Occupy SF: Mayor Ed Lee Wants Protesters to Clean Up

Occupy some thick rubber gloves

​Mayor Ed Lee met with Occupy SF protesters yesterday, where he released a set of demands of his own. However, his conditions are less about combating economic inequality and more about dealing with the sanitation disparity in the Financial District.

Despite the fact that the city's fire chief declared that Occupy SF has basically become one gross hazard (there's reports of lice, and a contagious dog disease spreading), the mayor isn't ready to give police the signal to raid the camp just yet. Instead, he issued a list of conditions that he has asked protesters to follow.

They aren't unreasonable, either. In fact, they include things that one would probably or at least hopefully do in their own home -- like clean the toilet and wash dishes -- or their own hands.

In addition to cleaning, squatters, who have been criticized for pooping and peeing on the plaza, must keep Justin Herman Plaza clear enough so that the city can continue its regular business of steam-cleaning and garbage collecting.

But to accomplish this, the mayor says the camp needs to stop growing. In fact, as the Chron reports, he issued an order that no more than 100 tents and no more than 200 campers will be allowed on the plaza at one time. 

And of course, no drugs, no alcohol, and no glass bottles are allowed.

But in Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White's opinion, Occupy SF needs much more than a deep cleaning. "It's an unsafe and an unhealthy situation, and it's escalating," Hayes-White told the Chron.

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