Will they stay or will they go?
That is the question that will be answered in about six hours, after the city of San Francisco ordered countless homeless people to clear out of their encampment, calling the area a public nuisance with too much garbage, feces, needles and urine.
Homeless people living along Division Street must be gone by 5 p.m. on Friday. Many have left, but some say they’re not going. Homeless people living in a city around Showplace Square a few blocks away have to leave on Sunday by 5 p.m.
”Wherever we go they’re gonna find us,” said Donna Sears, an art history teacher who has been living on the streets, “and make us move again.” She said she resents the fact that the only crime she’s committed is being poor.
There are signs the city is taking action. Homeless outreach teams were all out all morning, going tent to tent, encouraging people to move to shelters, while public works crews have been cleaning up trash piled up by the homeless.
Public works director Mohammed Nuru wouldn’t be specific on what the agency would do if everyone won’t clear out, but he added: “At the end of this process everyone will be gone.”
