S.F. mayor expects Obama to find remedy for homeless

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 28, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Ending homelessness will be a major push among the nation's mayors if Barack Obama is elected president.

"We're going to hold him accountable for his rhetoric - that is, a substantial investment in housing in this country," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

Newsom, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, heads the homelessness task force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

He toured two downtown Denver facilities for the homeless that operate under a partnership between the city and private agencies.

The program follows the strategy of moving homeless people into residences, where they can receive services for problems ranging from physical and mental illnesses to a lack of job skills.

The strategy is called "housing first."

"Same issues, same challenges and the same solutions," Newsom said, comparing the Denver programs with similar efforts he's seen across the country.

Homelessness is not really a partisan issue, Newsom said. Some members of the Bush administration have helped establish housing-first programs, though funding has lagged.

But the issue seems closer to the hearts of Democrats, Newsom said.

"Unquestionably, the issue of poverty in all its forms and manifestations - and one of its manifestations is homelessness - has always been a dominant part of the lexicon of the Democratic platform and principles," he said.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper pitched housing first to delegates at a breakfast earlier in the week.

But many in the audience were already converts.

Among those at the breakfast were Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Those cities already have housing-first programs.

morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5209

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