Jane Warner Plaza: the sight of the controversy
Posted on 01/22/2012 8:33:14 PM PST by SmithL
All those new plazas and “parklets” across the city may seem downright adorable, but they’re the unlikely new hotspot in the never-ending battle over the city’s homeless policy.
Supervisor Scott Wiener’s legislation crafting rules for Jane Warner Plaza and Harvey Milk Plaza — both at the intersection of Market and Castro streets — seemed pretty vanilla at first. But let’s face it, nothing’s vanilla in this town.
The idea was to set some guidelines for the plazas which are in a sort of no-man’s land because they’re not technically parks, streets or sidewalks, all of which are governed by different city codes.
Highlights of Wiener’s legislation include banning sleeping at any time in the plazas; prohibiting camping, cooking or creating any kind of shelter; banning the selling or bartering of any merchandise without a permit; and prohibiting four-wheeled shopping carts. Also, plaza goers couldn’t smoke.
Violations would be an infraction with a maximum fine for repeat offenders of $500.
“It’s very clearly anti-homeless legislation,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, who is organizing a big turnout to decry the proposal at Monday’s land use committee meeting.
So which parts does she especially hate?
“Pretty much everything,” she said. “Except the smoking.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.sfgate.com ...
Jane Warner Plaza: the sight of the controversy
I went to SF a year ago. I was downtown and I walked by a doorway to a 8 story building. A “homeless POS” was taking a dump at 10:30 AM in full view of passerbys. Nice!
So the director of the Coalition on Homelessness is okay with derelicts pooping, engaging in sodomy, sleeping or selling drugs on the sidewalk just as long as they don’t smoke?
If I was a Bill Gates type eleventy-billionaire, I would send busses through every city in America, and pay any homeless person 500 dollars to board the bus. It would be a one way trip to Berkely
Been to Silicon Valley a couple of times. Believe me, they have the dough for it but you know liberals...they are lying hypocrites especially the rich white ones.
My wife insisted we visit SF when we were vacationing in Northern CA 5 years ago. I had been to SF 3 times prior to our vacation and recommended against it. She insisted. We stayed in a Marin County hotel and ferried over to the city. It took approximately two hours and all she wanted to do was get back on the boat and head back. She later remarked that the city name San Francisco would forever remind her of the stench of human urine. Needless to say we will avoid SF like the plague in the future.
Visitors are probably the lucky ones...people that actually live in the city...have a daily dose of urine to deal with. I suspect the growing attitude in the city is anti-homeless, and I’d even go as far as predicting that they will lock-up or force the homeless to leave the city within a decade. You can go around DC and see the same general attitude.
I think busing them to Washington, DC is far more appropriate.
Surely that city is well equipped to deal with an influx of people with their hand out. Those who get drunk & make an ass of themselves should fit right in. Urinating IN public is not much different than urinating ON the public. Not to make light of mental illness, but mentally ill people are historically very successful in WDC.
They have to have SOME values and standards, doncha’ know?
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