We have the skyscrapers and the filthy rich. Then we have the poor who, through no fault of their own - have to slowly die - in horrible conditions - as depicted in the recent report on support housing - and despicable accommodation - with elevators that do not work - the tenants treated with disdain.
In the 1980s, there was a hue and cry - the Patels - most of them fled East Africa - and brought their business acumen to San Francisco and other States in the United States.
Here is San Francisco - most of the motels, SROs, and medium-sized hotels were at first leased by the Patels - who raked in millions.
Using SROs and motels - for all sorts of nefarious activities - drug selling, prostitution - the Patels had seized on an opportunity and had all the wear with all to make hay while the sun was shining.
I was working at the San Francisco - Presidio of San Francisco - and had first-hand knowledge of what was going on - on Lombard Street.
Turk Street, Ellis, Polk, and the other streets with SROs were all busy - Mayor Diane Feinstein took on the Patels - but she was bought and had to play second fiddle.
Much like Diane Feinstein - now challenged - had issues with the Clubs and more the Mitchell Strip Club.
The SF Police Department - invaded the Clubs and harassed LGBTQ folks - the Strippers who flocked here from all over the United States.
The Rajneesh movement provided ample opportunity for European and other strippers - to make a lot of money.
Men - poured in weekends for a good time - and the then SF Police Department and the SF Board of Supervisors and more the Mayors - looked the other way.
Better the tents than the dirty, stinking SROs.
When Mayor Willie L. Borwn Jr. became the Mayor - in 1994 - the Mitchell Brothers, the SROs, the motel, the hotel, and even the more prominent Hotels - Four Seasons Stood out - all enjoyed a gala time.
Today a lot of what happened then has moved elsewhere - and San Francisco is suffering from a lack of tourists who do not want to deal with car break-ins.
Assaults, dirty stinking streets - the Mitchell's has been boarded up - the famous Market Street Cinema torn down - the other Strip Club in and around Columbus Street - and North Beach - having trickle-down effects.
The Single Residency Occupancy (SROs) once catered to the seamen who worked on ships that carried petroleum and other materials.
These Marine seamen - they did not work for the U.S. Navy - were known as Marine sailors - they mostly stayed in the SROs - when they landed in San Francisco and other places - it was not for long - a couple of weeks.
They left, and others took their place in the SROs - those who managed the SROs had a good understanding of the system - and the SF Tenderloin, the Fillmore, and North Beach - provided a source of entertainment for the Marine Seamen.
At 15th Avenue there was a Public Hospital - behind the Hospital was a graveyard.
Those Marine Seamen who were indigent were buried at this graveyard. Some of the graves were marked - others not - it all depended on the circumstances.
The dirty streets and the despicable living in tents in some areas - are fostering a surge of Covid-19 cases - go figure! It is paramount we wear our masks - and ignore the stupid calls - to demask on our transportation system MUNI - where is this foolishness coming from if not from Room 200 - City Hall.
In those days in the 1940s to 1960s - the SROs were halfway decent and not infested with rats, coaches, broken plumbing, and what have you.
When the Patels came in - they did defer maintenance after buying these SROs from other White Property Managers - all the names are recorded - in the Assessors Office.
The Tenderloin has long been known - to prey upon the poor.
We have seen the Tenderloin take in refugees with the conclusion of the Vietnam war and other war-torn calamities.
We have seen the folks from the Tenderloin - form-focused groups - councils, hold conventions - and find solutions to help all their fellow women and men in the Tenderloin.
The Tenderloin has now attracted Cartels - Drug Cartels, and in the last 20 years - those suffering the most - the poor and the indigent - mostly the Elderly and children - who fall prey to these - thugs.
Daily, these cartels send hundreds of drug dealers from the East Bay - daily, they take the BART - land and sell their wares - the SF Police Department knows about this and has done nothing.
The SF Police Commission is a JOKE,
The recent report on supportive housing says it all.
Exposing - the hot air spewed by Mayor London Breed - and her tryst with Urban Alcamey from Ohio - established in 2017.
These folks wearing green jackets - now found all over the Tenderloin - mainly employing jailbirds - calling themselves - Practitioners - only in San Francisco such nonsense is tolerated.
On Wednesdays and Sundays - the United Nations Plaza - holds the Framers Market. The drug selling and homeless shadowing the area - those shopping at the Farmers' Market - are leery.
Adjacent is a camp - a so-called Wellness Camp - with about ten tents - bearing the name HealthRight360 - why is HealthRight360 - all over the place in San Francisco - an establishment headquartered in Los Angeles?
Who are these jailbird Practitioners? Why are we wasting millions - helping outside provocateurs - who do not have the best interest of San Franciscans and San Francisco.
Why should innocent people - who happen to be poor - slowly die in the Single Residency Occupancy locations - in filthy, stinking, rat and roach-infested conditions?
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