Governor's executive order takes new approach to homeless sweeps

A spokesperson indicated Sonoma County does not plan to make major changes to their homeless policy despite the Governor's order.

photo credit: Governor of California
Image of an encampment being cleared from a video announcing the
executive order released by Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday,
July 25th, 2024.

On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to give state agencies more power to remove encampments.

The order comes following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Grants Pass v. Johnson case overturned a consequential backstop that had prevented government agencies from clearing encampments without providing adequate shelter.

In the wake of the ruling, a renewed push to remove large and visible homeless encampments was already made clear, as leaders like San Francisco Mayor London Breed pledged to begin sweeps in the weeks ahead.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order for how state agencies, like Caltrans and California State Parks, will handle sweeps going forward provides a new direction from the top.

"There are no longer any excuses," Newsom said in video released the same day as the order. "A billion dollars this state has invested to support communities to clean up these encampments. With the Supreme Court decision this executive order is about pushing that paradigm further and getting a sense of urgency that's required of local government to do their job."

The new direction is one Jack Tibbetts, executive director of Sonoma County’s chapter of the Saint Vincent DePaul Society , a homeless outreach and services provider, supports.

"One of the things that I noticed is when I started working for St. Vincent DePaul about 12 years ago, there was a high degree of public support for programs and initiatives that helped homeless people," Tibbetts said. "And I just don't feel like that support is the same as it was 12 years ago, and understandably so."

While it’s organizations like Saint Vincent DePaul that often provide help on the back end through services and supportive housing, Tibbetts said it’ll be the character of local government responses that will define how the new executive order is felt.

"Whether this executive order comes down as heavy handed or a benefit, I think is gonna really just determine on the cities and counties using it as a tool," Tibbetts said. "What I think is going to determine the moral outcome is whether a city and county is also extending services and available shelter beds."

The governor’s executive order gives state agencies the authority to clear encampments with just 48 hours notice, but if an encampment is deemed to pose an “imminent threat to life, health, safety or infrastructure,” it can be removed right away with only “as much advance notice to vacate as reasonable under the circumstances."

Despite the governor encouraging local authorities to emulate the state’s response, Sonoma County’s Department of Health Services, which handles the county’s homeless services, said the executive order will have little effect on their operations.

County spokesperson Sheri Cardo told KRCB News in an email “in terms of the compassionate policies for sweeps, we’re already exceeding what the governor is asking for, such as providing even more advance notice of encampment clearing and storing people’s property for longer than he is requiring."

State agencies are required to label and store personal property seized during sweeps for 60 days, and try to connect homeless individuals with services providers, but the new order does not require the state to find them shelter.

Tibbetts said how the executive order will ultimately be judged depends on the local safety net.

"I think we're gonna see greater service outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and people who are wrestling with addiction," Tibbetts said. "But I will only feel good about it if we're doing a good job of saying, 'you know, this is where you can go.'"