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Call SF Supes to House Homeless & Stop Bus Fare & Fine Increases

by Phone time
The 6/1/17 Street Sheet distributed by the homeless has issued the urgent call to house the homeless, both in 24 hour full service shelters where needed the most, such as the Bayview, and for permanent housing for the homeless. They also provide an excellent analysis of the devastating impact on the workingclass, especially African-Americans, of annual bus fare and bus fine increases, with another bus fare increase due July 1, 2017, and the fine for not paying will increase to $120 for a $2.50 fare, and when the fine remains unpaid, the victim’s driver’s license is suspended, making it difficult to get a job. Your phone calls and Emails to all 11 members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors are needed now.
It is budget time in San Francisco, and the $10 billion city budget will be decided by the Board of Supervisors this month. That budget includes the $583,289,269 San Francisco police budget which should be transferred in its entirety to the housing, healthcare and social services budgets. The police, who are paid $100,000 a year and up plus benefits, spend a great deal of time ticketing the homeless for being homeless under the guise of quality of life issues, and since these $200 fines cannot be paid, they become a great liability to the homeless when looking for housing.

Tax the rich must be a top priority since San Francisco has 147,400 millionaires and 26 billionaires, and California has 663,000 millionaire households and 124 billionaires, all of whom should have their income taxes raised to immediately house the homeless permanently, with the City of San Francisco and State of California paying the rent. All bus fares and all fines are by definition regressive taxes on the workingclass, and both should be abolished.

According to a study by a pro-development group, SPUR, there are 30,000 empty housing units in San Francisco, which has 7,000 homeless people. Clearly, the Board of Supervisors can and must exercise its right to eminent domain to take over all empty housing and house the homeless immediately and permanently, at taxpayer expense, far cheaper than all the police, jails and other reactionary actions taken by the Democratic Party sitting at San Francisco City Hall since 1964, with a homeless crisis since 1980, since Democrat Carter was president. The SPUR study may be found at
http://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/publications_pdfs/SPUR_Non-Primary_Residences.pdf

Republican Donald Trump and The Democratic Party of San Francisco, in its refusal to build a full service, 24 hour, 100 bed homeless shelter in Bayview Hunters Point, its refusal to exercise its right to eminent domain to take over all empty housing units to permanently house the homeless and its constant bus fare and fine increases, ARE THE SAME. We are witnessing the gentrification of San Francisco, which currently has NO HOUSING FOR ITS LABOR FORCE, and the privatization of our public bus system with ever-increasing fares, which is used primarily by the workingclass, the 80% of Americans who sell our labor for less than $80,000 a year.

In Bayview, the primarily African-American homeless have to sleep upright in plastic chairs, very bad for anyone’s legs, and not a good night’s sleep for anyone. The Bayview wants and needs an African-American operated 24 hour full service, 100 bed homeless shelter for all ages including seniors, infants, and all genders, with showers, bathrooms, wash and dry laundry facilities, 3 hot, nutritious, meals a day, every single day, with support services including case management, mental health counseling and housing referrals.

San Francisco can and must provide housing subsidies to all 7,000 homeless right now so they can be housed permanently and decently in units that have a full bathroom with toilet, shower and sink, a kitchen, and sufficient space for beds and personal belongings. That is what the $10 billion budget is for in the richest country in the world.

There are also 2,600 children from low income homes in San Francisco, often homeless, who need child care so their parents can work. Child care is a good place to start educating children, as well as feeding them healthy food, so they can be productive members of society. Child care for poor children must be free, paid for with our tax dollars.

The PRIMARY TASK OF ALL 11 MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS IS TO HOUSE THE HOMELESS. They were all elected to house the homeless, a top priority urgent crisis throughout the City. It should be ILLEGAL for any member of the Board of Supervisors to vote against having any homeless shelter in their district or anywhere else. We also must have free bus service, as exists in other cities since that is also an urgently needed service. All quality of life fines must be abolished since this is another horrifying prison pipeline program that matches Republican Donald Trump’s anti-labor agenda. WE CANNOT AND WILL NOT WAIT FOR ANY POLITICAL GAMES.

Please call or Email all 11 members of the Board of Supervisors, all Democrats, since they are supposed to represent all of us and they all decide on the budget. We do not want Republican Donald Trump’s anti-labor program in San Francisco. We want the homeless housed permanently in decent housing TODAY, we want affordable childcare for all children TODAY, we want an end to bus fare and fine increases TODAY and we want all qualify of life fines abolished TODAY.

From: http://sfbos.org/roster-members

London Breed
District 5
(415) 554-7630 - Voice
(415) 554-7634 - Fax
London.Breed [at] sfgov.org

Malia Cohen
District 10
(415) 554-7670 - Voice
(415) 554-7674 - Fax
Malia.Cohen [at] sfgov.org

Mark Farrell
District 2
(415) 554-7752 - Voice
(415) 554-7843 - Fax
Mark.Farrell [at] sfgov.org

Sandra Lee Fewer
District 1
(415) 554-7410 - Voice
(415) 554-7415 - Fax
Sandra.Fewer [at] sfgov.org

Jane Kim
District 6
(415) 554-7970 - Voice
(415) 554-7974 - Fax
Jane.Kim [at] sfgov.org

Aaron Peskin
District 3
(415) 554-7450 - Voice
(415) 554-7454
Aaron.Peskin [at] sfgov.org

Hillary Ronen
District 9
(415) 554-5144 - voice
(415) 554-6255 - fax
Hillary.Ronen [at] sfgov.org

Ahsha Safai
District 11
(415) 554-6975 - Voice
(415) 554-6979 - Fax
Ahsha.Safai [at] sfgov.org

Jeff Sheehy
District 8
(415) 554-6968 - Voice
(415) 554-6909 - Fax
Jeff.Sheehy [at] sfgov.org

Katy Tang
District 4
(415) 554-7460 - Voice
(415) 554-7432 - Fax
Katy.Tang [at] sfgov.org

Norman Yee
District 7
(415) 554-6516 - Voice
(415) 554-6546 - Fax
Norman.Yee [at] sfgov.org
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