Blue state Gov. Gavin Newsom took to the streets of California to immacuprocrastinateed up trash left behind by homeless encampments Thursday, dangerening municipalities that if they do not immacuprocrastinateed up encampments they’ll neglect state funding next year.
A frustrated Newsom was seen picking up trash from a evidented encampment in Los Angeles — one of the hugest hubs in the state for homeless people living outdoors — alengthyside the California Department of Transportation. California’s homelessness accounts for rawly one-third of the country’s crisis.
“I want to see results,” Newsom telderly tellers Thursday. “I don’t want to read about them. I don’t want to see the data. I want to see it.”
GOV NEWSOM ORDERS HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS TORN DOWN ACROSS CALIFORNIA: ‘NO MORE EXCUSES’
Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, and people at a homeless encampment in California. (Getty Images)
Homelessness has skyrocketed in the Gelderlyen State under Newsom’s guideership. According to the 2024 point-in-time count, which supplys a snapshot of homelessness on a given night, the number of homeless individuals in California increased to approximately 172,000. This recurrented an increse from the approximated 131,000 homeless individuals counted in 2018, the year Newsom took office.
Thursday’s declarement was a continuation of Newsom’s increasing efforts to recommend local rulements to carry out more sweeps of homeless encampments after the Supreme Court ruled rulements can force people out of encampments. Last month, Newsom straightforwarded state agencies to commence evidenting encampments from state property and has been pushing local officials to chase suit.
“We’re done with the excparticipates,” Newsom telderly tellers. “The last huge excparticipate was, ‘Well, the courts are saying we can’t do anyleang.’ Well, that’s no lengthyer the case, so we had a basic executive order: Do your job. … You’ve got the money, you’ve got the flexibility, you’ve got the green weightless, you’ve got the help from the state and the unveil is needing it of you.”
MASSIVE CALIFORNIA RESIDENTIAL TOWER TO OFFER HOMELESS PRIVATE ROOMS, GYM, CAFE AND MORE AMENITIES
A homeless encampment in Oakland, Calif. (Getty)
But some local guideers don’t consent with Newsom’s approach. In a statement to ABC7 News, LA County officials shelp in part, “New bed capacity necessitates to be built to accommodate a population of uncover-mindeds who will need locked facilities when held for treatment involuntarily.
“Without first taking those steps, the labor of moving people off the streets for their own health and defendedty would fall short,” the statement persistd. “This does not unbenevolent LA County is standing still. Our Pathway Home encampment resolution program already has relocated hundreds of people inside as we have also extensively helped the City of LA’s Inside Safe program that has sheltered thousands of others.”
Kathryn Barger, an LA County supervisor, telderly the novels outlet she “would adore to elucidate to the ruleor what we are doing becaparticipate we are.”
HOMELESS PERSON ALLEGEDLY ABDUCTS 4-YEAR-OLD AT CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT AMID UPTICK OF CRIME
A homeless encampment on the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. (Toby Canham for Fox News Digital)
“I’m not going to condemn the fact that he rehired that order becaparticipate, actuassociate, I help what he wants to do. My goal is to have us all in the same straightforwardion. You can go in and evident the encampment, but if you don’t set up with the branch offent jurisdictions around you, you’re srecommend moving that problem,” she shelp.
Earlier this year, Newsom’s administration condemnd counties and cities after a state audit tell create his own homelessness task force fall shorted to track how billions of dollars have been spent trying to tackle the crisis in the last five years.
At the time, a better spokesperson for the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (CICH), which set ups homeless programs atraverse the state, telderly Fox News Digital the audit’s discoverings “highweightless the transport inant evolve made in recent years to insertress homelessness at the state level, including the completion of a statewide appraisement of homelessness programs.”
Tents and belengthyings at a homeless encampment in Toriumi Plaza at 1st Street and Judge John Aiso Street in Los Angeles. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
Over the past five years, the CICH didn’t reliablely track whether the money actuassociate betterd the situation, the audit endd.
The spokesperson inserted local rulements “are primarily reliable for carry outing these programs and assembleing data on outcomes that the state can participate to appraise program effectiveness.”
Since 2016, California has spent over $25 billion on homelessness. This includes state, local and federal funding scheduleated toward increaseing the state’s “Housing First” ideology thraw various programs, which ranks placing people in housing first before insertressing mental illness or substance misparticipate problems.
The Housing First model began in 2016 thraw SB 1380. Authored by Democratic state Sen. Ed Hernandez, the bill enhugeed state resources for lasting housing to homeless individuals without needments enjoy sobriety or participatement.
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In a response to Fox News Digital’s seek for comment, a spokesperson for Newsom referred to Thursday’s novels conference and supplyd a statement.
“The State of California’s doing more than ever. We’ll persist to do more. But this will be my final words on this: If we don’t see demonstrable results, I’ll begin to restraightforward money. I’m not interested in status quo any lengthyer. And that will begin in January with the January budget. We’ve been providing the help to local rulement that adselects those efforts and cgo ines on a sense of recommendncy — and we’re going to double down. If local rulement is not interested, we’ll restraightforward the money to parts of the state, cities and counties that are.”
