May 24, 2020

Dear Supervisor Dean Preston and Staff,

We are Cole Valley/Haight residents who would like to offer our voices in support of initiatives that address the concerns of our lowest-income and un-housed neighbors in District 5, including permanent low-income housing and temporary Safe Sleeping Sites.

Many of us are vocal members of our Cole Valley Facebook page where much of the neighborhood news is discussed. We are concerned that the anti-low-income-housing and anti-Safe-Sleeping-Site voices are dominating the discussion, and we would like your office to know that those voices don't represent our views.

It has also come to our attention that the "Cole Valley Improvement Association" claims to represent the concerns of the residents of our neighborhood, but we don't agree with many of their stances on neighborhood issues.

While we would prefer, as you do, that our neighbors sleeping outside were provided hotel rooms, we are in support of Safe Sleeping Sites. Some of us may prefer a different site than 730 Stanyan, but we understand that it was the site that could be put to use immediately, and therefore we are in support of that location during the time that there is still danger of spreading COVID-19. We continue to advocate that hotel rooms and permanent housing options be provided for anyone sleeping outside in San Francisco, and we will continue to support compassionate and safe management of the Safe Sleeping Site and surrounding area at 730 Stanyan as the plan moves forward.

We are advocates of TNDC and CCDC, the organizations tasked with building permanent low-income housing at 730 Stanyan, and we would like to see those organizations and the Homeless Youth Alliance invited to actively consult on the management of the interim use of the site before building begins, due to their long-standing histories with the city's most vulnerable populations. [6/1/2020 NOTE: SEE UPDATE BELOW]

Thank you for everything you are doing for District 5; we appreciate your strong progressive leadership in a city that has become overly entrenched in the concerns of the wealthiest residents and companies.

-Cole Valley / Haight Allies
Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/colevalleyhaightallies
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CVH_Allies

UPDATE: June 1, 2020
This letter was written before the management of the site by Larkin Street Youth Services and Homeless Youth Alliance was announced. We are very pleased they were selected and we have confidence the site will be a success under their leadership. We also understand that while CCDC and TNDC are working very hard on plans for the permanent housing to be built at 730 Stanyan, they are in no way involved in the operation of the site's interim use.