After five years leading San Francisco's homelessness department and 23 years working in City Hall, Shireen McSpadden announced Monday that she will be leaving her role on June 30.The Chronicle was the first to report the news of McSpadden's departure, noting that the vacancy at the Department of Ho melessness and Supportive Housing gives Mayor Daniel Lurie a new, very key appointment to make — and will allow him to exert greater influence on the department's operations."While stepping away from my role is bittersweet, I do so with great confidence in the department and in the extraordinary network of partners who help make this work possible," McSpadden said in a letter announcing her departure to community partners, per the Chronicle.McSpadden also thanked Lurie "for his leadership and for the partnership of his administration," and she said she had "every confidence” in Lurie's ability to "support the department and our partners through this transition and in the work ahead."Whether this was always part of McSpadden's plan or not, it seems clear that McSpadden's days were probably numbered. She perhaps has had early access to the latest homelessness census numbers, which, if they show another rise in the number of homeless individuals on SF's streets, would give Lurie clear cause to want to change things up with the department's leadership.The number of homeless individuals counted in the biennial census went up during McSpadden's tenure, which began with her appointment by Mayor London Breed in  April 2021. The total number went up 7% between 2022 and 2024, from 7,754 to 8,328, with the number of unsheltered homeless remaining flat.Numbers from the latest point-in-time count, which took place in late January, have not been made public but likely will be soon. The count was conducted in the early morning for the first time this year, instead of in the evening, with the idea being that unsheltered homeless people would be easier to see. Earlier this month, Lurie was touting a decrease in the number of people living in RVs on SF's streets. But bad news from this year's point-in-time homeless census will be a stain on his administration that he will not want.McSpadden is only the second director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, taking over from founding director Jeff Kositsky, who came into the job in 2016. Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman said at the time of McSpadden's appointment, "It is a meat grinder of a job. And it’s an impossible job. The department is under-resourced for what we ask it to do, the politics are intense and crazy-making, the advocacy community is energized, and the supervisors are unforgiving."McSpadden previously served as the head of the city's Department of Disability and Aging Services.Photo via Getty Images ...read more read less