This is NOT a game but it’s Game On! Now is the time to contact the Board of Supervisors to register your opposition to the “no rules” homeless shelter proposed for 711 Post Street.
The Budget Committee of the Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposed 711 Post Street shelter on Wednesday, January 5 at their meeting which starts at 10:30 am. If the Budget Committee approves the proposal, the full Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposal on Tuesday, January 11.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district includes 711 Post Street, is strongly opposed to the proposal and will fight for us to defeat it. Here is what you can do this week to help Supervisor Peskin convince his fellow board members to vote down the poorly considered proposal.
1. Today: Write to the 3 members of the Budget Committee and ask them to vote against the proposal. Those 3 members are Budget Chair Supervisor Matt Haney (matt.haney@sfgov.org); Supervisor Gordan Mar (Gordon.mar@sfgov.org); and Supervisor Ahsha Safai (ahsha.safai@sfgov.org). Tell them that you oppose the 711 Post Street proposal because:
(1) Our neighborhood has already done more than our share in combatting the homelessness crisis by supporting the recent addition of 451 units of permanent supportive housing and a 75-bed homeless shelter, all clustered within a small radius of our Lower Nob Hill working class neighborhood. Our longtime residents and small businesses championed solutions to a problem that has only gotten worse, as the City has failed repeatedly to deliver on its promises to ensure the success of these programs; and
(2) adding another 250-bed “no rules” homeless shelter flies in the face of the City’s policy of geographic equity – Lower Nob Hill has shouldered its fair share and it is time for the City to make good on its promise that other neighborhoods receive a balance of the facilities currently in the pipeline; and
(3) this huge “no-rules” homeless shelter is the wrong type of shelter for our neighborhood and for its residents – San Francisco’s most severely challenged homeless residents need to be permanently housed in small facilities, away from their drug dealers and abusers, with comprehensive on-site services provided by a licensed public health provider, not an unqualified nonprofit like Urban Alchemy; and
(4) the City’s “community outreach” on this proposal has been a disgrace – announcing the proposal Thanksgiving weekend with a vote already scheduled for the Wednesday right after the holidays. If this were the Mayor’s neighborhood, or the Marina or Forest Hills, the neighborhood would never have been treated like this. We are renters, families, seniors, workers, teachers and artists. We demand as a community to be respected and to be heard!
In addition to representing the Tenderloin for the past 3 years, Supervisor Haney is now running for State Assembly in the February 15, 2022 special election to fill a vacant seat in District 17 of the California Assembly. If you live in Lower Nob Hill, you live in Assembly District 17. Let Matt Haney know that if he votes in favor of the 711 Post Street Proposal, you will vote against him on February 15!
2. On Wednesday, January 5th: Attend the Budget Committee meeting virtually and speak out against the proposed 711 Post Street shelter. The Supervisors need to hear how the City’s disinvestment and disregard for the neighborhood have dramatically impacted everyone, from parents walking their kids to school to seniors trying to attend medical appointments to wait staff afraid to go to work. The Mayor, the Department of Homelessness, the Department of Public Health, the Office of Economic & Workforce Development, and the Department of Public Works have all failed to deliver on their promises at previous community meetings to solicit our support that they would increase services and facilities. We were promised well-run professional supportive housing programs, adequate street cleaning, and community foot patrols. We were promised we’d be treated like a real neighborhood, with investment and City collaboration. Instead, we’ve watched the neighborhood deteriorate even further – for our housed and unhoused residents.
The Budget Committee meeting will be held virtually: https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/bfc010522_agenda.pdf (Call In and viewing information are in-agenda.) To speak out at the meeting, you will need to call in at 1 (415) 655-0001. The meeting ID is 2490 080 5064 # #. Press *3 to get in the phone queue to speak out.
The meeting begins at 10:30 AM but we anticipate that the Committee will start to hear discussion on the 711 Post Street proposal around 11:30 AM. It is item number 9 on their agenda.