this yr, the encampment has been cleared greater than a dozen instances, in response to the mayor’s workplace.
Reem says he feels safer outdoors than he does in an emergency shelter, the place he worries about his belongings getting stolen. He stated he would settle for assist from metropolis staff. However he additionally stated he thinks Breed’s plan is much less about serving to individuals like him than it’s about clearing out tents that make the general public uncomfortable.
“They’re not involved in regards to the homeless,” he stated. “They’re involved about eliminating us.”