$45K Raised To Fight San Francisco Embarcadero Homeless Navigation Center
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Mayor London Breed's proposal to open a navigation center for the homeless along San Francisco's Embarcadero has prompted opponents to raise tens of thousands of dollars to potentially fight the project in court.
Calling themselves "Safe Embarcadero for All," the group launched a GoFundMe page last week, with the goal of raising $100,000 for legal counsel. As of Thursday morning, $44,610 had been raised from at least 90 donors, with the largest contribution from an anonymous donor putting up $10,000.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the firm mentioned by the group in its GoFundMe plea has apparently asked for "all documents and records" pertaining to the proposed navigation center.
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Breed is proposing to open the navigation center on a Port of San Francisco-owned parking lot by the waterfront. The navigation center would feature 200 beds, provide health and housing services, round the clock stays and allow pets and partners.
"Parking lots are important, but places for people to live where they're inside, in shelter, I think are that much more important, particularly on city-owned land," Supervisor Matt Haney, who represents the district, told KPIX 5 earlier this month. "We have a lot of city-owned parking lots, I think this is a piece of land that can be used to address our most urgent problem as a city."
According to Haney, half of the city's 3,500 homeless people are in his district.
Breed tweeted about opposition to the proposal Wednesday, saying "we can't afford unnecessary delays" to address the homelessness crisis in the city.
The center, which Breed hopes to open by summer, is expected to be considered by the Port Commission in April. But the Chronicle reported that officials may extend the deadline for additional input by the public.
