San Francisco mayor promises upcoming budget will prioritize cleaning up streets

Monday, December 16, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In almost every corner of the city, the need to clean up San Francisco's streets is visible.

Regardless of who you ask this is a multifaceted issue.

"I don't have all the answers as to why someone is homeless. People are from other locations who are here and not really residents," said Noor, a San Francisco resident.
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Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness says the homelessness crisis is seeing an uptick, "We have a situation in San Francisco where because of the housing crisis we've got a 30% increase in the number of homeless people. Folks are suffering out here."

During a press conference about improving street conditions, Mayor Breed said the upcoming budget will prioritize SF's street conditions.

"Homelessness, Mental Health SF, as well as people who are struggling with substance abuse disorder. Those will be our priorities because we want to make sure we change what people are frustrated over," said Mayor Breed.



A lot of the frustration is coming from business owners who according to the SF Chamber of Commerce are concerned about street care.
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"The Mayor was pretty clear that she's asking for every department and supervisor to declare that every spare dollar be spent towards our street conditions. The Chamber of Commerce is also going to rally as private companies to help out," said Rodney Fong, President and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Oracle recently announced that it will move its Open World conference to Vegas. One of the reasons: poor street conditions. According to the San Francisco Travel Association, losing this conference will cost San Francisco an estimated $64 million a year.

RELATED: Oracle moving its annual OpenWorld conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas

"People from all over the world come here and say this is remarkable please don't let it fall apart don't let it get ruined, just save it," said Joe D'Alessandro with the SFTA.

When we asked D'Alessandro if San Francisco was falling apart, he replied, "I don't think it's falling apart but I think it could if we are not careful and take bolder steps."

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