A new law targeting those who hang out, and lie down, on the sidewalks and streets of San Francisco has some asking whether this city, known for its "love thy neighbor" attitude, has perhaps decided some neighbors aren't welcome.Oh my. How positively... unenlightened of them! The vagrants, I'm sorry, unlicensed street performers, just want to exercise their right to mooch of the productive members of society! They just want to practice the ancient arts of panhandling, accosting, and the occasional mauling - who is the city of San Francisco to deny them their rights? It's like we woke up in George W. Bush's gulag, man!
In November, 53% of voters here passed Prop. L, which forbids people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The ordinance is very similar to anti-sit/lie laws in Berkeley, Seattle, and other liberal cities, and received strong support from Mayor Gavin Newsom and Police Chief George Gascon.
Don't mind me, I'll be over in the corner slowly choking on the schadenfreude...
That is all.
9 comments:
Be nice, Jay.
They love mankind... it's just people they can't stand!
"Residents argue the violent transients and their dogs have nothing to do with the iconic street culture for which the Haight-Ashbury District is known."
Then, oh I don't know, maybe you could crack down on violence and unruly dogs. Sorry, being sensible here, sure just pass another law to only be enforced in nicer areasof the city.
As poorly written and bleeding-hearted as the article was, I do believe this to be a stupid law.
California, we like to do things on paper to feel good, but what is this enforcement you speak of?
I haven't been to San Francisco in over 30 years and have no plans to return there considering it's current political climate.
That being said, several of my friends have been there and they all tell stories about aggressive, obnoxious, and incredibly smelly homeless people demanding, not begging, for money.
One of my friends said he gave a bum (my word not his) a hand full of change and the jackass threw it into the street and told my friend to "F*** Off" if he didn't have folding money to give.
Then again, the liberal folks of San Francisco are reaping what they have sewn. They and the bums deserve each other.
Maybe once these "performers" get their Healthcare they can sue the city for creating a hostile work environment.
They could move down to Santa Monica - or as we called it "Skid Row by the Sea." The parks there are covered in sleeping bums and open sewage.
Wait, this has epic potential. It looks to me like they just banned the sit in/lie in. In San Francisco. Awesome.
Several years ago they tried buying the homeless bus tickets to Eureka (a small town several hundred miles north of SF). They convinced them to go by telling them that the welfare paid better in Humboldt County. Eureka had to sue SF to make them stop. Still have a homeless problem, though, as there were so many sent before the court ordered stop. I did a 3 month assignment there and couldn't go anywhere, shopping, hiking in the redwoods, anywhere at all without running into someone with their hand out. And, no, they weren't polite about it.
I was last in SF in 2003, when the "homeless" were just starting to organize and demand their rights. As soon as you got off the plane it smells like piss. You can't walk down the sidewalks in the downtown business district or in the tourist areas without having to step over the bums passed out in the gutter.
This is a small step, but probably meaningless. The whole city and most of the state needs to be disinfected.
We were driving out of the Hilton parking garage and my wife pointed out a bum on the sidewalk chocking his chicken as people were stepping over his legs.
Post a Comment