Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your Monday.
- More cities have adopted camping bans. What will they accomplish?
- Cyclists were struck by a vehicle while handing out immigration rights cards in Boyle Heights.
- A magnitude 4.1 earthquake centered near Malibu hit Sunday as SoCal has seen an uptick in moderate quakes.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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How will the spate of camping bans in Bay Area affect homelessness?
Some BayAreacities are bumping up against their liberal reputations when it comes to the homeless encampments that have come to symbolize California’s ongoing failure to get people off the streets and into permanent housing.
“In city after city, voters have used the ballot box to elect more moderate leadership and push local officials to take back the streets,” Times reporter Hannah Wiley wrote in her latest subscriber exclusive, examining the chaos playing out in Fremont, Calif., where city leaders approved an anti-camping ordinance last month.
“Advocates for this get-tough approach say the Bay Area’s reputation for generosity and compassion has had an unanticipated downside, fostering a subculture of chronically homeless people who don’t want to be helped.”
What’s happening in Fremont is similar to the tightrope other California cities are navigating as they juggle competing demands.
On one side are residents and business owners calling on officials to address open drug use, human waste, rodent infestations and other public health concerns. On the other are outcries from unhoused people and their advocates that camping bans punish the poor but don’t actually do anything to improve their situation — and may actually make their lives harder.
City officials say they are trying to strike a balance
When Fremont’s City Council adopted the camping ban last month, it included a prohibition on “aiding and abetting” homeless encampments.
That sparked confusion and outrage among advocates who worried their efforts to help people living outdoors would become illegal when the ordinance took effect later this month.
City leaders amended the ordinance last week, removing the “aiding and abetting” provision and loosening the ban on private residential property. City officials said they do not intend to arrest anyone for homelessness and would prioritize clearing encampments that pose immediate health and safety risks.
Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan told Hannah the goal is to connect unhoused residents with services and housing while reducing homelessness’ effects on the broader community.
“If we want to get the will of the community to do more programs, more shelters, more housing navigation centers,” Salwan said, “we need to also show them we will address severe concerns that you are having.”
City officials also stated they have more than 1,300 affordable units in development, which would set them apart from other Bay Area suburbs that are failing to meet state-mandated housing construction goals.
One fewer tent doesn’t mean fewer unhoused person
Civil rights groups and advocates for unhoused people have long argued that taking down tents won’t fix the crises that have made California the unsheltered homelessness capital of the U.S.
Given that cities across the state have more unhoused people than shelter beds, those pushed out of encampments often have nowhere else to go.
For years, a court ruling limited cities from encampment sweeps if municipalities did not have enough shelter beds for the people they kicked out of their tents. But last year’s Grants Pass ruling removed that shelter contingency. Critics argue that without requiring safe alternatives — emergency shelters and interim housing that ideally puts unhoused people on a path to permanent housing — the crisis will deepen and cause more harm.
The Public Policy Institute of California crunched federal housing data in May and determined that none of the state’s 44 regional homelessness response networks “has sufficient shelter for its homeless population.”
Criminalizing homelessness does nothing to reduce homelessness — and will probably worsen it — Margot Kushel, director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at UC San Francisco, explained to me last year.
Meanwhile, the state’s crisis-level lack of affordable housing puts even more Californians at the edge of homelessness.
“We talk a lot about how much we spend on homelessness, but … we [also] have a deep structural deficit in this state of a million units” of affordable housing, Kushel said.
Today’s top stories
L.A. fires aftermath
- What one victim learned after the fires: “It’s not the things so much; it’s the time that went into them.”
- “The stress keeps you up at night”: Emotional devastation lingers in L.A.’s fire zones.
- Mayor Karen Bass is deleting her text messages, raising eyebrows and questions.
Crime and public safety
- Cyclists were struck by a vehicle while handing out immigration rights cards in Boyle Heights.
- Eight people were injured after an angry customer at an Inglewood car dealership drove into a showroom.
- A trans sex worker called 911 to report being kidnapped. LAPD officers shot and killed her.
- A former L.A. County Sheriff’s Department jailer pleaded no contest to sex crimes against an inmate.
- Authorities say a San Bernardino pastor conned longtime friends and a nonprofit out of more than $230,000.
What else is going on
- Atmospheric river is set to roll in, with threat of rain, snow, floods and mud, forecasters say.
- A magnitude 4.1 earthquake centered near Malibu was felt across Southern California on Sunday. The area has seen an uptick in moderate quakes.
- UCLA women get revenge, rallying to defeat USC for the Big Ten tournament title.
- And a new baby makes three: Big Bear bald eagles Jackie and Shadow welcome their third hatchling.
- Thousands attended a women’s march Saturday in downtown Los Angeles.
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Commentary and opinions
- Steve Lopez: Half a century ago, Californians saved the coast. Will Trump’s threats spark another uprising?
- Mark Z. Barabak: The candidates for California governor are a mystery. What voters want is not.
- Robin Abcarian: Trump wants to undo all kinds of race and gender progress. Here’s what stands in his way.
- Times Editorial Board: For California towns with a bear problem, using dogs to hunt is no solution.
This morning’s must reads
Records say a Mexican Mafia heroin smuggling scheme included Pringles, a secret code and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. Times reporter Matthew Ormseth chronicles the case against Michael Meiser, who is accused of conspiring with gang “shot-callers” to smuggle more than a pound of heroin into a Los Angeles jail.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- 📸 Check out “Ghosts of Segregation,” photographer Richard Frishman’s exhibit on the residue of segregation, slavery and institutional racism still visible in American architecture.
- 💆 11 relaxing ways to live like a “White Lotus” character in L.A. — sans the snakes and murder.
Staying in
- 📺 Watch Adult Swim’s “Oh My God … Yes!” — all about a group of besties in futuristic South L.A.
- 🥕 Here’s a recipe for carrot & jalapeño escabeche.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
And finally … a great photo
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.
Today’s photo is from Karen Kungie-Torres of Los Angeles: a view from the Getty Center.
Karen writes: “The Getty Center speaks for itself. But if I were to say something on its behalf, I would say it draws the eye up from the traffic of the Sepulveda Pass to the majestic white travertine stones overlooking West L.A.”
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Amy Hubbard, deputy editor, Fast Break
Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.