How Much Do They Pay To Clean Defecation In San Francisco

Despite a tape-breaking $72.5 million spent this fiscal year on street cleaning, reports of excrement — from both human and creature — on San Francisco'southward sidewalks go along to rise.

"Poop is poop, and nosotros clean it up as fast every bit we tin can," San Francisco Public Works spokeswoman Rachel Gordon said.

But not fast plenty.

For while calls reporting tent camps dropped by well-nigh x percent in the first three months of the yr, and calls about discarded needles remained pretty much the same — a drib of 0.7 percent — the poop problem but keeps growing.

The city's 311 call heart clocked 5,874 calls reporting waste on the streets and sidewalks in the first three months of the year — almost 65 calls a 24-hour interval — a seven% increment over the aforementioned fourth dimension period last year.

It's not from lack of trying that things are getting worse. Just look at the piece of work going into the Tenderloin.

Every morn at four:30 a.one thousand., Public Works crews hit the streets, their commencement focus to clean upwardly tent camps.

At 5 a.m. — 7 days a week — 41 blocks of sidewalks and 12 alleys are manually swept past Hunters Point Family, a nonprofit cleanup program that contracts with the metropolis.

At 6 a.one thousand., mechanical sweepers start cleaning the Tenderloin.

From xi a.m. to 8 p.m., the Public Works Poop Patrol steam-cleans alleyways along lower Polk Street.

From 3 p.yard. to eight p.thousand., Civic, another nonprofit under contract with Public Works, manually sweeps 41 blocks in the Tenderloin.

Supervisor Matt Haney walks on Leavenworth at Eddy streets on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. He has a package of 10 proposals he's taking to the Board of Supervisors to make our streets cleaner. — Supervisor Matt Haney walks on Leavenworth at Boil streets on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. He has a package of x proposals he's taking to the Board of Supervisors to make our streets cleaner. Liz Hafalia / The Relate

Street garbage cans in the Tenderloin are emptied three times a twenty-four hour period — more oftentimes if needed based on service requests — and staffed Pit Stop public toilets are available at 25 locations in 12 neighborhoods, daily until 8 p.chiliad. There are 5 Pit Stops in the Tenderloin.

The dawn-to-sunset work represents a $32 million increase in street-cleaning spending since fiscal 2013-2014, an increment of over $half dozen meg a year.

And the city expects to spend at least $72 one thousand thousand next year.

Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes some of the dirtiest areas, wants to spend even more.

"Anybody deserves safety and good for you sidewalks," Haney said.

Haney wants 200 more Big Belly trash cans for his district, 10 more Pit End restrooms — five open around the clock — all-mean solar day street sweepers to make clean twenty "micro-neighborhoods" in the Tenderloin and South of Market, and metropolis-funded deep cleaning of sidewalks multiple times a week.

Under city police, property owners are responsible for cleaning their sidewalks, but some businesses and property owners band together as community do good districts and tax themselves to pay for the extra cleaning services.

Preliminary estimates past Public Works put the cost of Haney's wish list at near some other $12 1000000 a yr.

"Some of these things tin can exist done by the community benefit districts, and some of them tin can be done past spending our more coin effectively and efficiently," Haney said.

Street cleaners, however, volition tell you that the problem isn't cleaning the streets, but keeping them make clean.

"It's non just about the money anymore, it'due south about also needing to deal with the people who are creating the problems," Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru said. "Cleaning the same area iii, four, five times a mean solar day is not the best apply of our money, but it is necessary until the behavior changes."

Mayor London Breed, who has made cleaning the streets a pinnacle priority, agrees.

"Ultimately, we need people to change their behavior if we want to see a difference on our streets," Brood said. "Everyone needs to be held accountable for taking intendance of our city."

Constabulary handed out 423 citations for urination and defecation in the last twelvemonth, but information technology'south unknown how many resulted in fines or how many were dismissed, something that happens ofttimes with low-level "quality-of-life" crimes.

"It's non the residents of the Tenderloin who are pissing in the streets. They have bathrooms," said Tenderloin Housing Clinic Executive Director Randy Shaw. "It's the drug dealers who don't care about the Pit Stops — they don't care about the neighborhood."

Haney said bar patrons who flood into the city at night are as well using alleys every bit toilets. Street people with drug and alcohol bug openly urinate and defecate in wide daylight — with no consequences.

"Most people who are defecating on the streets have mental problems or are sick — I'1000 not sure the best style to prevent them from doing that is to abort them," Haney said. "I'm for accountability, only I haven't seen any programme for how to practise it. The city should be accountable as well."

Until then, the city will keep cleaning and keep spending.

Laissez passer the wipes.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phillip Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can exist seen on the KPIX-TV morn and evening news. He tin also be heard on KCBS radio Mon through Friday at 7:50 a.one thousand. and 5:50 p.k. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or electronic mail pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier