Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat representative of San Francisco, has great power in our government.

This is particularly true in proposing and enacting new legislation meant to address important problems in our country.

Recently, the House Rules Committee unveiled a new, updated set of House Rules which includes a directive that makes permanent an Office of Diversity.

This is to ensure that the Congressional workforce reflects the diversity of the members and their House Districts.

THAT SAID, we should look at Speaker Pelosi’s district since she, more than any other, is crucial to proposed legislation.

The City of San Francisco in 2019 had more than 8,000 homeless people, many thousands of which live on the streets. Of that 8,000+ around 4,000 have a problem with mental illness and drug abuse. 41% of them are in “urgent need” of services.

It is believed that there are about 25,000 drug abusers. The city has a policy of “Safe Addiction” where the abusers are allowed to use freely in public and receive needles - about 5.8 million last year.

DRUGS ARE BOUGHT and sold daily in open air markets. The problem is so bad that city workers willing to go into combat zones are paid up to $184,000 annually.

This is a huge problem all over California and much of the rest of the country.

As the city’s representative and Speaker of the House, I would think that Mrs. Pelosi would be anxious to address this issue.

Yet the last time she voted for any homeless legislation - the Homeless Assistance Amendments Act - was 1990.

Perhaps there is something else imbedded in other legislation.

A PROPOSAL that I make is based on the new Congressional Workforce Rules her position of Speaker and the terrible homelessness, drug abuse and mental illness in her San Francisco district.

I propose that she hire for her Congressional staff at least 2 each from San Francisco’s homeless, drug addicted, and/or mentally ill so that she can get advice from them on how to address the problems.

Perhaps she could provide housing for these new advisors as they likely could not afford Washington, DC rates - maybe even rooms in her DC home.

This is an issue that deserves Speaker Pelosi’s and many others’ attention.

John White, Lexington

In San Francisco Bay, where racial justice protesters called for defunding the police, the homicide rate rose 14% in 2020.

The most serious of violent crimes—homicides—crept up 14% in the 1st half of 2020

A member of the city council in Vallejo, which has the highest number of murders, blames the increase on “systemic racism.”

“I think it’s the chickens coming home to roost,” said Hakeem Brown.

Killings in the region’s 15 largest cities increased from 98 to 112 but no where experienced a spike as stark as Vallejo.

- San Francisco Chronicle

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