Static Cracker

Dear @GavinNewsom @GovPressOffice @CAgovernor @JenSiebelNewsom @iGardon Cc: @CNN @sfstandard @californiapost @nytimes @sfchronicle March 14, 2026 Re: fentanyl massacre I am writing to you, again, today to address the catastrophic failure of public safety and public health in the heart of San Francisco. While your administration has deployed the California Highway Patrol and National Guard to assist our city, the reality on the ground in the Tenderloin and SoMa neighborhoods remains a moral stain on our state. Since 2020, we have lost nearly 4,000 San Franciscans to accidental overdoses, with a disproportionate number of these deaths occurring within just a few square blocks of your own San Francisco residence and office. A Half-Decade of Record Mortality Since the beginning of the decade, San Francisco has endured a sustained mass-casualty event that the current "harm reduction" framework has failed to stop: • The Record Highs: Following the 726 deaths in 2020, we hit a grim all-time record of over 800 deaths in 2023. • The 2024-2025 Plateau: While 2024 showed a slight dip, 2025 preliminary data suggests the death toll is surging again as synthetic supply chains adapt. • Concentrated Trauma: Over 40% of these deaths are concentrated in the Tenderloin and SoMa. These neighborhoods are being used as "containment zones" where open-air drug markets are tolerated in a way that would be unthinkable in any other California zip code. The Failure of the "Housing First" and Harm Reduction Status Quo Governor, for years California has mandated a "Housing First" and low-barrier harm reduction approach. In the Tenderloin and SoMa, we have seen the tragic limitations of these theories: 1. Isolation in SROs: Our city-funded SROs and permanent supportive housing units have become sites of frequent fatal overdoses. By providing housing without requiring sobriety or mandatory services, we have moved the "dying" from the sidewalk to behind closed doors, often in isolation. 2. Enablement vs. Recovery: Your recent veto of AB 255, which would have allowed for sober-living environments in state-funded housing, was a deep disappointment to those of us who believe that recovery should be an option for those trying to escape the drug-saturated streets of the Tenderloin. 3. The Limits of Naloxone: While CalRx naloxone is a vital tool, it is a band-aid on a gushing wound. Flooding the streets with Narcan while allowing the cartels to occupy our street corners is not a strategy—it is a surrender. What is the State’s Commitment for 2026? The voters of California and San Francisco have signaled a clear desire for a shift toward accountability and mandatory treatment. With the passage of Proposition 36 and the expansion of the CARE Act, the tools for a new direction exist. However, we need your executive leadership to ensure these tools are actually used to clear the streets of the Tenderloin and SoMa. I am asking for your administration’s specific plan in 2026 to: • End the Sacrifice Zones: Will you direct the CHP and state law enforcement to move beyond "seizures" and focus on the total disruption and closure of open-air markets in residential neighborhoods like the TL? • Support Sober Housing: Will you reconsider your stance on sober-contingent housing to provide a safe haven for those who want to escape the environment of active use? • Mandated Treatment: How will the state ensure that the new "grave disability" definitions under SB 43 are being aggressively utilized in San Francisco to get the most vulnerable off the streets and into locked psychiatric and drug-treatment facilities? The families and small businesses of the Tenderloin and SoMa can no longer wait for "incremental progress." We need a state-led intervention that treats this as the 911 emergency it is. Sincerely, @bettersoma