The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Council of SF, and SF Travel launch campaign to make street cleaning and street safety the top priority in City Hall’s budget
San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce released their 2020 Dignity Health CityBeat poll results this morning during their annual CityBeat Breakfast. This year’s poll was focused on measuring voter sentiment on San Francisco’s toughest challenges: homelessness, street conditions, and public safety. The poll also took a deep look into voter support for substantial solutions to these challenges.
“The 170th Anniversary of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is more than simply a celebration. We want to take this moment to reaffirm our commitment to tackling the City’s toughest problems as we forge a brighter future together,” said Melinda Yee Franklin, Board Chair of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director at United Airlines. “In this new year and new decade, the San Francisco Chamber is dedicated to bringing economic prosperity and a better quality of life for all our residents and employees.”
Some highlights from the 2020 Dignity Health CityBeat Poll show San Franciscans deep frustration with street conditions:
- 89% of respondents say that homelessness and street behavior have gotten worse in the past few years. 72% say that the issue has gotten much worse.
- 78% of respondents say that overall cleanliness of the streets has gotten worse in the past few years.
- 71% of respondents listed “homelessness/street behavior” as the top issue facing San Francisco, with “cost of rents/affordability of renting” coming in second at 33%.
- 71% of respondents also said that the overall quality of life in San Francisco has gotten worse in the past few years. When asked specifically about their neighborhood, 42% of respondents said that the overall quality of life in their neighborhood has gotten worse in the past few years.
San Franciscans are also overwhelmingly supportive of meaningful solutions, even if they involve difficult choices or hard conversations.
- 69% of respondents said they would be supportive of building a navigation center or shelter to serve people experiencing homelessness in their neighborhood.
- 72% of respondents said they would be supportive of building a navigation center or shelter to serve people experiencing homelessness in every supervisorial district.
In response to the grave concern San Francisco residents and small businesses have for our City’s streets, the SF Chamber unveiled StreetCareSF, a 5-point-plan to improve San Francisco’s street conditions. StreetCareSF is comprised of 5 substantial solutions that the SF Chamber will be pursuing throughout 2020 to make San Francisco streets cleaner and safer.
These solutions include:
- Expanded conservatorship, providing court-ordered treatment for those who are unable to care for themselves due to severe mental illness.
- 86% of CityBeat poll respondents said they would be supportive of expanded conservatorship.
- Enforce existing laws prohibiting open-air drug dealing.
- 78% of CityBeat poll respondents said they would be supportive of enforcing existing laws.
- Increase police staffing levels to keep pace with San Francisco’s population.
- 80% of CityBeat poll respondents said they would be supportive of increasing police staffing levels.
- Conduct an audit of the City’s homeless services and spending.
- 86% of CityBeat poll respondents said they would be supportive of an audit of homeless services and spending.
- Clean our merchant corridors and neighborhood streets.
- 85% of CityBeat poll respondents said they would be supportive of making street cleanliness, street safety, and homeless services a top priority in the City’s budget.
The SF Chamber is sharing its detailed 2020 Dignity Health CityBeat poll results on our website at: https://sfchamber.com/citybeat-poll-results-2020.
“It is clear that there is deep unhappiness in our City. We see it every day on our streets. San Franciscans are frustrated, our visitors are shocked, and our homeless neighbors are living in misery,” said Rodney Fong, President and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. “We must take action: to care for our homeless neighbors, to clean our streets, and to improve street conditions. As we have done for 170 years, the San Francisco Chamber is here to lead.”
“This year, the Chamber wants to go beyond poll results. We want to deliver action. We want to address the biggest issue facing our residents, employees, visitors, and businesses”, said Mark Klein, Chair of the Public Policy Committee. ”Our goal for 2020 is clear: To make our streets safer, cleaner, and an asset that San Francisco can be proud of.”
As a first step towards these solutions, the SF Chamber is partnering with the Hotel Council of SF and SF Travel to commit the CleanSafe365 campaign to a renewed focus on the City’s budget. The campaign mobilizes San Francisco residents to urge the Board of Supervisors to make street cleanliness, street safety, and homeless services a top priority in this year’s City budget.
“The Hotel Council founded CleanSafe365 because it is critical that our city deliver clean and safe streets every day for our residents, employees, and visitors,” said Kevin Carroll, President & CEO of the Hotel Council of SF. “We ask that San Franciscans join us by signing the CleanSafe365 petition and have their voices heard.”
“We are thrilled to be working closely with the San Francisco Chamber and the San Francisco Hotel Council on these challenging issues that are negatively impacting our vibrant and beautiful city for those who live, work, and visit here’, said Joe D’Alessandro, President and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association. “I thank the leadership of both the Chamber and Hotel Council, as well as their members, for prioritizing our most pressing challenges and understanding the power of working together for positive change.”
San Francisco residents, visitors, employees, and small business owners can join this campaign by signing the CleanSafe365 online petition at www.cleansafe365.org.
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For Immediate Release: Feb 13th, 2020
Media Contact:
CityBeat Poll and SF Chamber of Commerce; Jay Cheng, (408) 691-0423, jcheng@sfchamber.com
CleanSafe365; Kevin Carroll, (415) 391-5197, kcarroll@hotelcouncilsf.org