Activism

Mayor Breed Declares State of Emergency in Tenderloin as Part of Crackdown Efforts

“The emergency declaration is really about removing obstacles so that we can go in and conduct the work we need to do [to] help the residents of the Tenderloin. Our goal is to get those services coordinated as quickly as we can in order to alleviate the overall suffering that people are experiencing in the neighborhood,” said Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll.

Published

4 years ago

December 26, 2021

Oakland Post

San Francisco Mayor London Breed

San Francisco (BCN)

San Francisco Mayor London Breed doubled down on efforts to crack down on public drug use and other disturbances in the city’s Tenderloin, announcing an official State of Emergency in the neighborhood Friday.

According to Breed’s office, the emergency declaration would work similarly to the city’s COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency and allow the city to respond to health and safety concerns on the streets quickly and without bureaucratic barriers.

Specifically, the declaration allows the city to waive rules around contract procurement and zoning codes in order to quickly open a “linkage site” to voluntarily connect people who are living on the streets and struggling with substance use and mental health issues to services.

The declaration comes just two days after Breed, along with emergency and law enforcement officials, announced several new initiatives to address the neighborhood’s health and safety concerns, including public drug use and illegal street vendors selling stolen items.

“When we look at the conditions on our streets it is really unfortunate; it is sad; it’s heartbreaking,” Breed said during a briefing Friday at City Hall. “We have to move quickly. Too many people are dying in this city. Too many people are sprawled out all over our streets. And now we have a plan to address it.”

According to Breed, an emergency response is needed in the area, as the opioid drug crisis has worsened in recent years, with the highly addictive synthetic opioid fentanyl contributing to a sharp rise in overdose deaths.

“This is necessary in order to see a difference, in order to reverse some of the deaths from overdoses, and the assaults and attacks happening in this community,” she said. “When people walk down the streets of San Francisco, they should feel safe. They shouldn’t have to look over their shoulders; they shouldn’t have to be punched in the face randomly; they shouldn’t have to see someone sticking a needle in various parts of their body; they shouldn’t have to see someone laying out in the street…”

The Board of Supervisors must approve the emergency declaration within the next week, and if approved, the declaration would last for 90 days, according to Breed’s office.

Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes the Tenderloin, is in support of the declaration.

“The overdose epidemic is taking the lives of nearly two people a day in our city. Most of those people are in the Tenderloin and South of Market and mostly from fentanyl,” he said. “As the supervisor of the Tenderloin, but also as a resident of the Tenderloin, we need an emergency crisis-level response to confront this deadly epidemic at the scale of the problem that we’re facing.”

Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll said the linkage site will not only help people coordinate health services from community organizations and the San Francisco Department of Public Health, but the site will also help people get food, hygiene products, and connect them with housing programs.

On Wednesday, Breed announced the Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan, which involves several approaches to address the crime and public drug use and improve the neighborhood. Part of that is increasing the police presence in the area.

In addition, Breed on Wednesday proposed amending the city’s Surveillance Technology Ordinance — passed in by supervisors in 2019 — to allow police to access more surveillance cameras throughout the city. She also proposed increased funding for law enforcement training, hiring, and increased overtime.

“At the end of the day, the people in this community are not safe and it’s not right. Part of the response to this is definitely police officers,” Breed said Friday.

“We have to arrest drug dealers. We have to arrest people who are assaulting people,” Police Chief William Scott said. “Our officers have said time and time again, ‘Let’s have a system where we can get the social workers involved,’ and that’s exactly what this does at the front end so that we can go and do all the things that the public wants us to do: arrest people who are hurting people; stop the open-air drug use; and stop some of the craziness that’s going on in our streets.”

On Friday, the group Defund SFPD Now criticized Breed’s newly announced initiatives.

“The mayor’s plan includes moves to appropriate additional money to the San Francisco Police Department, expand coordinated sweeps of unhoused people, expand surveillance, and target unlicensed street vendors. While we believe in doing whatever we can to secure basic resources and dignity, Mayor Breed’s latest proposal deflects from the failures of the city’s neoliberal policies by imprisoning vulnerable people in the Tenderloin,” Defund SFPD Now said in a statement.

“We are disappointed that Mayor Breed would use the declaration of a state of emergency to increase the reach of criminalization rather than using it to meet people’s needs with respect and compassion,” the group said.

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Activism

As California Hits Aging Milestone, State Releases Its Fifth Master Plan for Aging

“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.

Published

22 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

On Jan. 27, California released its Fifth Master Plan for Aging Annual Report,titled “Focusing on What Matters Most,” outlining the state’s progress and priorities as its population rapidly grows older.

The report, issued by the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), provides updates on the Master Plan for Aging’s “Five Bold Goals”: housing, health, inclusion and equity, caregiving, and affordability.

The report comes as Californians aged 60 and older now outnumber those under 18 for the first time, a demographic shift expected to accelerate over the next decade.

Launched in 2021, the Master Plan for Aging takes a “whole-of- government” and “whole-of-society” approach, coordinating state agencies, local governments, community organizations, and private partners. The annual report highlights significant milestones, including more than 100 California communities joining AARP’s Age-Friendly Network and $4 million in state funding awarded to local organizations to develop aging and disability action plans in 30 communities statewide.

The report also underscores California’s leadership at the national level, noting that dozens of states have followed its example and that federal legislation inspired by the plan was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in December 2025.

CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson emphasized the plan’s focus on equity and resilience amid ongoing challenges.

“The Master Plan for Aging continues to provide a vision, a focus, and a platform for collaboration,” Johnson said. “Equity is at the center of all that we do.”

Looking ahead, the report notes that by 2030, one in four Californians will be age 60 or older, positioning the Master Plan for Aging as a central framework for meeting the state’s long-term social, economic, and health needs.

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After Don Lemon’s Arrest, Black Officials Raise Concerns About Independent Black Media

Elected leaders joining the call included U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell (2nd District), Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), Mike Gipson (D-Carson), and Sade Elhawary (D-Los Angeles), and State Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles). While the meeting was prompted by Lemon’s arrest, the discussion quickly moved beyond him, turning to growing concerns about the vulnerability of Black journalists covering protests and dissent.

Published

22 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Don Lemon. Shutterstock.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

On Jan. 30, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attended independent journalist Don Lemon’s federal court appearance at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Courthouse following his arrest in Los Angeles by federal authorities for conduct tied to his reporting on a protest nearly 2,000 miles away in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Shortly afterward, Bass convened a Zoom roundtable of Black elected leaders, city officials, and journalists to discuss what the case signaled — not just for Lemon, but for journalism more broadly.

While Lemon was being arrested, Georgia Fort, an award-winning Minneapolis journalist, was also arrested and charged in connection with her coverage of the protest inside the Cities Church in St. Paul reportedly targeted because a pastor worked as field director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Both Fort and Lemon have said they were reporting.

However, prosecutors allege conspiracy and violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act — a federal law that prohibits force, threats, or obstruction at reproductive health facilities and places of worship.

In a public statement issued after the arrest, Bass said the case “is about the First Amendment and the right of journalists to do their jobs without fear of intimidation or retaliation,” adding that journalists “must be able to cover events of public concern without being treated as criminals.”

That framing set the tone for the Zoom discussion. Participants raised concerns that Lemon’s speech and presence were being used to transform journalistic activity into evidence of criminal intent. Several warned that such an approach places journalists working outside major institutions at heightened risk.

Kamlager-Dove said the arrests cut to the heart of democratic accountability.

“Journalists must be able to report on protests, government actions, and civil rights issues without fear of arrest or retaliation,” she said. “When reporters are targeted for doing their jobs, it threatens the public’s right to know and undermines our democracy.”

As the discussion continued, the roundtable’s participants also made clear why Fort’s arrest mattered. Unlike Lemon, she is not a national television figure, a distinction participants said shows how independent journalists without major institutional backing are often the most vulnerable.

McKinnor said that reality cannot be ignored. “Black journalists have long played a critical role in documenting what others overlook or avoid,” she said. “When reporters are arrested for covering protests, it sends a message that truth-telling itself is being criminalized.”

Participants noted that the Minnesota protest space was multiracial, yet Black journalists were among those arrested — a pattern several described as familiar when Black reporters cover protests, immigration enforcement, policing, or civil rights issues.

Smallwood-Cuevas called the arrests “deeply troubling” and warned that “when journalists are arrested for documenting protests, it sends a chilling message not just to the press, but to the public.”

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“Victory” for Voting Rights: Weber and Bonta Hail Judge’s Decision on Huntington Beach I.D. Law

“Today’s victory makes one thing crystal clear: No city in our state, charter and non-charter alike, is above the law,” Bonta said. “All along, Secretary of State Weber and I have maintained that Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy is illegal, and now, the state’s highest court has weighed in and agreed with us. Measure A won’t be taking effect — ever.”

Published

23 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber hailed a major legal victory for voting rights after the California Supreme Court declined to review a challenge brought by the City of Huntington Beach against the state, effectively ending the city’s attempt to impose voter identification requirements in municipal elections.

The high court’s action leaves intact a Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling that struck down Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, known as Measure A, finding it unlawful and preempted by state law. By rejecting the city’s petition for review, the Supreme Court has fully resolved the case in favor of the state, concluding litigation initiated by Bonta and Weber on April 15, 2024.

Measure A amended the Huntington Beach city charter to purportedly authorize voter identification requirements at polling places for municipal elections beginning in 2026. State officials argued the measure conflicted with California election law and was adopted without evidence of voter fraud in the city. Courts at every level agreed, rejecting the city’s claims that such requirements were necessary to protect election integrity.

Bonta also criticized city leaders for promoting unfounded concerns about election security. “Huntington Beach’s leaders have been parroting the Trump Administration’s talking points by questioning the integrity of our elections,” he said. “In court, the City’s allegations were resoundingly rejected. I remain fully committed to protecting the right to vote from baseless attacks.”

Weber emphasized the broader implications of the ruling for voters statewide.

“Today the California Supreme Court declined to review the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s decision prohibiting the City of Huntington Beach from implementing illegal voter identification requirements,”

Weber said. “As California Secretary of State, I have a responsibility to ensure that every eligible Californian can exercise their constitutional right to vote, and I take that duty seriously.”

Weber added that state law clearly supersedes local efforts to impose additional voting barriers.

“Attorney General Bonta and I have held steadfast that state law preempts the City’s attempts to impose illegal voting requirements on eligible voters and that Huntington Beach’s Measure A is unlawful,” she said. “This is another victory for California, for voters, and for democracy.”