Dear Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Et. Al.,
This encampment has been in front of our homes for one month now.The encampment is now sprawled in front of two properties.
The people in this encampment were kicked out of the Safe Sleeping Area at 1515 South Van Ness run by Dolores Street Community Service. This organization regularly kicks their residents out of their site and they set up encampments across the street and in front of our homes. We plan to alert other communities not to allow these Safe Sleeping Areas in their neighborhoods because they encourage huge encampments.
This recent encampment has subsumed the fire hydrant on our block putting us at risk. People in the encampment have stolen PG&E signs from Horace and 26th and regularly block parking with them so they can store their stuff and park their own vehicle on the street adjacent to their encampment. They also steal Sunset Scavenger garbage bins. They own dogs that bark every time anyone walks by. They are a nuisance by any definition of the word.
The occupants in this encampment regularly do drugs in the open. Children live in one of the houses this encampment is in front of. Two nights ago a woman in the encampment overdosed and an ambulance had to be called.
San Francisco policy, and particularly the reckless policy of Hillary Ronen, has brought this dangerous health hazard into our neighborhood. Our community has, for years, been exploited by Ronen who has used the 1515 South Van Ness property to bring in people with severe addictions and mental illness to our community. The Lennar Corporation developers were set to build a 157 Unit housing complex that should have been completed in 2017 on this property. David Campos and, later, Hillary Ronen, delayed the project for years. In 2017, Hillary Ronen forced Lennar to use the property as a Navigation Center. We demanded a no-tent zone and Ronen agreed. Nevertheless, many people with severe issues were brought into our community and after cycling through the center, were forced out onto our streets. There were sporadic outbreaks of encampments, people regularly doing drugs in the open, and chop shops were set up on our sidewalks.
The Lennar project was effectively killed by Hillary Ronan and the property lay vacant until the beginning of the Covid shut down when, again, this site was exploited to hold 40 tents and 60 people (one of the residents of the Safe Sleeping Site told me that Ronen plans to expand the capacity). There was zero discussion with the immediate neighbors as to how the Site would be managed to protect our community. Since then, encampments have been rampant in our neighborhood. Safe Sleeping residents that do not follow the rules of the Dolores Street Community Services are thrown out onto public sidewalks to act out anyway they want. Hillary Ronen has made no attempt to alleviate this disruption in our community.
feces is regularly found on the sidewalk. It takes 12 to 24 hours after calling 311 to clean so we clean it ourselves as it's a health hazard to us and our neighbors
The people in this latest encampment regularly defecate on our sidewalks and throw their feces in our garbage bins. They leave out food on the sidewalk that attracts rats. The sidewalk near their encampment is constantly strewn with trash. They deal and do drugs in front of our houses and expose our children to horrible sights. The consequences of a Francisco policy that enables addiction, overdoses, and death are now played out in front of our homes, our families, and our children.
Diarrhea from person in the encampment left there for over 24 hours after calling 311
Hillary Ronen was alerted to the above encampment a month ago. She has now allowed the situation to get completely out of control. These are our homes, businesses, and apartments. Our taxes should be used to maintain our sidewalks and keep our neighborhood clean and safe. Our sidewalks should be reserved for public use, not privatized by San Francisco as sanctioned homeless shelters. No one in San Francisco should have this kind of health hazard forced on them by city policy and an inept supervisor. San Francisco has abandoned basic functions and duties of civic government: the right to clean and safe streets.
Sincerely,
Francesca Pastine
ps: There are many other encampments surrounding the Safe Sleeping Site and within a few blocks of it. There is one at 25th and Shotwell that has been there a few months; encampments at Capp and Shotwell have existed in that area for at least four years; an encampment at 24th and South Van Ness, directly under someone's bay window, has been there at least three months; and an enormous encampment that has devoured the sidewalk at South Van Ness between Cesar Chavez and 26th Street (across from the Safe Sleeping Area) has been there since 2020.
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