On Tuesday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged local authorities to use a recent Supreme Court decision to aggressively clear encampments, but several Los Angeles County leaders said they don’t plan on changing their approach to homelessness in response to the ruling.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson gave municipalities the right to enforce anti-camping laws and ticket people for sleeping in public.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath condemned the decision, saying it would criminalize homeless people and shuffle people from community to community without addressing the overal crisis.
But Newsom has issued an executive order to state agencies to use the decision to adopt policies that “urgently address encampments on state property” and strongly encouraged local municipalities to follow suit.
“In the past the courts have denied the ability for local government, including the state, to clean up many of these encampments,” Newsom said, arguing that this left unhoused people exposed to criminal activity, widespread substance use and fire danger.
“It’s time to move with urgency at the local level to clean up these sites, to focus on public health, focus on public safety,” he continued. “There are no longer any excuses.”
While Newsom cannot order local authorities to act, his administration can apply pressure — by withholding money for counties and cities.
Newsom’s executive order does not require that state agencies or municipalities use anti-camping laws to clear encampments, but rather that they develop their own policies to quickly dismantle the tent cities and RV encampments.
But some leaders and homeless service providers are concerned about how the order will be applied in practice.
Katie Tell, chief external affairs officer for People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), criticized Newsom’s order and that homeless service providers were not consulted.
“We worry the executive order is likely to push vulnerable residents off State property into cities and counties without any financial or housing support for those localities and their homeless service provider partners,” she said in a Tuesday morning statement. “Without resources dedicated to interim and permanent housing, this policy will not only be counterproductive but will set our efforts back tremendously.”
On the other hand, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said, “I applaud Governor Newsom’s emphasis on urgency.”
“He rightfully points out that local government remains at the helm of homeless encampment removals,” Barger said. “Cities have an obligation to develop housing and shelter solutions in tandem with support services provided by county government.”
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In July, Mayor Karen Bass said L.A. would not change its approach to clearing encampments in response to the Supreme Court ruling.
“This ruling must not be used as an excuse for cities across the country to attempt to arrest their way out of this problem or hide the homelessness crisis in neighboring cities or in jail,” Bass said after the Supreme Court’s decision. “Neither will work, neither will save lives and that route is more expensive for taxpayers than actually solving the problem.”
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Bass has long touted her model of clearing encampments under the “Inside Safe Program,” which does not use anti-camping laws, but offers every targeted homeless person a guaranteed temporary housing placement.
Since its launch in December 2022, Inside Safe has cleared 52 encampments and moved more than 2,800 people indoors without issuing citations for camping in public. In August, 2023 the L.A. County Board of Supervisors launched a similar program called Pathway Home.
Last month, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced the total yearly count of homeless people in the Los Angeles region had dropped slightly in 2024, reversing a five-year trend of growth.
County officials were quick to say that was evidence that their approach is working.
“For so many years, the count has shown increases in homelessness, and we have all felt that in our neighborhoods,” Bass said when the results of the count were announced. “But we leaned into change. And we have changed the trajectory of this crisis and have moved L.A. in a new direction.”
City News Service contributed to this article
