Gov. Newsom passed a new executive order on homeless encampments. Here’s what it means
California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order directing state agencies to take “urgent action to address dangerous” homeless camps and remove them from state lands, while pushing city and local leaders to do the same.
The move comes a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowed cities to enforce a ban on outdoor sleeping in public places.
By 2023, there will be more than 180,000 homeless people in California. Newsom’s order comes as a lack of affordable housing and rising living costs have pushed more people onto the streets. In many cities, the homeless population far outnumbers the number of available shelter beds on any given night.
The order raises questions about how it will be implemented, given the challenges cities face. The governor’s office said details are still being worked out.
Here’s what we know so far:
The executive order directs state agencies to remove homeless encampments from state lands, including state parks and beaches, agency buildings, and highways and the areas beneath them.
In Los Angeles, one of the largest homeless camps is located beneath the 105 Freeway, which is maintained by the California Department of Transportation, better known as Caltrans.
It orders the agencies to take swift action and follow the lead of the transportation agency, which has removed 11,188 camps and more than 248,000 cubic yards (189,600 cubic meters) of debris from these camps along the state’s roads, mainly highways, since July 2021.
Caltrans policy includes first determining whether there is an “imminent threat to life, health, safety or infrastructure” that would require removal of a homeless encampment. Authorities must also provide at least 48 hours’ notice before clearing a site and request outreach services for people living in the encampment. The order also says people can store their personal belongings for at least 60 days.
The ordinance also directs the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to provide guidance to local governments on implementing their own homeless programs.
City and county officials are not legally required to follow the executive order, though it says they are “encouraged” to adopt the same policy. In the past, Newsom has threatened to Withhold $1 billion from local governments if they do not make progress in addressing the problem.
Some local leaders say they will continue to clear homeless camps, as they have been doing since the Supreme Court ruling in August allowed them to move people off the streets even if there are no shelter beds available.
On any given night in Los Angeles County, more than 75,000 people were homeless, according to a count at the start of the year. About 45,252 were in the city of Los Angeles, where frustration has grown as more tents have been set up on sidewalks and in parks. This year, there are only about 23,000 emergency shelter beds in the county.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass stressed the importance of a comprehensive approach to homelessness that begins with providing housing and services. She criticized the Supreme Court ruling, saying cities cannot “arrest their way out of this problem.”
“Strategies that merely move people from one neighborhood to another or issue tickets instead of housing do not work,” Bass said in a statement. “We thank the governor for his partnership thus far and hope he will continue to collaborate on strategies that work.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has vowed to conduct “very aggressive” raids on homeless encampments in light of the Supreme Court ruling set to begin in August, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. reported.
“San Francisco’s encampment and outreach teams have been doing this work every day for years,” Breed said. “We’ve been doing this work, so there’s nothing new coming from the governor.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, chair of the Coalition of Mayors of Major California Cities, said the group welcomes the governor’s “renewed direction and sense of urgency to address homelessness with tangible and meaningful action,” though he did not specify what that would entail.
The group consists of mayors from the state’s 13 largest cities.
San Diego a regulation adopted Last year, camps were banned at schools, shelters, public transportation hubs, in parks and along public sidewalks if shelter beds are available. The city opened two tent cities where people could sleep, with toilets, showers and 24-hour security.
The measure applies to most state agencies, including the Department of General Services, which manages state buildings and parking lots; the Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees state parks and some beaches; and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which manages recreation areas.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon ban that allowed cities to ban people from sleeping outdoors in public spaces, to overthrow a lower court ruling. The case was the most significant on homelessness to come before the Supreme Court in decades.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ previous ruling in 2018 found that such bans violate the Eighth Amendment in areas where there are not enough shelter beds.
Now that that restriction has been lifted, there are “no longer any barriers for local governments” to clear homeless encampments, Newsom’s order said.