San Francisco Supe Proposes That More Districts Should House Navigation Centers
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The homeless problem has for years been considered the weightiest problem facing San Francisco and one city supervisor is proposing that the weight of that challenge needs to be carried by more shoulders.
"We agree the navigation center model works," said District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney. "The mayor is for it. The board is for it. Yet we seem to only be building them in one small part of the city."
Haney currently finds the city's homelessness discussion landing squarely in his District 6, with a heated debate over a navigation center on the Embarcadero taking place there. While Supervisor Haney and Mayor London Breed support that project, he says it is now time for the rest of the city to do its part.
"You know, the mayor is telling people in my district they have no choice but to have a navigation center," Haney said. "I think it makes sense for the area that she formerly represented, District 5, to also step up and have a navigation center."
"You know, it's easier said than done," said Mayor London Breed of Haney's plan.
"It may look like a site could work, but investing the kind of dollars that are required to get one of those sites open, it may be cheaper to get housing for someone. So it's a number of factors that go into it other than just saying, 'Oh I'm going over navigation center here,' or, 'There should be one in every district.' It's more complicated than that."
So far, only 3 of the city's 11 districts have housed navigation centers. Now, those eight other supervisors may have to go in record as to whether they are willing to host one as well.
The proposal currently has the support of the three supervisors who currently house navigation centers and one additional supervisor.
"Fair is fair," Haney said ahead of presenting his plan to the full board. "Practice what you preach. I think that's true for all of the supervisors and I think that should be true for the mayor as well."
