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Supervisor Mar reintroduces "Place for All" shelter-for-all ordinance, calls for rapid implementation plan
Summary
Supervisor Mar reintroduced an updated 'Place for All' ordinance March 22 that would require a citywide plan and expanded shelter capacity to house those experiencing unsheltered homelessness, including a three-month implementation timeline and a three-year target to achieve shelter-for-all goals.
Supervisor Mar reintroduced a revised ‘‘Place for All’’ ordinance during roll call on March 22, calling for the city to make shelter-for-all a stated policy and to produce an implementation plan with specific targets and costs within three months.
Mar said the ordinance would require the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to prepare, within 90 days, an implementation plan to achieve shelter for everyone willing to accept it within three years. The plan must estimate how many people on the street would accept shelter, the capital and operating costs, and annual operating expenses once the program is fully operational.
Why it matters: Mar framed the proposal as a response to an escalating unsheltered population and rising mortality among people living on the street. She cited a Bay Area regional analysis indicating the region is under-sheltered and suggested San Francisco likely needs at least 2,000 additional shelter beds to align with a 1:2:4 funding framework used by regional planners.
Mar told colleagues the city cannot ‘‘continue to allow our streets, sidewalks and other outdoor spaces to serve as the waiting room for housing’’ and that people living unsheltered are getting sicker and dying at higher rates. Under the proposed ordinance, the controller would be required to evaluate implementation every two years.
Board reactions: Mar said the ordinance had cosponsors (Haney, Melgar, Stephanie and Mandelmann were listed as cosponsors during remarks). She noted the city will need state and federal support but said the city must take immediate action to expand exits from shelter and align resources to resolve encampments when shelter options are available.
Next steps: Mar said HSH must continue to estimate annual shelter demand and the controller will evaluate implementation biennially. She asked the board to consider the ordinance as the first step toward a sustained effort to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
Ending: Mar said the legislation is a ‘‘first step’’ and that the board should pursue it to provide immediate relief to neighborhoods and unhoused residents while pursuing longer-term permanent supportive housing.
