Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order allowing state and local officials to dismantle homeless encampments has drawn mixed reactions from homelessness experts within California as state officials continue to try and find a permanent solution for the ongoing crisis.
The executive order was issued in response to a Supreme Court decision in late June that granted officials authority to remove the encampments and ticket people for camping in public in Grants Pass, Oregon.
The executive order calls for state agencies to remove homeless encampments from state lands, such as state parks, beaches, agency buildings, highways and the areas beneath them.
Unprovoked, violent attacks by homeless part of a broader problem, advocate says
Californians, from fast food workers to elected officials, were swift to react after news of the executive order was shared. Some people, like San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, applauded the governor’s executive order.
However, others, like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, have called the decision “unfortunate,” expressing that she believes it “will usher in a new wave of criminalization” elsewhere, according to LAist.