{"id":40670,"date":"2025-03-29T12:31:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T19:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=40670"},"modified":"2025-03-29T12:31:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T19:31:24","slug":"at-tenderloin-town-hall-mayor-supe-and-policy-chief-are-in-lockstep-clean-up-the-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/03\/29\/at-tenderloin-town-hall-mayor-supe-and-policy-chief-are-in-lockstep-clean-up-the-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"At Tenderloin town hall, mayor, supe and policy chief are in \u2018lockstep\u2019: Clean up the streets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A by\u00a0MARINA NEWMAN<\/a><\/strong> March 28, 2025 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Mayor Daniel Lurie was interviewed by St. Anthony\u2019s Foundation CEO Dr. Larry Kwan on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at St. Anthony\u2019s Foundation in the Tenderloin. Photo by Marina Newman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Comic<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The top city officials in charge of the Tenderloin told an invite-only crowd gathered at St. Anthony\u2019s Foundation on Thursday evening that they agreed on one goal: To clear the streets of drug users, drug dealers, and homeless people by expanding the amount of available shelter beds<\/a> across San Francisco by 1,500. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a great partnership,\u201d Mayor Daniel Lurie said as he addressed the town hall organized by St. Anthony\u2019s Foundation, a Franciscan organization that serves the Tenderloin\u2019s homeless population. Standing beside the mayor were District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood and Lurie\u2019s policy chief of health, homelessness and human services, former McKinsey<\/a> partner Kunal Modi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are going to be working very closely together, so you should be reaching out to Mahmood with your concerns as much as you are reaching out to us,\u201d the mayor said during an hour-long interview and Q&A. \u201cWe are in lockstep, we\u2019re listening, working with you all.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"
Tenderloin residents raise their hands when asked by Dr. Larry Kwan at the Thursday town hall meeting on March 27, 2025, \u201cHow many of you work in the Tenderloin?\u201d Photo by Marina Newman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Much of the audience of about 50 people, which included nonprofit heads, parents, and community leaders, received the San Francisco leaders with open arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie promised on the campaign trail to add 1,500 beds, but has redefined and expanded the definition of a shelter bed to include a broad listing of treatment beds<\/a>. The push to expand available beds, and redefine what a bed is, is part of Lurie\u2019s campaign goal to end street homelessness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need the right types of beds,\u201d said Modi when asked what they will do to address the mental health needs of homeless people in the neighborhood. \u201cWhen we talk about expanding our housing capacity, it\u2019s not just the next bed that\u2019s available, it\u2019s the right bed to get people the care they need. That includes beds that will have a treatment and clinical model.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie has been filmed and photographed across San Francisco personally catering to those on the streets, including by handing out business cards<\/a> at 16th and Mission streets. He held a similar meeting<\/a> with neighbors of the BART plaza last week, also promising change and saying conditions remained \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mayor Daniel Lurie (left) stands beside policy chief of health, homelessness and human services Kunal Modi (right) on Thursday, March 27, 2025 at St. Anthony\u2019s Foundation, as they answer questions from the audience. Photo by Marina Newman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, Lurie described leaving his vehicle three times over the course of the town hall to ask a homeless person or drug user on the street why they were there and how he could get them a bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am jumping out of my car when I see someone in the middle of the street, or at a median, struggling,\u201d said Lurie. \u201cI\u2019m getting to know these people, saying, \u2018This is not okay for you to be here, it\u2019s not okay for the families who have to walk around you using drugs openly, this is unacceptable. How can we get you into treatment?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then went on to describe chasing after another man, with his security detail in tow, when the man he approached did not at first respond to his efforts to help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI left City Hall, and was on my way to Chinatown, when again, I jumped out of my car when I saw a man lying on the street. I asked him, \u2018Are you okay? You can\u2019t be lying here on the street. How can we help?\u2019 He ranted and ran away, and my security guard and I followed him, and called SFPD.\u201d Lurie then clarified, \u201cNot to arrest him, to get him the help he needs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Del Seymour, a former drug-user and dealer, now the founder of Code Tenderloin<\/a> and the neighborhood\u2019s self-proclaimed \u201cmayor,\u201d was the only audience member to express concerns with Lurie\u2019s methods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Del Seymour, otherwise known as the Mayor of the Tenderloin, comments on Mayor Lurie\u2019s scaling back of harm reduction programs at the Tenderloin town hall meeting at St. Anthony\u2019s Foundation on March 27, 2025. Photo by Marina Newman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He questioned Lurie\u2019s scaling back of harm-reduction programs in favor of an abstinence-first approach. \u201cThere are a lot of people who aren\u2019t in this room today,\u201d observed Seymour, \u201cand those are harm reductionists. We have to treat people. Abstinence won\u2019t do that for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UCSF doctors on a Thursday panel agreed that depriving drug users of medications like methadone, which is used to treat opioid addiction, could be deadly<\/a>. The World Health Organization recognizes methadone as an essential medicine to use against opioid dependence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe in science, and we\u2019re going to follow the science,\u201d said Modi. \u201cSomething\u2019s not working, and we have to try new approaches if that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0MARINA NEWMAN March 28, 2025 (MissionLocal.org) Read Mission Local often? Help grow our newsroom, joining the hundreds of San Franciscans who support us by giving below. Donate today! The top city officials in charge of the Tenderloin told an invite-only crowd gathered at St. Anthony\u2019s Foundation on Thursday evening that they… 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":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40670"}],"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=40670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40671,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40670\/revisions\/40671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}