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The $100 million per year being spent on the homeless by the Newsom administration is being squandered. According to an Oct. 31, 2006 article in the Chronicle, the city spent $108 million directly on the homeless during fiscal year 2004-05 (not counting medical and police emergency services and DPH cleanup work). This was an increase of $9 and 20 million, respectively, spent in the previous two fiscal years, and it amounts to $17,285.53 per homeless person being spent in 2005. (That is, 6,248 homeless people (as stated in the 2005 homeless count report) divided by $108 million). Despite this grandiose spending, the number of homeless people in the city increased between 2005 and 2007, and the homeless shelters remained in "disgraceful" condition, as described by the mayor in 2004. Mr. Mayor, please tell the people of San Francisco how these millions of dollars could have been spent so ineffectively.
John Kelly
- : 8.0
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November 6th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I agree 100% with John Kelly’s concerns. There is a fortune being spent on the homeless and much of the money comes from SF taxpayers (note: I’m sure some is from the Feds and the state, but is also tax payer money). In addition, you have to include the value of donated time from volunteers as well as the cash and in kind donations.
I don’t, however, believe that all this spending can be attributed to the Mayor. In this matter, as so many others, much of the spending is forced down our throats by Chris Daly and others of his ilk. Also, $100,000,000 spent means that the Homeless Industry is raking in big bucks and if the homeless were to disappear, they would be out of work. They have a vested interest in making sure no one breaks their rice bowl.
I’m willing to bet that much of the spending that Newsom agrees to is the result of compromise where he has actually cut back on some of Daly’s more outrageous demands but has to agree to some that is excessive.
We as voters must continue to be vocal through these blogs and other forums to ensure that the will of the people (voters) is heard. Daly runs a well oiled political machine and with a single phone call can bring dozens of homeless advocates, affordable housing advocates, etc to city hall to lobby on behalf of the various progressive agenda items.
My thanks to John Kelly for providing these statistics for all of us who read these blogs!