Should each SF district be required to have a homeless shelter? Here's a new proposal
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A proposal is in the works that would take an entirely new approach to tackling homelessness in San Francisco, making each district build at least one shelter or behavioral health center.
It's a plan that's already drawing mixed reviews from San Franciscans ABC7 spoke with.
"This is a crisis that has to be addressed by the whole city in a collaborative, cohesive fashion," San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood said.
ABC7 spoke with him Thursday regarding future homeless shelters in one of the neighborhoods he represents, the Tenderloin.
MORE: SF to expand program that offers shelter beds to drug addicts if they accept treatment
"For too long, the Tenderloin, where we are right now, has borne the brunt of that responsibility for homeless services, Tenderloin, SOMA, Bayview, Mission," Supervisor Mahmood said. "And this legislation is basically putting a flooring and saying every district has to build at least one shelter or behavioral health center by June 2026."
Mahmood says that currently, there are no homeless shelters in four of San Francisco's 11 districts. Those include Districts 1, 7, 8, and 11. A requirement to build one in each would change that.
"I generally would be supportive of providing more resources for people," said Becky Caja, who lives in the area. "I feel like we are spending a lot of money, but clearly everything that we are doing isn't working, so I feel like we should try different solutions and find something that works to support this population."
Vlad Bets says he thinks this would help in the Richmond District.
"I always see homeless people or by the Inner Richmond somewhere around a gas station, it's pretty sad to see," Bets said.
MORE: Why does SF pay so much to address the unhoused crisis? We take a look
ABC7 also spoke to multiple people off camera in the Richmond District who were adamantly opposed to any plan that would force a homeless shelter in their neighborhood, and had big-time concerns.
"I just have to know about the securities and how they go about it and how that's going to impact the neighborhood," said Yoshimi Inukai. "And also, what does that mean to the people that live here? Is it going to lower the value of living here?"
"I am for having some place for them to bring them out of the streets, but I'm not sure this area is good for the shelter," said Atur Adamya.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie hasn't said if he supports this, but his press secretary issued a statement in regards to the idea, in part saying, "Our team has been implementing a data-driven strategy to identify the right sites to meet the needs of those in crisis on our streets, and we will continue working with Supervisor Mahmood and the entire board to build on that strategy."
While the legislation hasn't been formally introduced, Mahmood says that it will happen next week.
