The city of San Francisco posted notices it would sweep homeless encampments in the South of Market neighborhood beginning Tuesday night, but most of the encampments had largely cleared out before then.
Neighborhood groups say it’s only a matter of time before they return if the city doesn’t find a longer term solution soon.
Cat Montes leads a team at the nonprofit City Team SF, on the corner of Sixth and Natoma streets. They help feed the unhoused and low-income residents in the area. A walk-through with Montes on Tuesday showed open sidewalks and no impeding trash or tents. She said just the day before, city workers were seen scrubbing and powerwashing empty sidewalks after notices of an encampment sweep were posted.
Montes said the people cleared out before the sweeps began.
But cameras outside her organization caught groups of people congregating outside its doors Sunday. Montes said it’s a daily occurrence.
“Then it really got to the point where we had people sleeping on mattresses on our sidewalks and altercations with my staff and volunteers,” Montes said.
Montes said they’ll eventually return, and the neighborhood is left to deal with the same problems a few months down the line.
Neighborhood volunteers and residents told NBC Bay Area they have seen improvements to the area under Mayor Daniel Lurie’s administration. But they want to see more.
Chris Barnes works for United Playaz, which owns two buildings on Howard Street. He also volunteers to keep the alley next to their buildings safe for families and children.
“More enforcement, a lasting enforcement, not just we’re going to clean it today and this week, and then we’re done and they’re going to be back,” Barnes said.
Alex Ludlum is the executive director of SoMa West Community Benefit District. It works to improve the quality of life in the area by creating a cleaner, safer and more vibrant neighborhood. Ludlum has also lived in the area for roughly eight years. He said he’s seen better results under the new administration, but it’s still a rough neighborhood to be part of at times.
“You’re containing all the drug activity, all the unwanted behaviors to an area where there are many families,” he said, adding that he is open to any help at this point. “If the alternative is doing nothing, I’m certainly a fan.”
In July, Lurie axed his campaign promise to create 1,500 shelter beds by his first six months in office. Instead, the city’s Chief of Health and Human Services Kunal Modi wrote an op-ed saying in part, “The fact is: Someone sleeping on the street in San Francisco is likely also suffering from addiction or serious mental illness.”
Modi added they’re expanding programs to support people in the first 48 hours off the street, saying they need the right beds that are “connected to a system that serves their complex needs and helps them get better.”
Back at City Team SF, Montes hopes it works. For now, she and other neighborhood groups plan to hold a rally at 4 p.m. Wednesday that starts at the corner of Sixth and Natoma streets. They’re demanding drug-free sidewalks in SoMa. Montes said the rally was planned before the encampment sweep notices were posted.
Gia Vang
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