They Shift Tons of Trash From SF Streets. You Do not Know Them

In April, the SoMa West Community Benefit District collected more than 35 tons of trash, or nearly 71,000 pounds of trash. In 2021, Tenderloin Community Benefit District cleaners collected a whopping 146 tons or 292,600 pounds of waste.

San Francisco is home to 17 of these organizations, most of which are concentrated in the city’s densely populated downtown core. It sounds like a lot of political jargon, and that’s because it is.

But community benefit districts (CBDs) play a critical role in the city, cleaning streets — sometimes faster than the Department of Public Works (DPW) — and connecting community members in SF’s often chaotic commercial and mixed-use neighborhoods.

You might even pay to have a CBD operating in your neighborhood, but you’ll only know about this if you’re a homeowner and pay close attention to your property tax bill, which lists a special tax bill that covers the cost of the CBD.

A member of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District cleans a sidewalk in the Tenderloin neighborhood on June 2, 2023 in San Francisco. | Jason Henry for The Standard

Some downtown CBDs say they are growing rapidly as cleanliness issues worsen across the city. Some even offer homeless services, while others have established safety programs for children and the elderly.

The Tenderloin CBD started in 2005 with a strong focus on cleaning up the streets; It now does much more than just bagging rubbish.

“Our goals have expanded, and our mission has expanded beyond just cleanliness,” said Kate Robinson, Managing Director of Tenderloin CBD. “It’s part of what we’re focused on, but our roots in residential home leadership and community engagement haven’t changed.”

This is how these groups work.

“98% of the 311 calls in the tenderloin”

Founded as stopgap groups to support entrepreneurs in busy litter-heavy areas, groups have become important safety nets and are increasingly taking on city responsibilities.

“We are the last resort and the first responder and safety net for broken city policies — or state policies, not just the city,” said Christian Martin, executive director of SoMa West CBD.

A member of the SoMa West Community Benefit District calls outside the organization’s Howard Street office in San Francisco on June 1, 2023. | Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard

“The city shouldn’t do less in your neighborhood because you have a CBD — they shouldn’t penalize areas that put these things in place that are meant to complement city services,” he added.

The city’s overdose crisis and its cleanliness concerns worsened during the pandemic, but a 2012 city report shows that CBDs have long outpaced other San Francisco agencies in providing cleaning, public safety, and community-based services. Recent data shows that this remains the case.

CONTINUE READING: San Francisco’s streets are dirty. A new poll shows just how dirty it is

“Public Works still offers the basic service, but the CBDs are intended to go beyond that basic service,” said Rachel Gordon, spokeswoman for Public Works. “If they can make a call faster than us and they have local support in the neighborhoods, then that’s helpful.”

Some CBDs say they have given up requesting certain city services and have taken matters into their own hands: SoMa West has developed its own app to track 311 cleaning calls and initiate service requests, and the cleaning crew captains say that reporting incidents to city authorities would take too long.

“We currently respond to 98% of 311 calls in the tenderloin,” said Robinson. “Our response time is within hours, while DPW’s response time is significantly faster. But we view our relationship with DPW as a partnership: they really focus on issues that we cannot solve.”

A SoMa West Community Benefit District street sweeper stands on Howard Street in San Francisco on June 1, 2023. | Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard

In neighborhoods like Tenderloin or SoMa, rampant drug use and streetside camps have increased CBD workloads.

In the three years that Hanif Hakeem has served as West SoMa Group’s sole homeless worker, he has helped numerous homeless people find beds, food and other resources.

Although Hakeem says some residents in shelters may have misconceptions or stigma towards their homeless neighbors, “we’re finding out their names,” Hakeem said.

“We build a relationship with them because who knows, they might want help later. Because we’ve been nice and cool to them, they’ll be more willing to work with us,” Hakeem added.

Street ambassadors like Hakeem, who was formerly homeless, believe the efforts of local CBDs on the ground are vital to helping strained city authorities. But some Downtown CBD officials worry the city may be relying too heavily on them to solve all of San Francisco’s worsening problems.

“It’s gotten worse. It’s become more of a business,” Hakeem said. “They keep making band-aids – they keep giving people band-aids when they clearly need surgery. And that kind of hurts.

“No, that minimizes it. “This shit hurts,” Hakeem added.

ASK THE STANDARD: 6 of the most common questions about homelessness in San Francisco answered

Members of San Francisco’s Homeless Outreach Team conduct health screenings and distribute food to people lying in the tenderloin on Jones Street on December 17, 2021. | James Wyatt

What is a CBD?

What is believed to be the first CBD was established in Canada in 1969. About 20 years later, California passed legislation allowing these organizations to form in the state.

San Francisco is now home to 17 different CBDs, or Business Improvement Districts, which act as non-profit liaison points between city officials and residents. Most are focused on cleanliness, but some — like the SF Tourism Improvement District — are designed to encourage business and travel opportunities in select neighborhoods.

Any community can choose to set up a CBD – just gather and organize enough property owners to agree to pay the valuation fees. Once a community receives approval from the property owners, the neighborhood establishes the CBD as a non-profit organization and the organization distributes taxpayer money for various improvements.

“So if there is a CBD, the property owners are basically paying the CBD to take their responsibility for keeping their sidewalk clean,” said Andrea Aiello, director of the Castro CBD. Aiello noted that city and state regulations require property owners to clean the area around their property. According to Aiello, CBDs are stepping in to take some of the strain off busy residents.

These cleaning operations range from graffiti removal to removing bulky items from the streets and are in addition to the routine services of the Department of Public Works and Ecology.

“When I started it was a lot more chaotic than it is now. I think on one of my first days I was able to get hold of 30, almost 40 bags at one point [of trash]– a spot!” said Enrique Cervantes, a cleanup ambassador at the SoMa West CBD. “Now I hardly ever do that.”

Enrique Cervantes, a member of the SoMa West Community Benefit District, pushes his walking cart used for cleanups in San Francisco on June 1, 2023. | Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard