Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Drug Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mayor Lurie defends enforcement and treatment push as city addresses fentanyl and displaced encampments
Summary
At a March 11 special appearance, Mayor Daniel Lurie described enforcement, expanded treatment beds and a fentanyl state-of-emergency ordinance as components of the city's response to open-air drug markets and displacement into the Mission.
Mayor Daniel Lurie appeared at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' March 11 meeting to describe his administration's strategy for addressing open-air drug markets, fentanyl sales and displacement caused by enforcement operations.
Lurie said his administration measures success by residents' experience. "It means a family walking down Sixteenth and Mission feel safe," he said, and added success includes "clean, well maintained sidewalks" and small business owners who "feel confident that they can build and run their businesses day and night." He said interagency operations have targeted open-air markets at Jefferson Square Park and on Sixteenth and Mission, removing dealers, paraphernalia and trash.
Supervisor Fielder pressed the mayor on displacement from enforcement operations, saying recent activity at Sixth Street has pushed people "across the city, including to Sixteenth and Mission," and asking whether enforcement actions have been successful. Fielder said the board will hold a hearing on a four-pillars strategy—prevention/education, harm reduction, treatment and enforcement—that the city budget and legislative analyst recommended.
Lurie said enforcement is one component of a broader approach that must include more behavioral health and shelter capacity. He referenced the city's newly installed Department of Public Health director, Dan Tsai, and said his administration is "working to add beds across the continuum of care from shelter to locked behavioral health beds." He also thanked the board for supporting what he called the city's fentanyl state-of-emergency ordinance, saying the measure will allow the city to open "first responder friendly treatment sites" and streamline procurement and staffing for those sites.
Fielder told the mayor she supports measuring success by whether people are connected to treatment, shelter and recovery programs and urged the administration to "equally prioritiz[e] the other pillars" of the four-pillars model rather than leading principally with enforcement.
No formal vote or committee referral occurred during the mayoral appearance. The matter was discussed and filed at the conclusion of the special-order appearance.
