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Southern California pols are split over the impact of the recent SCOTUS decision allowing cities to enforce no-camping laws. LA Mayor Bass is worried LA’s less aggressive approach to clearing encampments will result in neighboring cities sending their homeless to the City of Angels. Long Beach Mayor and Orange County Supes say Grants Pass adds a needed tool to their homeless plan. The LA Daily News reports.
Many leaders in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County are up in arms over the Supreme Court’s ruling in support of anti-camping laws, which they fear other municipalities will use to push homeless people into Los Angeles.
But other leaders in Long Beach and Orange County support the decision. They believe it will give cities a new tool to promote public safety, clear encampments and address homelessness.
The opinion in Grants Pass v. Johnson on Friday, June 28, upholds cities’ ability to issue tickets to people for sleeping in public, regardless of the availability of local shelter beds.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath condemned the decision, saying it will shuffle people from community to community without addressing the overall crisis. Both the county and the City of L.A., they said, will not use the ruling to punish people for camping in public.
“If it’s OK for other cities to ticket and shoo people away, I will be very concerned that the number of people moving into L.A. from other cities will increase,” said Bass in a Friday morning press conference.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson was happy with the ruling, saying that “for years cities have been constrained by legal ambiguities limiting our ability to implement common-sense measures to protect our residents’ well-being.”
Richardson said enforcing anti-camping laws alone will not end homelessness and that Long Beach remains committed to increasing permanent housing, shelter and homeless services.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors said:
“The Supreme Court’s decision today allows the County of Orange and our impacted cities to enhance efforts to move people from unsafe encampments to shelter, treatment, wraparound care, and ultimately permanent supportive housing,” said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley.
Read the whole thing here.
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