☆ Local advocates differ on SJ's newly expanded prohibitions on sidewalk sleeping
Image by Ernesto De Quesada
Last week, San Jose City Council voted unanimously to extend sidewalk sitting/sleeping restrictions two extra hours (previously 10am–12pm, now beginning 8am). In this Opp Now exclusive, California Policy Center's Edward Ring, SCC Libertarians' Mark Hinkle, Coalition for a Better Oakland's Steve Heimoff, and SF Libertarians’ Starchild offer their perspectives on SJ's decision—and how local jurisdictions can continue fighting homelessness.
Edward Ring, California Policy Center contributing editor and water and energy policy director: What the City of San Jose needs to do is stand up to the homeless industrial complex that has by now wasted billions of dollars and only made the homeless problem worse. The solution is to build congregate shelters in less expensive regions of the county, thus saving billions of dollars that can instead be used to offer counseling, therapy, recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, and job training.
The recent US Supreme Court ruling in the case Grants Pass v. Johnson gives cities the authority to prohibit public camping. The majority of San Jose's homeless suffer from substance use disorder or mental illness, or both. There is nothing compassionate about leaving them on the street, waiting for housing that the homeless industrial complex can only deliver at a snail's pace and at exorbitant cost. Changing the hours when sleeping is permitted on sidewalks helps nobody, least of all the homeless. They need to be gathered, brought to new, cost-effective shelters, and given a chance to get their lives back. The idea that this has to take years and cost billions is nonsense.
Go Deeper:
- Fremont's more aggressive ban on homeless encampments could spell trouble for neighboring cities
- Opinion on LA's “density delusion”: Unbridled street homelessness (not single-family housing) is the true enemy
- SF case study: “Progressive” policies tied to explosions of homelessness, safety crises, outmigration
Mark Hinkle, Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County vice chair: Rather than addressing the cause of San Jose's homelessness situation, this seems to be addressing the symptoms—like putting the band-aid on a severed arm. What's going to be solved by adding those two hours? Sure, if you have a business in downtown SJ and someone's sleeping on the sidewalk in front of it, that could cause disruption; but if the sidewalk belongs to your business, you can cite them for trespassing. The homelessness crisis involves a lot of complex issues, but this ordinance is just moving deck chairs on the Titanic. It won't actually solve the problem.
Steve Heimoff, Coalition for a Better Oakland president: I fully support this ordinance. As I've been saying for years now, we need to crack down on public sleeping in all areas—in tents, boxes, sidewalks, public parks, wherever. It's been out of control for years. I think the average citizen is finally getting sick and tired of it, so we're seeing local city councils increasing penalties against public sleeping. We're also unfortunately seeing a lot of blowback (e.g., in Fremont) from crowds who think you should be able to sleep wherever you want to. But we can't let that happen. It's not fair to everyone else. So I support any city that tries to restrict sleeping in public.
Starchild, Libertarian Party of San Francisco chair: San Jose's expansion of sidewalk and sleeping restrictions only further criminalizes poverty. Saying that you can't be in a public space at a certain time of day infringes on such basic freedoms that everyone should be up in arms about it. People on the right recognize the importance of individual freedoms in many areas (e.g., the right to bear arms, not being forced to be vaccinated) but can have a blind spot sometimes when it comes to individual liberties of the homeless and poor. Libertarians should stand up for the poor and marginalized, such as homeless people, because they are the biggest victims of government’s cruel, wasteful, and rights-violating programs.
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