This Sacramento council member deserves reelection, but must move beyond talk to action

Sacramento City council member Allen Warren has refreshingly clear thoughts on the causes of homelessness and their remedies, compared to many California politicians. However, his thinking has yet to result in implemented solutions.

During an endorsement interview with The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board, the two-term representative of District 2 extolled the virtues of “safe ground” – where government agencies sanction a homeless encampment in a specific location – and offered a nuanced perspective on the relationship between homelessness and mental illness.

Warren faces two main opponents this election. Ramona Landeros is a Twin Rivers Unified School District trustee. Sean Loloee is a local business owner who has the support of Sacramento Police Officers Association.

Compared to the incumbent, Landeros and Loloee lacked bold thinking or compassion when it came to homelessness. Loloee quibbled over the prospect of sheltering someone with bipolar disorder near “a family of three that just didn’t have the money or that lost their job.” Landeros suggested without evidence that most of her district’s homeless come from elsewhere.

“To say we need to take more on and we need to build shelters is really a problem,” she said.

Warren’s comments on homelessness were clear and realistic. But at least for now, they aren’t backed up by measurable progress during his time in office.

Warren has twice proposed building a community in his North Sacramento district for unhoused residents that would incorporate some form of safe ground. The effort has yet to materialize. He pointed out in the interview that safe ground would make it easier to connect unhoused residents with services and makes it easier for first responders to get to them.

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He said he disagreed with Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s focus on getting everyone indoors. “You can’t do that in any short period of time, and you may not ever be able to do it,” he said.

The council member is right. That’s why his latest proposal for Renewal Village, on the former site of Harmon Johnson Elementary School, is so appealing. The village could house up to 700 in tents, cabins, tiny homes and even traditional single family homes. Tents could serve as a more immediate solution as more solid shelters are constructed.

It would be great to see that come together.

Warren recognized the complicated relationship between homelessness and mental illness. He said the conditions of homelessness – lack of sleep because you stay awake at night fearing for your safety, lack of bathrooms, inconsistent access to food – can cause a person’s mental illness to spike. It’s a humanizing perspective.

He has a reputation for being enigmatic, and told the Editorial Board he is “probably the least political on the council. I’m not a traditional politician. I don’t spend a lot of time in political circles.”

Warren has stood apart from his colleagues on certain issues. Last year, he voted against the City Council’s rent control ordinance, which he thought wasn’t sufficient. In 2018, he called for the city to lift a camping ban on homeless people. In December, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling against such bans despite Sacramento and other cities asking for review.

Warren has been willing to speak up. The next step is for him to follow through. The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board endorses Warren for a third term.

This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.