San Francisco's Anti-Homeless Camping Proposition Has Tech Billionaires' Backing

In a city well-known for its wealth inequality, the support of an anti-homeless camping proposition by multiple tech billionaires and millionaires is raising some eyebrows. Julia Carrie Wong of The Guardian reports that the campaign for Proposition Q has received over half of it's "campaign war chest" from just three tech billionaires, with smaller donations being received from other tech investors and employees including the husband of Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. Wong notes that while the proposition gives police the ability to remove homeless tents from the sidewalk after 24 hours, it does not increase funding for shelters or other housing options.

The proposed law would amend the city’s police code to ban tent encampments on city sidewalks. The city would be required to offer residents of an encampment 24 hours’ notice and a shelter bed or a bus ticket out of town, before being authorized to confiscate their tents and other belongings. The city would be required to store those belongings for up to 90 days.

As Wong reports, a report released earlier this year by the city's budget analyst found that while $20 million has gone toward enforcement of the city's 36 quality of life laws, the population of the city's "unsheltered homeless" has continued to increase.