Debating homelessness

At Christian's request, I sent PROSF the document I got from the city detailing the latest numbers on homelessness.

He duly posted the document and the response below from Ahimsa Sumchai, one of the candidates for mayor in the last election, who implies that the city is lying about the numbers. I duly forwarded the message below to Sumchai this morning but have had no response yet. Perhaps she's poring over the documents I linked for her, and she'll eventually respond, but I'm not holding my breath. SF progressives are still in denial about the success Mayor Newsom has had in implementing humane, pragmatic policies to help the city cope with homelessness.

Ms. Sumchai:

It wasn't the function of this document to give us the total number of homeless in SF. To find that number---6,377---you should go to the 2007 homeless count.

To learn about the homeless who died in 2006---a total of 87---you can go to my blog item.

Regards,
Rob Anderson

From: ahimsa sumchai
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007
To: home@prosf.org
Subject: Statistics and bullshit... Numbers on Homelessness in SF

These are statistical games...like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Nowhere is the number given for the estimated total homeless in San Francisco. How can you calculate the number off the streets without the total number of homeless in the city? Also, what is the death rate of people identified by DPH as homeless at the time of death.

Dr. Ahimsa Porter Sumchai

NSCA-CPT