Newsom launches statewide task force to clear homeless encampments

Maybe he can send trans people to gulags too. After all, Newsom's message seems to be "Hey, I heard you like fascists... vote for me! I can do a fascism too!"

Experience has shown that trying to out-fascist the fascists always works really well for centrists. Anything but the compassionate, progressive politics people desperately want.

Trump has started going after the homeless. I can see Newsome taking action to keep Trump from declaring it an issue in California and sending in the National Guard and or the military. This may be a preemptive measure to address some radical moves by the current federal administration.

In order to actually address the homeless crisis, we would first have to fix U.S. Healthcare.

Or we could leave everything broken, with the wealth still being transferred upwards, and keep funneling the people that have been ground up and spit out into our growing for-profit prison industry...

I loved that they let a ton of people out of jail when they legalized marijuana and vacated a ton of convictions.

But then they literally just turned people out on the street with zero fucking pathways. No money, no home, no phone, just zero fucking resources.

It was an almost overnight explosion of homelessness in San Diego.

Sure they have always had a homeless population (the weather is particularly ideal for living outside most of the year), but nothing like it turned in to.

Clearing camps won't help. Like you said, you need to solve the root problem.

A large amount of destitution is caused by people being bankrupted by medical bills.

The other big causes are untreated mental illness and addiction.

i think nimbyism is more a problem in california, than the other 2 things. I remember a nimby group(white people) threw a huge fit over in norcal like 1-2 years ago. of a building/center being built. and then its zoning laws.

They know. It's the actual goal, not an unfortunate fluke of the system.

How is a city spending $200k per homeless resident and still not providing them with housing?

That's more than 8 years' worth of rent/mortgage at $2k per month. And even longer in a more reasonably-priced home.

I understand there are more expenses than just rent, but I also understand that it's nearly impossible to get a job if you don't have a permanent residence. If we've got a homelessness crisis that includes working families, why wouldn't the states want to help those families?

A rent/mortgage assistance program seems like it would do a lot more long-term good than simply "cleaning up" encampments.

nobody likes Newsome, but in contrast to the rest of the Dems.... he's actually effective at getting under the GOPs skin. That's the whole thing.

GOP doesn't give a shit about Jefferies yapping on the floor for hours. They don't care about another "strongly worded letter" from Schumer. And everyone, EVERYONE, hates Pelosi....

Yes, we all want more people like Mamdani. His policies are everything that I want, that most of us want. But you'd also have to be politically ignorant to not realize that his platform is on shakey ground nationwide. You can do something like Mamdani in a blue stronghold like NY. But across the nation? At this moment in time? No chance, you might as well just hand GOP the keys to power ad infinitium.

I don't like Newsome, but I'm not trying to throw the whole country in the toilet waiting for the world to come around to Mamdani. Playing this "all or nothing" game is getting real people killed and lives ruined.

The DNC hasn't run it's bots up yet today /j

Is this the part where you tell us he’s a corpo shill and I should vote third party in protest?

Socially liberal ✅

Fiscally conservative ✅

Even if the reasons where mainly substance use and mental illness, those are still societal issues that require societal solutions through better health care access and overall more social security.

It is wild to me that in America "Oh you have a mental illness? Well go die then and don't leave your corpse for me to see!" is somehow a position that is considered acceptable among "progressives". It is deeply reactionary and a hallmark of fascists.

I'm in Canada, Toronto specifically and the Homeless situation here is just as bad as it is in the US. I do volunteer work for a couple homeless outreach programs and I'd say easily since the pandemic the homeless demographic has drastically changed.

The stereotype that homeless people are junkies or mentally ill has shattered. The people I'm working with now are, for now, mentally fit and sober. More women than ever, more elderly, more minorities that in the past generally didn't have many homeless within them because their communities would help prevent them from being homeless i.e. Asians, Muslims, etc

So. Many. Have jobs. So many have families, children, and they are sleeping rough so that they can simply afford to have their kids or older parents or other family members continue to live with whatever roof they can afford over their heads. There are SO many that are sleeping rough because there is simply no room for them to sleep in the tiny studio apartment they can barely afford with their kids, wives, parents, whatever.

I'm handing out food to people who dont' even look homeless. They can't afford to BUY FOOD. All their money goes to rent or other important bills. I'm dealing with people who were on drugs and alchol who then got sober in hopes to get off the streets and find work only to relapse because there is no work or what work they can get isn't anywhere near enough to get them off the streets so they slump RIGHT BACK into that hole because, and they've told me first hand, "There's no point."

Lines are getting longer every month, The portions for food and other things we hand out are getting smaller because NO ONE can afford to donate ANYTHING anymore anywhere near the amount we need to cover the increasingly rising population we're working with.

And none of the politicians could give a flying fuck. None of them. Regardless of what side of the fence they're on and how far away from said fence they are. We could have fixed this years ago, decades ago, but we chose profits over people. We made this bed a long time ago, It's almost your turn to get into it.

For us volunteers this is no longer a battle we're fighting in hopes of winning. No, at this point we've lost. Now we're just hoping we have enough bandages to slow the bleeding as much as possible before we run out.

Housing needs to be a right.

Guys, I found Jello Biafra's Lemmy account.

There's plenty of left leaning Americans who think Doug Ford is a good guy because he says shit about Trump. It shouldn't be surprising.

The older lady is driven by name recognition.

Corporate media and billions in oligarchy money.

It is sad that we keep having to repeat the same thing over and over again yet people refuse to learn. The Democratic party and the Republican party are both tools of the same oligarchy and they both fight against the normal people in different flavors. The Democrats happily gave the last election to Trump instead of stopping an US backed genocide and since then they often cooperated to help Trumps fascist power grab.

Unless the party is fundamentally changed and all its current and past leaders ousted and disgraced, it cannot be a means for bettering society.

People just remember he was the mayor of one of the most liberal cities in the US, so it translates in their head as him being liberal.

That pipe dream would be so fantastic!

Gavin has done what no one else is doing, punching back, speaking Trump's language. It's getting attention from all quarters. Meanwhile Dems are busy shutting him down preemptively because purity tests. It's another fascinating move from the "we don't want to govern" party.

Did you read the article beyond the headline? Is that what it said?

This is the trick the fascists are playing on us. They've corrupted both sides, and hope we'll believe that the one that is "less fascist" will be able to save us from the one that's "more fascist". NOPE, surprise, it's fascism all the way down! The game is rigged, the trap is sprung, the only winning move is not to play.

If you're familiar with the 4 boxes of liberty, it's time to understand that the ballot box has already failed us and abandon the idea that we can vote our way out of this mess. We're past that. We're firmly in the jury box stage right now and it's not looking too promising with the amount of judicial interference going on, the administration flaunting rulings that don't go in their favor, and the supreme court stacked.

With the fourth box, understand that the first and possibly even most potent ammunition you will ever have access to is free speech. But it will also be the first to run out. Use what's left of it while you still can. Be vocal. Be a shit disturber. Many people need their shit disturbed, some need it to wake them up with the information they're not willing to accept, others need it because they're fascists themselves. Disturb them. Attend protests. Prepare to go on strike. Collective action is more powerful than people give it credit for. The country cannot function without wage-slaves feeling chained to their jobs, clinging to it like a lifeline and too afraid that rocking the boat will see them let go. This is a method of control. Prepare for turmoil and disruption. Find people who can help you and support you when things go south. Seek community and resilience, find people who will look out for you, and do what you can to look out for them. Find ways to organize if you can. There is strength in numbers. The clock is ticking, and it's not going to wait for you to be ready. Get ready now, and get involved. This is everyone's fight, and if you're not already fighting, you're late, get moving.

That's already happening...

Keep complaining, but also when the system gives us the option between fascism and radical centrism, I'm going to hold my nose and vote for the radical centrist.

But I'm also going to continue voting in other races, protesting, lobbying my representatives, and trying to effect change in other ways. You should too. Voting in the presidential race is not the start and end of activism.

Would bet cash money the DNC selects- I mean uh he fairly wins the DNC primary for next election cycle lol.

he had so little influence after his sf mayorship, he tried to get elected a couple times statewide, but hes just not good overall. plus he doesnt really capture people outside of montery or rich people anyways.

Again with the zombie myth that Katie Porter is a progressive. She is even worse than Newsom.

Depending on quality you can make studio apartments, similar to hotel rooms, for close to $50k per unit.

they are already closing the concentration camp, due to how poorly managed its run.

The vice signaling at the Fed level such as the "alligator" compound, and the "encampments bother my snowflake sensibility, just move them" shit being done in D.C. is not a carbon copy of whatever California is doing. Success at their self-stated goals is TBD, but the California government is putting actual resources to attempt to provide appealing options to those being displaced.

From the linked article, bolding mine:

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced the creation of a statewide task force aimed at dismantling homeless encampments on state property and expanding access to shelter and services.

The State Action for Facilitation on Encampments, or SAFE Task Force, will coordinate efforts across multiple state agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, and the state’s health and housing departments.

The governor’s office stated that the task force will prioritize sites deemed unsafe and collaborate with local governments to connect individuals with shelter, health care and substance use services.

California spends over $50k per homeless person per year.

How has homelessness only grown?

Because of double dipping and lack of oversight.

One homeless person goes and gets welfare from one place and then another day goes elsewhere. Both places claim them for a period even though they may only actually be going to one place a day.

If California actually wanted to end homelessness, they could, but then the NGOs and administrators couldn't profit off homelessness.

California is performative in altruisms and they will never accomplish anything of value on progressive values if they can't use it to give money to wealthy people.

When all encampments are deemed unsafe and local services are already stretched to the breaking point, I think we can be justified in calling this out for the performative anti-homeless bullshit it is.

Nothing short of a complete reorganization of the economy so that working class people are prioritized instead of billionaires will fix this problem though.

He's never in point. He made some tweets, then he made a knockoff Trump store hoping people would be dumb enough to buy that shit.

He's a scumbag though and through, only interested in advancing his career.

If he fights back against Trump, he's an ally. That doesn't make him a friend.

See also: Liz Cheney.

And You. You definitely didn’t read the article. Just the title.

The governor’s office stated that the task force will prioritize sites deemed unsafe and collaborate with local governments to connect individuals with shelter, health care and substance use services.

I mean... In DC they're just jailing them. Lots of commenters here are trying really hard to make this apples to apples with trump.

The system isn't perfect, but California is one of the better states about funding relief programs for the homeless. The major issue is that the weather there is nicer than the surrounding mountainous/desert regions so they are a funnel for the homeless population. South Park made a lot of jokes about this years ago. The real estate value in California is way too high and the only way to fix it is by legislating it away.

Houses are for living, not speculation. -IYKYK

We need to treat the homeless like the UN treats refugees and build tent cities with organized work/training/healthcare. I just don't see how we can do this without the optics being horrible.

He must think he can win Republican votes. The right wing of the Democratic Party still doesn't get it.

He’s been “doing this” for years dude. He dresses it up with fancy language but homeless camp sweeps have been happening in CA for a long time and have been ordered by him through executive order, driven by his rich NIMBY donors.

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/07/25/governor-newsom-orders-state-agencies-to-address-encampments-in-their-communities-with-urgency-and-dignity/

Despite surveys in 2023 showing sweeps resulted in police citations as of often as offers for housing he continued with criminalizing homelessness, encouraging local governments to create anti camping ordinances in 2024 (aka criminalizing homelessness)

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-14/homeless-camp-sweeps-result-in-police-citations-as-often-as-housing-offers-survey-finds

Flip sides of the same coin. He can play the part because he is basically trump with decorum and slightly different masters. Trump sold out to the extreme right white nationalist fascist crowd, Newsom sold out to the corporate world fascist crowd. If Silicon Valley decides that lgbt support is bad for business Newsom will flip flop (see his appearance on the charlie kirk podcast, testing the waters). He will always back things that fuck over workers and benefit the corporate class.

vote blue no matter who though. Unless it’s someone from the dsa or psl that actually represents your interests of course, then of course the democrat leadership can’t possibly endorse the candidate and will split the vote because they’d rather potentially hand the election to a republican than give you a candidate that serves your interests instead of their donors. But remember, if you don’t vote for them you’re a fucking tankie piece of shit

He's been abusive to the homeless since his time as mayor of SF.

Had to remind us who he really is.

This isn't new, he was a on a propaganda roll, and lots of people won't even see this.

The governor’s office stated that the task force will prioritize sites deemed unsafe and collaborate with local governments to connect individuals with shelter, health care and substance use services.

You didn’t Read the article.

yup. fuck him, if he's candidate for president, just let the GOP win again

Literally does say help the homeless but you would have had to have read the article to find that out.

but I guess enraging at minimal information is what we are now.

I can see you didnt read the article. You just Just raged at the title.