Allowing people to live on city streets, especially people who are drug-addicted or suffering from mental health problems (or both), is just plain wrong. In so many ways.
I will expound on the details of my approach to homelessness elsewhere. But it starts with this – when I am mayor, the city will cease to allow this.
This means, at root, that if you are not from San Francisco, and can’t afford to rent a place to live in San Francisco, then you will need to go live somewhere else.
Now before you start calling me mean and heartless, you cannot deny that over the past years we have proven, conclusively, that we cannot house and shelter everyone that comes here. It’s too much, even for a city that spends $14 billion a year.
However, you will also hear me espouse the following – that I do believe that most voters will agree that we should try to look after our own fellow San Francisco citizens who are down on their luck and need some help. So we will certainly want to build an effective infrastructure to accomplish this.
But if you’re not from San Francisco, you will no longer be welcome to live on our streets. So you will need to either find housing, or leave.
Now I can already hear the outcry from homelessness advocates. So let me state that I believe we should try to be actually compassionate during this process. And I plan to seek input and collaborate with stakeholders as much as possible and practical.
For those who are truly unable to move away on their own, I can see covering the cost of transportation back to their home town, or to Portland (where they seem to like homeless people wandering the streets), or to Los Angeles (since its warmer there). I can also see giving them an expense stipend to defray the cost of meals and lodging along the way. And I can also see that when necessary we find a way for them to leave equipped with a week’s supply of the drugs they are addicted to, so that the trip is comfortable for them. It would be cruel to do otherwise. And also give them information on where to go for help when they arrive.