As public frustration intensifies over street homelessness, Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging local governments across California to effectively ban public camping and move faster to close dangerous encampments.
On Monday, Newsom released a template ordinance that cities and counties can adopt to prohibit and clear camps. While jurisdictions aren’t required to approve the measure, it represents the latest move by the governor to focus responsibility for alleviating the crisis on local officials after the state has spent unprecedented billions to move people off the street.
“The time for inaction is over,” Newsom said in a statement. “There are no more excuses.”
Newsom’s office outlined three main provisions in the model ordinance. They include a ban on “persistent camping in one location,” a prohibition on encampments that block sidewalk passageways, and a requirement that local officials “make every reasonable effort” to offer homeless people shelter before clearing camps.
The announcement comes almost a year after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling granted officials the authority to enforce strict camping bans and clear encampments even when beds aren’t available in homeless shelters. Last year, Newsom ordered state agencies to close more camps and urged local governments to do the same.
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In San Jose, officials are now considering a controversial proposal by Mayor Matt Mahan to cite and arrest homeless residents who turn down multiple shelter offers.
Along with the model ordinance, Newsom plans to release $3.3 billion for local governments to expand mental health and addiction facilities through Proposition 1, a bond measure voters narrowly approved last year. It was not immediately clear whether Newsom sought to tie the funding to adopting his model ordinance.
This story will be updated.
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