California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) helped clear a homeless encampment in Los Angeles on Thursday while threatening to take away state funding from the state’s counties that do not do more to curb homelessness.
Newsom was photographed Thursday working alongside Caltrans workers under a freeway in Los Angeles, where he said more than 1,400 encampments have been removed since January.
“We have thousands and thousands of additional encampments that have not been attended to all throughout the region, not just here in Los Angeles County, but in every part of the state of California,” Newsom told reporters while standing near the encampment.
“The state has provided unprecedented resources for cities, municipalities large and small to address the encampment crisis,” he added, calling the issue “the biggest scar in the reputation” of the Golden State.
“We’ve been providing the support, local government embraces those efforts, focuses a sense of urgency,” Newsom said. “We’re going to double down. If local government is not interested, we’re fine. We’ll redirect the money to parts of the state, cities, and counties that are.”
The New York Times reported Newsom or his office visited two homeless encampments Thursday, but did not directly inform city or county leaders. The advance notice was only through state placards warning people they would be cited or arrested if they continued to live there, the outlet said.
The Hill reached out to the governor’s office for further comment.
The governor said he attended the cleanup on behalf of the 40 million “fed-up Californians,” before pointing to his executive order issued last month on the issue.
The executive order, issued on July 25, directed state agencies and departments to develop “clear policies” to quickly address the thousands of homeless encampments spread across California.
The governor at the time noted that the courts previously prevented the local government and state from cleaning up the encampments, but the Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson changed things.
In the decision, the high court ruled cities can ticket homeless people for camping in public even when there is no alternative shelter available.
“So, we had a simple executive order, do your job. There’s no more excuses. You got the money, you got the flexibility, you got the green light, you got the support from the state and the public is demanding it of you,” Newsom said Thursday. “And if this is not the most important issue, you’re not paying attention.”
California has so far invested more than $1 billion in encampment resolution grants to clean up homeless encampments and address the underlying issues, per Newsom’s office.
California has about one-third of the nation’s population of homeless people, and Newsom has been a vocal advocate for addressing the issue. His office touted his administration has spent about $24 billion total to clean up the streets and house people.
Earlier this year, he supported a ballot measure to allow the state to borrow about $6.4 billion to build 4,350 housing units, which passed with a thin margin, The Associated Press reported.
