Sacramento pivots on homelessness, but enough with the posturing | Opinion
A third of Sacramento City Council members abandoned their own meeting on homelessness because they collectively talked too much. Some important substance on how Sacramento is shifting its homeless strategy nearly got lost in the council’s non-deliberative style.
Relief may be on the way for some of Sacramento’s senior citizens who are now on the streets: Some living in motel units may have to pay, and big institutional shelters may someday be a thing of the past. Everyone thinks that designating lots for people living in recreational vehicles or cars is a great idea, but nobody knows where to put them. And city hall is getting smarter with its money, renegotiating contracts with providers of homeless services to free up more than $5 million to build tiny homes for some fortunate seniors.
This amounts to a true pivot on homelessness for the city of Sacramento. The amount of posturing and grandstanding done by council members is a reminder that homelessness remains the one issue that can most easily get them unelected.
Opinion writers Tom Philp and LeBron Hill share their thoughts on the city’s change of course on Sacramento’s most intractable problem.
Heavy lifting, heavy breathing
Philp: This was some heavy lifting by the city’s homeless czar, Brian Pedro, and Mayor Kevin McCarty, to put some new ideas on the table. But I hope nobody from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors was watching. No other governing body in their right mind would want to meet with this council on homelessness. This workshop wasn’t an exchange or dialogue. It was a series of speeches and an inquisition of city staff.
Hill: Not only speeches but posturing. In her presentation, Councilmember Caity Maple said there should be a joint powers authority on homelessness with the county. The county rejected the idea when McCarty — then an assemblymember — authored a bill to create a joint powers authority. Let’s hope the county board didn’t take the council’s surface level performance.
Philp: Councilman Rick Jennings left the meeting after about three hours before he got a chance to speak. Maple and Eric Guerra left some time after their turns at the microphone, a combined 25 minutes by my watch.
Hill: I don’t mind a long council meeting. But this meeting felt like individual political campaigns. Sure, the issue of homelessness could decide one — if not all — of their political fates, but you don’t have to draw out a conversation because you’re worried about what people make of what you say.
Philp: The self-serving award goes to Councilmember Lisa Kaplan for saying her district in Natomas is already “doing its part” when it comes to homelessness.
Hill: I think every council member at the dais shares Kaplan’s sentiments that their district is doing its part in addressing homelessness. She was just brave enough to say it.
‘Thank you for standing there’
Philp: My favorite quote from the dais was from Councilmember Roger Dickinson at 5:08 p.m to Pedro. “Thank you for the ability to stand there for an interminable length of time,” Dickinson said. Then Dickinson’s remarks and questions went on for 24 minutes.
Hill: I thought that Dickinson brought a refreshing take. He took Pedro to task about the fees and who exactly would pay for it if they did it.
Philp: On the substance, I like the focus on getting the seniors off the streets and into three new collections of micro homes with water, electricity and internet. They are the most at-risk population on the streets. You have to start somewhere.
Hill: I hope the council understands how dangerous the phrase “at-risk” is in this context. Every person who is considered homeless is at-risk and the most vulnerable in our community. I think trying to focus on just one demographic will create a dangerous hierarchy that shouldn’t be there in the first place.
Philp: Of the council members’ new ideas, of which there were few, Phil Pluckebaum stood out for pushing for a broader work plan to address the street crisis beyond the seniors.
Hill: Councilmember Mai Vang appeared to be the sharpest to me because she was talking about the causes to homelessness, like high rent, pointing to how eviction in Sacramento County have gone up.
Some shelter fees?
Philp: The council was most emotional about charging some homeless people, such as some seniors, for these micro-homes. If a fee based on a percentage of available income (just like today’s system for subsidized affordable housing) provides more money to address homelessness, I’m okay with that.
Hill: I don’t foresee this being some cash cow for the city, nor should they expect it to be. I support getting people relearning values, like paying rent and healthy habits like brushing teeth, that they have forgotten through their time in homelessness.
The more lessons we can provide them to be a functioning person in society, the better.
Philp: That Pedro was able to lower city costs by $5 million by renegotiating contracts with non-profits and service providers is great, but shocking. It’s as if the former city manager, Howard Chan, didn’t care how he was spending state funding on homelessness.
Hill: If we’ve learned anything from the former city manager it’s that politics can sometimes halt progress. He wasn’t doing nearly enough to create shelters, and it shows in our current landscape. Partnering with nonprofits could help speed the process of helping unhoused get housing of some kind.
Philp: Here are three to watch going forward: Will Regional Transit allow any of its park-and-ride lots to be used for any kind of homeless service, such as a lot for those living in their vehicles? Will the city finally find more public sites? And will the city deliver on a work plan, as requested by Pluckebaum, to get more homeless individuals off the streets?
Hill: I am watching how the city continues to address youth homelessness. The issue is not going away anytime soon. On top of that, there’s the housing and renting crisis that plays into the homeless problem. It’s too common for renters to pay half their check just for rent — particularly when they’re young and have no resources, and they’re just one step away from homelessness.
Philp: I think we’re entering a new leadership era under McCarty. He’s a fresh set of eyes. And he’s being forced to figure out how to do more with less money.
Hill: I believe this is McCarty’s moment to prove that he’s committed to creating a system addressing homelessness that could be used for years to come and not just using the issue to become mayor.
