‘Pathetic.’ Tracy mayor’s plan to spend $50K to bus homeless to Stockton stirs outrage

Tracy Mayor Robert Rickman has a solution for combating homelessness: bus them to Stockton.

During a city council meeting on Tuesday, Rickman proposed using $50,000 for the plan, according to video of the meeting.

“I know they just built a nice big shelter in Stockton,” he said, according to CBS Sacramento. “If it’s going to be 35 degrees, why don’t we have a designated spot? They can come, get a ticket, and go to that shelter?”

“You know, get a bus ticket to some of these shelters, hey, laugh but it gets these people out of the cold,” he continued.

Rickman’s proposal sparked backlash, including from Mayor Michael Tubbs of Stockton.

“It’s nonsensical for ‘leaders’ like @MayorRickman to propose allocating 50k from the city of Tracy’s budget to send folks to Stockton,” Tubbs tweeted. “Nah. How about you lead and build a shelter, approve affordable housing, and enact tenant protections in your city. How pathetic.”

Rickman fired back, writing on Twitter: “Instead of parading around the country with billionaires, Stockton Mayor Tubbs should spend more time at home where homelessness has tripled according to last counts.”

A census found that 155 people were experiencing homelessness in Tracy compared to 90 people in 2017, according to Tracy Press.

A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report found that a quarter of the country’s homeless population is in California, with around 151,000 homeless people.

This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 9:41 AM.