$6.75 Is Not Enough is a campaign to increase the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour for all people in San Francisco. In 1968, the federal minimum wage was $1.60 per hour. That year, the minimum wage had the greatest purchasing power. If that wage had kept up with inflation for the past 35 years, the federal minimum wage would be $8.50 an hour today — all across the country — not just in places like San Francisco with a high cost of living. The federal minimum wage is only $5.15 per hour (for workers who are classified as tipped employees it is only $2.13 per hour). Because our representatives in Washington have refused to take action on this most basic issue of economic justice, millions of workers across the country are falling further and further behind every year. (more…)

Try saying this without laughing: “Homeless parking meters.”

Thought you couldn’t.

Images of dispossessed meters, probably jumping on freight trains and living in hobo encampments like a scene from O Brother, Where Art Thou? are easily conjured. Actually, these meters, donated by San Francisco’s parking department and painted orange, are the latest instruments the city wants to use to dissuade people from donating spare change directly to the unhoused—and keep panhandlers out of sight.

(more…)

I remember having a beer bottle keychain. It was heavy and metal and hard to lose. It opened up its fair share of longnecks and it would jangle my keys like chimes when I pulled it from my pocket.

I used to have a lot of keys. They’d weigh down my worn out jeans and poke holes through the pockets. They’d end up collecting trinkets—weird plastic chains with bottle openers or flashlights or cartoon characters dangled off of them. The bigger and heavier they were the better. That way, I wouldn’t lose them. But over time my key ring’s gotten smaller and smaller and it seems like I just can’t keep a hold of nothin’ but the bottle opener.

(more…)

To the Editors:

It is a sad occasion to walk along the streets of our great city and see homeless men, women, and children sleeping in doorways or alleys, and in public parks. These persons, instead of working, spend most of their energy begging strangers for spare change or left-over food. They do not contribute to the economy or the health of San Francisco. They are, in fact, a great burden on the City coffers, on the social service system, and on the generosity of our good citizens. They also weigh down the criminal justice system, which continually has to arrest them for sundry misdemeanors. Who can blame our gentry and their elected representatives from experiencing “compassion fatigue” and frustration with seeing so many useless individuals residing on the streets?

The City’s mothers and fathers have proposed a community court to deal with what are called “quality of life” crimes, whether public urination or drug dealing. These courts have been re- ported successful in other communities in saving money and manpower. But they seem to miss the underlying point: homeless people are an unending burden on our community. No matter how many are housed, many more come to take their places.

I propose that the City of San Francisco consider a program wherein any individual or family not housed or gainfully employed after a certain future date, be “referred” to a facility where they will be cleaned up, have their medical ailments attended to, and, most importantly, be well fed. Very well fed, for I believe that these individuals, who are not contributing to society’s welfare, might contribute their own flesh and bones to discerning people of quality who can afford to pay for such succulent fare. (more…)

Editor—

Congratulations. The Chronicle has reached a new low in local journalism with today’s “above the fold” opinion piece that masquerades as actual news. (10/09/07 Enough is Enough, SF says of Homeless) The supporting data of the hyperbolic claim is laughable. The article quotes an individual representing a firm that has done no statistical analysis on the subject of homelessness. Nevius also cites an informal poll performed by your own publication that the Chronicle website admits is not statistically valid. This is not responsible reporting. This shoddy level of journalism is an insult to the readers and is indicative of not only the SF Chronicle’s rapidly declining standards, but of C.W. Nevius’ lack of journalistic credibility. An additional critique of Nevius’ personal integrity is warranted, but pointless. His continuous and contemptuous hate-mongering against vulnerable people has made it abundantly clear that he has no conscience to call upon. Enough is enough. If the Chronicle has any professional standards it will stop promoting this scapegoating. If C.W. Nevius has any semblance of self-respect, he’ll resign. Or at the very least—go back to Sports.

Diana Valentine

San Francisco

It sucks to be hated. Nobody likes it: Not queers, not women, not yuppies, not people of color, not homeless people. The recent hate-mongering columns (in article drag) by C.W. Nevius in the San Francisco Chronicle have angered, frightened, or insulted a lot of homeless people, friends, and allies. To make matters worse, the Chronicle has utterly failed to put a check on calls for violence in its reader comments to articles and blog entries. Some the Coalition’s friends and allies have written letters to or about Nevius and the Chronicle, which they’ve asked us to post here. Expect to see more over the next few days.

It is very easy to view homelessness as an issue simply about the supply and demand of housing, but I believe that it is a more complicated wealth vs. poverty issue. Real estate and access to it is one of the most tangible, dramatic, and visible symptoms of the “equality gap” between wealthy people and poor people, in the US of A, these days. HUD has been an agency of the US Government that has supervised the redirection of a portion of America’s vast wealth towards the housing needs of poor people in America. However, HUD did not create its own wealth, nor was it ever structured to generate revenue: It was dependant on funding from the Federal budget. As the amount of wealth HUD was allowed to receive was reduced, HUD’s ability to house poor people was reduced. This is where, at the institutional level, contemporary mass homelessness began, and is allowed, by our elected leadership, to continue.

(more…)

Why is it that those who live in glass houses always throw the first stone—or any stone, for that matter? This came to mind when I read the Chronicle editorial characterizing Supervisor Chris Daly as, “a civic embarrassment.” Given the state of journalistic practice at that paper, one might think the editors would avoid that particular stone. To whom, and for what is Daly an embarrassment? To Gavin Newsom? To the Golden Gate Restaurant Association?

(more…)

The first time I was homeless I was seventeen years old. It was not safe, had never been safe, for me to be in the house of my parents. I ended up on the streets in San Diego. I remember standing inside a phone booth, and calling the operator, and saying that I was 17 and had no where to go. I was told that there were ten beds for homeless youth at that time in San Diego, and that all were full.

(more…)