All this aside, the true revelation in this article was the following quote:
“I don’t know what crystal meth is, sir,” said Henry A. Alvarez III, the agency’s executive director.
Come again? Wait a minute. Let’s get this straight. The Executive Director of the SFHA, the agency responsible for putting roofs over the heads of the San Francisco’s poors and downtroddens, has never heard of a drug that has been the scourge of the city for over a decade? Hasn’t he seen the public health campaigns against meth that feature bad neo-constructivist art/sexy cartoon characters/meth-addled porn stars who keep falling off the wagon? Didn’t he get an orientation pep talk on the city’s woes when he landed this gig? You know, something with a sassy, gum-smacking, street-smart social worker who talks the hep jive of today’s youth and says things like “Meth is (insert snappy negative rhyming word here),” like in an episode of “The White Shadow.”
For those of you generous enough of spirit to wonder whether this fella was misquoted, take note. The author of this piece, Scott James, wrote a follow up blog post, describing himself as stunned when Mr. Alvarez made the above pronouncement not just once, but three times during their interview!
Crystal Meth? What’s That? Asks Executive Director of the City’s Housing Authority - SFist (via passingplaces) BOGGLE/somehow not surprised (via abbyjean)
