Momentum shifts against sit-lie

Proponents of criminalizing sitting or lying on San Francisco sidewalks have seen their prospects of success steadily dwindle in the last week, starting with the creative and well-covered Stand Against Sit-Lie protests on March 27 and continuing through last week’s Planning Commission vote against the measure to yesterday’s debate on BBC’s The World, in which opponent Andy Blue clearly bested proponent Ted Loewenberg.
In fact, Blue and his grassroots band of progressive allies deserve tremendous credit for flipping the momentum on the issue away from the narrative pushed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Police Chief George Gascon, and the reactionary Haight area property owners from Loewenberg’s Haight Ashbury Improvement Association.
While Newsom and Loewenberg tried to argue this was about giving police another “tool” to use against violent street ruffians, Blue and the progressives have correctly pointed out that the overblown examples proponents cite (ie hoodlums punching passersby, barricading businesses, and spitting on babies) are already illegal and that the law actually punishes the simple act of lounging in public.
That argument by progressives got strong support from a Planning Department report on how the sit-lie ordinance cuts against a variety of city policies and goals that promote open space and using sidewalks for more than just transportation, a view that the Planning Commission endorsed on a surprisingly lopsided 6-1 vote, with even Newsom’s appointees crossing him on the issue.
Few members of the Board of Supervisors have embraced the push for sit-lie, so it’s likely to be dead-on-arrival when the board considers it later this month, but Blue’s group isn’t taking any chances. Stand Against Sit Lie is planning another day of creative protest – with more sidewalk picnics, games, and maybe a return of Chicken John’s sidewalk hot tub – on April 24.
Related articles
One art collective joins a wave of San Franciscans who are moving to the East Bay
Andy Duvall found room to grow in Oakland
Sasha Kelley moved to SF looking for artistic community -- and she moved away for the same reason
Also from this author
In the Yucatan, a New Age fest turns into chaos
Most Commented On
Recent comments
- What's yours? - May 18, 2013
- What's your point? - May 18, 2013
- The thing is in this - May 18, 2013
- Texas has a more dynamic economy and less taxes and - May 18, 2013
- Nope, every employer will take the cheapest worker of the - May 18, 2013
- More jobless is not incompatible with a good economy. - May 18, 2013
- It's not harassment unless you think that every aspect of - May 18, 2013
- Astute onservations. SFBg is an uneasy mix of two SF trends. - May 18, 2013
- Your not giving anything to anyone. - May 18, 2013
- For your search engine: - May 18, 2013









Comments