San Francisco crews on Wednesday were making a sweep of homeless encampments in the city's Tenderloin district as advocates continued to criticize the city for not providing enough alternatives for unhoused residents.
Crews from the city's Department of Emergency Management cleared a total of 27 tents in the area of Willow and Polk streets early Wednesday, hauling off truckloads of broken furniture and various other items then power washing the sidewalks.
During the cleanup, other city staff were seen offering the unhoused residents shelter and instructions on what was happening.
San Francisco is focused on clearing encampments as August approaches because of a reference Mayor London Breed made a couple weeks back saying "effective in August, we are going to be very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments, which may even include criminal penalities."
The San Francisco Police Department, in line with that policy, issued a new directive Wednesday for enforcement. Read the directive from Chief Bill Scott here:
The unhoused residents involved Wednesday cooperated, though one tent took longer as police took some time waking up the tent owner. No citations were issued nor were any arrests made.
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The director of the operation, who has had decades of experience addressing homelessness in the city, said even with the recent Grant’s Pass decision from the Supreme Court, he is cautiously optimistic.
"From my perspective, very little is going to change," David Nakanishi said. "We were already doing enforcement to the best of our ability, but also doing that with a compassionate approach, so I think the tools for enforcement will increase slightly but not a huge amount."
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Nakanishi began his work with the city’s homeless back when Gavin Newsom was mayor.
On Wednesday, Gov. Newsom announced a $94 million budget for infill housing projects. He has also signed an executive order to streamline development.
According to city data, there are 793 permanent supportive housing units open; 398 are offline, in need of repairs, and another 229 are in the process of being filled. That leaves 166 available for use.
