The UC Berkeley Law School’s Public Policy Clinic released a 46-page study Tuesday alleging that Business Improvement Districts [BID] in California, including those in San Francisco, habitually harass the homeless. The study also suggests that BID political spending violates state law.
“Homeless Exclusion Districts,” examined 189 BIDs in 69 California cities including SF and Berkeley, and concluded that the districts “use their expanded power and resources [on] practices aimed at driving homeless people out.”
The researchers note that most Californians have probably never heard of BIDs. The city of Newport Beach explains the districts thusly:
Every business in the district is assessed a levy that is allocated for district-specific improvements and/or marketing. The BID assessment is a legally mandated tax on your business, just like your business license or property tax. [...]
The State wanted to make it possible for groups of businesses to band together and invest in their commercial neighborhoods for the purposes of revitalization, stability and growth. The city created the BIDs at the request of the businesses located in the area.
This makes BIDs combination public/private enterprises. So whereas many private businesses may hassle the homeless or lobby for laws that can make their lives harder, BIDs are special cases because of their semi-public nature.
“California BIDs collect and spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually—some of which comes from taxpayers through publicly owned property,” notes the university study.
In San Francisco, the city “augmented the California Property and Business Improvement District Law” with laws of its own in 2004 and refers to the resulting area as “Community Benefit Districts.”
How are BIDs spending their money? Here are a few conclusions from the report:
- The researchers say BIDs make it harder for the homeless to simply be homeless: “[Businesses] advocate for the enactment, preservation, and strengthening of local and state laws that punish people experiencing homelessness for engaging in life-sustaining activities that they have no choice but to undertake in public, such as sitting, resting, sleeping, and food sharing.”
- The study singles out Bay Area sit/lie laws as one key example: “In 2010, San Francisco’s Union Square BID submitted letters of support and testifed at numerous public forums for Proposition L. [...] In 2012, the CEO of the nonproft that manages the Downtown Berkeley BID was the major individual fnancial contributor to the campaign for Measure S, [both sit/lie laws].”
- Sometimes BIDs say they’re helping the homeless, but the clinic doubts their sincerity: “Some BIDs work with homeless service providers and refer homeless people to services. [...] Considered in the context of their anti-homeless policy advocacy and policing practices, BID involvement in social services contributes to the exclusion of homeless people from business districts.”
- Surveyed business frame homelessness as a danger: “Over 80 percent of BIDs identifed ‘panhandling and loitering’ as ‘one of the most important issues that the BID has faced in terms of safety and security.’ Several survey respondents added written comments identifying ‘perception of crime,’ ‘public nuisance,’ and ‘homelessness’ as safety issues.”
- This attitude may manifest even if no laws are being broken: “In San Francisco, the Union Square BID attempts to move lawful panhandlers from the district. Because such panhandling is not prohibited by law, BID ambassadors are instructed frst to ‘inform the person that their behavior is not supported by downtown businesses.’ [...] If the person continues to panhandle, the ambassador is to then “stand ap-proximately 15 feet away from the panhandler educating the public not to give to panhandlers.” Yikes.
- A lot of businesses hassle the homeless, but BIDs are special cases because of laws about their funding and political activities: “The 1994 BID law permitted districts to collect assessment revenue from publicly owned properties, and it increased BID spending authority. [However,] state laws prohibit the use of public funds to support or oppose local or state candidates and ballot measure,” which the researchers allege they’re doing anyway.
You can read the full paper, including its sources and methodology, here. For a complete list of BIDs in SF, refer to the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development site.
- How Business Districts Target Homeless [UC Berkeley]
- Business Improvement Districts [Newport Beach]
- Community Benefit Districts [OEWD]
- Homeless Exclusion Districts [UC Berkeley]
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