{"id":28955,"date":"2023-10-09T11:44:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T18:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28955"},"modified":"2023-10-09T11:44:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T18:44:22","slug":"where-do-san-francisco-mayoral-candidates-stand-on-drugs-and-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/10\/09\/where-do-san-francisco-mayoral-candidates-stand-on-drugs-and-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Do San Francisco Mayoral Candidates Stand on Drugs and Homelessness?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by\u00a0David Sjostedt<\/a>Updated at\u00a0Oct. 06, 2023 \u2022 (SFStandard.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A composite image shows San Francisco mayoral candidate Daniel Lurie, left, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, center, and San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safa\u00ed. All 3, among others, will run for mayor San Francisco in 2024. | Source:The Standard<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race to become San Francisco\u2019s next mayor is still in its early stages, but that hasn\u2019t stopped candidates from trading barbs over their plans to solve the city\u2019s most pressing issues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the same day last week, Levi Strauss heir and nonprofit founder Daniel Lurie announced his run for mayor<\/a> as Mayor London Breed publicly proposed a controversial policy<\/a> that would force people on welfare<\/a> to undergo drug screenings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dueling conferences marked the beginning of a 2024 race that\u2019s likely to be hyper-focused on the city\u2019s drug<\/a> and homelessness crises<\/a>. And in a subsequent press release, Lurie accused Breed\u2019s office of \u201cheadline chasing”; Breed\u2019s office hit back in a statement to The Standard saying, \u201cLet\u2019s hear the ideas.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daniel Lurie holds a press conference at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House in September after filing paperwork officially announcing his candidacy for the November 2024 election. | Source:Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each candidate has their own history of trying to tackle the issues. Breed ran her 2018 mayoral campaign <\/a>on ending long-term street encampments and providing safe spaces to inject drugs. Lurie founded a nonprofit with a focus on addressing homelessness. Supervisor Ahsha Safa\u00ed, another mayoral challenger, drafted legislation last year that led to the creation of the city\u2019s Homelessness Oversight Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But where do the city\u2019s most prominent mayoral candidates\u2014Lurie, Breed and Safa\u00ed\u2014stand on drug and homelessness policies? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safe-Consumption Sites<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco has long toyed with the idea of creating facilities that would allow people to use drugs under the supervision of people trained to reverse overdoses. Many drug policy experts have touted the benefits of such sites, asserting they reduce public drug use<\/a> and overdoses. It\u2019s unclear whether the general public is convinced<\/a>, however. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mayor London Breed speaks at a press conference in Portsmouth Square in Chinatown. | Source:Juliana Yamada for The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Breed advocated for safe-consumption sites during her 2018 mayoral campaign, but amid legal uncertainty, she has shied away from allowing the city to fund the facilities. In a statement, Breed\u2019s campaign said she would allow a nonprofit to fund and open a safe-consumption site independently, but she is awaiting guidance from the federal government before allowing the city to finance such a facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safa\u00ed told The Standard he supports opening safe-consumption sites, but he envisions them working in coordination with sober living facilities and other treatment options. He pointed to his work with the Adult Probation Department to create sober living programs<\/a> for people leaving jail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie differed from the other candidates on the issue, telling The Standard that he wouldn\u2019t support opening such sites.<\/a> In a statement, Lurie suggested they would lure \u201cdrug tourism\u201d to the city and said he would instead focus on \u201cshutting down open air drug markets and getting everyone sheltered.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shawn and Melissa Holbrook, who\u2019ve been married 17 years, wait in line for services outside a safe-consumption site and service triage that operated in San Francisco for 11 months. | Source:Camille Cohen\/The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Encampment Clearings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In December, a local advocacy nonprofit called the Coalition on Homelessness brought a lawsuit accusing San Francisco of violating the constitutional rights of homeless people by destroying their property without offering shelter. U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu, the judge in the case, sided with the coalition and issued a preliminary injunction restricting the city from enforcing laws prohibiting people from sitting, lying or camping in public spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of whether or not the city should clear encampments has since taken center stage. Advocates decry the adverse impact encampment sweeps have on homeless people, and the city has argued it must use enforcement to compel some people into shelter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Department of Public Works employee prepares to bulldoze an unoccupied tent during an encampment clearing. | Source:David Sjostedt\/The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Breed has taken a hard stance against the injunction, calling it ridiculous and saying it has hampered the city\u2019s ability to improve street conditions. In a statement to The Standard, Breed\u2019s campaign said she supports enforcing anti-camping laws when people have access to shelter and is looking to broaden the city\u2019s ability<\/a> to enforce such laws. She proposed funding for 600 new shelter beds<\/a> during this year\u2019s budget deliberations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safa\u00ed told The Standard he thinks the mayor has used the injunction as an excuse for the city\u2019s street conditions. Safa\u00ed said he would focus on building up the city\u2019s supply of shelters with private living quarters, but he maintained that the city should enforce anti-camping laws against people who decline shelter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safa\u00ed appears at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Meeting at City Hall on July 11. | Source:Isaac Ceja\/The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lurie also said the injunction is being used as an excuse for the city\u2019s failure to set up sufficient shelter beds. He vowed to create the beds necessary to \u201cempathetically\u201d clear encampments and even suggested using opioid settlement funds to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Drug Use<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the city grapples with a deadly overdose crisis, public drug use has also placed an enormous burden on residents and business owners in parts of the city\u2019s Downtown core. However, some experts believe that criminalizing drug use can lead to more fatal overdoses because people with addiction will be forced into hiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent months, Breed has taken a hard stance on the issue, saying during a public hearing in May that \u201ccompassion is killing people\u201d and thereafter announcing a law enforcement initiative intended to compel people into treatment<\/a> and deter them from using drugs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safa\u00ed said he would prioritize arresting drug dealers, but he supports citing people if they are caught persistently using drugs in public. \u201cThey should be encouraged, compelled and directed toward treatment,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if they continue to break the law, they are going to get citations for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie said he supports enforcing public drug use laws, but if elected, he would seek to reinstate the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program<\/a>, which allowed police to refer drug users directly into treatment as an alternative to punitive measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three candidates agreed the city needs to expand access to drug treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Sjostedt can be reached at david@sfstandard.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by\u00a0David SjostedtUpdated at\u00a0Oct. 06, 2023 \u2022 (SFStandard.com) A composite image shows San Francisco mayoral candidate Daniel Lurie, left, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, center, and San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safa\u00ed. All 3, among others, will run for mayor San Francisco in 2024. | Source:The Standard The race to become San… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1178],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28956,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28955\/revisions\/28956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}