Mayor Daniel Lurie is moving tiny cabins that once housed homeless San Franciscans at 16th and Mission streets to a new site in the Bayview, prompting Supervisor Shamann Walton to lambaste the move as a “bait-and-switch.”
“This is another opportunity to strong-arm the community,” said Walton, who represents District 10.
In April, Walton clashed with Lurie for turning the site, Jerrold Commons at 2177 Jerrold Ave. — which was originally intended as a lot for homeless people living in RVs — into a homeless shelter. Walton is now worried the addition of more cabins will expand the shelter.
Lurie’s office said the cabins will be moved from their original home at 16th and Mission, which closed in September, only for temporary storage at Jerrold Commons.
Walton is skeptical. He said he was told by Homelessness and Supportive Housing director Shireen McSpadden that the administration wants to talk about expanding the site for homeless housing.
“The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is planning to temporarily store 60 vacant cabin structures in the unused space at Jerrold Commons while we identify a long-term site,” said Homelessness and Supportive Housing spokesperson Emily Cohen.
“We have no plans to operate the cabins and host clients while they are in storage.”
If the cabins are ever put back to use, said Cohen, “the City will conduct a robust community-engagement process.”
Homeless shelters in San Francisco are almost all located in the city’s eastern half, in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, SoMa, Mission, and Bayview.
District 10 does have 12 percent of the city’s shelters, but it also has 18 percent of the city’s homeless population, a number that spiked by 47 percent between 2022 and 2024.
“This is an administration that continues to say they’re collaborative and want to work together, but they’re not being honest,” Walton said. In April, Walton called Lurie an “oligarch” while expressing his disapproval of developments at Jerrold Commons.
Walton said he recently contacted Kunal Modi, the mayor’s chief of health and human services, when he found out that the cabins were being moved, but Modi was not looking for his input.
Lurie, Walton said, will not return his calls.
It is unclear when the cabins will be moved to Jerrold Commons. The expansion of Jerrold Commons is an integral part of Lurie’s plan to expand shelter capacity and put up more beds across the city.
The plan requires standing up new shelters, a tough proposition for both wealthy neighborhoods without homeless housing and poor neighborhoods whose residents feel the rest of the city should carry its weight.
Bayview already has a disproportionate share of the city’s homeless housing, Walton said, and other neighborhoods should do more.
In April, Walton and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood introduced a measure to require every supervisor district to approve a new shelter or behavioral health facility by June 2026, and make the construction of new shelters or facilities within 1,000 feet of existing homeless shelters more onerous.
The law followed a city controller’s report that pointed out disparities in existing shelter locations.
Lurie opposed the law, and successfully pressed for revisions that turned its mandated requirement that each district open a new shelter into a recommendation, targeting neighborhoods that already had existing homeless populations for new shelters.
During the last budget cycle, in July, Lurie promised that the mayor’s office would make an effort to communicate with Bayview community members before making decisions that affected the neighborhood, Walton said.
At a heated and lengthy town hall meeting that month, Lurie vowed that he was “listening” to residents of the largely low-income and African American neighborhood.
Walton said that was all talk.
“This is an administration that continues to say they’re collaborative and want to work together,” said Walton, “But they have no intent of having conversations.”
Calls him an “oligarch” and expects his phone calls to be picked up. Good riddance with Walton.
I can’t think of a single San Francisco who I’d like to be mayor who would run and who would have a chance of winning. The field is that thin.
These cabins should never have been put up Nextdoor to a public school. It’s been a mess for the school to deal with and 16th and Mission is already tough. The school also has homeless families and they were never prioritized as part of the tiny cabin plan.
Imagine if the cabins had been allocated to homeless families. The kids may have had a chance.
Why not put those tiny cabins, in either the Sunset or Richmond?
For Supervisor Walton, he is correct. This mayor is big business, not understanding the community. What voted him in, can vote him out.
Shamann Walton sat by as Mission Housing and MEDA got approval to put a PSH psych/substance next to Marshall Elementary, reinforcing white supremacy. For Supervisor Walton, racism only means him being personally offended.
I hope that District 10 enjoys its new tent cabin village. It would be a crying shame if the same crime spree that followed Mission Cabins followed these cabins to their new forever home.
News flash! The Mission is part of District 9, not District 10.
Newsflash: Mission Local covers the Mission, and Shamann Walton did not raise a finger to stop siting PSH for addicts and psych cases adjacent to Marshall Elementary school in the Mission.
