Newsom cranks up the pressure on CA cities to get serious about alleviating inhumane homeless encampments
Image by MassLive
At at an encampment photo-op in LA, Gov. Newsom issued a sharp funding threat to cities too slow, or unwilling to get more aggressive about remediating dangerous homeless public camping. Newsom said he would start taking funds away from cities and counties which are not doing enough. Tran Nguyen at LA Daily News reports.
Standing in front of a cleared homeless encampment in Los Angeles, Newsom vowed to start taking state funding away from cities and counties that are not doing enough to move people out of encampments and into shelter. The governor joined the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, on Thursday to clear several encampment sites in the area.
“I want to see results,” Newsom told reporters at a news conference. “I don’t want to read about them. I don’t want to see the data. I want to see it.”
Thursday’s announcement was part of Newsom’s escalating campaign to push local governments into doing more homeless encampment sweeps. Newsom last month ordered state agencies to start clearing encampments on state land. He also pressured local government to do the same, though he cannot legally force them to act.
The state has spent roughly $24 billion under Newsom’s leadership to clean up streets and house people. That includes at least $3.2 billion in grants given to local government to build shelters, clear encampments and connect homeless people to services as they see fit, Newsom said.
Those have been unprecedented investments from the state, he added, but his administration will start redirecting that money in January.
“This is not about criminalization,” Newsom said. “What’s criminal is neglecting people that are struggling and suffering and dying on our watch.”
It’s not the first time Newsom has vowed to cut funding over what he sees as the lackluster efforts from local governments to address homelessness. Last month, his office clawed back a $10-million grant sent to San Diego to build tiny homes because the county didn’t act fast enough.
San Francisco’s Mayor Breed has taken more aggressive action in clearing encampments.
Read the whole thing here.
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