How would Sacramento mayoral hopefuls differ in their handling of homeless crisis?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The two candidates vying to be Sacramento’s next mayor agree — the number one issue voters care about this election cycle is homelessness. They disagree about what to do about it.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s successor takes office Dec. 10 and will inherit a city with roughly 1,300 shelter beds — virtually all of which opened under his tenure. They will face a city with more than 2,500 people and nearly 850 families on shelter wait lists and a looming $77 million city budget deficit will hinder the council’s ability to open more beds.

Both candidates, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Flojaune Cofer, facing off in the Nov. 5 election, have proposed the city open sanctioned campgrounds where people can live in trailers, tiny homes or tents with water, food and bathrooms as they await permanent housing.

McCarty has suggested locations city and state officials have floated previously. During forums in recent weeks, he has said he wants to open Safe Grounds at former city corporation yards, 100 acres in Meadowview, as well as at a Cal Expo parking lot and Caltrans land.

City officials have eyed the 350-acre state-owned Cal Expo property for a long-term homeless shelter for years. In 2019, the city tried to open an indoor homeless shelter there, but the Cal Expo board did not approve it. Steinberg pulled the item from the board agenda because he expected a no vote, he said at the time.

Five years later, McCarty, a non-voting member of the Cal Expo Board, wants to revisit the idea.

“Cal Expo, I think, is a no brainer,” McCarty said during a Sept. 22 forum.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a McCarty-authored bill in 2021 to clear the way for state and local officials to open a large homeless shelter at a different lot on the convention grounds, but it never happened.

“A couple years ago, the governor signed a law allowing us to use the back of Cal Expo ... as an emergency housing, tiny homes, safe ground location with tents,” McCarty said. “Certainly Cal Expo doesn’t want it, a lot of people don’t want it. But we have an opportunity to negotiate with the Cal Expo Board of Directors.”

Seven of the nine voting members of the Cal Expo board were not members in 2019, when the city last formally asked to use parts of the site for a homeless shelter, said Adam Keigwin, a Cal Expo spokesman. Since Newsom signed the law in 2021, the board has not received a formal proposal to consider a homeless site at Cal Expo, but would consider it if they do, he said.

Cofer said she has talked to Cal Expo officials in the last two months who have said they would still not approve a homeless site there.

“Cal Expo has said ‘no’ to a placement at their site,” Cofer said in a phone interview. “Kevin is touting himself as a collaborator but has announced a site without any collaboration.”

Unlike Cal Expo, the 100 acres in Meadowview is city-owned and would not need approval from another voting entity.

“They want to build all kinds of regional sports complexes there,” McCarty said during a Sept. 16 forum. “It’s gonna take a number of years for that to happen so we can utilize that for emergency housing today.”

A city consultant in April determined the site cannot be used to shelter homeless residents in the time period before the sports complex opens.

“The assessment found that a small amount of retail could potentially be supported under the right conditions, and that interim homeless services could only be supported ‘once roadways and utilities are developed for the site,’” an April city blog post stated.

Roadways and utilities will not be added there for several years, said Councilwoman Mai Vang, who represents Meadowview.

Asked to provide addresses of corporation yards or Caltrans land, McCarty and his campaign spokesman, Andrew Acosta, did not do so. They also declined a request for a phone interview for this story but did provide a written statement to provided questions.

The city only has two former corporation yards, said Gabby Miller, a city spokeswoman. One of them is at Colfax Street and Arden Way, where the city in August shut down a Safe Ground of seniors called Camp Resolution. The other is nearby, at the corner of Eleanor and Traction avenues. Unlike Camp Resolution, that property does not have contamination issues, said State Water Resources Control Board spokesman Blair Robertson. It was included in the council’s siting plan in 2021, but along with all the other 19 sites in that plan, it never opened.

McCarty has said he would make homelessness a focus during his term, using his 20 years of experience as a local and statewide elected official. He said he would audit homeless spending and put an item on every council agenda about homelessness — something council meetings have been often missing in recent months. Only the city manager and mayor have the ability to place items directly on the council agenda for consideration.

“I wanna get the city manager and council to zero in every Tuesday to talk about this issue — what are we doing to open up emergency housing sites?” McCarty said during a Sept. 8 forum.

More than a year ago, the council voted to give City Manager Howard Chan the authority to open new Safe Grounds across the city. He has so far opened one on Roseville Road. If the new mayor were to put an item on the agenda to open another Safe Ground faster than Chan, he or she would need to get buy in from at least four other council members. Council votes to open homeless shelters require at least five of the nine members to vote yes.

Are pre-parks viable?

During an interview with The Bee about homelessness ahead of the primary election, Cofer said she wants to explore opening Safe Grounds at vacant city-owned parcels, including underutilized parks.

