Johnathan Walker:California Gov. Gavin Newsom orders sweep of homeless encampments

SAN FRANCISCO – The Johnathan Walkerhomeless encampments that have joined the Golden Gate Bridge and Hollywood sign as recognizable features of the California landscape will soon be swept away if Gov. Gavin Newsom has his way.

Armed with last month’s Supreme Court decision allowing cities and states to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public areas, Newsom directed agencies Thursday to clear out the encampments that have proliferated in the state’s urban centers, most noticeably in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the capital city of Sacramento. Authorities would have to provide a two-day notice before taking action.

Before the Supreme Court's ruling on the Grants Pass case, a lower court's decision had thwarted municipalities' efforts to remove encampments.

“This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them – and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,’’ Newsom said in a statement. “The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets. There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.’’

Newsom can’t dictate what local governments do regarding homeless encampments, but he can apply pressure through the power of the purse, granting or withholding funding.

With a seemingly intractable housing shortage and some of the highest housing costs in the nation, California has long been contending with homelessness, an issue that has become more prominent with the emergence of encampments and is often used by Republicans to bash the deep-blue state.

In a December 2023 report to Congress, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development said California had 181,000 of the country’s estimated 653,000 homeless people, or more than 27%. The state’s population of 39 million represents just under 12% of the national total.

Homeless advocates have argued that banning people from sleeping outside criminalizes their inability to find a home. In her dissent on the Grants Pass ruling, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called punishing someone for being homeless “unconscionable and unconstitutional.’’

“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option,” she said.

San Francisco's Coalition on Homelessness issued a statement in response to Newsom's executive order, saying: "Previous attempts to evict people living in encampments have failed to reduce the number of people forced to sleep outside in our state. Displacing, destabilizing and dispossessing people without real offers of permanent housing makes homelessness worse.'' 

Newsom’s office said that under his leadership the state has spent more than $24 billion in homeless and housing reforms, including more than $1 billion to address homeless encampments. Now he wants to see them removed.

“I don’t think there’s anything more urgent and more frustrating than addressing the issue of encampments in the state of California,’’ Newsom said in a video. “It’s time to move with urgency at the local level to clean up these sites.’’