Committee extends three SIP hotels into 2023 amid urgent street homelessness debate

The Human Services Agency asked the Budget & Finance Committee to authorize extensions of several hotel booking agreements that had been part of the city’s COVID Shelter‑in‑Place (SIP) hotel program. HSA described three categories of contracts: five large bookings that exceed $10 million, two previously approved extensions, and a group of smaller agreements under the $10 million threshold.

HSA Deputy Director Dan Kaplan and Noelle Simmons (HSH) said the ordinance would allow limited extensions past Aug. 31, 2022, and identified three hotels the department plans to convert to non‑congregate emergency shelters with an end date of Aug. 31, 2023 (Adante, Kova, Monarch). HSA said it intends to fund the extended sites primarily with state Roomkey dollars complemented by FEMA reimbursements (which it estimated would cover roughly 90% of eligible FEMA costs but result in about 81% of total program costs after eligibility rules).

Supervisor Hillary Ronan and others pressed the department on why the City decommissioned hotels while street homelessness remains acute. HSA explained shifting funding horizons (FEMA and Roomkey end dates have changed during the pandemic) and said demobilization requires time for relocation, cleaning and repairs; facilities director Ari Walsh said a typical 100‑room hotel can take roughly 45 days to demobilize depending on damage. Committee members also raised public safety concerns about open‑air drug dealing near some sites and urged coordinated enforcement, additional staffing and harm‑reduction linkages; HSH said it has contracted 24/7 security at SIP sites, linked guests to behavioral health services and planned street ambassador patrols to improve neighborhood safety.

The Budget & Finance Committee amended the Kimpton Buchanan funding to reduce its not‑to‑exceed amount and set an earlier end date for that contract, then voted unanimously to forward the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation.