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Did anyone else read this weekend's article in The Chronicle, celebrating the five-year anniversary of Care Not Cash? SF Mayor Newsom, who jump started the program that cut monthly $422 welfare checks to $65 in exchange for residential hotel lodging, declared it a victory, saying he's helped rid SF of "9,293 homeless people." City streets, however, have actually seen "a slight rise over the past four years." And for those of you with working eyeballs, panhandling has definitely increased on city streets, because Care Not Cash recipients now have very little, you know, cash.
Can the SF homeless problem be solved? We say no. It really looks like an impenetrable task to solve. But an always optimistic Newsom thinks otherwise, telling the Chon, "It can be solved - it can be ... I'm not saying it's been an easy or perfect five years or that it's perfect today, but I am saying it's a much better system than it was five years ago. I'm lucky I became mayor or this would not be happening."
Another thing we're lucky for? People who aren't currently running for higher office, like Julie Michelle, a local blogger, whose April blog post helped a homeless woman and her family find shelter.
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I'm lucky I became mayor or this [i.e. banging my friend's wife, marrying a hot, dippy blonde, running for governor, etc.] would not be happening.
Heather Knight does not seem to be too sharp on the uptake. How about an occasional followup question for Our Absent Mayor, perhaps along the lines of, "in what way is it a better system than it was five years ago?"
Maybe Heather is already compromising her journalistic principles in hopes of cultivating access to players in the upcoming Governor's campaign. Perish the thought, I know, but there's more Broders out there than Greenwalds.
Well, it seems she got a number: 9,293 ways better. We can debate the accuracy of that claim, but she received an answer in the form of a quantifiable metric.
I'll not be voting for Gavin in 2010, but give credit where credit is due. Considering the size and severity of the recession, I'm astonished that we haven't seen many, many more homeless on the streets. By July nearly 1 out of 10 Americans will be out of a job.
So the 9K gets to stand, even though there has been "a slight rise" in the homeless population? How does this square without a conveyor belt?
Julie Michelle for Governor!
MattyMatt, before I run for governor (I appreciate the sentiment) I need to get this family into a quiet little apartment for the next four months... so who's gonna help me with this? They can't live in a hotel without a kitchen forever.
Come on, help me out here, kids.
I read the article. It's more of a love letter to Gav than real news.
But what else do you expect from The Onion... I mean The Chronicle?