It’s not realistic for the unhoused to call Sacramento City Hall home | Opinion
The emotional lid on Sacramento’s homelessness crisis blew off Tuesday during a City Council meeting in which it voted to ban unhoused people from sleeping at City Hall.
Once the vote was final, thunderous cries of “housing” filled the chambers. Advocates for the unhoused left screaming at the council, voicing their disappointment with the vote.
A 6-3 vote to prohibit sleeping on the downtown City Hall campus may appear to be a cruel action made by some callous councilmembers.
This decision might come off as cold, made in a vacuum, but the reality is that keeping people from sleeping at City Hall is not wrong. Mayor McCarty sees this as one step in creating a better system for the unhoused and all Sacramentans.
In the months that I’ve known McCarty, I have found him as someone who is about results. He is not like his predecessor. He is not flashy nor does he want to be part of a grand spectacle. He sets a goal and he wants it met.
“You need to do two things: You need expand where they can go and you need to have balance and order as far as where our no-camping locations are,” McCarty said about addressing the homelessness issue in an interview after the meeting.
It’s time to be realistic about the homelessness crisis. We can feel compassion but we are a community at the end of the day. We should strive for certain things. Public facilities without a strong homelessness presence is a basic start.
Not every decision that the council makes about homelessness needs to be a moral dispute. The problem of homelessness is here and we need to be honest about that. The problem won’t get better through apathy.
Striking a balance concerning the homelessness crisis in Sacramento means feeling the sadness that comes with seeing fellow community members suffer while seizing the need to push toward goals and solutions.
I am someone who experienced homelessness and I’m very honest about not having all the answers to the problem. But what I have seen are people who, when given the chance to be in a shelter or on the streets, choose the former.
Do we need more places for the unhoused to go? Certainly. But the city is aware of that, and will deliver 100 new tiny homes on Roseville Road next week, according to the mayor.
The decision Tuesday isn’t an indicator that the council doesn’t care about the issue or doesn’t want to put money toward it. During the same council meeting, it was shared that Sacramento Steps Forward saw a 40% decrease in funds to match the 40% reduction of the homeless, based on point-in-time numbers. McCarty said in the post-meeting interview that he would take whatever money is needed out of the general fund to help ensure they can meet their goals.
McCarty’s common sense approach is a mindset that most Sacramentans have. They want to see change in this issue. They have empathy for the people experiencing homelessness.
Striving for balance
The same day as the council’s vote, the property owner of my apartment complex had to change the locks to the building because someone who was homeless was able to get in. Whether you’re in Oak Park or midtown, these issues touch all of us in some way.
A balanced mindset on homelessness keeps our community from letting emotions overtake us and allows us to have the clarity to create a vision for how to solve this issue.
However you’re experiencing homelessness — as a homeowner, renter or business owner — we all benefit from approaching this issue with balance.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 12:24 PM.
