SAN FRANCISCO—Mayor Daniel Lurie, together with California State Sen. Scott Wiener, announced in a press release on Feb. 3 the San Francisco Allows Fencing Enforcement on Our Streets Act (SAFE Streets Act) to tackle fencing, or reselling of stolen goods, in the city.
The state legislation, if passed, will protect legitimate street vendors while allowing law enforcement to issue infractions, and a misdemeanor after multiple violations, against those who sell commonly stolen goods without a permit or proof of purchase.
On the third offense, the violator could get up to six months in county jail. The bill does not apply to vendors selling prepared foods.
“This bill will give San Francisco the tools we need to crack down on retail theft with accountability for those who illegally resell stolen goods,” Lurie said in a press conference in Mission District.
A similar bill was proposed by state Sen. Wiener last year but failed to pass the floor. Lurie sponsored the new bill as his first state legislative proposal in the first month of his mayoral term.
“Today, we are taking another important step to keep our residents safe and help our local businesses thrive,” said Lurie. “Fencing, or the reselling of stolen goods, has disrupted our neighborhoods, fueled retail theft, and undermined our vibrant street vendor community.”
To help keep legitimate vendors from having their goods confiscated, a reference list of goods has been created by the Board of Supervisors, officials said. The list includes commonly stolen products from shelves of known retailers, such as Safeway, Walgreens, and CVS; and it can help determine which vendors are targeted by the new bill.
Wiener said that when retail theft became rampant in 2023, then-Mayor London Breed and then-District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen put a moratorium on street vending in Mission District to curb disruptive illegal fencing operations in the area, and the moratorium is still in place.
The proposed bill, however, will allow three types of street vending operations: selling any goods with a permit, selling goods on the reference list with a permit or with proof of purchase, and selling prepared food with or without a permit.
“The reality is, we don’t feel safe doing this work on the streets today, which is why we think that this state bill will be good for us and for the community,” Rodrigo Lopez, president of the Mission Street Vendors Association, said at the press conference.
Lopez, who has lived in San Francisco for 34 years and has four years of vendor experience, said that more than 100 vendors who were represented by the association voted unanimously to support the bill.
The SAFE Streets Act is designed to avoid “immigration consequences,” according to the press release.
Lurie is “focusing like a laser on street safety in many respects in San Francisco,” said Wiener.
As part of Lurie’s safety plans, his Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance unanimously passed the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee last week.
