By David Smith
San Francisco Examiner

Headed into his second term as mayor, Gavin Newsom said he would renew efforts to combat homelessness, specifically street behavior, conceding that efforts during his first term “haven’t had the impact on street behavior that I would have liked.”  Newsom, first elected in 2003 on a platform built upon the issue of homelessness, has started various efforts in The City to try and remove homeless people from the streets, including Care Not Cash, a program that reduces cash amounts given to homeless people on welfare in exchange for housing or shelter, and Project Homeless Connect, a program that brings health and human services for the homeless under one roof during day-long events every other month. Read more »

By Robert Selna
San Francisco Chronicle

Mayor Gavin Newsom and city criminal justice officials announced on Thursday the location of a new court the mayor has been promising to more quickly judge low-level street crimes in the Tenderloin and steer offenders into community service and rehabilitative programs. At a press conference inside the new courtroom at Polk and Turk street - just north of Civic Center Plaza - Newsom said the newly-named Community Justice Center will open in July after a five-month trial run at the Hall of Justice, where the city's other criminal courts are housed.

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San Francisco Chronicle
Originally Published June 8, 2007

THIRTY-SEVEN million dollars is not much in the context of a $6.06 billion budget, but it can go a long way, if targeted wisely and effectively. But there is nothing wise or efficient about Supervisor Chris Daly's bald political ploy to strip $37 million from Mayor Gavin Newsom's budget priorities and shift most of it into affordable housing. Now let's be clear: We know that San Francisco does need housing. Newsom's budget also acknowledges the shortage, pumping $217 million into housing programs.

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Mayor Newsom wants to bring a community court to Union Square to address quality of life concerns, like aggressive panhandling, public urination, and graffiti.  The new court will be modeled after Manhattan's highly successful Midtown Community Court, which helped revitalize Times Square in the early 90s.  But, we need your support.  As Mayor Newsom said in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, "We're fighting against the status quo, and they're fighting for the status quo," he said of his opponents. "I'm not interested in fighting for failure."  Please sign our petition today.  Read more »

We expected our Pet Peeves Blog to be one of the more popular features on our website, but were unprepared for the outpouring of comments we have received.  We have received thousands of opinions from San Franciscans and Mayor Newsom has read almost all of them. Many of your entries are related to homelessness and panhandling.  Gavin Newsom has been working on solving this problem since the day he took office.  And while there is still a long way to go, the compassionate approach of getting people into housing and providing them with the support and services they need to keep them off the streets has been successful. Read more »