Blue state Gov. Gavin Newsom took to the streets of California to scrub up trash left behind by homeless encampments Thursday, threatening municipalities that if they don’t clear up encampments they’re going to lose state funding subsequent yr.
A pissed off Newsom was seen selecting up trash from a cleared encampment in Los Angeles — one of many largest hubs within the state for homeless folks residing outdoor — alongside the California Division of Transportation. California’s homelessness accounts for roughly one-third of the nation’s disaster.
“I want to see results,” Newsom advised reporters Thursday. “I don’t want to read about them. I don’t want to see the data. I want to see it.”
GOV NEWSOM ORDERS HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS TORN DOWN ACROSS CALIFORNIA: ‘NO MORE EXCUSES’
Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, and folks at a homeless encampment in California. (Getty Photographs)
Homelessness has skyrocketed within the Golden State below Newsom’s management. In response to the 2024 point-in-time depend, which supplies a snapshot of homelessness on a given evening, the variety of homeless people in California elevated to roughly 172,000. This represented an increse from the estimated 131,000 homeless people counted in 2018, the yr Newsom took workplace.
Thursday’s announcement was a continuation of Newsom’s rising efforts to induce native governments to conduct extra sweeps of homeless encampments after the Supreme Court docket dominated governments can pressure folks out of encampments. Final month, Newsom directed state companies to start clearing encampments from state property and has been pushing native officers to comply with swimsuit.
“We’re done with the excuses,” Newsom advised reporters. “The last big excuse was, ‘Well, the courts are saying we can’t do anything.’ Well, that’s no longer the case, so we had a simple executive order: Do your job. … You’ve got the money, you’ve got the flexibility, you’ve got the green light, you’ve got the support from the state and the public is demanding it of you.”
MASSIVE CALIFORNIA RESIDENTIAL TOWER TO OFFER HOMELESS PRIVATE ROOMS, GYM, CAFE AND MORE AMENITIES
A homeless encampment in Oakland, Calif. (Getty)
However some native leaders do not agree with Newsom’s method. In a press release to ABC7 Information, LA County officers stated partly, “New bed capacity needs to be built to accommodate a population of patients who will require locked facilities when held for treatment involuntarily.
“With out first taking these steps, the work of transferring folks off the streets for their very own well being and security would fail,” the statement continued. “This doesn’t imply LA County is standing nonetheless. Our Pathway Residence encampment decision program already has moved a whole lot of individuals inside as we’ve additionally extensively supported the Metropolis of LA’s Inside Protected program that has sheltered 1000’s of others.”
Kathryn Barger, an LA County supervisor, told the news outlet she “would love to elucidate to the governor what we’re doing as a result of we’re.”
HOMELESS PERSON ALLEGEDLY ABDUCTS 4-YEAR-OLD AT CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT AMID UPTICK OF CRIME
A homeless encampment on the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. (Toby Canham for Fox News Digital)
“I am not going to criticize the truth that he issued that order as a result of, truly, I assist what he desires to do. My purpose is to have us all in the identical route. You may go in and clear the encampment, however in the event you do not coordinate with the completely different jurisdictions round you, you are merely transferring that drawback,” she said.
Earlier this year, Newsom’s administration blamed counties and cities after a state audit report found his own homelessness task force failed to track how billions of dollars have been spent trying to tackle the crisis in the last five years.
At the time, a senior spokesperson for the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (CICH), which coordinates homeless programs across the state, told Fox News Digital the audit’s findings “spotlight the numerous progress made lately to handle homelessness on the state stage, together with the completion of a statewide evaluation of homelessness packages.”
Tents and belongings at a homeless encampment in Toriumi Plaza at 1st Street and Judge John Aiso Street in Los Angeles. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
Over the past five years, the CICH didn’t consistently track whether the money actually improved the situation, the audit concluded.
The spokesperson added local governments “are primarily answerable for implementing these packages and accumulating information on outcomes that the state can use to guage program effectiveness.”
Since 2016, California has spent over $25 billion on homelessness. This includes state, local and federal funding allocated toward boosting the state’s “Housing First” ideology through various programs, which prioritizes placing people in housing first before addressing mental illness or substance abuse problems.
The Housing First model began in 2016 through SB 1380. Authored by Democratic state Sen. Ed Hernandez, the bill expanded state resources for permanent housing to homeless individuals without requirements like sobriety or employment.
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In a response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, a spokesperson for Newsom referred to Thursday’s news conference and provided a statement.
“The State of California’s doing greater than ever. We’ll proceed to do extra. However this can be my ultimate phrases on this: If we do not see demonstrable outcomes, I will begin to redirect cash. I am not excited by established order any longer. And that may begin in January with the January finances. We have been offering the assist to native authorities that embraces these efforts and focuses on a way of urgency — and we’ll double down. If native authorities shouldn’t be , we’ll redirect the cash to elements of the state, cities and counties which are.”
