A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
originally published in the Street Spirit
Robin Silver first noticed the smoke from the Camp Fire early on Friday, November 9—the morning after the blaze broke out in Butte County. “I have asthma. I’ve had to use my inhalers twice as much as normal” said Silver, who has lived at First They Came For The Homeless—the homeless encampment on Adeline Street—since January.
But Friday morning was just the beginning of the smoke that settled over the Bay Area in late November,
All of us as San Franciscans have witnessed people in severe psychiatric crisis on our streets. For most of us, it just feels wrong, and we wonder if that is really necessary. It is not, and there are true solutions to the crisis. One intervention being considered is SB 1045. Senator Scott Wiener, with support from Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman passed a law in Sacramento that is a five-year, three-county pilot that would add a new form of detaining people with mental illnesses and removing their civil liberties.
After months of hard work, and with the support of countless people, we in San Francisco were able to pass Proposition C, a measure that will double funding for homeless folks and bring us closer to ending the crisis of homelessness in our city. But another initiative that San Franciscans fought hard for was Prop. 10, a statewide rent-control ballot measure that, if passed, would have repealed the Costa-Hawkins Act, allowing cities to impose their own rent control measures.
This fall, the Coalition on Homeless has been working hard to pass Proposition C and finally make systemic changes to address homelessness. Now that it has passed, I reflect on the years of work our collective put in to finally get here.
The history of Proposition C can go back decades, representing years of struggle, failure, victories, learning, building, crying until there were no tears to shed, of trying a new path.
On September 11th, the day before the Global Climate Action Summit conference brought world leaders together to strategize around climate change, Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru sent an email to his entire staff to prepare them for a long weekend of hard work.
“Our city will be in the the spotlight and our crews have been working around the clock to make sure that people have a good, positive experience here,” Nuru wrote.
The city is currently in court to resolve whether two voter initiative taxes on the June 2018 ballot required approval by simple majority or two-thirds of voters (Prop C/childcare and Prop G/teacher salaries). Proposition C, Our City Our Home, passed in November and received 60 percent of voter support but did not reach the two-thirds threshold. Its fate rests on the fate of the other two measures.
The California Supreme Court made a ruling that based on constitutional wording,
Wildfire smoke is hazardous and contains pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. When structures are burned one must account for incinerated plastics, chemicals, and other particulates as well. Adults with respiratory problems (such as asthma), diabetes, heart/lung problems, as well as small children and the elderly are especially vulnerable. Symptoms of smoke inhalation include headaches, sore throat, burning eyes, irritated sinus, runny nose, and cough.
Individuals should stay indoors whenever possible,
I was overjoyed to see that school board member and eviction defense attorney Matt Haney defeated Sonja Trauss and Christine Johnson (who, fun fact, accepted money from single-resident occupancy hotel owners suing the city to stop an ordinance that would prevent SRO conversion from going into effect) in the District 6 supervisor race.
Trauss and Johnson were backed by big money, and were endorsed by none other than Randy Shaw, executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and a non-profiteer who has benefited from Care Not Cash.
Too often those with homes walk by those without, with no acknowledgement, eye contact, or offer of support. The Street Sheet hopes to address this disconnect by providing a point of engagement between homeless individuals and their housed neighbors, who can also learn through the newspaper about ways to support the struggle to house all San Franciscans.
Charles Davis is a Street Sheet vendor who has really been able to use the Street Sheet to build bridges with the broader community.
We have seen what’s possible, and we can never go back to what was.
One could say that Proposition C – Our City, Our Home, began as a kind of quixotic imagining of possibilities, and, hopefully, if things worked out, much-needed increased funds for tackling the City’s homelessness crisis. A crucial ruling by the CA Supreme Court presented a window of opportunity that might not come again.
