Gavin Newsom orders California officials to clear homeless encampments

Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies to begin sweeping homeless encampments on public property, using newfound authority after the U.S. Supreme Court’s OK last month.

In an executive order issued Thursday morning, the governor directs agencies to remove encampments that pose a risk to “life, health and safety.”

The order could impact tens of thousands of people living in tent encampments across California. The latest count showed roughly 180,000 people in the state were experiencing homelessness on any given night. About 123,000 were unsheltered and sleeping in tents, vehicles or exposed to the elements.

The Newsom administration has invested $24 billion in recent years to try to shrink that number but it has only grown.

Now the governor is using a new set of tools provided by a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows state and local governments to arrest or fine people camping on public property.

Newsom had written a brief in support of Grants Pass, an Oregon town at the center of the case, arguing previous rulings had “tied the hands of state and local governments to address this issue.”

Before the ruling, cities were required to offer shelter to people sleeping on public property before citing or arresting them.

Under the new order, state agencies are still urged to partner with local governments to facilitate shelter and other supportive services before removing encampments.

“This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them — and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newsom said in a statement. “The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets. There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”

Advocates for the unsheltered blasted the directive and said leaders need to do more to get to the root of California’s stubborn homelessness problem: a severe lack of affordable housing.

“The order itself is an attempt to misdirect attention away from the people who are responsible for that affordable housing crisis, the state and local elected leaders who have permitted it to grow so bad, and to put the focus back on the individuals who are actually the victims of that failure,” said Eric Tars, senior policy director for the National Homelessness Law Center.

While Newsom initially campaigned for governor in 2017 on a pledge to build 3.5 million new homes, he has fallen far short of that promise.

The order directs agencies to create policies for removing encampments from state properties including parks and roadways.

It urges agencies to provide at least 48 hours notice before clearing an encampment and to label and store any personal belongings collected during the sweep for at least 60 days.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg did not immediately comment on the order, but it is not expected to mark a significant shift in Sacramento’s homelessness strategy.

Both the city and county adopted policies in 2022 that banned camping on public sidewalks and along the American River Parkway. Another ordinance allows officers to ticket people for storing personal items on public property. Law enforcement regularly sweeps encampments under those rules.

Gillian Brassil and Theresa Clift contributed reporting.