Committee urges mayor and DPH to prevent gap when Tenderloin Center closes; forwards resolution to full Board

The Government Audit & Oversight Committee voted on Nov. 3 to forward to the full Board a resolution urging the mayor's office and the Department of Public Health (DPH) to ensure there is no break in services for people who rely on the Tenderloin Center (TLC) when it winds down. The motion passed with Vice Chair Connie Chan and Chair Dean Preston voting aye and Supervisor Rafael Mandelmann dissenting.

Chair Preston described the closure timeline as "untenable" without a replacement plan and said the center has recorded roughly 112,000 visits since opening and "about 280 overdoses" reversed. "The prospect of this center closing with no replacement in sight is untenable for the neighborhood," Preston said.

DPH officials, led by Dr. Hillary Connan's (Director of Behavioral Health Services), presented slide-based data on the center's operations: they said the TLC opened Jan. 18, 2022; serves approximately 400 people per day at 1170 Market (UN Plaza); and has connected more than 1,000 people to shelter and more than 211 to permanent housing, provided thousands of showers and laundry services, and reported about 280 overdose reversals in recent data.

DPH described a four-point overdose prevention plan that includes creating neighborhood-based "wellness hubs," expanding residential step-down beds and increasing naloxone distribution. DPH said it is searching for potential wellness-hub sites and working on a transition plan to avoid service interruptions; Krista Gaeta, DPH's Tenderloin response director, outlined internal transition teams, warm handoffs and weektoweek on-site wayfinding after closure to connect people to alternate services.

Officials from the mayor's office, represented by Tom Paulino, said the TLC was always intended to be temporary and that the administration has been identifying alternate sites; Paulino did not commit to extending the current site beyond Dec. 4 but said the mayor's office would "take [an extension] back to colleagues for consideration." Chair Preston urged the administration to extend services if no equivalent replacement is ready.

Public comment was extensive and largely opposed to an abrupt closure: service providers, neighborhood organizations and residents said the city has resources in the current fiscal year to keep a scaled-down replacement operating through the end of the fiscal year and warned that a gap would risk lives. "People will literally fall through the cracks... People will suffer and die," one service-provider caller said during remote comment.

After discussion the committee voted to forward the resolution to the full Board with a positive recommendation (Chan: aye; Mandelmann: no; Preston: aye). The committee report will go to the full Board for final action.