James Reem has lived in a tent on the nook of Fell and Baker streets for greater than a 12 months. An artist by commerce, he stated he was evicted from his condominium after troubles along with his landlord and for a time lived out of a van. After the van bought towed, somebody gave him a tent and he turned to the streets.
His tent sits outdoors 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 cushty spot, stated Reem, 59, with a sidewalk broad sufficient to accommodate his tent and nonetheless go away room for pedestrians. Some days, Reem is considered one of a dozen or extra tent-dwellers on the concrete stretch.
“There are a number of of us that stick collectively,” Reem stated.
“They’re not involved concerning the homeless,” James Reem stated of San Francisco’s plans for encampment sweeps. “They’re involved about eliminating us.”
(Hannah Wiley / Los Angeles Instances)
His adopted neighborhood is amongst dozens of websites prone to be focused as town launches what Mayor London Breed has stated will probably be an assertive marketing campaign to pressure individuals off the streets in response to a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court docket.
An estimated 8,300 individuals live homeless in San Francisco. And regardless of a years-long effort to maneuver individuals into non permanent shelter or everlasting housing, unsanctioned encampments stay a widespread and visual drawback, usually accompanied by rubbish, theft and open drug use.
For years, Breed and different metropolis officers stated their fingers had been tied by selections issued by the U.S. Court docket 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 out there.
The U.S. Supreme Court docket reversed that call in a pivotal June 28 ruling, saying that cities in California and the West could implement legal guidelines limiting homeless encampments on sidewalks and different public property.
On Thursday, citing the ruling, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an government 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 fast motion.
Breed, a fellow Democrat, has additionally embraced the ruling. She stated final week that, armed with the excessive courtroom’s choice, she’s going to spearhead a “very aggressive” effort to clear homeless encampments starting in August. She stated the trouble might embrace prison penalties for refusing to disperse.
Breed was not out there 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 choice to orchestrate sweeps was “not a well-liked” one however stated it was a mandatory step.
“We now 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 concern in another way than we have now earlier than.”
She stated town has labored over the past a number of years so as to add shelter beds and disperse outreach staff to supply companies and help. However even when outreach staff provide shelter, in response to the mayor’s workplace, these presents are rejected almost 70% of the time.
San Francisco has experimented with sanctioned tent cities in an effort to deal with the wants of its homeless inhabitants.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Instances)
Breed’s crackdown is prone to provide 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 legal professional, as a California liberal whose insurance policies have helped contribute to the surging homelessness and retail crime plaguing her house state.
However the Supreme Court docket’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 basis causes, together with dependancy and a dearth of reasonably priced housing. It’s a sentiment echoed by homeless advocates.
“This order received’t scale back homelessness or deter encampments, however it is going to go away susceptible individuals even farther away from house and well being than they’re right now,” 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, 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 considered one of a number of that metropolis officers have cleared repeatedly, solely to see it return days later. To date this 12 months, the encampment has been cleared greater than a dozen occasions, 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 concerning the homeless,” he stated. “They’re involved about eliminating us.”
