Relocation of S.F. clinic for sex offenders put on hold
The opening of the clinic is now on indefinite hold, according to Supervisor Scott Wiener, who said he is introducing legislation that would require a public hearing and a vote by the Planning Commission to approve or reject the project.
“They’re all criminal people,” said the cashier at Golden Natural Foods a few doors south, while shelving a $5 box of raspberries.
For our neighborhood to add a sex addict clinic, that’s not heading in the right direction.
Sockolov’s gym used to be a Halloween costume store and a video rental store.
On Monday night, they held a public meeting to vent their frustrations to Wiener and representatives of the clinic and City Hall.
Neighbors complained that they had received no notice about the move and that a clinic for sex offenders is not an ordinary neighbor.
About the only neighbor who said he was OK with having a clinic for sex offenders down the street was Dave Walda, the senior administrator at St. Francis Lutheran Church.
A block west is the Friends of St. Francis Preschool, where 38 children were sitting in a circle singing “Oh, Susanna” on Tuesday and director Sally Large said their safety was her prime concern.
A block away from the proposed center, along Market and Duboce, folks were sprawled on the sidewalk or spreading wares of questionable lineage for sale.
Not far from where tech buses line up every morning to whisk workers down the Peninsula lie a drop box to safely dispose of used needles and a 25-cent street bathroom that always seems to have a customer inside doing something besides going to the bathroom.
The Duboce Triangle Safeway is so big that several guards stand on duty, to ensure customers remember to pay for their selections.
A half block away is the fortress-like U.S. Mint, a building full of even more guards and surrounded with barbed wire to keep itself safe from the neighbors, not the other way around.
Marc Haber, head of the Duboce Park Neighbors group, said it’s not fair to use the familiar term NIMBY — “not in my backyard” — to describe his neighbors’ reaction.
The counseling center offers “specialized treatment for individuals who have committed sexual offenses ... in the interest of future community safety,” the Sharper Future website says.
Most clients are convicted sex offenders referred directly by a parole agent or a probation officer.
After careful initial assessment, each qualified participant moves into a group-based ... curriculum, which addresses the core issues related to the offense.
Participants are expected to acknowledge their sexual problems and admit having committed their offense, the website says.