Homeless advocates to San Francisco mayor: Find your heart

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — There are no tourists anymore on San Francisco’s famously twisty and steep Lombard Street. The city’s landmark hotels and posh shops are closed up tight.

But one staple of San Francisco has become even more pronounced as the coronavirus pandemic chased everyone inside. Homeless people, who are particularly vulnerable to the virus, are still sleeping on sidewalks and flap-to-flap in tents cluttered around downtown and other popular neighborhoods.

Their plight underscores the political infighting that has divided San Francisco leaders for years in tackling homelessness and housing, often with the same result — gridlock.

The Bay Area won national praise for ordering the earliest stay-home mandate in the country, but San Francisco Mayor London Breed now faces growing criticism from advocates and fellow city officials who say she hasn’t done enough to move homeless people into hotel rooms or even to enforce city rules on street camping in dense neighborhoods.

“The medical professionals are close to unanimous that hotels are the safest way to protect the un-housed and public health,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents the Mission district. “We are sick and tired of the shifting excuses.”

Nearly eight weeks after the shut-down order, more than 1,000 homeless people have been moved into hotel rooms in the city, which the mayor calls a remarkable accomplishment despite “an incredible logistical challenge.”

About 1,700 hotel rooms remain empty, though, as Breed steadfastly refuses demands to house more of the city's 8,000 homeless. The rooms are prioritized for front-line workers, homeless people recovering from COVID-19 or those who are older or have underlying health problems. Meanwhile, shelters have stopped admitting people because of spacing requirements and the...