“Underutilized parks are basically just parcels with brown grass that nobody is using,” Cofer said during a Sept. 5 debate, adding that voters had told her that McCarty has been saying Cofer wants to open shelters in parks.

During a Sept. 22 debate, pressed by McCarty, she elaborated.

“There are 244 parks listed on our city’s website and among them, some of them don’t exist yet,” Cofer said. “We need to be willing to look at any available parcels that exist, including some that are pre-parks.”

Cofer acknowledged the city’s budget shortfall.

“We do not have the money currently, especially with our deficit, to be building some of those new parks,” Cofer said. “So why not in the interim use vacant parcels that are planned parks for some time in the distant not-so-soon future to set up safe rest villages?”

McCarty disagreed. “Every location that’s government-owned should be on the table expect our city parks, which are for our community.”

Cofer, during a recent interview with The Bee, declined to name which parks she was referring to, stating she wanted to have community meetings first so communities can “be a partner in selecting sites and identifying what is needed to make sure they’re not a blight.”

Cofer said her goal would be to get several sites opened by the end of 2025. She also wants to add electricity and water to the trailers and tiny homes in the city’s existing Roseville Road shelter.

More sweeps?

As Sacramento’s homeless population of roughly 6,600 continues to outpace its shelter bed inventory, thousands are living and dying on the streets. Pressure on the city has been ramping up, from home and business owners, as well as the district attorney.

District Attorney Thien Ho in September 2023 filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against the city over its homeless encampments. He complained the city was not issuing enough citations for homeless people whose tents blocked sidewalks.

The city is increasingly issuing such tickets for camping-related violations, often resulting in tickets of at least $100. For example, in March, Sacramento police issued a criminal camping-related citation to Theresa Rivera, who sleeps outside and uses a wheelchair. She missed her court date and now owes $333, according to court records.

Cofer said the city should stop issuing such citations for camping-related violations.

“I don’t support these citations because I don’t think they work,” Cofer said. “There’s no evidence to show they help to address the two things we’re trying to address which is people trying to change behavior and patterns and also making our communities safer and clean.”

Acosta, on behalf of McCarty, did not answer a question from The Bee on whether McCarty supports the city issuing citations to homeless people for camping-related violations.

McCarty, who is endorsed by Ho, did not mention citations but made comments during the forums about “enforcing laws.”

“We know that we cannot arrest our way out of the homeless problem — but those who break the law must be held accountable,” Acosta said in a statement on behalf of McCarty.

He said, during multiple candidate forums, that he decided to run for mayor because his teenage twin daughters had to walk home from school by homeless camps, dodging off-leash pitbulls and he wanted to improve neighborhood safety.

Cofer has also mentioned a personal homeless anecdote at multiple candidate forums. She recalled waking up to find a homeless man sleeping in her south Sacramento backyard. Although she said sweeps are “harmful,” there are some places — such as backyards — where homeless people should be told to moved from, she said.

In August, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 2018 Martin v. Boise ruling, allowing cities to cite and move homeless people off public land without first offering a shelter bed.

McCarty said Sacramento should do what the ruling allows.

“The Supreme Court decision is the law of the land and we need to focus on enforcing the law of the land,” McCarty said during a Sept. 8 forum. “If we don’t, it’ll get much worse. The cities of Elk Grove, West Sacramento, the county of Sacramento and now the state of California ... are enforcing no camping. So, if Sacramento doesn’t enforce the law under the Supreme Court Grants Pass decision, we’ll get more people in the city of Sacramento.”

Cofer said she was “incredibly disappointed” when she heard the ruling.

“The city can now legally fine and jail people for sleeping outdoors which is not a solution,” Cofer said during the same forum. “The sweeps we are doing are harmful.”

Sacramento developer John Vignocchi said that the city should issue more citations and clear more camps in light of the Grants Pass ruling, although he added the root of the problem lies with the state and county, which have much bigger budgets than the city.

“... (The) city must protect its turf,” Vignocchi said. “If investment and economic activity decline, that means fewer jobs and less tax revenue for police, fire, parks, youth programs, etc. You face a painful death spiral, like Detroit as an example.”

Vignocchi, who has donated to McCarty’s campaign, said he likes Cofer as a person and would work with her if she becomes mayor, but agrees with McCarty’s plan on homelessness.

“Kevin knows we need a ban on camping,” Vignocchi said. “He wants to enforce the city’s laws.”

Bob Erlenbusch, board member of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, disagrees.

“For people that have no money what are they supposed to do?” said Erlenbusch, adding the nonprofit coalition cannot make political endorsements. “Don’t they understand that for a person who has no money, it goes to a warrant which means potentially they go to jail which means when they come out they have a record, can’t find a job, and can’t find housing?”

Reality Check is a Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com.

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