SF MAYOR SAYS HER CITY IS DROWNING IN POOP

Started by pr126, July 16, 2018, 11:48:19 AM

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pr126

Those needles littering the streets? The city gave them out
QuoteFor all of City Hall’s tough talk of late about getting needles off the streets, the city itself is responsible for helping fuel the problem â€" handing out millions of syringes a year with little or no controls over their return.

No doubt that goal is well-intentioned, but what wasn’t mentioned is that the health department is the biggest source of the needles â€" it hands out an estimated 400,000 syringes a month through various programs aimed at reducing HIV and other health risks for drug users.

The program began under Mayor Frank Jordan in 1993. It was originally billed as a “needle exchange,” but there never have been strict rules for returns, and the number handed out has steadily climbed.

In fiscal 2013-14, for example, health department records show the city handed out 3.3 million needles at a cost of $400,397. Two years later, it handed out 4.45 million needles at a cost of $523,363.

Garcia said the program’s goal of ensuring access to sterile syringes is intended “to eliminate the transmission of blood-borne pathogens among people who inject drugs and their sexual partners.”

Health department statistics show the program appears to be working, at least on one level: The number of new HIV infections among people who inject drugs in San Francisco dropped from 106 in 2010 to 38 in 2016.

And while the city sees the public health benefit for users, the math on retrieving the free syringes and keeping them off of the streets has come up short.

Of the 400,000 needles distributed monthly, the health department estimates that about 246,000 come back though its 13 syringe access and disposal sites.

That leaves more than 154,000 needles a month still circulating. No one knows how many are tossed into garbage cans or into private needle retrieval boxes â€" but thousands wind up on streets and sidewalks, in tent camps, and in parks and playgrounds.

“It is hard to arrive at an exact number,” said health department spokeswoman Rachael Kagan. “That said, there is clearly needle litter on our streets, and we are working hard to address that.”

To combat the problem, the health department sends out crews who pick up about 8,000 needles per month off the streets.

San Francisco’s public works department also reports collecting an average of 12,640 needles per month when it cleans out homeless hot spots and encampments.

“Those are just the encampments crews,” said DPW spokeswoman Rachel Gordon.

How many of the remaining 133,000 or so needles are picked up by regular street cleaning crews is unknown, but walking some streets shows that the retrieval efforts are falling short.

Health officials maintain that the unlimited syringe access actually lowers the risk that a used needle on the street carries disease.

“When clean needles are available, there is less sharing, less disease transmission, and the discarded needles are less likely to be infectious,” Kagan said.

And there are no known cases of disease from needle sticks in San Francisco.

Still, in recent years the visible proliferation of needles on streets and in parks has become both a growing political and public relations problem for City Hall, as residents point to the problem when they call for cleaner streets.

The public clamor is one of the chief reasons Farrell announced a plan to spend $750,000 a year so the San Francisco AIDS Foundation could hire 10 people just to collect used needles.

“People are, quite frankly, fed up with the conditions of our streets, and so am I,” Farrell said at the news conference announcing the cleanup team.

But there was no mention of changing the policy of handing out unlimited numbers of needles.

“There are no changes to our syringe access programs,” Garcia said. “Research shows that reducing access to clean syringes increases disease and does not improve the problem of needle litter.

“Syringe access is part of a bigger picture,” she said.

The mayor agrees.

“My investment in a dedicated syringe clean team will tackle one of the unintended consequences of this program,” Farrell said. “But I will not walk back our health policy back to the stone ages.”

In the last half of 2017 alone, needle handouts grew to 3 million, meaning, if the rate continues, it will hit 6 million by the close of the fiscal year on June 30.

So, watch your step.

pr126

SF’s proposed employee cafeteria ban not to everyone’s tastes

We want you to go out into the city and enjoy the scenery and the company of others. Bon Appetit!

But mind your step.


Baruch

#122
Quote from: pr126 on August 01, 2018, 10:05:11 AM
SF’s proposed employee cafeteria ban not to everyone’s tastes

We want you to go out into the city and enjoy the scenery and the company of others. Bon Appetit!

But mind your step.

They need more commissars, but only gay or lesbian commissars (not that I mind that sexual preference).  Straight commissars will be out of luck.

Beware of Commie Obi Wan ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1iQ5hQTR5s
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.


Baruch

Well one thing Marxism got right ... the bourgeoisie really does suck.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

Quote from: pr126 on August 01, 2018, 09:26:16 AM
LOL.
I always manage to trigger the TS in comrade Shiranu.

Trigger all you want.  But do keep in mind that the rest of us are reading your "triggers" too.  And such statements don't make you look good.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

pr126

#126
Quote from: Cavebear on August 04, 2018, 01:45:53 AM
Trigger all you want.  But do keep in mind that the rest of us are reading your "triggers" too.  And such statements don't make you look good.
I have long past caring.

Cavebear

Quote from: pr126 on August 04, 2018, 01:53:59 AM
I have long past caring.

If you are "long past caring", it might be time for you to move on...
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Quote from: Cavebear on August 04, 2018, 01:56:54 AM
If you are "long past caring", it might be time for you to move on...

You invented the Survivor reality TV show, right?  Always trying to push people off the "island".
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

pr126

It’s no laughing matter â€" SF forming Poop Patrol to keep sidewalks clean
QuoteIn a city where filthy sidewalks are many residents’ No. 1 complaint, City Hall has come up with a new way to deal with No. 2.

It sounds like silly elementary school banter, but it’s real. San Francisco is about to launch the Poop Patrol.

In about a month, a team of five Public Works staffers will begin patrolling the alleys around Polk Street and other hot spots in a vehicle equipped with a steam cleaner.

They’ll begin their shifts in the afternoon, as the city starts losing its sheen from overnight cleaning. The Poop Patrol’s mission? To spot and clean piles of feces before anybody complains about them.

“We’re trying to be proactive,” explained Public Works director Mohammed Nuru. “We’re actually out there looking for it.”


Baruch

Quote from: pr126 on August 16, 2018, 12:35:46 AM
It’s no laughing matter â€" SF forming Poop Patrol to keep sidewalks clean

They have that in Paris too I hear.  Too many dog lovers who don't clean up.  Maybe the SF mayor can put leashes on all the "furries".  SF finally getting some French culture, oui?
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Munch

Quote from: Baruch on August 16, 2018, 06:02:18 AM
They have that in Paris too I hear.  Too many dog lovers who don't clean up.  Maybe the SF mayor can put leashes on all the "furries".  SF finally getting some French culture, oui?

furries already one upped on that, their advanced to harnesses.

'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Baruch

Two .. two .. fetishes in one!  Double pervert, double pervert, double pervert gum.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Munch

My boyfriend's a self confessed furry, having a fursona he uses in gaming and writing short stories. He draws the line at the fur suit though, finds it awkward and weird
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Baruch

Quote from: Munch on August 16, 2018, 03:52:08 PM
My boyfriend's a self confessed furry, having a fursona he uses in gaming and writing short stories. He draws the line at the fur suit though, finds it awkward and weird

I would think it hot (temp) also.  Also a bad choice, if out in the woods.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.