There’s a consensus that there’s a homelessness crisis in the United States. Plans to address it vary among mayoral candidates

By JANIE HAR and GEOFF MULVIHILL

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Mayor London Breed has launched a new crackdown on people sleeping outdoors, part of a campaign to clear sidewalks of the homeless encampments that define the city.

Her four opponents in the November election, all Democrats, say she has not handled the crisis effectively, even though the city had only 300 tents and other temporary structures last month, half the number a year earlier.

But his opponents do not agree on a strategy.

Members of San Francisco Public Works clean up a homeless encampment, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

“You can really change the reputation of San Francisco from a place where people today believe they can come to our city, pitch a tent and stay as long as they want, to a city where – if that’s the lifestyle they choose – they look the other way,” said Mark Farrell, perhaps the most conservative of the challengers.

It’s a similar story in other major American cities electing mayors this year.

Most of them are in the West, where the homelessness crisis has long been fueled by high housing costs and has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic that rocked the country four years ago. Thousands are homeless, and for many residents who do have housing, it has become a quality-of-life concern, making it a major political issue.

A San Francisco Public Works member cleans a homeless encampment Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and former San Francisco mayor, threatened last week to cut state funding from cities and counties that don’t do more to move people out of encampments and into shelters.

A 2023 census found that 653,000 people were homeless at any given time in the country, an increase of 63,000 from the previous decade. The problem has become much more visible: 257,000 people were living on the streets or in other places not intended for habitation, 61,000 more than in 2013.

Most big-city mayors and candidates — nearly all Democrats — say more affordable housing and more services for the homeless are needed. The heart of the debate, as in San Francisco, is whether it is acceptable to force people off the streets.

Members of San Francisco Public Works clean up a homeless encampment, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

In two of the West’s largest cities, candidates are emphasizing the homelessness crisis in their campaigns against incumbents who won landslide elections four years ago.

Larry Turner, a police officer who is trying to unseat San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, says the incumbent is putting too much emphasis on temporary housing, including plans to turn a warehouse into a 1,000-bed shelter. Gloria’s campaign says he is working on both short-term and permanent housing.

In Phoenix, Matt Evans says incumbent Rep. Kate Gallego hasn’t done enough to enforce laws and eliminate encampments. Gallego opposes what she calls the criminalization of homelessness and has added hundreds of shelter beds.

Members of San Francisco Public Works clean up a homeless encampment, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

The election could turn on this issue. And the situation on the streets can, of course, change depending on who is elected.

“Mayors can make a huge difference,” said Ann Oliva, executive director of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

But she criticizes arresting or fining people who have no place to live.

“We cannot continue criminalization as the primary means of combating homelessness and at the same time reduce the number of homeless,” Oliva said.

Some new mayors have managed to reduce homelessness without resorting to sanctions, she said.

San Francisco Fire Department paramedic Leslie Fong walks after checking inside a tent at a homeless encampment, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

In Los Angeles, the city with the largest homeless population in the United States, Karen Bass took office in December 2022 and immediately signed an emergency order making it easier to contract with hotels to provide shelter. According to the January homeless count, the city’s total homeless population fell 2%, the first decline after years of increases. Bass still has two years to run for reelection.

In Mike Johnston’s first six months as Denver mayor last year, the city moved 1,000 people into hotels, a community of cabin-like structures and other transitional housing.

Other new mayors, such as Cherelle Parker of Philadelphia, have taken a tough approach that many candidates have called for and that the Supreme Court upheld in a June ruling that allowed outdoor sleeping bans.

San Francisco Fire Department paramedic Leslie Fong, dressed in black, talks to a public works crew as they clean up a homeless encampment, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

About a dozen candidates are vying for the post in November’s open municipal election in Portland, Oregon, the center of a metropolitan area where a January 2023 count found nearly 4,000 people living outdoors.

City Councilmember Rene Gonzalez has been lobbying Multnomah County, where Portland is located, to halt the distribution of tents and tarps to the homeless.

Last year, Gonzalez pushed for a stricter city ordinance, but joined a unanimous City Council decision in May to allow officials to fine or even jail homeless people who reject an offer of shelter.

In San Francisco, Breed’s office issued a memo in July saying that homeless people who continue to refuse offers of shelter and services will face escalating penalties, including arrest, if they continue to camp in public.

San Francisco Public Works staffers pack a suitcase found inside a tent as they clear out a homeless encampment, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Breed also ordered that homeless people who are not from San Francisco be offered bus or train tickets home before being offered shelter or services, adding in a statement that “we cannot meet everyone’s individual housing and behavioral health needs.”

One of Breed’s opponents, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, opposes sweeps of encampments. Another opponent, Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, says sweeps are cruel unless adequate shelter is available.

His challenger Daniel Lurie, heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and owner of a nonprofit that funds temporary tiny houses, has promised to build 1,500 shelter beds in the first six months of his administration so that people forced out of encampments have a place to go.

“There’s just no plan for three years with this administration,” Lurie said.

Breed’s administration has added thousands of temporary and permanent shelter beds, but there is still a significant shortage.

A San Francisco Public Works employee washes a sidewalk after cleaning up a homeless encampment, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

“His opponents are not proposing where they will build shelters, how they will get there and how they plan to finance their projects,” said Joe Arellano, a spokesman for Breed’s campaign.

Michael Johnson, a homeless man in San Francisco, the city where he grew up, was recently preparing to move in anticipation of a tent sweep to avoid what he said happened during a previous sweep, when police and city street cleaners gave him 10 seconds to move his tent and belongings. He didn’t, and lost everything.

Related articles

• National Policy |

  Latinos are excited about Harris, but she has work to do to win over crucial voting bloc, experts say

• National Policy |

  Trump allegedly insulted Harris in private conversations

• National Policy |

  Vance welcomes Trump’s idea of ​​creating a Fed, dismisses criticism of his past comments on American families

• National Policy |

  From Biden to Gabbard, here’s what Harris’ past debates show ahead of a face-off with Trump

• National Policy |

  Democrats launch first paid ad campaign for Harris-Walz ticket in key states

Homeless people often reject offers of shelter if it means leaving behind their possessions or pets, being separated from loved ones, or sleeping in places surrounded by strangers, including some who may be violent.

Johnson, 41, doesn’t like living outside. But he says no one has offered him proper housing and wherever he goes, he is always moved by the authorities.

“It’s a merry-go-round,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I stay where I am or find another place. Someday, they’re going to be there.”

---

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. AP reporters Terry Chea in San Francisco and Claire Rush in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.