upper waypoint

SF Mayor Defends Decisions on Homeless Care Amid Pandemic

Save ArticleSave Article
Failed to save article

Please try again

San Francisco Mayor London Breed defended her progress on housing the homeless, saying city and county officials are moving as fast as they can to house residents vulnerable to COVID-19.

Five San Francisco supervisors, as well as homeless advocates, are holding a press conference on Tuesday “denouncing Mayor Breed’s refusal to implement a new law requiring the City to procure 8,250 hotel rooms to protect vulnerable San Franciscans.”

Speaking on KQED's Forum Tuesday morning, Breed clarified that she is not refusing to comply with the law, but that the situation is more complicated.

“I’m not standing against the law that they passed ... it’s not realistic to think that we’re going to be able, within a couple of days, to staff up 8,000 hotel rooms,” Breed said.

She said the city is working to provide trained staff for hotels and has, so far, placed 1,000 homeless residents in hotel rooms.

Sponsored

“The problems that existed with our population around, sadly, substance-use disorder and mental illness, they don’t just go away because there’s a pandemic,” Breed said. “And so we have to make sure that we are not only keeping ... the homeless folks that we are trying to help and support safe, we have to make sure that we’re taking care of the folks that we expect to work with them.”

— Michelle Wiley (@MichelleEWiley)

lower waypoint
next waypoint