Governor Gavin Newsom is once again ramping up the rhetoric to try to get California cities to be more aggressive around clearing street encampments, but this time says he’ll be handing cities money for more shelter and services.
Last summer’s Grants Pass v. Johnson Supreme Court decision gave cities permission to prosecute people for camping on the street, even if that city could not provide the individual with a shelter bed. California Governor Gavin Newsom pounced right away in demanding more aggressive encampment clearing, and told cities he’d yank some of their funding if they didn’t start busting up more encampments. Here in San Francisco, we learned last month that 750 people had been arrested for street camping since the Supreme Court decision came down.
That’s not enough for Newsom. The Chronicle reports that on Monday, Newsom urged cities to ban encampments outright, providing a “model ordinance,” or the template of a law that they could implement and enforce. Though this time, he’s supposedly backing up the tough talk with $3.3 billion in funding from last year’s Prop 1 mental health bond which could ostensibly be used for more shelter and services.
“There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets,” Newsom said in a Monday press release. “Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered. Now, we’re giving them a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity, to resolve encampments and connect people to shelter, housing, and care. The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses.”
The full text of the “model ordinance,” essentially a plug-and-play law that cities or counties can adopt, does contain the empathetic language that "No person should face criminal punishment for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go." But it also adds the law-and-order perspective that “Encampments pose a serious public safety risk, often causing fires and exposing encampment residents to increased risk of sexual violence and criminal activity, to property damage and break-ins, and unsanitary conditions affecting both residents and neighbors.”
NBC Bay Area adds that Newsom's announcement contains three “key provisions” (that is, recommended laws) regarding enforcement: a ban on camping in one location, a ban on blocking sidewalks, and a requirement that cities make “every reasonable effort” to offer someone housing before clearing their encampment.
These are just suggestions, and cities or counties are not required to follow them.
But could there be a punishment for not following Gavin’s recommended three-point plan? Possibly.
KTVU points out that Newsom’s announcement is "coupled with the release of $3.3 billion in voter-approved Proposition 1 funding.” It’s not yet clear whether that money will come with the strings attached of a requirement to follow Newsom’s proposed guidelines. And it’s not even yet clear how a dime of that $3.3 million will be spent, though Newsom apparently has a press conference to elaborate on this scheduled for 1 pm Monday afternoon.
Image: BERKELEY, CA - AUGUST 09: California Governor Gavin Newsom works with Caltrans in removing debris at a long-standing homeless encampment along Highway 80 on August 9, 2021 in Berkeley, California. Newsom highlighted comprehensive plans for cleaner and safer streets, investments in mental health services while outreach workers continue to offer homeless individuals options into safer, more stable shelter and housing. (Photo by John G. Mabanglo-Pool/Getty Images)
