Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances emergency declaration to speed winter shelter capacity
Summary
The San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee advanced a resolution declaring a homeless shelter emergency to shorten procurement timelines and help place roughly 1,000 people off the streets this winter; an amendment adds a Feb. 15, 2018 sunset or earlier enactment by ordinance.
Supervisor Norman Yeechaired a Dec. 11 Budget and Finance Committee meeting that advanced a resolution declaring a shelter emergency to accelerate construction and contracting for temporary shelters and navigation centers.
Jeff Kositsky, director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), told the committee the city faces an acute homelessness crisis: "At the point in time count in 2017, we saw that 7,499 people were experiencing homelessness on any given night" and "in any given year, there's approximately 20,000 people, unique individuals who experienced homelessness in San Francisco." Kositsky said about 58 percent of people experiencing homelessness in the city are unsheltered and that the mayor set a goal to get 1,000 additional people off the streets this winter. He said the emergency declaration would cut project timelines roughly four to six months.
The Budget Legislative Analyst, Severn Campbell, noted an estimated renovation cost referenced for a related site and reminded the committee that the Administrative Code defines "emergency" narrowly but that the Board has discretion to declare an emergency. Campbell confirmed an amendment adding a sunset date had been introduced; Kositsky said the resolution would now sunset on Feb. 15, 2018.
Public commenters representing business and service providers spoke in favor. Jim Lazarus of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce urged unanimous approval and broader state action; speakers from Episcopal Community Services and St. Vincent de Paul described high bed occupancy, health outreach (including hepatitis vaccinations), and the role shelter and navigation centers play in connecting clients to services.
Supervisor Jeff Sheehy called the situation "an emergency" and moved to amend the resolution to include the sunset language and to forward the item with a positive committee recommendation to the full Board. The committee approved the amendment and voted to send the amended resolution to the Board for final consideration.
The committee's action advances an administrative tool intended to allow Public Works and HSH to procure and deploy shelter facilities faster; the amendment limits the resolution's duration pending any broader ordinance the Board may adopt.
Next steps: the amended resolution will be presented to the full Board of Supervisors at the scheduled committee report (Dec. 12) for final action.
