San Francisco federal employees informed to work remotely
Nancy Pelosi's namesake building is not safe for federal workers. Ever Countess – Getty Images for TIME
While many Silicon Valley companies are working hard to bring workers back to the office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is urging San Francisco workers to stay home indefinitely.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the stay-at-home advisory was issued on August 4 due to safety concerns for workers at the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building downtown. The area is now regularly visited by drug dealers and users.
“Given the conditions on [federal building]“We recommend that our employees maximize their use of telework for the foreseeable future,” HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration Cheryl R. Campbell wrote in a memo.
It is unclear whether other federal departments in the building have issued similar guidance to their employees. The memo was issued the same day the White House called for more staff to return to their desks in the coming weeks.
Around the same time the memo was sent, Rep. Nancy Pelosi herself met with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California to express her concerns about the safety of workers in the building. (Pelosi's employees were not advised to work remotely, the Chronicle reported.)
The federal building is protected by the Federal Protective Service, which coordinates with the San Francisco Police Department. Still, the area is littered with dealers, and drug users congregate (and consume the product they buy) on the concrete benches along the property.
San Francisco's downtown/central business district is more depressed than almost any other in the wake of the pandemic – and some economists fear it is at the beginning of a “doom loop” in which empty office buildings and crime lead to further absenteeism and higher levels of crime. Uniqlo, Nordstrom Rack and Anthropologie have all closed their locations and many local businesses have closed. And crime is increasing. Shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletries are locked in downtown pharmacies. And armed robbers recently held up a Gucci store in broad daylight.
