Hello Mayor Newsom, Have you ever considered having TSA style locks placed on the blue recycling bins in San Francisco? I think this would help a lot with the homeless problem (particularly at the recycling center in GG park) and also help to protect people from identity theft. The locks could have two keys one for the bin user and another general key for the waste management workers. The money the city saves not having to pay for bottles & cans that are stolen out of recycling bins would probably pay for the locks and even generate more revenue for Read This Posty »

Congratulations on your re-election, Mayor Newsom!   Please make your second-term priority to revisit the issue of enforcing and funding Laura's Law. You have cited "institutional resistance" for holding back on your promise to do so.  You overcame social forces against supporting equal marriage rights for gay couples because it was the right thing to do.  I applaud that decision.   Funding and enforcing Laura's Law is right in keeping with your commitment to reduce homelessness and match our destitute and severely mentally ill residents with the services they need.  Please do not allow any more psych bed reductions at SFGH.  Please support Assertive Read This Posty »

Let's take down all of the hanging flower baskets and use the resources to make our neighborhood safe. I've noticed that all of the flowers in the Civic Center and around City Hall look healthy and fresh - but along 3rd Street especially between Folsom & Townsend - they are quickly drying out, many have dead spots and trash in them. Maybe the city has already cut back on maintaining them. The real priority for lower Rincon Hill/Eastern SOMA should be protection. My friend's car was broken into two weeks ago, one of my neighbors was raped and a guy Read This Posty »

According to the SF Chronicle, we are "down to 280 encampments..." in Golden Gate Park.   Hello?  Shouldn't this be ZERO?  Get out a fire tanker truck and go in and hose out each encampment.  I don't care if they think of themselves as "harmless eccentrics," there is nothing harmless about living in a camper, RV, car, tent or tarp unless you are in a campground and San Francisco's parks are NOT campgrounds.  Maybe it's time to forget the homeless "shelters" and go outside the city and build a "homeless campground."  Get GGNRA to donate some land, add porta potties, install Read This Posty »

Why don't we add locks to the carts, so that they can't be taken off the supermarket property? There is already a system in place in DC. If you go to Safeway and try to take your shopping cart out of the parking lot it locks up, the wheels don't move and guess what you can't take it with you. This would reduce the number of carts being used by the homeless all over our city. It's a very simple solution. AG Read This Posty »

Eradicate recycling centers.  Homeless people live and scavenge neighborhoods that are close to recycling centers, like the Bayview. Name Withheld Read This Posty »

Easy - Have those that own the shopping carts (Safeway, etc) reclaim their property. Even in this Politically Correct City, it does not take a very smart person to actually institute this smart solution. Come on guys, get some ba***. We voted for you because of that! Don't sweep this under the rug - The City is bleeding piss and S*** - PLEASE Name Withheld Read This Posty »

Why not build "affordable" housing for low-income and working-class people, like me? Modest little condos that don't cost $1 Million dollars!  You tore down all those low-income welfare hotels, and now we have this seemingly endless homeless problem. WHY ? Peter White Read This Posty »

Housing First is a great initiative to get homeless people off the streets. It seems to me, however, that a more comprehensive plan involving housing AND employment, with the transition to permanent employment possible. To start, the city clearly has a need for public works employees to clean, paint, rebuild, repair, etc., and it seems like these manual labor type jobs would be a great fit in such a program. Matthew Hirschey Read This Posty »

A friend of ours was visiting San Francisco yesterday from AZ, and he said "San Francisco's Homeless population is out-of-control. Not to be in-humane, but there are pan-handlers and drugged out homeless people everywhere in SF- you folks should do something." I told him about the progress being made with Homeless Connect. Coincidently- we spent the later part of the day touring the USS Hornet in Alameda, and a we learned that the Hornet often still sleeps over 400 people on a "sleep over night," (Family nights, and Scout troups) and the Hornet can also host @300 people in another part Read This Posty »

This SOMA outreach program in the Chronicle is a GREAT idea.  Daly and the others just don't get how disgusting our streets have become.  Don't they ever walk around downtown?? I hope this plan goes through.  This is a big win for San Francisco! David Read This Posty »

I spent over 30 years in law enforcement and am sad to see the state of the city and the morale of the SFPD heading south as each day passes. Now for the easy solution to the homeless problem that was never pursued and apparently has no backing from businesses or spineless city officials because of that dumb "let's not offend anyone rule" RECLAIM THE SHOPPING CARTS AND RETURN THEM TO THEIR OWNERS (BUSINESSES) - WITHOUT THE HOMELESS FOLKS' "CONDOS ON WHEELS" THERE WILL BE LESS HOMELESS, LESS CRIME, LESS PUBLIC NUISANCES AND A CLEANER CITY. There was this suggestion on the table awhile Read This Posty »

Actually, I just want to express appreciation for the city FINALLY taking this matter seriously, and putting the citizenry first for a change.  Please, please keep up the promised sweeps and relocations/offers of services. Thanks. Linda Read This Posty »

If there were a program where homeless people were required to perform some sort task (trash collection in parks, painting over graffiti) for a small stipend I can guarantee you that the city would be cleaner and the majority of the homeless would go elsewhere. Name Withheld Read This Posty »

I think two of the problems facing this city, an inordinately high homeless population, and the quality of life criminals, can be addressed simultaneously with one humane solution: a tent city/jail. Take a nice piece of unused land, erect a tent city, put a fence around it and let the homeless live there. Naturally, many are mentally ill, so they can occupy the hospital beds as needed, but the rest of the scafflaws can just live obliviously, peacefully and happily out of doors, as they so love to do, in a tent city away from the civilized citizens Read This Posty »

I'd like to see us come up with a 10 year plan to reduce homeless funding to zero in the next 10 years.  Cut it 10% per year and give it to the public schools instead.  I'd wager that this will cause the homeless to venture to other cities naive enough to think they can make a difference with their cash. James A Read This Posty »

My solution is that you finally sack up and cash in your high approval ratings. To your credit; yet, regardless of merit... you've been afforded exceptionally high approval ratings. Thereby, you're running virtually unopposed. However, this will not be the case 4-years from now when you run for a bigger, more conservative office. Use today to win tomorrow. Let's clean up our city sidewalks. First, dump Heather Fong. Next, create a centralized jail to house the homeless. Run it like 3 hots and a cot for three months at a time. Use the incarceration to aid education, medication or behavior Read This Posty »

an Idea: What if the city designed and sold a nice water bottle (dishwasher safe, recycleable, etc. ) that residents could fill up with tap water (and ice?) instead of constantly buying small bottles of water?  If it was well-designed, with a nice San Francisco logo, with proceeds going to improving city services/cleaning up the streets (homelessness, etc.) it could become "hip" to support the city and the environment as we hydrate ourselves. This way  individuals could contribute to this environment push as well. Just an idea... Thanks, Barbara Read This Posty »

Sign up Chris Daly in the Homeless Connect program so he can get a shower and a shave and look half-way presentable while he's making an ass of himself.  Name Withheld Read This Posty »

In response to your letter I would like to submit the following suggestions for improvements to make San Francisco better in the future. First I want to start with the problem the drug addicts and the homeless. According to my knowledge San Francisco have not enough treatment facilities to get people off drugs and for this reason I would suggest that the City of San Francisco and  organizations working with this problem already open up an additional two or three treatment centers for people looking for help.The homeless people who are not addicted to drugs and get welfare money for Read This Posty »