Whose responsibility is the care of that woman? He had been allowing her to camp under his awning for weeks. But she clearly needed more.
Where was SF government? California? The Federal government?
Who owns the sidewalk? The city? The adjacent landlord? The public?
Should she be allowed to camp, and block passage into his store?
Was he defending his property? Is that allowed?
These are the questions on my mind this morning...
I personally believe that people should not be allowed to camp.
I think we should have a right to shelter law and require campers to move indoors.
Hospitals, treatment centers, shelter and jail.
Those, I think, are the options.
The status quo is unsustainable.
Businesses are shutting down and leaving.
Nobody I know wants to go downtown.
Honest people trying to make a living are going bankrupt.
The homeless, rightfully so or not, have taken over downtown SF.
That man who sprayed down the woman...
How different were his actions than those of the property managers who hire power washers to clear the tents?
The companies pay thousands nightly to have the sidewalks hosed down.
That gallery owner used a hose himself. He went to jail.
Who is allowed to hose down the streets & who is not?
If you had someone camping in front of your home or business, what would you do?
San Franciscans are reaching a breaking point. Their patience has worn thin.
Who are the criminals and who are the righteous?
Are the homeless responsible for anything? Required to put their trash in the bin?
How many hundreds of millions do we spend every year cleaning up trash and needles in the gutter?
I wonder what our street cleaners think...
I am deeply concerned about San Francisco and have been for years.
The situation here is a humanitarian crisis, and it's unclear who is responsible for addressing it.
I don't see anybody making this situation their priority.
Our government looks asleep at the wheel.
The citizens and businesses are exasperated. Many are actively seeking to leave.
As leases come up and people move out, what will become of our city?
Is this what the hard left activists wanted? To reverse gentrification..?
Well, it's working.
Mission street between 16th and 24th is filled with boarded up windows and vendors selling stolen goods out front.
It looks like a developing nation, not the United States.
This is a shameful state of affairs, and I don't see a plan in place to address it.
I fear that San Francisco is on the brink of vigilantism.
When home values fall people will follow their natural urge to protect their families and net worth.
It is time for new solutions, or perhaps federal intervention.
The anarcho-tyranny needs to come to an end.
The worst part of all of this is the unnecessary suffering in our streets.
How many thousands come here, only to sink further into their addictions, followed by an early death?
When our city provides cash, needles & a lack of rule of law - is that actually helping anyone?
The strategy is called "harm reduction" - but the term sounds Orwellian to me.
All I see is harm.
I see harm to the individuals suffering from mental illness and addiction. I see harm to the businesses and property owners. I see harm to the spirit and soul of this city.
What happens to a society that turns a blind eye to such suffering?
When we drive around the bad neighborhoods, so that we can pretend it isn't happening?
Have we hardened our hearts? What does that do to our souls?
Seeking any and all insights...
Thank you for reading.
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I was at a dinner recently and someone shared a story about two men on the train giving up their seat for a woman. The men then started discussing their support for Trump.
"Ha!" Someone across the table proclaimed.
"A chivalrous Trump supporter! What an oxymoron!"
I felt my blood boil a bit. Should I say something? I decided to say something.
"You know," I replied, "a lot of people believe Conservative men are actually more chivalrous than Democrat men."
The table looked at me in shock.
"How?!" The original speaker asked.
And I then began to explain how there are more to women's rights than just the right to get an abortion.
I gave a few examples -- the right for little girls to be in a locker room without men.
The right to be safe in the streets at night.
The right to channel feminine energy -- and not be expected to act like a man.
I have long believed that the power balance in San Francisco politics would not flip Moderate until there is a significant loss in residential real estate.
This is now underway.
Residential values are down 17% from the peak, compared to 3% nationwide.