Let’s close this week out of policy look-back by discussing homelessness. Since Gov. Newsom took office in 2019, homelessness in California has risen by 30,000 to about 181,000 people last year.
Just in the last year, homelessness in Newport Beach has decreased by 85%.
Yes, that’s a real stat.
And yes, it’s taken a lot of effort and a whole lot of work to get to that point. Let me quickly explain.
When I first joined the city council, our only real response was one police officer. Brad Avery and I set up a new citizen committee to work on a better response, which led to some great people serving and getting our social services side rolling. During that time period, we joined Costa Mesa to create a joint homeless shelter (the best example in the county of two cities working it out).
During this same time period, the federal appellate court covering the Western U.S. (the 9th Circuit) issued two opinions that made enforcing cities’ anti-camping ordinances particularly difficult. Newport Beach joined the legal efforts to overturn both rulings, eventually successfully this past year in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court called “Grants Pass.”
A number of cities, including Newport Beach, enacted stronger anti-camping ordinances. In our city’s case, our NBPD started enforcing the laws as they became effective in October.
A services-oriented focus first and then enforcement second has served the city well in recent months. This is born out of a core belief that there is no compassion leaving anyone on the streets.
That core belief, to be clear, is not shared by cities throughout California. Certainly not in SF or LA. Nor is it shared by the bureaucrats in the Newsom administration who spent $24 billion on a homelessness crisis that has deepened without any accountability (literally zero accountability, they kept such poor records that they couldn’t be audited).
But thanks to the work of many people on our city council and within our city, homelessness has decreased from 70 last year to 11 as of two weeks ago.
Results-oriented policy. What a novel concept.
Will O’Neill is a member of the Newport Beach City Council. His term ends December 10, 2024.
