Homeless

Gov. Newsom in State of the State Speech Pledges Emergency, Effective Action Against the “Shame” of Homelessness

Published

5 years ago

February 20, 2020

Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged to mobilize the full power of his administration to alleviate the state’s growing homelessness crisis in his annual State of the State speech to a joint session of the Legislature Wednesday.

He said that people in California are fed up with political leaders who ignore the stark reality in front of our eyes. “No amount of progress can camouflage the most pernicious crisis in our midst, the ultimate manifestation of poverty: homelessness.”

“Let’s call it what it is, disgrace, that the richest state in the richest nation – succeeding in so many sectors — is failing to properly house, heal and humanely treat so many of its own people. As Californians, we pride ourselves on our unwavering sense of compassion and justice for humankind — but there’s nothing compassionate about allowing fellow Californians to live on the streets, huddled in cars or makeshift encampments.”

He said that “servants of the public (have been) too busy pointing fingers to step up and help. That’s shameful.”

Newsom pointed that some parts of the community, particularly communities of color, have been “hit much harder” than others, pointing out that African Americans make up 8 percent of the Los Angeles population but 42 percent of the homeless. A recent poll found that almost half of Latinos in California fear that they or a family member “could become homeless,” he said.

Last month, the governor issued an Executive Order deploying emergency mobile housing trailers and services for homeless families and seniors. The first trailers were sent to Oakland and Los Angeles County.

He announced he is making 286 state properties — “vacant lots, fairgrounds, armories and other state buildings” — available to local governments for homeless solutions.

The state has been able to move more quickly than usual because “we established a Strike Team across many agencies…to break through bureaucratic barriers… We are also pushing for new models of homeless housing – like hotel/motel conversions and prefab and tiny homes – and as we do, we’ll cut the red tape to get to ‘yes’ on these innovative approaches.”

He said he would work with others to generate revenue to develop solutions. “In the coming months, I pledge to work closely with you to identify this ongoing revenue to provide the safer, cleaner streets our communities deserve…With (a) first-in-the-nation statewide housing fund, we can braid together state and philanthropic dollars, as well as health care, mental health, and social services — paying for housing, not overhead, by capping all administrative costs at 10 percent.”

“We need more housing, not more delays,” he said. “This is our cause. This is our calling.”

Local mayors supported the governor’s approach, according to a report on KPIX Channel 5.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed released a statement: “I was glad to hear the governor’s support of ongoing resources for everything from navigation centers to affordable housing, which will help San Francisco continue the progress we’re making in helping our unhoused residents off the street and into shelter and services.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tweeted, “This is California’s biggest crisis. It crosses all jurisdictional boundaries and will take the entire region working together to solve it.”

Oakland housing rights activist James Vann of the Homeless Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) said, “The governor’s speech was creative, bringing up many ideas and innovative solutions. However, he should take an approach of involving the people affected by homelessness in developing the solutions, which would alleviate the impact of wasteful and inefficient expenditures that take place at the local level — such as Oakland’s tuff sheds, which help only a handful of individuals at a tremendous in operation and administration.”

Ken Epstein

Posts by Ken Epstein

Related Topics:Gavin Newsom Homelessness California

Up Next

LIVE Fireside Chat featuring Presidential Candidate Tom Steyer and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. — February 20th, 2020

Don't Miss

Noah ‘No’Ach the Designer’ Kendrix, 24

Ken Epstein

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

Published

8 hours ago

March 28, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

We Fought on Opposite Sides of the Sheng Thao Recall. Here’s Why We’re Uniting Behind Barbara Lee for Oakland Mayor

Today, we are coming together to do all we can to make sure Barbara Lee is elected Mayor in the April 15 Oakland special election. Here’s why. Now more than ever, Oakland needs a respected, hands-on leader who will unite residents behind a clear vision for change. The next mayor will have to hit the ground running with leaders and stakeholders across our political divide to get to work solving the problems standing in the way of Oakland’s progress. Job No. 1: improving public safety. Everyone agrees that all Oaklanders deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods. But sadly, too many of us do not.

