Statement in Response to Mayor’s Announcement of Tenderloin Business Curfew

Earlier this week, the Mayor announced legislation to impose a curfew on Tenderloin businesses, forcing any business that sells “pre-packaged food items and/or produce” to close from midnight to 5:00 am for the next two years. The Mayor’s office did not discuss the ordinance with our office. We learned about it from media coverage. We immediately requested a copy of the legislation and a list of all impacted businesses. Yesterday, I visited Tenderloin shop owners, including corner stores that have served the community for decades. Most are immigrant-owned businesses. None we spoke with had been consulted about the legislation and they were understandably alarmed. Small businesses in the Tenderloin are struggling and deserve to be at the table for decisions impacting them.

We have now received the Mayor’s legislation and reviewed it, although we are still awaiting the requested list of impacted businesses. The legislation as drafted is overly broad and would unfairly punish long-time small businesses in the community.

I am working with merchants and residents to see if we can find common ground between residents, small businesses, and the Mayor on this issue. From my initial conversations, I expect to propose amendments to more narrowly tailor this legislation in scope and duration in order to protect small businesses in the neighborhood.

Our office will continue to support strategies that can successfully improve the neighborhood for everyone. That’s why we led the charge on expanding community ambassadors and fully support nighttime ambassadors, passed rezoning legislation to prevent new smoke shops, regularly push for police presence in hot spots in the Tenderloin—particularly where there have been shootings, supported enhanced street cleaning in the TL, worked with the Department of Public Health to create the City’s first overdose prevention plan, and championed funding for peer overdose prevention in Permanent Supportive Housing. We’ve also called for implementation of the successful Four Pillars approach to save lives and dramatically improve street conditions, as Zurich and other cities have done. Meanwhile, we have advocated for many additional solutions that the mayor has blocked, including safety grants to Tenderloin small businesses, street violence intervention teams, trauma response outreach to the Tenderloin and Western Addition, and overdose prevention sites to move drug use off the streets and save lives.

We continue to urge the Mayor to take a more collaborative approach for the benefit of residents and small businesses of the Tenderloin. We will propose specific amendments to the mayor’s business curfew legislation after we have further consulted with stakeholders.

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