San Francisco supervisors concur in mayoral emergency declaration on Tenderloin overdoses; 8-2 vote

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8–2 Dec. 23 to concur in Mayor London Breed’s Dec. 17 proclamation declaring a local emergency to address a surge in drug overdoses in the Tenderloin, enabling city officials to accelerate hiring, contracting and a short-term “linkage” site intended to get people off the street and into care.

The action, approved after a contentious, hourslong public hearing and debate, gives the mayor and the Department of Emergency Management additional authority to organize a coordinated response. The tally was 8 ayes, 2 noes — Supervisors Preston and Walton voted against the concurrence.

Why it matters: The city has reported a rapid rise in overdose deaths and fentanyl involvement; supervisors and city officials said the proclamation is intended to cut bureaucratic timelines so the city can quickly stand up services in the Tenderloin and expand behavioral-health staffing. Critics said the mayor’s public rhetoric about policing and threats of arrest raised concern that the declaration could be used to criminalize people who use drugs rather than expand care.

Officials’ outline and the board’s decisions Department of Emergency Management Director Mary Ellen Carroll told the board the proclamation is meant to let city departments reallocate staff and material resources quickly and to shorten procurement and hiring timelines for a temporary linkage center and other services. “This declaration specifically allows for us to do three things,” Carroll said in the hearing.

Carroll and other city officials said the change could dramatically shorten timelines — for example, cutting the time to stand up a linkage…