DEPT OF HOMELESSNESS

San Francisco Federal Workers Advised To Work Remotely Because Of Safety Concerns

Bruce Haring
Sun, August 13, 2023


The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has told its hundreds of employees in San Francisco that it’s too dangerous to come in to the office.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration Cheryl R. Campbell issued the stay-home recommendation in an Aug. 4 memo to regional leaders, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“In light of the conditions at the (Federal Building) we recommend employees … maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future,” Campbell wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Chronicle.

The move underlines the spiral downward in the city, which has seen many companies abandon their outlets and workers shun coming in to offices in the city. The continued lack of foot traffic — exacerbated by open drug use among the street population — has many observers saying San Francisco is in a “doom loop,” in which negative events trigger more negative events, leading to an endless decline in quality of life.

The HHS memo underlines the dangers outside of the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building on Seventh Street in the south of Market district. The 18-story tower at the corner of Seventh and Mission houses several federal agencies, including the departments of Labor and Transportation, as well as Pelosi’s office. It is unclear if the other agencies have issued similar advisories.

The area is reportedly also home to one of the city’s most brazen open-air drug markets on a daily basis.

Ironically, the memo from HHS came to light as President Joe Biden’s White House Chief of Staff called on more federal workers to return to the office.

Hundreds of government employees in San Francisco told to work from home due to the high levels of crime in the area, report says

Jyoti Mann
Sat, August 12, 2023

Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

Some government staff in San Francisco have been told to work remotely, a report says.

Department of Health and Human Services staff were asked to work from home due to local crime.

The city has been battling a drug epidemic and a homelessness crisis in recent years.

Hundreds of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services in San Francisco have been told to work from home due to the high level of crime in the area around its office, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The department recommended that employees worked remotely "for the foreseeable future," the report says, citing an August 4 memo sent to staff, a copy of which the Chronicle said it had obtained.

The advice was given to workers "in light of the conditions at the (Federal Building)," Cheryl R. Campbell, assistant secretary for administration at the department, said, per the report.

The Federal Building is located at 90 7th Street in San Francisco, which is known to be a drug hotspot, with dealers often peddling drugs near or across the street from the building, the Chronicle reported.

Two men were charged in May on suspicion of carrying out drug deals in full view of surveillance cameras from the Federal Building, per a June press release from the US attorney's office.

San Francisco has been battling a drug epidemic and a homelessness crisis in recent years.

The California governor's office said in June that in just six weeks the California Highway Patrol had seized more than four kilos of fentanyl in the Tenderloin and the "immediate surrounding area" of San Francisco.

It claimed that this was "enough to kill" the city's entire population nearly three times over.

Elon Musk has also spoken out about crime in the city, where his company X, formerly known as Twitter, is headquartered.

"Violent crime in SF is horrific," Musk said in a tweet in April.

Following the fatal stabbing of Cash App creator Bob Lee, many also labeled San Francisco a "lawless" place to live.

The US Department of Health and Human Services didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.