San Francisco, we've got a problem!

Before I dive into some dirty (pun intended) city details let's have a look at the numbers:

Population: 813k

Median income in San Francisco: $77k

Median income under 25: $45k

Total crime risk: 54% above national average

Consumer spending: 30% above national average

Shelter spending: 31% above national average

City budget: $9 billion (Chicago: $3 billion for a population of 3 millions - for comparison sake)

Homeless: 7.5k (Official number from the city. Not counting the homeless offered SROs and other accommodations)

Homeless City Budget: $300 mil i.e. $40k/homeless/year (to be fair the city spend about $200 million on housing for previously homeless individuals so the actual number of $ spent per "real" homeless is lower).

San Francisco spending per pupil/student: $10k/student/year

When I moved to the Mission district a year ago I was excited to put my roots in such a lively place: Ethnic diversity, income diversity, potentials to grow and more. Mingling with people from all around the world and from all walks of life. Soon, a tent got erected on my sidewalk, then two, then three....then my block started looking like a slum.

When I evoked this problem with my wealthy friends with houses in Nob Hill or Hillsborough they dismissed my issues waving their hands in the air: "Valérie these poor people have to live somewhere". Yes, but NOT in your backyard or on your sidewalk. Then came nice, even voices "but we are donating millions every year to build shelters in the Mission". Yes, so that those poor people stay far away from you. This is what I call "buying oneself a conscience", which limousine democrats excel at doing. Keep in mind we have way more than enough funds, San Francisco is a rich city. What we need is a strong political decision to change things.

I decided to look into the problem to understand how such a rich city (which doubles up as a county hence the huge yearly tax dollars falling into its coffers) could be so rich and poor, clean and filthy, sad and happy at the same time.

Scroll back up. Look at the numbers. The yearly budget of the city has increased by $1 billion over the past 3 years! Yes, 1 billion. Where did it go? Roads are in terrible conditions, potholes are a common occurence, streets are beyond filthy in 5 out of 11 districts (mind you, they are spotless clean in Nob Hill, Russian Hill), crime is at its highest, the homeless population has grown (no matter what the city wants us to believe), and the budget allocated to the homeless problem has increased from $150 million in 210 to $241 million in 2015 and $300 million in 2017 with a result that's....hmmm...beyond negative. If the city were a startup, with such returns the management would be fired and the investors would take their investment and run away.

My (simple) questions are:

• where are the $9 billions going?
• how can we spend $40,000 per homeless person without positive results?
• how can a city with one of the highest per capita budget in the entire USA be so filthy and have so many people live on the streets?
• why does one shelter bed cost $31k to manage on a yearly basis?
• why doesn't the city put in place a tracking system to evaluate how the 76 associations (and 400 contracts) working to end homelessness are doing?
• how can voters accept such a patent systemic weakness in the way the city is run?
• why do we spend 4 times less on education than on homelessness? Shouldn't education be a priority since the vast majority of homeless people are uneducated or lack basic skills?
• is the mayor paying undercover visits to the Mission? Meaning, without a crew of cleaners making sure he sees a picture perfect lively neighborhood?

I don't have the answers. Some of you might. I would love to help, not by distributing tents or food to the homeless but by preventing homeless from happening in the first place.

Please share this article so that the word is spread and something is done.

They want to keep us on the streets. It is a huge business. They are corrupted (Fernando, a 40-something homeless from Nevada, living in the Mission)