Would Sacramento’s Measure O make a dent in homelessness? A pro and con from advocates

Sacramento voters will see Measure O on their November ballots. It would give city officials more power to move homeless encampments and it would oblige local government to provide more shelter for homeless people.

Yes on O

By Daniel Conway

Everywhere you look in Sacramento, the homelessness crisis is deteriorating our quality of life and leaving thousands to suffer and die on the streets. In only a three-year period, the number of unhoused individuals has doubled from roughly 5,000 people to nearly 10,000 people. Sacramento’s unhoused population is now larger than San Francisco’s. Almost 200 homeless people died last year in Sacramento County, including eight people who froze to death.

Sacramento cannot afford to continue ignoring the problem. The time to act is now.

Measure O presents simple, common-sense solutions that will finally compel the city to address encampments, provide additional shelter space, and get people the help they need.

Supporting Measure O is a vote for public safety, public health, and compassion. It will address the needs of all members of the community – both unhoused and housed.

▪ Measure O will require the City of Sacramento, using existing revenue, to establish new temporary shelter and secure camping locations where people can get help moving toward permanent housing.

▪ Measure O will require new shelters to be located away from schools, daycare centers, playgrounds, and neighborhood parks.

▪ Measure O will prohibit encampments within 90 days of adoption.

▪ Measure O ensures a real city/county partnership that will make mental health, substance abuse, and rehousing services more widely available.

Measure O was drafted and proposed by a diverse coalition of nonprofit organizations, labor, business owners, public safety and activists who want to ensure a safe and clean community for all.

Measure O is endorsed by community leaders like Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby, and Councilmen Rick Jennings, Sean Loloee, and Jay Schreiner. Community organizations across our city also support the measure, including the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Sacramento-Sierra’s Building and Construction Trades Council, the Greater Sacramento Urban League, the Veterans Affiliated Council – Sacramento, and the Sacramento Police Officers’ Association.

We do not have to accept thousands living and dying on our streets as the new status quo. We can take immediate action as a community to fix this problem and improve the livability of our beautiful city. We ask that you join us in supporting safe and clean streets and parks, and voting yes on Measure O.

No on O

By Sacramento City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela

We all agree that homelessness is a crisis that requires immediate action. But we cannot let our sense of urgency push us to act in a way that hurts our ability to achieve our shared goals.

Measure O is not the solution it claims to be. It offers no shelter, no housing, no services, and no new funding. It could also bankrupt the city while setting us back years in our fight to end homelessness.

The only money mentioned in this measure will be used to cover enforcement and lawsuits, to the tune of at least $5 million every year. According to the City Manager, Sacramento can barely afford to keep the 1,100 shelter beds it currently has open today. That means the money necessary to cover the costs of this measure will need to come from our existing shelters or other city services. But Measure O proponents won’t tell you that.

Even if we were to overcome the measure’s financial barriers and find a way to create a few outdoor spaces where people could camp, this ordinance does not mandate that we offer the mental health, substance abuse, or other services they’ll need to stabilize their lives.

Ultimately, Measure O does not require folks to accept anything–it just forces them to move: maybe just a few feet, or across the street, or down the block. In short, this measure promises more of the costly, ineffective “sweeps” that shuffle encampments from corner to corner in our city today.

And moving unhoused folks only causes more harm. Research shows that forcing people to move breaks their social connection and trust, increases the risk and frequency of drug use, and is more likely to result in the deaths of those we’re trying so desperately to help.

Business leaders are not experts in homelessness, and are not equipped to write effective policy on ending homelessness. They used their money to force the city to put Measure O on the ballot, in spite of best practices and evidence that their strategies won’t work. Rather than allowing them to force more of the same on city residents, let’s listen to the experts and push for what we need to address this crisis as soon as possible.

With a robust partnership agreement with the County to assist with funding and services, the city could take steps to stabilize encampments with trash pickup, bathrooms, food, and case management as quickly as possible. We could immediately scale up crisis response teams to aid in urgent situations when law enforcement isn’t necessary. Then, we can direct our funding toward what we need long-term: permanent housing with the services people need to get back on their feet.

Learn more and join us in the fight against Measure O — and for actual solutions — at www.NoOnO.net