Jane Kim promises clean streets if elected mayor

San Francisco Supervisor and mayoral candidate Jane Kim unveiled her plans on Wednesday to clean up the streets if voters elect her in June to become The City’s next mayor.

The plan called the “San Francisco Loves Clean Streets” will address the growing health crisis created by the uncleanliness of The City’s streets, said Kim during a press conference in front of the Ferry Building:

“As a supervisor for District 6 and resident, I know all too well the scope of the problem and I am frankly getting tired of it as well.”

Kim citd the San Diego Hepatitis A outbreak last year in September as a concern if streets are kept uncleaned in The City.

Kim’s plan includes to involve nonprofit groups and community benefit districts to expand The City’s neighborhood streets team program, which employs homeless individuals to help keep the streets clean.

As mayor, she plans to double The City’s “Pit Stop” program, which provides portable toilets and sinks to prevent people from urinating and defecating on the streets. The program began in District 6 in the Tenderloin.

Another part of her plan is to appoint a clean streets director to coordinate with other city departments on keeping the streets clean.

Kim said in 2015, The City received 40,000 calls for services on street cleaning. In 2016, the number doubled to nearly 80,000 requests from service, and The City is on track to hot 100,000 service requests by the end of current fiscal year.

Kate Robinson, a community organizer with the Tenderloin Community Benefits District, said cleanliness on the streets is a safety issue.

Robinson said part of her job is safety for kids in the neighborhood to provide them a safe passage on the streets:

“In my work, we stand on street corners, really creating a safe space for them, and that often involves interacting with poop on the ground. It’s a daily reality in the neighborhood.”

Currently, Kim is working to increase funding for street cleaning by $2.5 million over the next four months in The City’s budget.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.