Homeless advocates in San Jose say Governor Newsom's encampment plan is political posturing
The problem of homelessness has been an issue that has plagued Governor Newsom's administration for years. So, on Monday, he offered help to get local governments on the same page when it comes to managing encampments. But some say it may be intended to help his political ambitions, as well.
Newsom's "help" comes in the form of a sample ordinance, offered as a template for cities to adopt to deal with encampments. The announcement spells out the problems with the camps, from public safety issues to health dangers to blight, and concludes with: "Large encampments and those with semi-permanent structures exacerbate the perpetuate these harms. Every local government must have a plan to address them." That seems to be the point of the order...to get every city on board with the effort.
"We have to call out those that aren't even engaging in this conversation and somehow think it's someone else's responsibility," Newsom said, "not just on homelessness, but on housing, as well."
Someone who is engaging in that conversation is San Jose mayor, Matt Mahan.
"As you know, we already do hundreds of encampment abatements every year," said Mahan. "I'm very aligned with the governor on his announcement today, and this notion that we cannot allow for camping by choice. Permanent encampments are very corrosive for society."
Mahan said ending what he calls the "era of encampments" has been his top priority since taking office. And the city is looking to add teeth to its approach, including a policy to arrest people who repeatedly refuse the offer of a bed at a shelter. And Mahan said it's the State's responsibility to make sure that San Jose isn't alone in the effort.
"Only the state can ensure that every city, every county, does its fair share. And that we have a uniform set of policies and laws that allow us to intervene and incentivize people to come indoors," he said. "Most people will say yes and are grateful for it. I think we should be especially concerned about those who say no, repeatedly."
But as he was saying that, a group of homeless advocates were gathered outside City Hall, protesting against the city's position that homelessness is some kind of choice.
"If our economy hadn't tanked, if people hadn't lost so many jobs during Covid, if people hadn't gotten sick, this wouldn't be happening," said Shawnn Cartwright. "There aren't people out there, substantial amounts of people living out there, because they LIKE it, because it's GREAT living out there in the cold. and the wet and being exposed to the elements of all the people around you. It's not, like, a great CHOICE!"
Cartwright is founder of a homeless advocacy organization called the Unhoused Response Group, or URG. She thought the push by Newsom to shut down encampments across the state has as much to do with politics as it does camping.
"It's been obvious to many people that the governor is posturing so he can run for higher office. Much like Mayor Mahan is posturing so he can run for higher office," she said. "The governor has been seen as a liberal who has been soft on homelessness, so now he's got to get hard on homelessness so he can run and ditch all these homeless people. They're both doing the same thing. They're ditching homeless people, getting hard on homeless people so that they can get out of here."
The governor's model ordinance comes after last year's US Supreme Court ruling that cities could enforce camping bans and clear encampments even if space isn't available in homeless shelters. Cartwright said there is a concern that if cities do not adopt Newsom's ordinance, it could lead to the denial of state homeless funding. The governor said that's not currently the case, but he does seem intent on getting everyone on board with the move to shut down the encampments.
