San Francisco hearing spotlights complaints, family grief and oversight gaps at 111 Taylor Street reentry center

San Francisco supervisors heard anguished testimony and sharp disagreement on Nov. 6 as the Government Audit and Oversight Committee examined long‑running complaints about living conditions, oversight and civil‑rights concerns at 111 Taylor Street, the residential reentry center operated by GEO Group.

Chair Supervisor Jackie Fielder convened the hearing after community complaints and testimony about the July 2025 death of Melvin Bulawan, who family members say told them he was "anxious" and "scared" days before he was found dead near the facility. "I'm anxious," Bulawan told his son, "I'm scared. I'd rather go back to jail than stay here," his son Andrew testified during the hearing. Andrew said he called the facility repeatedly seeking a wellness check and that staff hung up before he could finish a sentence.

The Nut Graf: The committee gathered city departments, federal probation and pretrial officials, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, GEO Group representatives and more than three dozen public commenters to weigh competing accounts about whether Taylor Street functions as a community reentry program or, in practice, a carceral site. Testimony ranged from data on the city's reentry programs to first‑person accounts of alleged poor food, restricted movement, and retaliation. Supervisors voted to continue the item to the call of the chair so the committee can review records and hear additional stakeholders.

What of…