By Terry Collins

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - In the Tenderloin, not far from tourists at the historic cable-car turnaround, the city's incoming police chief was shocked to see open drug-dealing.
Then, in the swank Union Square shopping area, the visiting Sacramento mayor's garment bag was swiped as he helped someone get into a taxi.

And in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, crucible for the 1960s' hippie movement and Summer of Love, residents and storekeepers have complained about overbearing transients blocking pedestrians and panhandling with their pit bulls by their sides.

San Francisco, the tourist mecca known for its panoramic views and liberal outlook, is grappling with quality-of-life crimes - and the perception that its cherished forbearance has gotten out of hand.

"This is a city that absolutely relies on visitors as its main economic driver," said Steve Falk, president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. "San Francisco is known for having a high level of tolerance, but . . . the line has to be drawn somewhere."

Last year, the city's crime rate was the lowest in decades, with homicides down more than 50 percent. But a groundswell of gripes about "nuisance crimes" has made combating them a priority for Police Chief George Gascon since he arrived in August.

To address problems like those in Haight-Ashbury, the chief has gone so far as to propose a citywide "sit-lie" ordinance that would authorize police to move and cite those who blocked sidewalks or otherwise intimidated pedestrians.

"There are a substantial number of people who want to see this happen. They're very frustrated," Gascon said.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, who moved to Haight-Ashbury in June, said that while jogging or grabbing his morning coffee he heard complaints from merchants.

"It's a lot of behavior issues, a lot of drug-related and transient issues, and I'm sensitive to the challenges of some of these folks," he said. "But at the same time, there's families there, kids in strollers, merchants there barely making ends meet. We've got to find a compromise."

Change cannot come soon enough for Kelsey Kolberg. The clothing-store manager was smoking outside her shop on Haight Street when, she said, a transient accosted her after demanding a cigarette. Kolberg, 35, said the man had slapped her cigarette out of her hand, grabbed her wrists, and started wrestling with her within sight of passersby and other transients.

Spotted here