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Workers at the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco warned to stay away amid rampant crime

August 17, 2023 | | Print Article

Conditions in downtown San Francisco have deteriorated so badly that employees at the government building that bears the name of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi have been advised to work from home.

The Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building is an 18-story tower that opened in 2007 and was recently renamed in honor of the longtime Democrat congresswoman and sits at the corner of Seventh and Mission streets near the fabled Tenderloin District. Unfortunately, it is also smack dab in the middle of one of San Francisco’s most notorious open-air drug markets, a location teeming with criminals and junkies.

“In light of the conditions at the (Federal Building) we recommend employees … maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration Cheryl R. Campbell in an August 4 memo that was obtained and reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

(Video: News Nation)

“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 where California and other Western states are located.

A number of federal agencies are housed in the building, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Labor along with Pelosi’s 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’s spokesman 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.”

“We’re talking government officials who have failed, and it really does show that the people who are actually working for the city, that they don’t have faith. That is absolutely appalling. It’s an embarrassment,” Erica Sandberg, an independent journalist who covers the city’s crime problems told News Nation.

“Right now, fentanyl is the game,” she said of the most popular drug circulating, saying that people on fentanyl pass out or are in “that sort of zombie state where it’s really kind of shocking.”

“How are these people even functioning? How are they alive? And you see it all around the federal building,” Sandberg said.

A Twitter/X user shared a video said to be taken outside of the federal building.

Campbell’s memo came on the same day that the Biden administration called for federal employees to return to offices this fall after years of being able to work remotely during the COVID pandemic, according to an email sent to every Cabinet member, according to Axios.

“As we look towards the fall, and with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, your agencies will be implementing increases in the amount of in-person work for your team,” said White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients in the email. “This is a priority of the President — and I am looking to each of you to aggressively execute this shift in September and October.”

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Chris Donaldson
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