The board that monitors the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) will draft a statement demanding that the City of San Francisco stop illegally seizing unhoused people’s property and dwellings.
On September 5, the Homelessness Oversight Commission agreed to come up with such a resolution by their next meeting in October to present to officials at multiple City agencies. These departments include those that comprise the Healthy Streets Operation Center (HSOC) including the Homelessness, Police, Public Works and Emergency Management departments, among others.
The Coalition on Homelessness proposed that the commission urge them not to seize and destroy items essential for unhoused folks’ survival, such as identification, work tools, medical supplies and mobility devices. The Coalition, which is the homeless advocacy organization that also publishes Street Sheet, announced this proposal at a press conference at City Hall preceding the commission’s meeting.
This comes in the wake of the City’s ramped-up sweeps of street encampments and RV communities after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that their removal by local governments is not unconstitutional. Shortly after the ruling on Grants Pass v. Johnson, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California state workers to sweep encampments and encouraged cities to do likewise. Mayor London Breed also promised to be “very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments, which may even include criminal penalties” at a recent candidate debate.
This forceful approach ordered by Mayor Breed was captured by local media outlets that tagged along with police in recent enforcement efforts. The San Francisco Chronicle photographed one Mission District street dweller being arrested and ticketed by five officers after he replied “no” to one who asked, “You don’t want shelter, right?” The San Francisco Standard videotaped another encampment resident on the Central Freeway clinging onto his tent in vain as San Francisco Police Department officers and San Francisco Public Works crew members took it away.
The Central Freeway incident was just one of countless incidents where Public Works staff did not “bag and tag” property as per department policy. Instead, staff were seen seizing tents and other survival gear from unhoused residents. At the press conference, Coalition executive director Jennifer Friedenbach stressed that the department is clearly violating its own rules.
“They’re never supposed to take property out of people’s hands,” Friedenbach said. “And if someone’s not there and it’s unattended, they’re supposed to bag and tag it. So they really shouldn’t be throwing away items that are valuable to folks.”
These operations also target owners of the seized belongings for criminalization—especially when they’re Black or brown, Dyan Ruiz, a representative of the Race & Equity in All Planning coalition, noted. Black and Latinx people are five times and two times more likely, respectively, to experience homelessness than white people in San Francisco. Lately, she said, an increase of sweeps have also led to an increase in police checking for outstanding warrants.
“You can be cited, arrested, given a one-way ticket out of the city, and swept under the rug not by a broom but a police baton,” Ruiz said. “Homelessness means an increased exposure to law enforcement, and this disproportionately gets people of color.”
The Homelessness Oversight Commission unanimously decided at the meeting, upon advice from the City Attorney’s Office, to draft this communication to City departments in the form of a resolution, replete with “whereas” and “be it resolved” statements.
Commissioner Sharky Laguana told his fellow members that he heard that the City doesn’t always comply with its own rules and policies on sweeps. In particular, he noted that City workers don’t always give 72 hours’ prior notice posted near encampments or, upon arrival, allow residents 30 minutes to collect their belongings.
“Whatever the case may be, it is not helpful or productive to separate people from the essential items,” he said. “That’s going to perpetuate or exacerbate the existing problem.”
In the meeting’s public comment period, Coalition organizer River Beck praised the commission for its effort to push for City departments’ collaboration, especially in preserving unhoused people’s ID and other vital paperwork.
“If we can’t get HSH and HSOC to allow folks to retain their identifying documents, how can we get them housing?” Beck told the panel.
Meanwhile on San Francisco’s west side, another segment of the homeless population also faces seizure of their most valuable possession—their RVs. The Coalition’s presser also included vehicularly housed folk. According to the residents, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has been displacing families on wheels from streets along Lake Merced. SFMTA has evicted RV dwellers from Winston Drive in August, then again on Zoo Road.
Lucas Chamberlain, who has been living in an RV for five years, said residents were assured that they wouldn’t have to move until the City found a safe parking site or housing. Instead, SFMTA has deployed enforcement officers to ticket them for parking more than 72 hours. RV dwellers also risk having their vehicles impounded if they don’t register them on time, leaving them without any shelter.
“RVs are low-cost homes that come free to the City,” Chamberlain said. “Why would the City force me and my neighbors into street homelessness when we already have a home?”
Essential Items Often Swept Away
As the City conducts encampment resolutions, advocates for unhoused San Franciscans emphasize the importance of ensuring that items essential to an individual’s well-being are not lost, impounded or discarded. Loss of these items can make it harder for them to exit homelessness and worsen the problem. Following are examples of these essential items.
Vital records
Lost identification and vital records can take several months to replace and are often required to obtain housing and employment. Their loss can cause significant delays in someone’s ability to exit homelessness.
- Identification, including drivers’ license, passport and other government-issued ID
- Social Security card and Social Security-issued income and verification letters
- Birth certificate
Items necessary for employment
People who have recently become homeless for the first time are more likely to become chronically homeless if they lose their job and source of income.
- Work uniforms or other work clothing or shoes
- Work tools including for trades (e.g. wrenches, sound equipment, food delivery totes)
- Social Security card
Items of medical necessity
Many people rely on anti-psychotic and bipolar medication to help moderate their thoughts and behavior. Schizophrenia affects approximately 1% of the population, but it is estimated to affect 20% of the homeless population.
- Prescription and over-the-counter medications, including those used for mental health, substance abuse disorder, cardiac diabetic, allergy and other medical health
- Wheelchairs, walkers, canes, compression socks, clean bandages
Survival gear
The ideal temperature for sleep is 65°F to 68°F. Temperatures above 75° and below 54° can disrupt sleep. Lack of sleep can cause and/or exacerbate physical and mental health issues, and make it harder for an individual to exit homelessness. Proper sleep requires protection from wind, rain, dampness, sunburn, heat and particularly overnight cold temperatures.
- Blankets or sleeping bags
- Other items to stay warm and dry overnight
Food and water
In San Francisco, there are not many accessible public bathrooms that are open 24/7 nor are there adequate public sources for clean drinking water.
