California mayor declares state of emergency to tackle drugs, street pooping

In a statement on Friday, the Mayor’s Office announced that Breed had declared an official state of emergency in the Tenderloin to allow the city “to waive certain laws to quickly address the crisis of people dying of drug overdoses on the streets.”

“Similar to the City’s COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency, this action will eliminate bureaucratic barriers, allowing the City to quickly respond to the conditions relating to the health and safety of the people in the Tenderloin,” the statement declared, claiming that the ongoing opioid crisis in the area “puts the lives of San Franciscans in serious risk.”

Some of the rules that can be waived under the state of emergency include contract procurement and planning codes, allowing the mayor to open temporary facilities to tackle the city’s drug problem.

However, the declaration will have to be confirmed by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and will not be able to last for more than 90 days.

Breed said on Friday that the situation in the Tenderloin “calls for an emergency response” and that tough action was necessary “to make the Tenderloin a safer, more livable place for the families and children who call the neighborhood home.”

The mayor delivered a fiery speech on Tuesday, vowing to “take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement” and “less tolerant of all the bull**** that has destroyed our city.”

Breed claimed that the Tenderloin’s “nasty streets” had been getting worse and that they were “full of feces and urine that the Department of Public Works is cleaning every single day, but it comes back just a few hours later.”

“It’s time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city to come to an end,” Breed said at the time, urging prosecutors to get “on board” with the agenda and make sure repeat offenders are not back on the streets “again and again.”

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