Stockton City Council may soon vote on whether to expand areas where unhoused residents can be cited or arrested for camping, according to information provided by the city manager and city attorney.
“Within the next 30 days,” city staff plan to propose changes to the critical infrastructure ordinance defining areas where unhoused residents cannot camp, City Manager Harry Black said.
Unhoused residents will be ordered to leave Stockton’s public parks in the meantime, according to Black.
The proposed ordinance and the park campaign — dubbed “Take Back Our Parks” — are two parts of a broader plan Black outlined at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium Tuesday, Aug. 27 to ramp up camp displacements following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision on homelessness .
The court held on June 28 that cities and counties without enough shelter beds to house their homeless populations can legally cite and arrest homeless residents for living outside.
The grave imbalance between unhoused residents and beds is clearly present in San Joaquin County.