California has the highest population of homeless residents in the country, an especially acute problem in the metropolitan regions of the Bay Area and Los Angeles. This week, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 932, which would expedite local approval of temporary supportive shelters on public land under the declaration of a shelter crisis. City governments in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles have already declared a shelter crisis, with over 70% of their homeless populations remaining unsheltered.
Under AB 932, authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D - SF), cities that have declared a shelter crisis must enact ordinances to streamline the construction of emergency shelter, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) must approve regulations within 30 days. In a press release, Ting explained that cities struggling to address these emergencies would now “be free from red tape.”
“California has a homelessness crisis and it’s painfully obvious that business as usual is failing,” Ting added.
San Francisco officials are already preparing to make the most of the bill’s broad emergency powers.
“I'm committed to drafting legislation that would enact this bill locally, so that our shelters can actually provide services and real opportunities for permanent housing,” said Board of Supervisors President London Breed.
“San Francisco must have more flexibility around the opening of navigation centers and shelters…with urgency demanded by our community,” writes Jeff Kositsky, Director of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness & Supportive Housing. “
At a recent hearing of the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use Committee, Kositsky noted that the City’s homeless population had not grown, but that funding challenges remained at a systemic, federal level.
“The HUD [Dept. of Housing and Urban Development] budget has been effectively cut by 80% since 1978, which marked the beginning of modern homelessness,” Kositsky said. “I believe we’re a compassionate city…[but] we have a lot of work to do.” He added that current federal policy disproportionally benefits wealthier homeowners, at the expense of the poor.
The bill’s passage was also hailed by politicians in the East Bay, which, unlike San Francisco, has seen a massive increase in homelessness.
“Oakland needs this discretion to open up more shelters throughout the City so people have a better option than creating encampments under freeways,” Oakland City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney said in a written statement.
“...[A]lthough there have been some roadblocks with permit and code requirements, we are committed to addressing [the Homeless Shelter Crisis],” said Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín. “AB 932 is an innovative solution to assist cities to create more low-cost shelter. No human being should have to live on the streets.”
As of the latest count, San Francisco has 7,499 homeless residents, with 4,353 unsheltered. According to Sherilyn Adams, Director of Larkin Street Youth Services, over 80% of the City’s homeless youth are without shelter.
Sign up for the Bay City Beacon weekly newsletter! It's a free way of getting the best of political gossip and cutting-edge culture in your inbox every Friday.
