Just because Gov. Gavin Newsom has wavered on what the proper approach to California’s homelessness crisis should be in the past doesn’t mean he’s wrong this time to take a new hard line on sidewalk encampments in our cities.
Looking around at the various approaches to the problem suggested and sometimes implemented over the decades, it’s hard — it’s impossible — to find any policy approaches of genius.
Over 30 years ago, satirist Harry Shearer of “The Simpsons” and “Spinal Tap” fame dubbed his city of Santa Monica “The Home of the Homeless.”
It still is.
There’s no point at this point in carping about any approach from Housing First to the fabled “Round ‘em up and send ‘em to the desert.” Ask the mayors of Lancaster and Palmdale — they already go to the desert on their own.
Last week, Newsom announced: “There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets. Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered.” He’s referring first to voter-approved Proposition 1 funding, $3.3 billion of which the governor directed “to communities statewide to expand behavioral health housing and treatment options for the most seriously ill and homeless in California.” Secondly, he refers to the Supreme Court decision based on civic leaders in Grants Pass, Oregon trying to ban camping in public spaces — which cities are now free to do.
So, let’s do it. We understand the long-expressed logic of advocates for the homeless saying it’s not against the law to not be able to afford a roof over your head. They are not wrong to say that a severe lack of housing in California has driven this crisis. But no American has a right to live in a certain place if they can’t afford to do so. We hear that Lubbock, Texas is a lot cheaper than Santa Monica.
Now, Newsom is urging cities to make certain homeless camps illegal, and has provided language in a model ordinance to enforce that. Camping in one place for more than three days, making semi-permanent shacks on public property and blocking streets or sidewalks would be entirely banned.
As they should be. Left unchecked, certain people, especially the mentally ill and those with substance-abuse problems, will just stay put in the relatively comfortable clime of California.
It is neither compassionate nor fair to continue allowing people to decay on the street while insisting that everyone look the other way.
We must continue to offer a helping hand to those willing to accept it. But it’s time to say “enough” to the disorder on our streets.
