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By Rupert Clayton, Shira Noel, and Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board Members

For our October general meeting, we had scheduled arguments by proponents and opponents of Propositions C and D, and a discussion of Senate Bill 1045, which provides for conservatorship of those detained multiple times.  Opponents of Proposition C were invited, but did not make an appearance. 

Cannabis Dispensary Applicants

During our announcements, representatives from Cole Ashbury Group, LLC, introduced themselves and announced that the Office of Cannabis had selected them to move forward with their application for a dispensary at 1685 Haight Street (currently Silver Sprocket).  Representatives from Haight Partners, Inc., who had submitted an application for a dispensary at 1673 Haight Street (currently Stanza Coffee Bar), also introduced themselves. 

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Our September meeting was lively, long, and well-attended.

 Supervisor Vallie Brown

District 5 Supervisor Vallie Brown made her first visit to a HANC meeting since she was appointed Supervisor.  Long-time HANC members remember Supervisor Brown as an aide to Supervisors Mirkarimi and Breed.  She often showed up at HANC meetings on behalf of then Supervisor Mirkarimi when he was not able to attend.

 Supervisor Brown discussed her top priorities—addressing the homeless crisis, addressing the housing crisis, and cleaning and greening District 5 neighborhoods.  She supports building additional housing “at all income levels.”  She has also endorsed San Francisco Proposition C and California Proposition 10.

Supervisor Brown would like to bring a Navigation Center to District 5, although not to the Haight-Ashbury.  She believes the model should be changed to become a pathway to stable, supportive housing.

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By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board Member

I’m a proponent for Proposition C

Explaining it seems easy to me.

It’s a gross receipts tax,

But small business, relax,

And take in 50 million dollars before there’s a fee.

You might ask “How will this money be spent?”

Housing the homeless, eviction defense, and help with the rent,

Bathrooms and showers and mental health service

Really solving this crisis shouldn’t make us nervous

So vote for Prop C, we need your assent.

By Karen Fishkin, HANC Board Member

There’s a new category of conservatorship that the Mayor would like to bring to San Francisco. It is allowed by Senate Bill 1045, which has been signed by the Governor.  This new form of conservatorship is welcomed by some, objected to by others, and will be accepted or rejected by our Board of Supervisors in the near future.

What is a conservatorship?  It involves an involuntary move to a setting where an evaluation takes place by a professional, followed by an investigation by another professional, and finally a hearing before a judge. If someone is conserved, his or her right to choose where one lives, decisions about health care, and how the individual’s income is used, are removed from that individual and turned over to the conservator.  The ACLU refers to this category and loss of rights as “The biggest deprivation of civil rights aside from the death penalty.” 

This type of conservatorship is called an LPS conservatorship, named after the legislators (Lanterman, Petris, and Short) who introduced that law many years back.  These types of conservatorship are carefully overseen, and used only when a person cannot provide food, clothing, and shelter for themselves.

The language in this new legislation as it was introduced referred to conservatorships for homeless individuals. That designation was deemed too inflammatory, and now it covers those who have been detained pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150 eight or more times in a year.  We have all probably seen individuals on the streets of San Francisco who appeared to need adult supervision and support. No question. But how to best remedy their plight?

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