Sacramento’s struggles with homelessness are a result of Mayor Steinberg’s failures

Everyone has witnessed the depressing squalor, tent encampments, cars used as makeshift homes and seemingly endless garbage choking downtown Sacramento.

Many theories exist about why the homeless situation has grown so exponentially — some speculate that it’s due mostly to mental health issues and substance abuse, while others point to a lack of housing. It is clearly a combination of factors.

But mostly, homelessness has proliferated because of a lack of leadership.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg may have been a good leader in the Legislature and he may have a huge heart, but there’s no way anyone can say that he has been an effective mayor of Sacramento. In fact, he has been a dismal failure.

Who pays the price for this failure? Residents, business owners and the homeless people living on the streets.

Crime and safety concerns involving homeless people are rising. Large encampments commandeer areas around business parks, under freeways and now in neighborhoods. In some areas, workers fear being outside and colleagues accompany each other to their cars at night.

Even Caltrans has declared the situation a public safety problem as residents confront theft and violence, trash, needles and human waste.

Steinberg’s “right to housing” proposal is just a failure of accountability that would allow an unhoused person to file a lawsuit against the city if it can’t provide housing. Where’s the leadership in inviting people to sue the city to do the right thing?

In a recent interview with the Bay Area News Group, Steinberg basically admitted he doesn’t exactly know how to implement it or pay for it — or whether it will even work.

Meanwhile, Steinberg came unglued on his city colleagues multiple times last year. In January 2021, he grew increasingly agitated after his tiny homes proposal was postponed and warming centers were not opened during a winter storm.

“There’s a huge storm out here,” Steinberg yelled. “People are gonna die tonight. And it’s just business as usual.”

“We can’t get a warming center open more than one night because the county has rules? I’m sick of this!” Steinberg shouted, pounding his fist.

That tantrum wasn’t leadership. It was akin to a petulant child flailing his arms and screaming because someone took his toy. A real leader would have found a way to open at least one city building so people did not have to sleep outside during a storm.

Although he was reputed to be a skilled legislator, Steinberg lacked the influence to move his own council and city government. Time and time again, he’s shown that he can’t run a meeting without it devolving into chaos.

The truth is that Steinberg lost his ability to lead three years ago, when protesters disrupted a council meeting over the fatal shooting of Stephon Clark. Instead of calming tensions and controlling the situation, he allowed Clark’s brother, Stevante, to curse at him and jump onto the council dais as a crowd banged on windows and protesters ripped the chamber curtains.

No serious leader would allow that to happen.

Steinberg has lost his ability to effectively lead. The community is done with him. Some, like Bee columnist Yousef Baig, blame the city government structure. But it’s really about this individual leader.

Homelessness is the most challenging problem facing every community in California. At this point in Sacramento, elected officials are not addressing the challenge. The voters will surely force them to address it either by initiative or by removing the incumbents from office.