Fremont joins the growing list of CA cities getting more aggressive about homeless amelioration
Kyle Martin of Mercury News notes that Fremont’s homeless population doubled from 2019 to 2022, going from 608 to 1,026. The East Bay City is starting to implement solutions proven in SF to reduce chronic homelessness.
The Fremont City Council, which represents the Bay Area’s fourth largest city, last week discussed the possibility of amending city policies to add a 72-hour parking limit for residents on city streets, a potential “oversized vehicle parking” ban on recreational vehicles parked in residential areas and a ban on camping on public property. The council also discussed options for a permanent ban on RVs near schools, educational facilities and churches.
Similar actions have been taken by other major Bay Area cities who made national headlines for more aggressive tactics of clearing homeless encampments. San Francisco Mayor London Breed began ordering encampment sweeps this summer, as cities jumped into action at the direction of Newsom, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave local jurisdictions greater power to clear homeless encampments. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao on Monday announced the city would crackdown on encampments which pose fire, waterway or roadway dangers. ...
According to the most recent study of the homeless population, the city reported this year that the number of people living without shelter in Fremont dropped 21 percent, matching a countywide trend. But that’s after Fremont’s homeless population nearly doubled between 2019 and 2022, from 608 unhoused people to 1,026, according to the point in time count, a government census measuring homelessness.
At last Tuesday’s council meeting, Vice Mayor Desrie Campbell asked city staff about the camp Huston stays at, and wondered whether residents were offered permanent or temporary housing. She asked whether the city could enforce permanent parking bans on streets throughout Fremont.
Housing Manager Lucia Hughes told Campbell that “outreach teams” go to the camp regularly and offer a number of things to residents, such as possible housing services. City Attorney Rafael E. Alvarado added that unless the council wants to implement permanent parking bans on certain city streets, it is inevitable that homeless residents “will come back.”
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