“More money, more problems” might as well be the slogan for how San Francisco and Los Angeles approach homelessness.
Voters in both cities recently approved billions of dollars in new spending for supportive housing and services for homeless residents. Although the intentions are good and the resources are there, projects in both cities have suffered from major delays and cost overruns. Meanwhile, their homeless populations continue to grow.
San Francisco’s “safe sleeping” open-air tent encampments were supposed to get homeless people out of crowded, dangerous indoor shelters while still providing them with meals, showers, security, and social services. The funding for these sites came from Proposition C, a 2018 ballot initiative that imposed the largest tax increase in San Francisco’s history, raising $300 million for homelessness services.
The initiative won at the ballot box with 60 percent of the vote, even though most of the city’s political leaders came out against it. They argued that the tax hike was excessive and that the plan for spending all that money was vague and lacked accountability.
Those warnings proved prescient. Under Proposition C, the city is spending around $61,000 annually on each “safe sleeping” occupant, or $5,083 per month. By comparison, the median monthly rent for an apartment in San Francisco is $2,913.
In contrast with Proposition C, Proposition HHH, which Los Angeles voters approved in 2016, had the enthusiastic backing of Mayor Eric Garcetti, who saw it as the cornerstone of his plan to turn back a rising tide of homelessness. The $1.2 billion bond initiative included a much clearer spending plan and required that the city controller release an annual audit of its progress. It was supposed to build 10,000 new units of affordable and supportive housing over 10 years.
The city controller’s reports have shown that Los Angeles can spend homelessness dollars about as effectively as San Francisco. Five years after Proposition HHH’s passage, the city had managed to build only about 700 of the 10,000 promised units. In a recent ruling, U.S. District Court Judge David Carter said the city’s “inaction” on homelessness likely violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Both cities struggle with restrictive land use regulations that raise the costs and completion times of housing projects. Those rules have blocked private development and pushed rent prices up. The same red tape is now tripping up city officials who are trying to build shelter for the homeless.
Homelessness is directly related to energy costs and the state continues to shutter continuous uninterruptible electrical generation for natural gas and nuclear for intermittent electricity from breezes and sunshine AND shuttering the supply chain of crude oil to refineries that manufacture fuels and oil derivatives that account for more than 6,000 products in the economy.
The forecast looks bleak as prices for electricity and fuels and products will continue to rise in CA, right along with the homeless population.
๐ ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง California!
Having a hard time getting camping reservations at your favorite destinations? Well, check out what the cities in California have to offer: free boondocking anywhere in the city! Come, permanently install your RV in the beautiful Emerald City, “running or not.”
Say “NO!” to 11 am check out times, stay as long as you like! Bring all your “stuff” and be limited only by your imagination as you build your awesome camp. Accessorize with blue tarps, scrap building materials, shopping carts, and other delectable salvage items from the area landfill.
Get to know you neighbors and share handy repair and design tips to keep your rig looking and smelling stellar. Like to “cook” in your rig? Share mind-blowing recipes, as well as important safety tips in the event of small kitchen fires or explosions.
Utilities are free! Just set your garbage along the street or sidewalk. If they don’t like it, they’ll deal with it eventually. No judgment, no rules, no expectations here! No need to worry about sewage hookups. Organic-minded California cities are “all-in” when it comes to composting, people know to watch where they step in their city!
So come, and enjoy your boondocking adventure in California, courtesy of your woke and enabling California Governor Newsom and his followers.
๐๐จ๐ญ๐: ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐โ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต 40 ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ โ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎโ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ. ๐๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ถ๐จ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ each cityโs ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ. ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ 24 ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด.