CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2024 OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“WINTER RAINS AGAIN SHOW NEED FOR CREATIVE
THINKING ON HOMELESS"
A look at what homeless
individuals suffered during the record-level intense rains of early February
demonstrated for a second consecutive year the utter inadequacy of programs to
help California’s approximately 180,000 unhoused.
It also exposed the crying
need for original thinking, going beyond today’s paltry shelters, most of them
open only parts of the day.
At countless charity
facilities that distribute clothing to the very needy, lines formed during and
between downpours as thousands around the state sought shoes, plastic ponchos,
blankets, water-resistant jackets and whatever else might offer a little relief
from the seemingly relentless cold and damp that lasted almost a week.
It was a carbon copy of what
happened in January 2023, when harsh rains that began the wettest winter in
decades demonstrated starkly the inadequacy of this state’s many programs to
help the homeless. Yes, there were some shelter beds available, but many
required clients to leave before 8 a.m. and did not allow many back in until
after 6 p.m.
During that interval, in both
years, thousands endured soakings seemingly without end as temperatures in most
areas did not rise above the mid-50s.
What were officials doing
during this mass drenching, while newspapers and TV showed pictures of
mudslides and other problems of the housed?
In California’s largest
county, Los Angeles, for one, the five-woman Board of Supervisors voted to urge
the U.S. Supreme Court to let local governments criminalize occupants of
homeless encampments that have become commonplace under freeway overpasses and
along sidewalks.
Many local officials want the
court to alter a 2020 ruling in an Idaho case called Martin v. Boise that held
it is cruel and unusual punishment to make camping on public property a crime
when the people involved have nowhere else they can legally sleep.
“The interpretations of (that
case) have tied the hands of cities and counties in imposing common-sense time
and place restrictions on some key public spaces to keep people safe and move
those who want assistance into shelter,” said one Los Angeles supervisor. “We
have no interest or intention to criminalize homelessness. We need
clarification about what tools we have to address this crisis and keep people
safe.”
So the Los Angeles board voted to
support a new appeal of a case from Oregon called Johnson v. City of Grants
Pass, which restricts local government’s ability to clear homeless encampments.
Sure there are problems with
encampments. No one can deny some criminals hide out in them. No one can deny
that some encampments deny the public use of parks their tax dollars built and
maintain. No one likes encampments near schools.
But what execrable timing it
was for officials to act against encampments just when many unhoused were being
swamped while others lined up to beg for something, anything, to help them dry
out and warm up.
Instead of sounding off
against the homeless (while still saying they should not criminalized), public
officials might have done better if they’d sent police cars and buses to
collect some unfortunates forced to sleep in cardboard boxes on hard sidewalks
while drenched.
The rains demonstrated just
how serious this problem remains, despite California having thrown tens of
billions of dollars at it. For sure, the state has more homeless today than
when Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature spent more than $10 billion to help
reduce the problem in the 2022-23 budget.
Plus, civic efforts to create
ever more affordable housing don’t help the homeless, when supposedly
“affordable” units often rent for $1,800 per month or more, even without
parking spaces. How many of the unhoused can pay that much each month?
Here's one idea that could
help, a tactic that could and should have begun when last winter’s rains first
showed how desperate the need is: Use part of the huge government allocations
to buy or lease some of the hundreds of millions of square feet that remain
vacant today in office buildings, even where some companies now require white
collar workers to report to offices at least part-time.
Without permanently converting
those spaces to residences, they could at least offer dry indoor spaces where
people could sleep.
But why would officials think
creatively when they can instead order up legal briefs seeking more power to
harass the homeless?
-30-
Email Thomas Elias
at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough," is now
available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
