Sacramento mayor proposes city clear homeless camps where campers offered 2 types of shelter
The city of Sacramento could start clearing more homeless encampments beginning in 2023 as long as campers have been offered two different types of shelter or housing.
“We must both be humane and help thousands of additional people who aren’t getting help and at same time have a safer, cleaner city,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said during a press call Monday. “The two are not opposites. They should go together.”
The proposed ordinance, which the City Council was scheduled to discuss Tuesday, is called “a right to housing with a parallel obligation to accept it.” If the council adopts it, the city would be required to create enough shelter and housing for the unhoused. In addition, camps would be cleared in areas where spaces exist at two locations — either housing, hotel rooms, shelters, trailers, tiny home villages or Safe Ground tent encampments.
For example, if someone is camping under the W-X freeway and is offered a spot in the nearby W-X shelter or at the W-X Safe Ground, and they decline, they would be moved, even if they’re on public property.
“Not everyone wants a congregate shelter and not everyone wants the isolation of a hotel room, so different options are key,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg said he would propose an amendment to the ordinance that also requires city staff to offer people transportation to a shelter bed, and provides the homeless the ability to bring their pets, partners and possessions.
The city’s Department of Community Response would enforce the ordinance, Steinberg said. There would be no police involvement.
The resolution would also require the city to have all its 20 new sites for shelters, tiny homes, and Safe Ground tent encampments open by Jan. 1, 2023.
To avoid Sacramento becoming a “magnet,” the ordinance would only apply to people who were housed in the city for at least one year before becoming homeless, Steinberg said. If the city violates the ordinance, homeless people would be allowed to file lawsuits.
The ordinance would not just apply to camps that are the most visible, but also to the estimated 2,000 people who camp along the American River Parkway, Steinberg said.
“There are water quality impacts and environmental impacts,” Steinberg said. “The Parkway should be for people to enjoy.”
What about Martin v. Boise?
The Martin v. Boise court ruling already bars municipalities from citing people for camping on public property unless a shelter bed is offered to them. But it’s not crystal clear.
“This is a soft remedy, frankly, but it is maybe a proper clarification of the Martin v. Boise decision because everyone interprets it in their own way,” Steinberg said.
Since the original ruling, an Eastern District judge clarified “shelter” as “brick and mortar,” said Anthony Prince, attorney for the Sacramento Homeless Union. By that definition, Safe Ground tent encampments would not count as offering shelter, and neither would congregate shelters because they are unsafe during the pandemic, Prince said.
“Our position is if it’s not indoors, it’s not in compliance with Martin v. Boise,” Prince said.
Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, the driving force behind the city’s Safe Grounds, said she has not yet decided how she will vote on the ordinance Steinberg is proposing.
“The need to force people to move, in my mind, is premature before we have the full spectrum of options to meet their needs,” said Valenzuela, who represents the central city and Land Park. “Every time we open some place, it fills up.”
The ordinance would also violate U.S. Centers for Disease Control coronavirus guidance, Prince said. When the pandemic hit, the CDC issued guidance that unless housing options are available, municipalities should not clear homeless encampments. Doing so could cause the virus to spread and cause homeless people to break connections with service providers. The Sacramento County Health Department later issued a similar public health order. The county’s order has expired, but the CDC guidance is still in place.
Mayor first proposed idea in 2019
Steinberg has been talking about the idea since July 2019, although it’s taken on many forms. Originally, he proposed a statewide “right to shelter” mandate that would require homeless people to accept shelter when it’s available, inspired by a policy in New York. That would have required a court action, a state bill or executive action by Gov. Gavin Newsom. That didn’t happen, though it did inspire a lawsuit that led a judge to require Los Angeles to house homeless people living on skid row.
Then, in his November 2021 State of the City address, Steinberg shifted the idea to a “right to housing,” specific to the city of Sacramento. Under that plan, if a homeless person declined shelter or housing, they would face civil enforcement. The latest iteration of the proposal includes no citations, fines or other enforcement.
Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, said he was relieved to see the enforcement piece dropped and is supportive of the ordinance in general.
“I’m supportive of the fact that it’s moving away from criminalizing people experiencing homelessness,” Erlenbusch said.
The ordinance still needs to clarify how far people need to move when they are cleared, Erlenbusch said. Asked that question Monday, Steinberg said it has not yet been decided.
Prince disagreed with the city’s reliance on Safe Ground sanctioned tent encampments, tiny homes and congregate shelters as homeless solutions.
“It is an absolute fraud for the mayor to call this plan a ‘right to housing,’” Prince said. “If you have a right to housing, put someone in a house.”
An estimated 45,580 new housing units, including 16,769 for low-income residents, are needed in the city by 2029, according to a state-mandated report. Once enough affordable housing is built, staff would only offer housing, not shelter, before clearing homeless camps, the ordinance says.
In January 2019, volunteers estimated 5,570 homeless people live in Sacramento County on any given night, in shelters, vehicles and tents. A survey completed earlier this year estimated that the number of tents in Sacramento has at least doubled since 2019. All homeless shelters in the city are typically full on any given night.
In October, if the council decides it’s making “substantial progress” on housing, it could push back the start date for the ordinance later than Jan. 1, 2023, the ordinance says.
Although the statewide version has yet to catch on, Steinberg said he hopes the city can be a model for other cities.
“I hope we not only pass this in the city of Sacramento, but this becomes a movement,” Steinberg said.
Sacramento County Supervisor Rich Desmond said it’s possible Sacramento County could follow suit.
“With the city having this discussion, I think that will open up an environment where the county will discuss it as well,” Desmond said.
The council will discuss the “right to housing” proposal Tuesday at 5 p.m. The meeting will be livestreamed on the city’s website.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 3:00 PM.
