On July 23, I sent the following letter to Brian Cormell, chairman of the board and CEO of Target.

I never received the courtesy of a reply. And the conditions I wrote about remain uncorrected.

Dear Sir: 

On October 10, 2012, Target opened its main store in San Francisco at Geary and  Masonic Streets. Its hours spanned 9 a.m. to midnight every day.

Today, its hours span 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Why?

Four letters will answer that question: DDMBs—Druggies, Drunks, Mentals and Bums.

That is: The legions of hardcore drug addicts, hardcore alcoholics, mentally ill and outright bums who have become this city’s untouchables.

And conferring that status upon them are none other than the Mayor, London Breed, and members of the Board of Supervisors.

In Politically Correct San Francisco, they are euphemistically referred to as “the homeless.”

Their rampant shoplifting has led to the closing of seventeen Walgreen’s stores in the city—as well as several CVS Pharmacies.  And no wonder: Prices for illegal drugs—such as heroin—are high, and it takes a lot of stolen merchandise to translate into cash to buy them.

Many DDMBs refuse to enter the city’s available shelters. Some claim these places are dangerous—understandably so, since they’re peopled with drug addicts, alcoholics, mentally ill and outright bums.

But another reason why many of these shelters go unused: They don’t allow their guests to drink up or drug up.

Current estimates peg the “homeless” population of San Francisco at about 8,000. In 2019, a survey found that an estimated 2,831 members of this population were sheltered. Another 5,180 were unsheltered. This made for a total of 8,011.

The city will spend about $852 million in 2020-21 on DDMBs. Dividing that amount by about 8,000 DDMBs provides the figure of $106,500 per DDMB per year.

And yet the situation remains unchanged from year to year—as increasing numbers of DDMBs pour into San Francisco.

Huge areas of the city are covered in feces, urine, trash and used hypodermic needles. Hospitals overflow with patients that have fallen ill due to the contamination.

In February, 2018, NBC News surveyed 153 blocks of the city—an area more than 20 miles. That area includes popular tourist spots like Union Square and the cable car turnaround. It’s bordered by Van Ness Avenue, Market Street, Post Street and Grant Avenue. And it’s also home to City Hall, schools, playgrounds and a police station.

Most of the trash found consisted of heaps of garbage, food, and discarded junk—including 100 drug needles and more than 300 piles of feces throughout downtown. And once fecal matter dries, it can become airborne and release deadly viruses, such as the rotavirus.

There is no point in expecting the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to alter their Untermenschen-friendly policies.

Nor can Target expect to receive help from the police and District Attorney’s Office.

The website Only in Your State cites “the eight most dangerous places in San Francisco” as:

• The Tenderloin
• Hunter’s Point
• Bayview
• Mission District
• Outer Mission
• Western Addition
• South of Market and
• Golden Gate Park. 

Those areas encompass the major parts of the city—which is only 46 square miles. That alone tells you how ineffective the SFPD is at preventing crime.

Then there’s District Attorney Chesa Boudin—the son of Weather Underground parents convicted of murdering two police officers and a Brink’s security guard in 1981. Boudin was raised by two more Weather members—Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. 

Chesa Boudin

SFGovTV, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Boudin blames “society” for the crimes committed by hardened criminals—and the victims they leave in their wake.

I realize that you are the CEO of a highly reputable, nationwide company—not a social worker or police administrator. Nevertheless, only you—and other prominent executives—have the power to turn this despicable situation around.

And you can do this by bringing social, political and economic pressure on the powers-that-be in this city—and thus forcing them to crack down on a population of parasites and predators that no city should tolerate.

It is as much in your own economic interest to do this as it is in that of law-abiding San Franciscans.

Thank you for the courtesy of sharing your time and consideration with me.

* * * * *

Ideally, a solution to the “homeless” problem should come at the Federal level, in a nationwide effort. Otherwise, those cities that attempt to provide free housing for Druggies, Drunks, Mentals and Bums will be swamped by legions of them. 

Of these groups, the needs of the mentally ill can be most easily met—by returning them to the State mental hospitals closed by former Governor Ronald Reagan during the 1960s-70s. 

Those who have burned out their brains on drugs and/or alcohol will remain forever incapable of leading productive lives. Putting them in subsidized housing will simply result in their trashing it. There is, in short, nothing that can be done for them.

As for those who prefer to sponge off others: They are parasites, and should be recognized as such. They should be bluntly told: “You’re not welcome here”—and shown the door.