Millions are given by the state to clear homeless camps in San Jose

The state is going to give San Jose $4.8 million to help get rid of encampments and help people who don’t have homes. But it’s not even close to what the city needs to help people who are homeless.

This past week, Gov. Gavin Newsom gave $130.7 million to help lower the number of homeless people in the state. Supporters in the area say the money won’t go very far and that the state should put more money into finding answers.

Todd Langton, who started the Coalition for the Unhoused of Silicon Valley, is worried that the money will be used to clean up camps instead of building up services to help people who are homeless.

“These things are being done backwards by the state and local governments,” Langton told San José Spotlight.

“We need to give homeless people a place to go where they can get the help they need, feel safe, and be able to thrive as they start to return to normal life, but they’re always being turned away.”

The money comes from the state’s Encampment Resolution Funding grant program. It was ordered by Newsom in July that local governments should clear encampments more quickly.

Langton suggested that the city should use its resources for abatements to build and run transitional and permanent homes, such as safe sleeping sites.

However, he is worried that the city’s plans for safe sleeping sites are too strict, and homeless people will avoid them.

He is worried that people will not be able to bring their pets or partners to their huts because they will be too close to each other.

The state money is not enough for what San Jose wants to do. The government wants to set up eight safe places to sleep across the city. Each tent will cost no more than $40,000. That’s about $20 million for 500 tents.

The city has also been working on making 1300 Berryessa Road a safe place to park. The job cost the city about $8 million, but it used to cost $16 million.

In May, changes were made to the design, which brought down the price. At the Santa Teresa VTA light rail stop in San Jose, there is one safe parking spot that can hold up to 42 people.

An office worker for Mayor Matt Mahan, Tasha Dean, said that the city has not yet said how the money will be spent.

“Later this week or next, we’ll send out a press release or hold a media event to give more information about the (state) grant and what it will be used for,” Dean told San José Spotlight.

Ray Bramson, chief operating officer for Destination: Home and a writer for the San José Spotlight, said he didn’t know about this round of funding but is glad to hear that the state is putting more money into helping people who are homeless at the local level.

He didn’t want to guess where the money might be spent, but he did say that people will continue to sleep outside as long as they don’t have a place to stay.

Bramson told San José Spotlight, “We keep saying that the best way to deal with encampments is to fund shelters and housing for people who live outside.

The city has done a great job of that in the past, but we think more of that investment is the only way to make sure we can end homelessness.”

San Jose got one of the least amounts of money out of the 18 areas that were given money. Cities like Richmond and Berkeley, which don’t have as many homeless people, got hundreds of thousands more.

Langton said that the city’s decision could have been political, but it’s also possible that many other places don’t have the same local resources as San Jose.

A state report released in April found that San Jose doesn’t keep good enough records of how much it spends on homeless services or how well its programs work.

Langton said that the allocation might have been Newsom’s way of getting back at San Jose for some of his fights, including the one with Mahan over Proposition 36.

However, Langton also said that Newsom has stepped up his calls for cities to get rid of homeless camps in preparation for future political campaigns.

Langton said, “I just think he’s preparing for a possible job in the cabinet or he’s looking at 2028 and 2032 as possible presidential runs.”

“He needs to clean things up, so he needs to start in his own backyard in Sacramento. But again, these abatements waste so much money.”

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