LA County officials respond to Newsom's warning about not clearing homeless encampments

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a strong message Thursday to local governments, saying counties, including Los Angeles County, are moving too slow to clear homeless encampments.

Standing in front of a cleared homeless encampment in L.A., Newsom vowed to start taking state funding away from cities and counties that are not doing enough to move people out of encampments and into shelters, which could happen as soon as January.

"We're done with the excuses. The last big excuse was, 'Well, the courts are saying we can't do anything.' Well, that's no longer the case, so we had a simple executive order: Do your job," said Newsom. "There's no more excuses. You've got the money, you've got the flexibility, you've got the green light, you've got the support from the state and the public is demanding it of you."

Thursday's announcement was part of Newsom's escalating campaign to push local governments into doing more encampment sweeps. Newsom last month ordered state agencies to start clearing encampments on state land. He also pressured local government to do the same, though he cannot legally force them to act.

The executive order came after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that said governments could not force people to leave encampments if there weren't any shelter beds available. Newsom's administration wrote in support of cities' arguments that previous rulings, including one that barred San Francisco from clearing encampments, have prevented the state from solving a critical problem.

Newsom praised the city of Los Angeles and Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe program, but argued that L.A. County's take that claims the executive order criminalizes homelessness is not accurate, as it lays out a strategy for services and support.

Most of the L.A. County supervisors are in Paris for the Olympics, but Eyewitness News spoke with Supervisor Kathryn Barger on Friday, who said finger-pointing wouldn't solve the homeless crisis.

"I would love to explain to the governor what we are doing because we are," she said. "I'm not going to criticize the fact that he issued that order because actually, I support what he wants to do. My goal is to have us all in the same direction. You can go in and clear the encampment, but if you don't coordinate with the different jurisdictions around you, you're simply moving that problem."

Barger says Pathway Home was modeled after Inside Safe and that although it takes longer than the 48-hour notice Caltrans gives encampments under the executive order, she says it works.

"We're on the same team. We're [elected officials] working in a great state to bring it back to where it needs to be. It's not him against us or us against him," said Barger.

A statement from L.A. County said in part, "New bed capacity needs to be built to accommodate a population of patients who will require locked facilities when held for treatment involuntarily. Without first taking those steps, the work of moving people off the streets for their own health and safety would fail. This does not mean LA County is standing still. Our Pathway Home encampment resolution program already has moved hundreds of people inside as we have also extensively supported the City of LA's Inside Safe program that has sheltered thousands of others."

The county also said the encampment the governor helped clear Thursday in Pacoima was previously visited by outreach teams funded by the county who offered housing.

California is home to roughly one-third of the nation's population of homeless people, a problem that has dogged Newsom since he took office. There are thousands of tents and makeshift shelters across the state that line freeways, and fill parking lots and public parks.

The state has spent roughly $24 billion under Newsom's leadership to clean up streets and house people. That includes at least $3.2 billion in grants given to local government to build shelters, clear encampments and connect homeless people to services as they see fit, Newsom said.

Those have been unprecedented investments from the state, he added, but his administration will start redirecting that money in 2025.

"This is not about criminalization," Newsom said. "What's criminal is neglecting people that are struggling and suffering and dying on our watch."

It's not the first time Newsom has vowed to cut funding over what he sees as the lackluster efforts from local governments to address homelessness. In 2022, he threatened to withhold $1 billion in homelessness spending from cities and counties over the lack of progress. Last month, his office clawed back a $10-million grant sent to San Diego to build tiny homes because the county didn't act fast enough.

San Francisco's mayor has taken more aggressive action in clearing encampments.

California State Association of Counties, which represents 58 counties in California, said it won't weigh in on the governor's announcement Thursday. A spokesperson instead pointed to a statement in response to Newsom's order last month that the counties "will continue to work together with the Governor and share his sense of urgency."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.