Newsom offers model ordinance on homelessness, Bakersfield says they're already doing it

Yahoo

17-05-2025

Gov. Gavin Newsom is again calling on California cities to crack down on homeless encampments and released a model ordinance for local governments to follow.
Bakersfield officials said they're already doing much of what the governor recommends.
"Bakersfield has implemented some of the strongest ordinances allowed by state and federal law, including meeting or exceeding the guidance released today from the governor's office," the city said Monday in a news release.
"Since the state declared a homelessness crisis in 2018, the City of Bakersfield's 300-bed Brundage Lane Navigation Center has found permanent housing solutions for more than 475 people," the statement said.
The governor's calls to action were matched by the distribution of $3.3 billion in funding raised by Proposition 1, which was just barely approved by voters last year.
Roughly $77.4 million of that money is going to entities in Kern County. On Monday, the city of Bakersfield announced it received a $22.8 million grant from the state to turn a hotel on Wible Road into a 65-bed substance abuse treatment facility.
Another $12.9 million is going to the Bakersfield American Indian Health Project for behavioral and mental health urgent care and the North Kern South Tulare Hospital District got $41.6 million for its Skilled Nursing Facility with Special Treatment Program.
It's not the first time Newsom has urged California cities to do more to crack down on homelessness. And it's not the first time he has threatened to withhold state funding if they don't.
"There's nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets," Newsom said Monday in a news release. "The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses."
The city spends roughly $20 million annually on homelessness. Bakersfield Police Department's Lt. Nicole Anderberg with the community vitality unit said a wide range of outreach specialists with various city departments and partner organizations make considerable effort to offer services to the local homeless population.
"We give them notice that there's going to be some focused enforcement, and we basically try to coordinate with them to ensure that there are the right amount of beds if people do choose services, to accept services," Anderberg said.
"I believe that pretty much what the governor put in his model ordinance, we're already doing," she said.
The similarity between the governor's model ordinance and the city's current policies shows the city's on the right track, said Vice Mayor and Ward 7 City Councilwoman Manpreet Kaur.
"It's good to see that our city was already practicing a lot of the things that were recommended, and for a while," Kaur said. "I think one of the strongest approaches has been the city's partnership with the experts, both in homelessness, but also in providing substance use mitigation care."
The treatment center to be established by the grant announced Monday would go a long way to filling a gap in services faced by many who are trying to get out of homelessness, Kaur said.
Local homelessness experts report that shelters are routinely at capacity, and there's high demand for treatment centers. The city and other jurisdictions have prioritized affordable housing and Bakersfield alone has several hundred units under construction or in the planning phases.
But the number of people entering homelessness also remains high, and there's a certain portion of the homeless population that declines services.
"The population that is willing to work with us is decreasing," said Ward 1 Councilman Eric Arias. "So now we are really focusing on those individuals who are unwilling or at least less willing to work with us."
Proposition 36, approved by voters in November, elevated certain crimes to felony offenses and gave law enforcement additional tools to prosecute low-level crimes. But the lack of jails beds is frustrating local officials as many low-level offenders are released shortly after their arrest for want of space.
"The next step is being able to actually hold them in a jail space and in a jail bed for a period of enough time to actually show that there's real accountability," Arias said.
Bakersfield doesn't have its own holding center or jails and relies on its partnership with the Kern County Sheriff's Office for jail services. City officials have expressed frustration they haven't been able to reach an agreement with the county to expand the number of available beds.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood has said low staffing has forced the closure of local holding facilities, and training detention deputies takes time. Youngblood declined to comment specifically for this story, saying the situation with jail beds remains unchanged.
"The problem with jail beds is I think a big part of the solution," said Ward 4 Councilman Bob Smith.
The city has long taken a proactive approach to homeless encampments, Smith said, but he expressed frustration that after years of discussion with the county, the jail-beds issue remains unresolved.
"There's always roadblocks and, you know, somebody's got to break through the roadblocks," Smith said. "The city's trying and I don't feel the county and the sheriff are trying to find solutions."
Ward 5 Councilman Larry Koman said in an email he was mostly pleased with the city's approach to homelessness, but wanted to see more done in terms of enforcement.
"That's why we have invested so much in shelters and other programs, so that we can get people off the streets and help the ones we can," Koman said. "If they refuse service then they need to move on. Enforcing our camping and loitering laws is essential and a good start. Our compassion can only go so far. At some point we can't continue to be tolerant and we must enforce our laws."
But council members also acknowledged the need for more housing, including transitional housing, and trying to stem the flow of people coming into homelessness.
Koman said he wanted to see more transitional housing but with cutbacks in state and federal funding, that may be difficult.
Ward 2 Councilman Andrae Gonzales noted that the annual homeless survey known as the Point-in-Time count for 2019 found 772 unsheltered people, and since 2018 the city and its partners have added more than 500 shelter beds.
"We have to ask ourselves, 'OK, now why is there an inflow issue?' Why are people finding themselves unhoused and who are they?'" Gonzales said. "The majority of those people are dealing with substance use disorders, dealing with mental health, which is why this investment of $22.8 million from the state for the city to partner with Kern County Behavioral Health (and Recovery Services) on the substance abuse treatment center is so critical right now."
Gonzales said the city needs to find ways to make building housing easier, and pointed to the planned renovation of the Ramkabir Motel on Union Avenue as a potential model for fast housing.
"Things like motel conversions, those are things that I really like because the cost per unit is far cheaper than building out a new affordable housing unit or apartment complex," Gonzales said. "I like projects like that because it's also a win-win. It's a win in that we build more affordable housing units, and it's also a win because we then upgrade some of these properties on Union that really are substandard at some level."