Gov. Brown Won't Comment On San Francisco Cathedral Controversy, Worries About Decades-Long Homeless Problem

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Gov. Jerry Brown says it is not his place to chastise the Archdiocese of San Francisco for pouring water on homeless people at St. Mary's Cathedral, which KCBS first reported Wednesday. Brown is expressing concern about how intractable the city's homeless problem is.

The governor once studied to become a Catholic priest at a Jesuit seminary before changing career paths.

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As Brown is trying to urge Californians to save water amid a record drought, KCBS asked the governor about the revelation that the cathedral doused homeless people sleeping in doorways, wasting hundreds of gallons of water a night.

"I'm not going to get into that because there is a separation of church and state, and I recognize the difference between the sword and the scepter," Brown told KCBS.

Brown said the controversy does bring renewed attention to San Francisco's seemingly incurable homeless problem.

"This homeless problem is a problem, I don't think it's a good thing that people are on the streets urinating in the streets and camping out," Brown said. "Willie Brown tried very hard. Decades later, it's still troublesome."

The Archdiocese has apologized for the sprinkler system, saying the idea was "ill-conceived." Church officials ordered the illegally installed system removed and is trying to think of a better approach to keep the cathedral plaza and parking lot clean, along with helping the homeless who camp there.