SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the first time, The League of California Cities and The State Association of Counties convened in Sacramento to come up with a joint plan to tackle the homeless crisis.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Supervisor Rich Desmond lead with opening remarks together, highlighting a partnership he says the rest of the state must follow.
“We actually have a binding partnership agreement that calls for the city and county and the health plans to add 50 new encampment engagement outreach workers to intensively engage in up to 20 encampments a month,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg is the former state homeless task force chair, and said it’s the counties that are in charge of the health departments across the state, but he says the problem with that is that homeless people are mostly congregated within cities.
“So historically, there has been this tension, and there continues to be, where the cities have said we need more help, and the counties have said 'well, we will help but it's not really our our mission and our job'," Steinberg said.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Nora Vargas highlighted how cities within her district have been working together in a pannel discussion with Chula Vista Mayor John McCann.
"While our seats are both nonpartisan, we come from different parties," Vargas said, "but we worked really well together because in the end, it's about meeting the needs of our communities."
The cities are also asking for $3 billion annually from the state, independently of the summit. That money would in part be used to help build affordable housing, a crisis they say is getting worse by the minute.
"Frankly, while the the investments that have been made are certainly welcome, and they've been put to good use in our communities, this is not a one a one budget problem," Director Carolyn Coleman said. "This is an ongoing problem, and we really need the resources that are commensurate with the scope of other prices. We won't solve it in one budget cycle."
A spokesperson with the Governor Gavin Newsom's office sent a statement in response to the budget request:
"Under Governor Newsom’s leadership, the state has moved from an investment of $500 million to over $20 billion – providing local governments with more financial support and resources than ever before to address the challenges of housing and homelessness. The administration has not only provided funding but has worked in collaboration with and among local governments and is pleased to see these partnership leverage state resources which result in improved outcomes for housing and homelessness. It is critical for local governments to continue this collaboration and to utilize these dollars effectively to move individuals off our streets and into housing – demonstrating to taxpayers that the billions of dollars already available are being used to make a sizeable impact throughout the state.”
The state is also facing a $22 billion deficit.
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