When the moderator asked the two debaters what they could agree on, Mesnick said that he wants the city to establish MASH-style tents—Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals, like those located on the frontlines of war to provide immediate care for people wounded in battle. San Francisco has plenty of sick and dying people, with more arriving every day. Friedenbach said that she, too, believes homeless people should have a place to go, citing the need for “wellness hubs” that include drug-use areas. Mesnick vehemently disagreed. Such spaces should be staffed by only by real doctors, he said, and allow people to reconnect with their families; they should not be spaces to consume fentanyl and other drugs. At that point, the moderator appeared to give up in his quest to find common ground.

But the audience, inside the room and well beyond, was listening. And the city is reacting. On the same morning as the debate, Mayor London Breed announced that, despite the wishes of Friedenbach and her Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco will resume encampment clearing when people inside the tents refuse offers of shelter.

[Sounds like Jenny Friedenbach had avoided a debate for good reason. That won’t stop her and the Coalition from fighting to stop San Francisco from restoring a modicum of public order and safety, but she and the other homeless activists are clearly seeing their political support collapse. — Ed]