‘What’s Going On Is Inhumane’: Homeless Crisis Would Be Top Priority For Gubernatorial Candidate Newsom
But Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's failure to fix the problem in San Francisco when he was mayor has critics raising questions if he'll be able to do anything statewide.
Sacramento Bee:
Homelessness Is Gavin Newsom’s Top Priority For California
It was here, as a new city supervisor in the early 2000s, that [Gavin] Newsom first confronted a problem that would follow him in elected office for the next 16 years: Worsening homelessness. San Francisco’s homeless population remained prevalent under Newsom’s watch as a two-term mayor from 2004 to 2010, despite his controversial efforts to eradicate its visibility and help place the most needy into housing. (Hart, 7/25)
In other news —
The Washington Post:
In L.A., Skid Row’s Homeless Deal With Yet More Misery As Tents Go Up In Flames
[T]he number of conflagrations is surging, a dangerous byproduct of the homeless epidemic in this sprawling city as well as Los Angeles County. A downtown business group has already counted 81 fires this year through Monday, which far outpaces the 59 recorded for all of 2017. Half a dozen individuals have been injured this year, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Somehow, no one has died. (Kuznia, 7/24)
LAist:
They Thought Religious Groups Would Open Their Parking Lots To The Homeless. They Were Wrong
The founders of Safe Parking L.A. had a simple idea — match people living in their cars with safe places to park overnight, let them sleep without disruption. The group of friends who started the nonprofit two years ago thought churches and synagogues would be clamoring to open up their parking lots for the night, and that money to fund these efforts would flow from politicians' coffers. They were wrong. (Huang, 7/24)