I’m saying “Et tu, Shamann?” as he takes a similar hit for his district, comparing the two. This is how people reason and draw conclusions.
Not to worry, Walton’s spending most of his time where he lives in Vallejo.
Correct, but so what? The OP’s point is that Walton cares only about his own district.
I remember years ago, going for an interview, at Marshall school, and as I got off the 14 Mission bus, 2 Trans people go into a fight, and one smashed a 40 ounce over the other ones head, I of course, in my Sunday’s best got splashed with the liquor. Then another time, after I had completed an interview, 3 minutes before school was to let out, a man was shooting up drugs. I ran back into the school, and told the principal to hold dismissal, until the police could get rid of that man. I agree the mysery in the city should be spread around, put some of those tiny cabins in the Sunset or Richmond.
Does Supervisor Walton have nothing else to do than complain about some sheds being stored in his district? His outrage is bizarre and seems entirely baseless.
I currently reside at the Jerrold Commons tiny cabins. Does anyone care to hear what we as clients have to say? Probably not, but I’m not the type to sit back and say nothing.
How about getting the ones already here, into housing. Approximately 50% of the 50 or so people living here have been here since day #1. That’s 6 months. In that 6 months, 4 people have moved into supportive housing. 4…only 4! We want to know why?
This place is a God sent gift, that’s truly, not being used to it’s full extent.
There have been so many employees that have quit or have been hired and fired. That sets everyone and everything back again.. and again..and again. There’s been no time and no one to navigate housing for us. The time seems to be focused on the employees. And whether they rise or fall.
Sure there’s room here to storage those empty cabins. And once again the focus will be on something else. How about focusing on us. Move us out, before moving anything or anyone else in. PLEASE! Common. Do the math. 6 months and 4 people.
I pray that expressing my thoughts doesn’t lead me to trouble.
Why You Got To Move The Homeless People To The Bayview District Don’t They Already Have Enough Homeless People Already.
Everyone claims to care about poverty , homeless , mental health , drug dealing and usage , crime but only if it affects you or your neighborhood .
Why the does the blatant inequality continue ?
Tenderloin , Lower Polk , and Bayview are never a priority but rather are dumping grounds and containment area where the city allows and tolerates the illegal and horrific behaviors of certain selfish persond who take illegal drugs , loiter, commit crimes , terrorize neighborhoods and are allowed to prosper .
The city should immediately fix these neighborhoods and distribute all those on the street equally around the city ,
That will never happen because the truth is Sf are not politically correct , they all feel they support others but as long as no one that needs it is assigned to their neighborhood
Sf is full of bs .
Take money from hardworking taxpayers and give away without any conditions .
The taxpayers in these districts get nothing for what they contribute except more persons on the grift .
The thugs , gangs of stupid youth , bums , addicts , dealers , thieves and losers need to get off their butts and grow up.
Quit shoving and allowing them to control these destroyed neighborhoods .
If your block isnt an encampment site or drug den everyday then get out and help the neighborhoods where this is going on some help.
Clean up on aisle six please
Pretty sick especially if they are not going to use them. Where are the “store” them?
As a Bayview resident who has attended many neighborhood meetings, I now know to take whatever Emily Cohen says and flip it to get the truth. She lies and lies and lies, makes assurances this and that will never happen, and then this and that is exactly what happens. Don’t be fooled!
Nothing wrong with homeless housing but it’s not reasonable to put it all in the Bayview. The cabins idea was not a bad one if they actually had real security but I think in practice it was taken over by drug dealers and addicts. In general these types of projects need to happen outside of the city where land is plentiful and cheaper and the dynamics of the city are not ever present. Bayview residents don’t mind doing our fair share for the homeless but it seems city hall just dumps everything here and lets it rot. Including directing all the RVs out of every other part of the city but letting them all stay in D10.
Some parts of D10 are industrial and have lots of unused space.
Other parts are residential and don’t. I don’t see a problem with the former being used to put people’s RV’s that they have no choice but to live in, whereas the latter represents a closer approximation of most of the rest of SF. We need D10 to accommodate what it can where it can, but it shouldn’t be spread over the entire district. The part about the City letting stuff rot is apt. But junking people’s habitable vehicles and putting them in the “system” when there are possible alternatives is not a solution, it’s creating an additional problem.
White, rich, nepobaby mayor is going to do what white, rich, nepobaby mayors do:
Prioritize white rich voters.
#lureiout