SAN FRANCISCO—A settlement filed by the University of California Hastings College of the Law called for the clearing of Tenderloin’s sidewalks which was passed 7-4 on August 18 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
According to the UC Hastings website page regarding the settlement, back on May 4, 2020, “the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against the City and County of San Francisco on 14 claims, including violation of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of Tenderloin residents who feared the neighborhood was deteriorating. It aimed to compel San Francisco to clear the “dangerously crowded” sidewalks of any and all drug dealers and tents belonging to those without homes.
One of the supervisors who voted in dissent of the ruling, Shamann Walton, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he is regretful of what he called a “heartless lawsuit.
“There are so many other ways that we could have worked together where we wouldn’t be … forced to solve this through litigation,” Walton said.
Back in June 2020, UC Hastings and San Francisco reached a settlement agreement that the city would remove 70% of the tents on the sidewalks in Tenderloin and move the street residents in hotel rooms or sanctioned encampments by the end of July.
As of August 18, 87% of the people living on those sidewalks have been removed and placed about in safe sleeping and living sites.
Tenderloin Sidewalks To Be Cleared After Settlement was originally published on San Francisco News
