California Governor Gavin Newsom is advocating for a model ordinance to prohibit repeated homeless camping on sidewalks and clear existing encampments. This proposal seeks to improve pedestrian access while ensuring authorities make efforts to provide shelter before clearing camps. The model builds on existing approaches by Caltrans, which has already cleared over 16,000 encampments since 2021. Despite claims of compassion, critics argue that this punitive strategy distracts from genuinely addressing homelessness, especially with a state population of 187,000 unhoused individuals as of January 2024.
"[Newsom] is flouting decades of evidence on effective solutions and urging communities to merely move unhoused people out of public view rather than work to solve their homelessness."
The proposal would prohibit unhoused people from repeatedly camping in the same location, restrict encampments that block pedestrian access on sidewalks, and require authorities to provide notice and make a good-faith effort to offer shelter before destroying camps.
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