London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, is tired of homeless people pooping on the streets and says they need to “have respect for the community — at least, clean up after themselves.”
In one of her first interviews since taking her new office, the 43-year-old mayor addressed the issue of homelessness in the city along with sanitary issues that seem to be going hand-in-hand.
"I work hard to make sure your programs are funded for the purposes of trying to get these individuals help,” Breed said. “What I am asking you to do is work with your clients and ask them to at least have respect for the community — at least, clean up after themselves and show respect to one another and people in the neighborhood."
Breed didn't mention any penalty for those who relieve themselves in public spaces, but encouraged nonprofits "to talk to their clients, who, unfortunately, were mostly responsible for the conditions of our streets."
NBC’s Bay Area branch did an investigative survey of around 153 blocks of downtown San Francisco and found trash on all 153 blocks, feces on 96 blocks, and used needles on 41 blocks.
People have expressed some strong opinions about the state of San Francisco.
Nancy Pelosi, John Legend, Kamala Harris & Maxine Waters; while you're fighting for Illegal Alien children living in detention centers, there's thousands of homeless American children living in your own state of CA where the streets are infested with Feces.https://t.co/8nShtfp3sU
— Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) July 8, 2018
Well considering that the median rent in San Francisco is $3,590.00 a month, it's no wonder you have such a high homeless rate. Your liberal view of tax the people with a little money to death has gotten you where you are. That said, you might try putting in public restrooms.
— scott palmer (@scottpalmer1776) July 16, 2018
There's one thing everyone agrees on- there are too many homeless people in #SanFrancisco. #Socialists want to ramp up policies that put homeless there in the first place: high taxes, high minimum wages, rent controls,& burdensome regulations. Go figure https://t.co/geSc43GYUg
— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) July 16, 2018
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city spent $275 million on supporting and finding housing for the homeless in the 2017 fiscal year which was up $31 million from the year before, but it hasn't done much to curb the problem.
The city does a homeless census every two years. As of 2017, the homeless population in San Francisco dropped by 0.05% from 7,539 in 2015 to 7,499.