California Gov. Gavin Newsom is running for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president, which is not news to anyone.
What may be of great interest to the hard left of the Democratic Party is that he's trying to buttress his bona fides by picking on the most vulnerable — and least likely to vote — segment of the population: the homeless. He announced a new order that requires cities and towns to ban "camping" on streets for more than three nights in a row, erecting makeshift structures like tents and cardboard houses, and blocking streets and sidewalks.
I am all for addressing the homeless crisis. Changing mental health laws, building more housing, limiting the availability of street drugs, and building more homeless shelters are all parts of a comprehensive policy that includes intervention, drug counseling, and skills training.
Newsom's approach will move the homeless around like a shell game, trying to hide the nature and seriousness of the problem from the public. The most visible aspect of the political crisis that homelessness causes will disappear under Newsom's "model" solution.
His other initiatives have all been tried, and the problem has only worsened
Newsom coupled Monday’s announcement with an update on new funding that is supposed to help the sickest people on California’s streets — people with severe mental illnesses or struggling with addiction — come indoors. He said his office has awarded $3.3 billion to create more than 5,000 residential treatment beds and more than 21,800 out-patient treatment slots across California. That money comes from Proposition 1, a $6.4 billion bond that California voters approved in March that’s supposed to fund beds and mental health and addiction services.
Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, called that news “awesome,” and said the state has done plenty of good things to help move people inside – such as turning hotels into homeless housing via its Homekey program.
But she doesn’t see how Newsom’s model ordinance would address the core problem: a lack of housing and shelter.
Newsom wants to establish himself as an alternative to hard-leftist Democrats by appearing to improve the homelessness problem. He believes that "out of sight, out of mind" is the same as solving the crisis. It will only paper over the problem.
It's not the first issue where he's tried to distance himself from the radical left. His stance on transgenderism has become more mainstream by opposing boys playing in girls' sports. Sounding more moderate will fool less-engaged voters, but not anyone who pays attention to politics.
Homelessness advocates, whose every idea over the last 25 years has been a bitter failure, aren't pleased with Newsom.
“We know that disrupting people, making them move every two or three days, disrupting them from the outreach workers who are desperately trying to engage with them and build their trust — it just makes things worse,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
Making the homeless comfortable on the street is the sort of idiotic idea that leads directly to failure. This notion that the street is a "home" has got to end, or the homeless will never leave.
Even in cities that have shelter beds available, going to a shelter often requires people to abandon their pets or belongings, or to go without their partner. A CalMatters investigation earlier this year found some shelters throughout California are plagued by violence, poor conditions and little oversight.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who has proposed arresting homeless residents if they reject shelter three times over 18 months, applauded Newsom’s efforts.
“It’s great to have the Governor pushing alongside us to end the era of encampments,” he said in a statement. “To get the job done, we will need his leadership to ensure that every city provides its fair share of shelter options and every county does the same for mental health and addiction treatment beds.”
Homelessness advocates don't have the heart to be mean to anyone. The greatest compassion you can display to a homeless person is to force them to face the reality of their situation, not coddle them and agree with their delusion that the street is where they should be.
As a political solution, Newsom's plan is better than most. But as practical policy, it just plain sucks.
