LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday pushed cities to ban homeless encampments or sleeping rough on the streets — and is using state funds to force the issue.The Democrat escalated his campaign to eliminate encampments across the Golden State by calling on local governments to prohibit shelters from being erected on sidewalks, parks, bike paths and other public property.
People will also be barred from sleeping on the streets with a sleeping bag, blankets or any other materials for more than three days in a row, according to the state-issued guidance.
The state can’t force cities to impose the ban, but for those that do, Newsom has promised to dole out $3.3 billion in state funds to pay for housing, mental health treatment, and other services.
“Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered,” Newsom said in a statement.
But for many residents of Los Angeles – the homeless capital of California – the plan is too little, too late.
“This won’t change anything. Everything that’s been going on here? It’s all crap. I think it’s the worst system right now,” said one business owner near Venice Beach, a tourist hotspot and notorious hangout for unhoused people.
The owner, who asked to remain unnamed, doesn’t trust LA to enforce Newsom’s encampment ban even if the city goes along with it.
“The cops won’t do anything. They never do anything,” he said.
The proposal calls for cities to “connect people to shelter, housing, and care,” but urges them to avoid “criminal punishment for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go.”
The ordinance is the latest move in a years-long effort to clear out California’s endemic shantytowns and deal with its more than 187,000 people do not have a place to live.
In 2024, voters approved a Newsom-led measure that imposes strict requirements on counties to spend funds on housing and drug treatment programs to tackle the homelessness crisis.
Newsom also issued an executive order directing state agencies to remove the thousands of tents and makeshift shelters across the state.
The governor has said the crackdown is in the interest of homeless people themselves — as well as the rest of the California public.
“There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets,” he said of the proposed ordinance.
But one homeless man, who identified himself as “Dustin” and said he began living on the street during the pandemic, sees the plan as an excuse for cops to harass people who are down on their luck.
“It’s extortion! They just want to write more tickets. What’s [Newsom] expect homeless people to do? All of a sudden be able to afford rent?” the man said.
Dustin, who stays in Venice Beach, said the nearest homeless shelter is more than 10 miles away – too far for him to reasonably move – and new shelters could potentially alleviate the problem.
But he believes the city can’t even manage the funds it already has – let alone more funding from the state.
“They were supposed to break ground on a new project just down the road there, where a parking lot is, but it’s still a parking lot,” he said.
Raymundo Saravia, who lives in south LA and works as a bartender in Venice, is cautiously optimistic about Newsom’s proposed ban and appreciates that it provides both new law enforcement tools and new funding.
“The only way we’re going to get them up and out of there is through [police] enforcement, but if they have no place to go, they’ll come back. They need resources,” he said.
But even Saravia isn’t optimistic the order will clean up the problems in his neighborhood.
“Honestly, I don’t know what can happen. There’s just so many of them. Here [in Venice]. Downtown,” he said. “Even where I live, in the south, they’re at every corner. It’s all over.”
