cover photo courtesy of Flickr
“We really don’t know what the best thing to do is,” Menlo Park Mayor Cecilia Taylor said. Taylor and mayors across California are currently being directed to clear homeless encampments from public property following Governor Gavin Newsom’s newest executive order released on July 28. However, Newsom’s order has been met with backlash from homeless activists and politicians across the state who believe that Newsom’s decision will do little to improve the issue.
Homelessness is currently on the rise in California and across the country. In 2024, San Mateo County recorded 2,130 homeless individuals within its jurisdiction, signifying an 18% increase in the county’s total homeless population compared to 2022.
Amidst this trend, rather than increasing state funding for homeless services, Newsom is now threatening to cut funding for cities who fail to comply with his order. This marks a significant shift for Newsom, who had poured $150 million of state funding into California cities to address a surge in homelessness.
“During the pandemic, the federal government and the state lent financial resources,” Redwood City Mayor Jeff Gee said. Now, “funding is less and the need still exists,” Gee added.
“The housing crisis isn’t new. None of this is new; we just wait too long to deal with it, and then we do something that’s either too abrupt or not enough,” Taylor said.
Devon*, a homeless individual who has resided in Menlo Park for years, believes that money cannot solve the housing crisis. According to Devon, for decades, politicians have failed to define the issue of homelessness, which, in turn, has made their policies ineffective.
Newsom, who campaigned heavily around the issue of homelessness in 2018, issued his executive order in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling. In a 6-3 decision, the Court decided that states are allowed to criminally prosecute people for forming homeless encampments on public property. Furthermore, it was determined that punishing these individuals did not violate the Eighth Amendment, which protects citizens from cruel and unusual punishment.
Devon believes that a major flaw in homelessness policies like Newsom’s is that politicians use blanket terms to address the issue. He explained that, in reality, homelessness is complex and can be divided into different classifications: individuals who are out of work, mentally ill, with substance addictions, or who refuse help.
“The housing crisis isn’t new. None of this is new; we just wait too long to deal with it, and then we do something that’s either too abrupt or not enough.”
Menlo Park Mayor Celia Taylor
Since the implementation of Newsom’s executive order, Devon has noticed an influx of new homeless individuals in Menlo Park. While counties like San Francisco have begun clearing out encampments, San Mateo County has yet to act. This incentivises homeless individuals from other areas of the Bay to travel to San Mateo County to seek refuge from displacement.
East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio López has been reluctant to adhere to Newsom’s order. “We’re not in the business of driving out people as our first response,” he said. “We want to make sure we do everything in our power to give them alternatives for employment, for treatment, and for housing vouchers.”
Gee explained that the Court’s decision and Newsom’s order have given the city council “clarity” regarding the state’s stance on homelessness policy. Yet, like López, Gee explained that Redwood City’s Council was “not interested in moving the problem from one jurisdiction or neighborhood to another.”
“We need the support of other cities in building housing units across all income levels. Otherwise, we’re not going to be able to survive as a community.”
East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio López
For Menlo Park, however, Newsom’s decision has done little to inform what actions the city should take. According to Taylor, the city of Menlo Park itself has no policies regarding homelessness. This makes it difficult for the city to comply with Newsom’s order, as they cannot modify policies that do not exist.
Still, Taylor has doubts about criminalizing homelessness. “It’s not the police department’s job to deal with the encampments unless there’s a problem, there’s a health and safety issue, or somebody’s injured,” she said.
López also said he sees Newsom’s approach as a “balloon problem,” meaning that rather than addressing the issue at the source, it merely relocates the problem to other jurisdictions.
For developing cities with limited funding, like East Palo Alto, the “balloon problem” poses a major threat to their infrastructure. “It puts an unfair burden on a city like East Palo Alto, because it exacerbates our issues and forces us to address it at the expense of other areas or sectors of our city,” López said.
In order to prevent this, all three mayors have advocated for a unified approach to homelessness policy.
“We need the support of other cities in building housing units across all income levels,” López said. “Otherwise, we’re not going to be able to survive as a community.”
“We really need to look at a tri-city or even a county approach, not just one city trying to implement their way. It needs to be a collaboration,” Taylor said.
Devon advocated for a similar approach, encouraging the widespread implementation of social services to help address mental health issues and assist homeless individuals in finding jobs and permanent housing.
Although the Chronicle contacted other homeless individuals in Menlo Park to be interviewed, they declined, with one explaining that the implications of Newsom’s order were too “depressing” to discuss.
While the future of homelessness policy in California still remains unclear, Devon said he urges Americans to use their right to vote and to petition the government. He believes that this is the most effective way to repeal the Supreme Court’s ruling.
*The name of this interviewee is a pseudonym to protect their confidentiality.