Published

5 days ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

Robert Harris (left) is a retired attorney at PG&E and former legal counsel for NAACP. Richard Fuentes is co-owner of FLUID510 and chair of the Political Action Committee, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 57. Courtesy photos.

By Robert Harris and Richard Fuentes
Special to The Post

The City of Oakland is facing a number of urgent challenges, from housing and public safety to a pressing need for jobs and economic development. One of us, Robert Harris, supported the November recall vote that removed Mayor Sheng Thao from office. Meanwhile, Richard Fuentes believed the recall was the wrong strategy to tackle Oakland’s challenges.

Today, we are coming together to do all we can to make sure Barbara Lee is elected Mayor in the April 15 Oakland special election. Here’s why.

Now more than ever, Oakland needs a respected, hands-on leader who will unite residents behind a clear vision for change.

The next mayor will have to hit the ground running with leaders and stakeholders across our political divide to get to work solving the problems standing in the way of Oakland’s progress.

Job No. 1: improving public safety. Everyone agrees that all Oaklanders deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods. But sadly, too many of us do not.

During her three decades in the state Legislature and Congress, Lee made public safety a priority, securing funding for police and firefighters in Oakland, delivering $15.8 million in community safety funding, and more. Today, she has a plan for making Oakland safer. It starts with making sure police are resourced, ready, and on patrol to stop the most dangerous criminals on our streets.

Oakland residents and business owners are feeling the impact of too many assaults, smash/grabs, retail thefts, and home robberies. Lee will increase the number of police on the streets, make sure they are focused on the biggest threats, and invest in violence prevention and proven alternatives that prevent crime and violence in the first place.

In addition, on day one, Barbara Lee will focus on Oakland’s business community, creating an advisory cabinet of business owners and pushing to ensure Oakland can attract and keep businesses of all sizes.

The other top issue facing Oakland is housing and homelessness. As of May 2024, over 5,500 people were unhoused in the city. Oaklanders are just 25% of the population of Alameda County, but the city has 57% of the unhoused population.

Unhoused people include seniors, veterans, single women, women with children, people who suffer physical and mental illness, unemployed and undereducated people, and individuals addicted to drugs. Some are students under 18 living on the streets without their parents or a guardian. Research shows that 53% of Oakland’s homeless population is Black.

Starting on her first day in office, Lee will use her national profile and experience to bring new resources to the city to reduce homelessness and expand affordable housing. And she will forge new public/private partnerships and collaboration between the City, Alameda County, other public agencies, and local nonprofits to ensure that Oakland gets its fair share of resources for everything from supportive services to affordable housing.

Besides a public safety and housing crisis, Oakland has a reputational crisis at hand. Too many people locally and nationally believe Oakland does not have the ability to tackle its problems.

Lee has the national reputation and the relationships she can use to assert a new narrative about our beloved Oakland – a vibrant, diverse, and culturally rich city with a deep history of activism and innovation.

Everyone remembers how Lee stood up for Oakland values as the only member of Congress not to authorize the disastrous Iraq War in 2001. She has led the fight in Congress for ethics reform and changes to the nation’s pay-to-play campaign finance laws.

Lee stands alone among the candidates for mayor as a longtime champion of honest, transparent, and accountable government—and she has the reputation and the skills to lead an Oakland transformation that puts people first.

The past few years have been a trying period for our hometown.

Robert Harris supported the recall because of Thao’s decision to fire LeRonne Armstrong; her refusal to meet with certain organizations, such as the Oakland Branch of the NAACP; and the city missing the deadline for filing for a state grant to deal with serious retail thefts in Oakland.

Richard Fuentes opposed the recall, believing that Oakland was making progress in reducing crime. The voters have had their say; now, it is time for us to move forward together and turn the page to a new era.

The two of us don’t agree on everything, but we agree on this: the next few years will be safer, stronger, and more prosperous if Oaklanders elect Barbara Lee as our next mayor on April 15.

Robert Harris is a retired attorney at PG&E and former legal counsel for NAACP.

Richard Fuentes is co-owner of FLUID510 and chair of the Political Action Committee, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 57.