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Amplified blare rousts Civic's homeless campers
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 5/2/12 | Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross, Chronicle Columnists

Posted on 05/02/2012 8:51:09 AM PDT by SmithL

Having tried everything else, the managers of San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium are blasting the overnight homeless off their doorstep with the high-decibel sounds of chainsaws, motorcycles and jackhammers - topped off with an aircraft carrier alarm.

The nocturnal bombast - which runs at a steady clip between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. - is broadcast through the Civic Center building's outside speakers.

"I thought it was the building alarm going off," said building manager Robert Reiter.

Concert promoter Another Planet Entertainment - which has been given exclusive rights to operate the auditorium - says it has no other choice.

"I'm just at a point where I don't know what else to do," said company Vice President Mary Conde.

Conde and her boss, Another Planet founder Gregg Perloff, say they've had "an enormous amount of complaints" about the homeless from people heading to and from events at Davies Symphony Hall and the War Memorial Opera House.

Homelessness, of course, has been a fact of life around the Civic Center for years. The debate over what to do with the homeless has been going on for just as long.

Lately, anywhere from 20 to 40 people have been spending their days lounging and sleeping in Civic Center Park - much to the frustration of the police, Recreation and Park Department officials, and the mayor's office.

The mayor's new homelessness chief, former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, tells us police and social service teams are doing their best to get the situation under control.

Another Planet simply used what it had on hand - "industrial" sounds taken off iTunes.

So far, it's been "tremendously effective," Conde said.

Not everyone, of course, appreciates the after-hour concerts.

"What s- behavior," said Oscar McKinney, a homeless man chased away from the building one recent night by the sounds of sirens and revving motorcycles

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; US: California
KEYWORDS: homeless; sanfranciscovalues

1 posted on 05/02/2012 8:51:16 AM PDT by SmithL
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To: SmithL
The mayor's new homelessness chief, former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, tells us police and social service teams are doing their best to get the situation under control.

Probably they are wringing their hands.

And how much does Bevan Dufty gets paid to deal with this problem? And which is larger, the number of homeless, or the number of public union employees in the department of homelessness?

2 posted on 05/02/2012 8:56:36 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: SmithL
The mayor's new homelessness chief, former Supervisor Bevan Dufty,...

Is this an elected position?

3 posted on 05/02/2012 8:57:11 AM PDT by Tenacious 1 (With regards to the GOP: I am prodisestablishmentarianistic!)
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To: SmithL

Being homeless would suck, but it doesn’t give them a license to camp out where ever they want. There are places they can go and they choose not to mainly because they would have to behave according to the rules of the places that provide them assistance. Can’t have that now can we? Maybe the fact that they won’t follow rules is one of the reasons they are homeless in the first place.


4 posted on 05/02/2012 9:04:15 AM PDT by Jack Burton007 (This is Jack Burton in the Pork Chop Express, and I'm talkin' to whoever's listenin' out there.)
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To: SmithL
"What s- behavior," said Oscar McKinney, a homeless man chased away from the building one recent night by the sounds of sirens and revving motorcycles

What's s - behavior is you and your homeless pals making places like San Francisco and Berkeley miserable places to visit because of your aggressive, loud panhandling,disgusting horrible smell, drunken behavior, peeing and defecating openly in the streets and parks and other public places. About time SF what took you so long? How about adopting these tactics in Santa Monica, another California city whose public spaces have been taken over by the homeless.

5 posted on 05/02/2012 9:05:16 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (The Road to Ruin is Always Kept in Good Repair)
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To: Tenacious 1
Is this an elected position?

Kind of -- she was 'elected'/appointed by the votes of several other homosexuals in the mayor's office.

6 posted on 05/02/2012 9:06:54 AM PDT by expat2
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To: SmithL

“Having tried everything else...”

####

....except actually enforcing the Law.


7 posted on 05/02/2012 9:07:49 AM PDT by EyeGuy (Non-Holder person.)
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To: SmithL
Turn the hoses on them 24/7. It doesn't have to be full force fire hydrant.

Just a couple of hoses out of tall buildings raining on them constantly.

8 posted on 05/02/2012 10:45:23 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist ("Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one," Jeremiah 50:31)
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To: SmithL

These people form a gauntlet around the library at times.
If the vagrancy laws were enforced people wouldn’t have to do this.


9 posted on 05/02/2012 12:39:14 PM PDT by Mr. Peabody
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