Just in time for winter

The long- promised El Niño event this winter could bring good news for California’s watersheds and reservoirs — and bad news for its large homeless population. San Francisco officials are planning a “significant” shelter bed expansion by Dec. 15.

Every year, San Francisco partners with community organizations on a winter shelter program as a way to increase homeless support during the coldest months.

But with an El Niño predicted to drench Northern California this year — and with a sharp increase in the number of people sleeping on the street since 2011 — Mayor Ed Lee said he wants to identify 1,000 beds before the first storms begin to hit. The usual number of beds for the winter shelter program has been around 400.

“We’re going to be having a different kind of winter,” said Christine Falvey, Lee’s spokeswoman. “We’ve got to do a significant expansion in order to make sure that people are safe.”

Lee was a relatively hands- off mayor on the issue in his first term. But with an increase in both the city’s homeless population and the number of resident complaints, it’s important for his office to be more visible on the issue.

Encouraging people to get off the streets ahead of a cold, wet winter — and providing more beds to make it possible — is a good start.

Many questions remain. Due to construction projects and a concerted effort to remove homeless encampments from public transit areas, the homeless population is now all over the city. If, as Falvey said, the idea is to “put the beds in the places where the homeless population is,” does that mean there will be more shelters all over town?

There’s also the issue of cost — finding space for hundreds of new beds is going to be expensive. And if the city can find the money and space for the extra beds this winter, it will be hard for officials to argue that it can’t provide those beds year- round.

Lee’s office plans to release more details in the coming weeks. This is a promising start.