James Reem lived in a tent on the corner of Fell and Baker streets for more than a year. An artist, he said he was evicted from his apartment after a dispute with his landlord and lived in a van at one point. After the van was towed away and he was given a tent, he turned onto the street.
His tent sits outside the city’s only DMV office, across the street from the Panhandle. Period architecture.
Rem, 59, said it was a comfortable place with sidewalks wide enough to accommodate his tent and leaving room for pedestrians. Sometimes Rem is one of a dozen or more tent dwellers on a stretch of concrete.
“A few of us stuck together,” Rem said.
“They don’t care about the homeless,” James Rehm said of San Francisco’s encampment clearance program. “They’re worried about getting rid of us.”
(Hannah Wiley/Los Angeles Times)
His neighborhood is one of dozens of sites that could be targeted, and Mayor London Breed has said the city will launch a tough campaign to force people off the streets in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June .
There are an estimated 8,300 homeless people in San Francisco. Despite years of efforts to move people into temporary or permanent housing, unsanctioned encampments remain a widespread and visible problem, often accompanied by litter, theft and open drug use.
For years, Breed and other city officials have said their hands were tied by rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers many Western states and has found cruel and unusual punishment for people living on the streets without Legal shelters are available.
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision in a key ruling on June 28, saying California and Western cities can enforce laws restricting homeless encampments on sidewalks and other public property.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom cited the ruling Thursday and issued an executive order requiring state agencies to dismantle encampments within their jurisdiction. While the directive does not require cities to follow suit, Newsom urged them to do so, describing the spread of encampments as a health and safety hazard that requires immediate action.
Breed, a fellow Democrat, also accepted the ruling. She said last week that she would spearhead a “very aggressive” effort to clear homeless encampments starting in August in light of the High Court ruling. That effort could include criminal penalties for those who refuse to disband, she said.
Breed was unavailable for an interview Friday, and her office has not yet provided details about the cleanup effort or where people living in tents are expected to be relocated. Her spokesman, Jeff Cretan, said some of those details will come into clearer focus next week.
During a July 18 mayoral debate hosted by the local firefighters union, Breed acknowledged that her decision to organize the sweep was “unpopular” but said it was a necessary step.
“We have to move from a compassionate city to a responsible city,” she said. “I’ve been working hard to make sure we address this issue differently than we have in the past.”
She said the city has been working over the past few years to add shelter beds and spread out outreach workers to provide services and support. But even when outreach workers offer shelter, those offers are rejected nearly 70 percent of the time, according to the mayor’s office.
San Francisco has tried to establish sanctioned tent cities to meet the needs of the homeless.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
As Vice President Kamala Harris ramps up her presidential campaign, Breed’s crackdown is likely to make headlines in San Francisco and contradict narratives promoted by conservative pundits. Her Republican opponents have long sought to paint Harris as a California liberal. Surge and retail crime issues.
But the Supreme Court’s decision proved divisive for local Democratic leaders in California. More left-leaning Democrats, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, said the decision would allow cities to criminalize homelessness without doing anything to address the root causes, including addiction and lack of economic support. Applicable housing. Homeless advocates echoed those sentiments.
“This order will not reduce homelessness or stop people from encamping, but it will keep vulnerable populations further away from their homes and health than they already are,” said Sharon Rapport, state policy director for the Corporation for Supportive Housing. said in an emailed statement.
It’s unclear whether San Francisco has enough shelter beds to accommodate the people who might be pushed off the streets. Since Breed took office, the city has expanded shelter beds from about 2,500 to nearly 4,000 and expanded permanent supportive housing to about 14,000 spaces, Breed’s office said.
The DMV encampment where Rem lives is one of several that city officials have cleared time and time again, only to reappear days later. The encampment has been cleared a dozen times so far this year, according to the mayor’s office.
Rem said he felt safer outside than in an emergency shelter and worried about his belongings being stolen. He said he would accept help from city staff. But he also said he thinks Breed’s plan is less about helping people like him and more about clearing out tents that make the general public uncomfortable.
“They don’t care about the homeless,” he said. “They’re worried about getting rid of us.”
