Ending homelessness must first start with a safe place to live. That has long been the state’s official strategy, but Californians have no idea how well local governments have spent $24 billion in recent years toward addressing homelessness because the state hasn’t adequately tracked how its money is being spent.
Local Republican Assemblyman Josh Hoover, of Folsom, has been on the front line pushing for greater accountability, which is a good thing. But he’s taken a wrong turn with a bill that would allow local governments to lower housing for homeless as a priority. Hoover calls this “flexibility.”
But how can we possibly reduce homelessness without a focus on housing?…