XPost: alt.california, free.nancy.pelosi.sewage.plant, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advised   
   hundreds of employees in San Francisco to work remotely for the   
   foreseeable future due to public safety concerns outside the Nancy Pelosi   
   Federal Building on Seventh Street.   
      
   The imposing, 18-story tower on the corner of Seventh and Mission streets   
   houses various federal agencies, including HHS, the U.S. Department of   
   Labor, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the office of Speaker   
   Emerita Nancy Pelosi. The area is also home to one of the city’s most   
   brazen open-air drug markets, where dozens of dealers and users congregate   
   on a daily basis.   
      
   HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration Cheryl R. Campbell issued the   
   stay-home recommendation in an Aug. 4 memo to regional leaders.   
      
   “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.   
      
   “This recommendation should be extended to all Region IX employees,   
   including those not currently utilizing telework flexibilities,” Campbell   
   wrote, referring to the federal government zone that includes California   
   and other Western states.   
      
   The memo came on the same day that, according to Axios, President Biden’s   
   White House chief of staff called for more federal employees to return to   
   their offices after years of remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   
      
   It was not immediately clear whether other tenants in the building had   
   issued similar directives. Officials with Pelosi’s office and the   
   Department of Labor said they have been working closely with local and   
   federal law enforcement to ensure safety for their staffers, but they have   
   not advised employees to work from home.   
      
   The building has long been a locus of some of the city’s most intractable   
   problems.   
      
   Dozens of dealers routinely plant themselves on, next to or across the   
   street from the property, operating in shifts as users smoke, snort or   
   shoot up their recent purchases. The property’s concrete benches are an   
   especially popular site for users to get high, socialize or pass out.   
      
   While Pelosi’s five-person staff was not advised to work remotely, she   
   raised concerns about the building’s tenant safety last week in a meeting   
   with the U.S. attorney for the northern district of California, according   
   to officials with her office.   
      
   “The safety of workers in our federal buildings has always been a priority   
   for Speaker Emerita Pelosi, whether in the building or on their commutes,”   
   Pelosi spokesperson Aaron Bennett said in a statement.   
      
   “Federal, state and local law enforcement — in coordination with public   
   health officials and stakeholders — are working hard to address the acute   
   crises of fentanyl trafficking and related violence in certain areas of   
   the city.”   
      
   Pelosi recently secured more federal law enforcement assistance in   
   cracking down on the city’s fentanyl crisis in the Tenderloin and SoMa   
   areas. San Francisco is one of the cities included in a federal program   
   called Operation Overdrive, which targets drug traffickers in areas with   
   the highest levels of drug-related violence and overdoses.   
      
   The Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building is maintained by the federal   
   General Services Administration, and policing is handled by Federal   
   Protective Services.   
      
   Richard Stebbins, a public affairs officer for GSA, said the agency   
   coordinates with San Francisco police to enhance safety outside of the   
   building, which includes routine patrols and camera systems around the   
   perimeter of the building.   
      
   “The building is a safe and secure space for federal employees and the   
   visiting public,” Stebbins said in an email to the Chronicle. “There are a   
   number of security controls GSA employs to make sure the building is safe   
   including Federal Protective Services officers at the building and secure   
   checkpoints.”   
      
   Officials with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the   
   Federal Protective Service, did not immediately respond to a request for   
   comment.   
      
   But a tenant of the building familiar with recent decisions said the   
   agency and GSA have recently implemented a number of new security measures   
   to address safety concerns. This included pulling FPS personnel from other   
   nearby properties for additional security, a pending vote on funds for an   
   additional “roving” guard dedicated to the property, and creating a “BART   
   Buddies” program that has escorts on call from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. to   
   walk employees to and from BART.   
      
   Evan Sernoffsky, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department,   
   said officers are working with local, state and federal partners to   
   address the drug crisis in the Tenderloin and South of Market   
   neighborhoods.   
      
   “This work includes seizing an unprecedented amount of fentanyl this year   
   while also arresting drug dealers,” he said. “The SFPD is also making   
   arrests when people are openly using and creating a danger to themselves   
   or others.”   
      
   Reach Megan Cassidy: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com   
      
   https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/drugs-crime-nancy-pelosi-federal-   
   building-18292237.php   
      
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