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Supervisors propose expansion and backfill of shelter-in-place hotels after FEMA pays retroactively
Summary
Supervisors introduced an emergency ordinance to keep and expand shelter-in-place hotel capacity, requiring 2,200 rooms be maintained over 60 days, backfilling 100% of rooms vacated and adding roughly 500 additional placements; the proposal follows a FEMA announcement of retroactive reimbursement.
Several supervisors on Feb. 9 introduced emergency legislation to expand and backfill the city's shelter-in-place (SIP) hotel program, saying new federal reimbursement guidance and ongoing COVID-19 risk make it essential to keep and broaden the program.
Supervisor Shamann Haney, the ordinance's lead sponsor, told colleagues that the city already houses about 1,850 people in SIP hotel rooms and that the new proposal would require the city to maintain a total of 2,200 hotel rooms, backfill rooms vacated by clients at a 100 percent rate, and make 200 to 300 more rooms available — a net capacity increase the sponsors said would allow at least 500 additional people to shelter in place during the 60-day emergency period.
"With the recent FEMA news that the federal government will reimburse 100% of eligible retroactive costs to January 2020, we have an unprecedented opportunity to protect hundreds more vulnerable homeless neighbors from COVID," Haney said.
Supervisor Ahsha Safaie's colleagues associated themselves with the proposal; Supervisor Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Ahsha Safaie both praised the program's ability to keep people safe during the pandemic. Supervisor Vallon Preston and Supervisor Aaron Peskin emphasized that FEMA's announcement reduces the program's fiscal risk: "FEMA's recent announcement that they will be retroactively paying for 100% of costs from our shelter in place hotel program from March 2020 through September 21 was incredible and very welcome news," Preston said.
The proposed ordinance (introduced as new business) would also preserve recent exit requirements for guests already in SIP hotels, meaning people in hotels as of the November cutoff could only be moved out if they secure housing, and would require the city to prioritize permanent housing placements for people who remain unhoused and are not already in SIP hotels.
Status: The item was introduced; the board did not vote on the ordinance at the Feb. 9 meeting. Sponsors requested the item be brought forward for committee and further action; multiple supervisors publicly cosponsored or signaled support.
Why it matters: Sponsors framed the expansion as a public-health and moral imperative, saying sheltering people off the street reduces COVID risk and creates pathways to permanent housing. They also pointed to FEMA reimbursement as a reason the city should accelerate backfilling and expansion.
Sources: Floor remarks by Supervisors Shamann Haney, Aaron Peskin, Vallon Preston and others during new business on Feb. 9, 2021.
