File Under French Laundry: Newsom Created a Program to Bus the Homeless Out of San Francisco in 2005

California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to debate his Florida counterpart after DeSantis sent illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard. The bad news for Newsom in the upcoming joust is that it’s probably as hard to legally get a lance in California as it is to legally get a gun. The good news is with all of that hair gel, Newsom won’t need a helmet.

Interestingly enough, back when Newsom was the mayor of San Francisco, he was concerned enough about the homeless problem in the city that he started the Homeward Bound Program. This effort bussed homeless people through the Golden Gate and out of the city. According to Street Sheet, Newsom started the program in 2005 to “connect homeless persons with out-of-area resources.” The article also added that it gave the city “bragging rights” in claiming that it “permanently housed” homeless people and reduced the number of homeless on the streets. Of course, this was back in 2005. The city streets tell a different story today.

Street Sheet notes as of 2015, the following criteria applied to the program:

Be homeless/low income and living in San Francisco
Have family or friends at the destination that staff can verify as willing and able to provide a place to stay;
Be medically stable enough to travel unassisted to the destination; and
Be sober and able to abstain from alcohol and/or using other substances en route.

As of June of this year, the program was merged with the Department of Homeless and Supportive Housing’s Access Points program. What does the program offer? According to the website, the following services are available:

Financial assistance for a bus, train, or plane ticket;
A travel food stipend; and
Access to further resources in the person’s new location.

So yes, according to the program’s guidelines, the person being relocated should have family or friends to receive them, but in an April 2006 article by the San Francisco Examiner, it was alleged that out of 1,132 cases, officials failed to follow up with 958 of them. So for those people, the system simply moved them out and lost track of them. At the time, the paper said that people had accused the city of engaging in “Greyhound therapy” and shoving the problem off on other areas. That included Humboldt, which reportedly received 13 people without the county being notified.

By contrast, Fox News notes that despite the tantrums being thrown by the left, including Newsom, at least some migrants were fairly happy upon arriving on Martha’s Vineyard. The site reports that a reporter for MSNBC commented, “I can tell you they are not angry at Ron DeSantis; they are actually thanking him for having brought them to Martha’s Vineyard, where they were very well-received.” Of course, they weren’t there long enough to really get a feel for the place, but you get the idea.

So when DeSantis imitates Newsom, it is the crime of the century? You can put this one in the French Laundry file.