By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
This Friday, San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed declared an official state of emergency in the Tenderloin in order to quickly address the crisis of people dying from opioid drug overdoses on the streets of the neighborhood.
In a statement, she said that, similar to the City's COVID-19 Emergency Declaration, this action will remove bureaucratic barriers, allowing the City to respond quickly to conditions related to the health and safety of people in the Tenderloin.
"The overdose problem has worsened, particularly during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the recent rapidly deteriorating conditions in the Tenderloin caused by the opioid crisis put the lives of San Franciscans at serious risk," Breed said.
The Declaration of Emergency allows the City to expedite the implementation of emergency programs such as waiving rules on contract procurement and waiving zoning and planning codes to quickly open a temporary drop-in site where people with substance use problems can receive psychological services and get off the street.
"We are losing more than two people a day to drug overdoses, primarily to fentanyl, mostly in the Tenderloin and SoMa. This is a public health emergency that demands a crisis-level response, with massive urgency, coordination and determination to address this epidemic."
This action will be in addition to those already taken within the boundaries of the Tenderloin Police District.
London Breen stressed that the situation in the Tenderloin is an emergency, so "emergency action is required".
"We demonstrated during the pandemic that when we can use a Declaration of Emergency to remove the red tape and barriers that stand in the way of decisive action, we can get things done and make real, tangible progress."
In that regard, Breed said that approach and coordination will be used to disrupt illegal activity in the neighborhood and get people the treatment and support they need "to make the Tenderloin a safer and more livable place for the families and children who call the neighborhood home.
The Declaration of Emergency must be ratified by the Board of Supervisors within the next seven days and will be in effect for a maximum of 90 days.
"We have demonstrated during the pandemic that our city can step up with solutions to match the scale and threat of a deadly epidemic. We need an emergency response to drug overdoses, with immediate and rapid crisis intervention, outreach and coordination on our streets, with expanded treatment and detoxification," said Supervisor Matt Haney.
"We need to act now with everything we have to save lives. This official declaration of emergency will give us the tools to respond with the speed and scale required," he added.
The Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan will have a phased approach: the first phase, which has been underway, has included the definition of critical issues, neighborhood assessments, community stakeholder engagement, targeted enforcement interventions, and infrastructure improvements.
The second phase, which began earlier this week and will continue through early 2022, focuses on direct intervention for the most destructive problems facing the Tenderloin.
The state of emergency will allow operations during this phase to be implemented more quickly, including prioritization of connections to existing health and social services, as well as more coordinated enforcement, disruption of illegal activities, and optimized response and infrastructure improvements.
"In an emergency, people need resources immediately, not months from now. An emergency declaration allows San Francisco to cut through the red tape and get the contracts, resources and personnel to address crisis conditions in the Tenderloin," said Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
"We only have to look at our COVID response to see how an emergency declaration allowed us to quickly lease hotels, hire staff and set up testing and vaccination sites. Today's action will accelerate the opening of a liaison centre and other essential resources," he stressed.
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