Protest in SF tackles homelessness
http://www.sfexaminer.com/protest-tackles-homelessness/
The tent village on the border of SoMa and the Mission stretches for nearly a mile under the Highway 101 overpass. Its inhabitants range from weather-beaten men mumbling to themselves to women who could pass for soccer moms to a teenager who looks like he’s 15. I’ve lived a block away for nearly four years, my roommate has for eight years, and neither of us has ever seen it this bad. There’s been such a population growth in Tent Francisco (a name I just coined) over the past month or two that it’s almost like all the homeless from around The City are purposefully being pushed to this locale....
Word on the street is that police and the Department of Public Works have been pushing people toward certain areas — ahem, places out of sight of the Super Bowl 50 media — and they haven’t always been nice while doing it. One story repeated often is that the DPW will come by and say, “We’ll be back here tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. And if you’re still here, we will take your belongings.”
It’s hard to imagine someone being cruel enough to take away the few meager possessions of those who already have nothing. But then again, Supervisor Scott Wiener was just on record earlier this week suggesting our homeless neighbors have their tents taken away.
Yes, these are strange and cruel times in San Francisco. We let developers and corporations write our laws and let politicians pick on the most fragile members of our society. Back when Hizzoner Ed Lee said the “homeless have to leave” for the Super Bowl, I decided it was time to stand up for our houseless neighbors and reached out to COH to see if we can organize a protest.