With Focus on Safety in the Tenderloin, Supervisor Preston Announces $10m Emergency Budget Package

SAN FRANCISCO — Citing constituents’ concerns about street safety and security in the Tenderloin, District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston introduced an emergency supplemental budget request on Tuesday for the neighborhood. The proposed emergency supplemental will fund several non-police public safety interventions and programs in the Tenderloin, adding more tools for the City to make improvements to public safety.

“The Tenderloin is an incredible, diverse, resilient, working-class neighborhood with residents and workers who do their part every day to make things work,” said Preston. “City Hall often finds itself at odds on how to set this neighborhood up for success. Our hope is this measure is one that brings us all together to improve safety in the Tenderloin.”

Specifically, Preston’s supplemental budget request would allocate $10 million for three emergency safety interventions: grants for small business safety improvements and security, expanded non-police ambassadors to Tenderloin and Lower Polk blocks that currently have no coverage, and a new street dealing intervention program. The first budget supplemental specifically introduced for the Tenderloin neighborhood, the request comes less than three months after the closure of the Tenderloin Center without a replacement, which 311 data shows has exacerbated difficult conditions in the neighborhood.

Preston has represented the Tenderloin neighborhood for less than a year following last year’s redistricting. His office has worked closely with members of the Tenderloin community, including extensive meetings and listening sessions with neighbors, service providers, and small business owners. The theme of these conversations has been clear: people are deeply committed to the neighborhood but are frustrated that the City seems to have no strategy to address the decades-long legacy of neglect of the Tenderloin.

“I appreciate all the constituents whose input formed the basis of this, and I’m pleased that we’ve landed on an emergency package that brings folks together. These three approaches – ambassador coverage for uncovered parts of the Tenderloin, direct support for small businesses, and adding non-police street intervention in our approach to street drug dealing – will help address some urgent street conditions in a meaningful and positive way,” stated Preston.

“This ordinance would fund key public safety strategies, including City backing of efforts to directly engage with dealers,” said Del Seymour, director of Code Tenderloin. “Street dealing intervention by peers is essential to help negotiate agreements, create order, and transition dealers off the street. This is the kind of forward thinking approach we need to make meaningful and lasting progress.”

The budget package also includes funding for non-police ambassadors in areas of the neighborhood that are currently uncovered, where residents point out that problems are often pushed into those areas. “It’s gotten really bad out there after the City saturated two thirds of the Tenderloin with ambassadors, but refused to put any in our area,” said Christopher Mika, a longtime Tenderloin SRO resident who lives on one of the blocks with no ambassadors. “Since redistricting, Supervisor Preston’s office has been working closely with us trying to get community ambassador coverage, and we are hoping this supplemental will help get us there.”

In recent months, there has been a great deal of attention on the Tenderloin. Preston is hopeful that the increased focus on the Tenderloin presents an opportunity to bring people together around solutions, including public safety improvements. Preston championed funding for the Tenderloin Community Action Plan in the 2022 budget cycle, and was successful in helping acquire $4 million to fund community-led projects. Preston’s office has also been working extensively with community members around preventing evictions, disbursing rent relief, repairing SROs, implementing enhanced street cleaning, opening a wellness hub, preventing traffic fatalities, and continuing CalFresh food benefits, among other efforts to improve the quality of life for people in the Tenderloin neighborhood.

“As head of the Tenderloin Merchants Association, I know how much our neighborhood small businesses are struggling,” said Rene Colorado, TMA Executive Director. “This small business fund will provide crucial safety support for small businesses trying to survive this difficult time.”

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