{"id":42839,"date":"2025-07-23T14:08:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T21:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42839"},"modified":"2025-07-23T14:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T21:08:16","slug":"why-is-san-francisco-delaying-geographic-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/why-is-san-francisco-delaying-geographic-equity\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is San Francisco Delaying Geographic Equity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0July 21, 2025 (BeyondChron.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Geographic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geographic inequity, July 10, 7:44 pm 300 block of Leavenworth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood has secured Board and mayor support for mandating \u201cgeographic equity\u201d in siting shelters. But why must the city wait until the law takes effect in January to impose equity? If everyone wants geographic equity, why not start now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inequity in Neighborhoods<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In San Francisco, geographic inequity goes beyond the concentration of services in a handful of neighborhoods. Rather, it involves the city\u2019s tolerance for behavior in the Tenderloin, Mid-Market, Sixth Street and parts of SOMA and the 16th<\/sup> and Mission area that is forbidden in most neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would bet that the scene on Leavenworth in the photo above has never occurrred along Clement, Chestnut or 24th<\/sup> Street in Noe Valley. It was allowed in the Tenderloin for several hours. Other than isolated cases,  the drug use, sidewalk blocking chairs and carts, trash and troubled behavioral health in the Tenderloin is prohibited in those other neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference is not because those selling or using drugs in these neighborhoods live nearby; rather, City Hall for years has sent a clear message that bad conduct will be tolerated in those communities but not others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the Tenderloin Business Coalition has long claimed that it is unfair for small businesses and property owners to pay the same taxes and fees in drug-filled neighborhoods as those operating in protected communities. Isn\u2019t that what geographic inequity is all about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024  Tenderloin families and businesses filed a federal lawsuit<\/a> charging San Francisco with maintaining the neighborhood as a drug containment zone. City Attorney David Chiu is vigorously disputing that San Francisco treats the Tenderloin differently from other neighborhoods. Last weekend it became clear that the SF Chronicle<\/em> Editorial Board agrees with the plaintiffs. Its July 19 editorial, \u201cS.F. Treats the Tenderloin Like a Containment Zone<\/a>,\u201d states: \u201cFor decades, San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods have served as de facto containment zones for the city\u2019s most pervasive social challenges: homelessness, open-air drug use and untreated mental illness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The many clear examples of targeted geographic inequity in a neighborhood\u2014the \u201cTenderloin\u201d Linkage Center, closing SIP hotels on Seventh Street but continuing their drug-promoting operation  in the Tenderloin, the distribution of drug paraphernalia in the  Tenderloin\u2014 are beyond dispute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ongoing Violation of New Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As part of its geographic inequity the city still funds shelters in converted tourist hotels at the Monarch (1015 Geary) and Adante (610 Geary) hotels that would violate Mahmood\u2019s legislation if they began after it kicks in. In January I asked \u201cWhy is SF Still Ignoring Geographic Equity<\/a>?\u201d I described how converting tourist hotels into shelters too close to each other promoted drug tourism. I backed the broader community in calling the city to stop leasing the Adante and the Monarch tourist hotels as shelters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both leases were up in March 2025. And the same HSH that claimed last week that it supports geographic equity pushed hard to renew both leases for five years. That\u2019s how little the agency cared about the harm it was causing the surrounding neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community pressure led the Lurie Administration to limit the lease extensions to one year. But the leases that promote sidewalk drug use and reflect geographic inequity continue. The city has not even installed ambassadors to limit sidewalk drug use nearby (See \u201cWhy Are San Francisco Sidewalks Still Drug-Filled?<\/a>\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So geographic inequity in the Tenderloin and Lower Polk continues. And while Supervisor Mahmood has brought the binding law that the city has long needed, it does not apply to the disparate treatment of various neighborhoods when it comes to sidewalk drug activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Key is Well-Run Programs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The best way to ensure neighborhoods benefit rather than suffer from shelters and similar services is to ensure well-run programs. When programs treat the surrounding community with respect, nearby residents and businesses have no problem. Placement of services has become such a big issue in San Francisco because too many nonprofit operators ignore the problems outside their building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofits avoid their responsibilities by saying that dealing with sidewalk drug activities is outside their mission and expertise. They see drug-filled sidewalks as solely a \u201cpolice matter.\u201d City agencies seem to agree, as nonprofit contracts do not  monitor conditions outside the building even when those conditions significantly impact residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the worst and most longstanding open air drug markets is outside the Mentone Hotel at Ellis and Jones. I\u2019ve never seen the nonprofit who runs the Mentone at a Tenderloin Business Coalition meeting. Nor do they publicly raise concerns about public safety outside the Mentone or elsewhere in the Tenderloin. The historic Cinnabar bar has been badly hurt by ongoing drug activities outside the Mentone. Shouldn\u2019t the city care?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofits obviously are not alone equipped to stop drug activities outside their properties. But they can work closely with police to address this. One reason I got so involved trying to clear drug activities near the Phoenix Hotel\u2014aside from trying to save a legendary business\u2014 is that the Elk Hotel that my organization runs is across the street. Our Elk managers put in countless hours working with the Tenderloin Captain to close the outside drug market. We routinely gave the police camera access to the sidewalk which made a huge difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the Elk is clear of dealers. It took the type of effort that city agencies should require of contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s well past time for City Hall to stop tolerating drug activities in certain neighborhoods. That\u2019s the only way to make neighborhood geographic equity real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to learn about the Tenderloin\u2019s rich history?  Pick up Randy Shaw\u2019s updated book, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. To support the Tenderloin Museum, buy the book at https:\/\/www.tenderloinmuseum.org\/buy-the-book<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<I>Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. <\/I><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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by\u00a0Randy Shaw\u00a0on\u00a0July 21, 2025 (BeyondChron.org) Geographic inequity, July 10, 7:44 pm 300 block of Leavenworth D5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood has secured Board and mayor support for mandating \u201cgeographic equity\u201d in siting shelters. But why must the city wait until the law takes effect in January to impose equity? If everyone… 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\/42839"}],"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=42839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42840,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42839\/revisions\/42840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}