Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing California municipalities to ban homeless encampments, saying Monday it’s time to take steps that let the public “see results.”
Newsom issued a model ordinance that municipalities can adopt to ban homeless encampments on public property, the latest rightward step the governor has taken on housing issues. Newsom, a prominent Democratic figure and potential 2028 presidential candidate, has spent the last few years trying to stake himself to the right of most of his fellow Democrats on several issues, including this one.
“It’s not human to allow people to live three, four, five years in encampments. It’s not human to allow the status quo to continue,” Newsom told reporters Monday during a press conference where he said the measures he proposed reflect a “deeper sense of clarity” between state and local efforts to address the homelessness crisis in California.