Dear Hillary Ronen, Et. Al.,
Here is the situation today in front of my house. Encampments have persisted on this block since 2016. Below is a letter with my concerns written on June 10, 2017. Nothing has changed. We have had persistent encampments throughout the 2017 Navigation Center, before the Navigation Center, after the Navigation Center, and now during the whole time that the Safe Sleeping area was forced onto the residents of this block.
The people you have put in charge of dealing with homelessness have failed-- for years. My neighborhood has to live every day with your failure. We have had enough. WE DEMAND THAT YOU REMOVE ENCAMPMENTS FROM OUR NEIGHBORHOOD-- NOW!!
Sincerely,
Francesca Pastine
Encampment in front of my house persists-- I took this photo today. This is the first thing I see when I leave my house in the morning.
illegal dump in front of my house this morning because, hey, why not, the whole blocks a dump anyway.
This encampment has now been in front of our homes, across the street from the safe sleeping site, since December 7, 2022
LETTER WRITTEN JUNE 10, 2017:
From: Francesca Pastine <fpastine@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 8:35 PM
Subject: homeless encampment on 26th and Shotwell
To: Quezada, Randolph (HOM) <randolph.quezada@sfgov.org>, Ronen, Hillary <Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org>, Kositsky, Jeff (HOM) <Jeff.Kositsky@sfgov.org>, SFPD Mission Station, (POL) <SFPDMissionStation@sfgov.org>, Hussey, Deirdre (MYR) <deirdre.hussey@sfgov.org>, Lee, Mayor (MYR) <mayoredwinlee@sfgov.org>, Laura Wenus <laura.wenus@missionlocal.com>, Gordon, Rachel (DPW) <rachel.gordon@sfdpw.org>
Dear Randy,
After our last email correspondence on June 9 regarding the homeless encampment on the SW side of the corner of Shotwell and 26th, the homeless there were asked to move and they complied. I appreciate the swift response, however, now they are on the NE side on Shotwell and 26th. I think this illustrates the intractable situation of tent encampments in which the Department of Homelessness and the city of San Francisco really don't have a clear strategy for dealing with. The individuals that moved across the street from the SW side are the same individuals who have been there for almost 10 months. Considering all the calls that were made to 311, I would deduce that these people were offered beds or services numerous times. The fact that San Francisco does not have a clear strategy to clean up homeless encampments, even after the people who are living there are offered services, is a real concern to me vis-a-vis the-120 bed proposed navigation center at South Van Ness and 26th.
The police were called yesterday by numerous neighbors after the encampment re-set up on the NE side of Shotwell and 26th. My husband and I talked with the officer and was given the same story that we always get when we talk with the police-- that the police have no power to do anything to move these encampments unless someone is being a danger to themselves or someone else or in the act of committing a crime.
I am enclosing the images of the current situation as well as a sidewalk garden in front of the garage on the NW side of Shotwell and 26th Street. That garage keeps these sidewalk plots very clean so this garbage accumulated in just a day. Obviously, these people do not have bathroom facilities and so are using peoples' side yards and Horace ally to defecate. They are cooking on the street. There is a woman in this group who has become very familiar to everyone in our neighborhood. She has obvious drug and mental problems and behaves erratically.
The one thing I have not heard from officials or from the Department of Homelessness literature is how the city plans to deal with the homeless population who does not submit to services. In Short, I am not convinced that our neighborhood will not suffer a negative impact from the proposed navigation center until the city decides that tent encampment will not be tolerated, especially if there are services and beds available. I don't think I am being unreasonable since I have been dealing with a city that has not been able to effectively clear this area of tent encampments since August 2016, particularly after my neighbors and I have put in an enormous effort into calling 311 constantly, calling and talking with the police, writing letters, going to meetings, etc. I am happy that San Francisco and the Department of Homelessness are putting money and resources into the problem of homelessness, however, I have yet to see that any of this has had any real effect on the streets in the Mission.
Sincerely,
Francesca Pastine
ps: images were taken today on the NE of Shotwell Street two houses down from my front door.
encampments in front of our homes, across the street from Navigation Center, June 10, 2017
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