The visibility and scale of homelessness in California have exposed Newsom and other Democratic leaders to unrelenting criticism. Conservative media outlets regularly broadcast images of people living on the streets while portraying San Francisco and Los Angeles as failed cities.
Newsom has budgeted billions of dollars to help local governments move people into permanent housing. But the governor said Thursday that local plans to secure those funds fell far short, estimating that they would collectively reduce homelessness by just 2 percent over four years. The governor briefed mayors on his plans Wednesday night and said he intended to convene local officials later this month.
“At this rate, it would take decades to significantly curb homelessness in California; this approach is simply unacceptable. Everybody has to do better: cities, counties and the state included,” he said.
Majors in major cities rejected Newsom’s decision, arguing that it came with little notice and undermined their efforts. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, whose city previously clashed with Newsom over homeless funding, said in a statement that she was “perplexed.” San Francisco Mayor London Breed accused Newsom of creating “further hurdles for local governments to jump over without a clear explanation of what is required.”
“The State has decided to abruptly withhold funding that we have been planning that will really make a difference in our communities, all without notice or conversation or opportunity to address your concerns,” Breed said. “While we welcome accountability, now is not the time to delay funding that will help get people off the streets.”
The governor has regularly lamented the state of homelessness in California, saying public officials are not acting with enough urgency. He has focused in recent months on the encampments, allocating funds to help local governments move people out of the encampments and staging public appearances in which he cleans up trash near tents under highways. His office issued a press release in August touting the cleanup of more than 1,250 sites on state land over a 12-month period.
“These camps in California are unacceptable,” Newsom said during his budget presentation this year.
That push from the camps has at times fueled tension with local governments. Newsom’s administration and the city of Oakland were locked in a protracted standoff earlier this year over a sprawling, multi-block encampment during which Newsom threatened to withhold $4.7 million in aid. Initially, a judge blocked the governor’s attempt to get people out, arguing that officials were trading blame without finding other accommodations for the camp’s residents.
Behavioral health funding has been another aspect of Newsom’s homeless plan. The centerpiece of the policy has been a recently enacted civil court program that allows the state to mandate treatment plans for people with serious mental health or substance abuse problems. Newsom signed the program into law earlier this year.
The governor has also taken a more aggressive approach toward local governments in housing development, repeatedly intervening when the state concludes that cities and counties don’t plan to add enough housing to alleviate a statewide housing shortage. His administration recently launched an unprecedented review of San Francisco’s housing approval process.