An appeal over the zoning compliance of a halfway house that occupies the building where a historic LGBTQ act of resistance against police brutality took place in 1966 may have failed last week. But there is a new wrinkle in the story about that halfway house.
The facility is run by GEO Group, the same private prison contractor that is operating immigrant detention facilities on behalf of ICE in multiple locations around the country. It has operated at 111 Taylor Street for decades, under a zoning allowing for "non-conforming group housing," and functions as a work-release program for the previously incarcerated.
One day after a coalition of activists and local leaders spoke at a hearing at the SF Board of Appeals, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who represents the Tenderloin neighborhood, says he learned of the untimely July 14 death of one of the residents at the GEO Group site. 45-year-old Melvin Bulauan was reportedly found dead a block away from the facility, at 225 Taylor Street, after exiting the building without authorization. The cause and circumstances of Bulauan's death have not been shared.
Mahmood is now calling for a hearing this fall before the Board of Supervisors for which subpeonas will be served to representatives of GEO Group — seizing on Bulauan's death as evidence of malfeasance by halfway house staff, though the link may not be clear. Residents of the facility are reportedly allowed to come and go, with prior authorization, in order to seek work or treatment, and Bulauan had only been living there for a few days.
This appears to be the same Melvin Bulauan who assaulted a man who was on his way to work in downtown San Francisco two years ago, in July 2023, according to court records. Bulauan appeared to be in the midst of a mental health episode at the time, and this was the second incident of a random assault by Bulauan in a year. In an earlier incident in the Mission District, Bulauan was convicted of assaulting another man with a rock, and he was released on time served just a week before the 2023 incident took place.
"As former foster youth, we spent our lives watching our dad cycle through incarceration and untreated addiction in this city. We know he is one of many," says Bulauan's son, Anjru Jaezon de Leon, in a statement. "His death is not an isolated tragedy, but part of a larger pattern of institutional failure."
The son adds that the family is "seeking truth, accountability, and allies, especially those willing to speak out about the harmful conditions in and around 111 Taylor Street and help us demand better for families like ours."
It seems that Bulauan had contacted his son the day before he died — July 14 was also Bulauan's birthday. "He said, 'Anjru I'm anxious. I'm scared. I would rather go back to jail than stay here,'" says Jaezon de Leon, speaking to the SF Standard.
Mahmood's release suggests that the "prison-like" and "inhumane" conditions at the Taylor Street facility were partly to blame for Bulauan's death.
"It’s heartbreaking to hear what the Bulauan family has experienced – no child should have to lose a parent under such circumstances," Mahmood says. "It takes great courage and strength to turn pain into action, and in honor of Melvin and all the residents at 111 Taylor, I am calling for a hearing to get to the bottom of GEO Group’s reported negligence and escalating civil rights violations in San Francisco."
Prior to learning of Balauan's death, there was already the implication that the full Board of Supervisors might take up the issue of 111 Taylor Street, with several members of the Board of Appeals suggesting that their hands were tied with regard to the zoning issue that was before them. State legislators Senator Scott Wiener and Assembymember Matt Haney also filed a joint letter with the board in support of the Compton's x Coalition, suggesting that a "private carceral corporation" is a "wholly inappropriate [use] because of the historical and cultural significance of the site itself."
Activist Wilder Zeiser said the coalition would continue to push the legislators to "escalate pressure on [the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] to terminate its contracts with GEO Group."
Now Mahmood's release says that the need for the hearing before the full Board of Supervisors "was sparked by the death of Balaun."
"The Tenderloin is home to one of the largest immigrant and trans populations in the city, so we have to ask ourselves if a private prison corporation with ties to ICE aligns with our San Francisco values," Mahmood said. "This hearing is the beginning of a conversation the community deserves to have."
