Dear Ronen, et. al.,
Below is a letter written by an acquaintance regarding a recent outside fire on Mission and 16th. This is the epicenter of encampment fires (see above link). On my Street, we have huge encampments abutting the BW garage on Shotwell and 26th, another enormous encampment that abuts a house on 25th and Shotwell, and yet another huge encampment that spans almost two properties on the other side of the BW building on Shotwell and 26th. This particular encampment has swallowed up the fire hydrant.
One of these encampments has persisted for two months, the other has been there for over a month, and one just went up tonight. All of the encampments are within a block of the Safe Sleeping Area. When the Safe Sleeping Area went in over a year ago, Paul Monge from your office promised us the tents would be inside the site, not on our sidewalks. Well, that was a lie.
Allowing large and dangerous encampments to exist demonstrates a complete disregard for the safety and well being of your constituents. All of these encampments pose a fire hazard. All of these encampments endanger the health of residents as they are stressful to live next to and generate unhealthy conditions. They are the epitome of urban blight-- and worse, they are city sanctioned slums that are put in low-income, POC, and immigrant neighborhoods that are already under-served and stressed. They are loud, have barking dogs, regularly pile their trash up on our curbs, and the unmasked people who live in them have no regard for Covid restriction. The Mission has always been a hot-spot for Covid, and day laborers and homeless now crowd each other on the corners of 26th and Shotwell.
Attached are the current conditions at the corner of Shotwell and 26th.Yet again, there is trash piled up right next to the filthy and poorly managed Safe Sleeping Area. It is shameful, it is a complete dereliction of your elected office, and it is no less than criminal negligence. It's a disaster waiting to happen. There has already been deaths by fire associated with these encampments. Like the hundreds of people who have died from your failed drug policies, their blood is on your hands. If something happens to one of my neighbors because of your complete abandonment of any responsibility to the people who live in this neighborhood, know you are directly responsible for that harm.
Francesca
LETTER TO MANDELMAN FROM CAROL YENNE ABOUT RECENT FIRE ON MISSION AND 16TH.
From: Carol yenne <cyenne@sbcglobal.net> Date: 2/3/22 12:09 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Rafael Mandelman <rafael.mandelman@sfgov.org>, Jacob Bintliff <jacob.bintliff@sfgov.org>, Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org, "Breed Mayor London (MYR)" <mayorlondonbreed@sfgov.org>, London.Breed@sfgov.org, "Breed Mayor London (MYR)" <mayorlondonbreed@sfgov.org> Subject: Fire on 16th/Mission last night. When I woke up to the news report of the fire at16th/Mission it made me sick. The fire department reported this fire was believed to have started outside the building that has now put 13 families out of their apartments. Neighbors have been complaining for months about the tent dwellers who have been setting fires, dealing drugs, selling stolen merchandise on the sidewalks all over the Mission including on 16th/Mission. As recently as this week an enormous 15 foot high bbq fire was observed at 19th/Mission and called into the fire department for fear it would spread to a building adjacent to the outdoor bbq. Why don’t we have the political gumption to demand the enforcement of the laws on the books that don't allow people to live on sidewalks next to buildings when, at the same time, there is gobs of money being thrown at navigation centers to house people? If people are too belligerent or mentally ill or drugged out to accept housing offered and chose a life style on the street that is tolerated by you all, then the message is law abiding citizens don’t matter in San Francisco. This is nuts. Carol Yenne
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