Local approaches to homeless encampments vary across California

As California cities and counties become more aggressive with banning public camping, the need for consistent and clear encampment policies become more pressing. But local governments employ a patchwork of rules for encampment sweeps — exposing a vulnerable population to even more harm, reports CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall.

CalMatters asked nearly three dozen cities and counties for copies of their encampment management policies, and found that their approaches varied widely:

• San Diego has a 10-page policy detailing things such as when sweeps can take place and how to handle confiscated belongings.
• Stockton uses policies from its police department, which vaguely says officers should “use reasonable care” and avoid destroying an unhoused person’s property.
• Santa Cruz and Monterey counties are just now writing their first encampment policies, after Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for more uniform rules in May.
• Mendocino County has no encampment policy.

So why is it important that these rules be more cohesive?

Some cities and counties are reluctant to draft encampment management rules if they know there’s a chance they may not follow it later, such as promising a shelter bed on paper when none are actually available.

But sweeping an encampment is a fraught ordeal that can further displace and traumatize people who have already undergone significant distress. Giving unhoused people a heads up about what they can expect, instead of vague guidelines, can help make it a less traumatizing:

• Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow for the National Alliance to End Homelessness: “Folks need to know when that trash truck is coming. Folks need to know how long they have to be able to move. And when there’s nothing in place at all and folks are just flying by the seat of their pants … that leads to more chaos.”

Forcing local governments — through litigation in particular — to lay out policies clearly can also provide vital protections for unhoused people, such as requiring municipalities to give people with disabilities extra time to pack their belongings, or prohibiting workers from mishandling personal property.

Read more here.

More on homelessness: Marisa and CalMatters’ video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on an executive order from President Donald Trump related to homelessness and encampments, which shares similar policies with Newsom’s. The video is part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.

Though Republicans are generally united against Newsom’s mid-cycle redistricting proposal, the same can’t be said for California Democrats, writes CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang.

While many state- and congressional-level Democrats have endorsed allowing Californians to vote on redrawn congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms as a way to counteract Texas Republicans’ own redistricting plan, others have had qualms about temporarily sidestepping the state’s independent redistricting commission.

Approved by voters in 2008, the commission redraws the state’s electoral boundaries every 10 years in a nonpartisan process that maintains competitive districts. A poll by Politico published last week found that voters favor independent redistricting.

During a Tuesday hearing, some former members of the commission, including some who are Democrats, came out to oppose Newsom’s plan.

• Connie Archbold Robinson, an independent and former commission member: “If we gut the great work that we have been doing there, then not only do we lose our credibility, those efforts actually get stalled and get reversed.”

Read more here.

Ever since California’s 40th District was redrawn from a left-leaning district to a competitive swing district after the 2020 census, Democrats have been gunning to oust Republican Rep. Young Kim from her seat. On Wednesday, immigration attorney Lisa Ramirez entered the fray as the latest congressional candidate to attempt to represent Orange County. 

As CalMatters’ Maya C. Miller explains, Ramirez is perhaps best known as the attorney who helped free a detained migrant father of three U.S. Marine sons. She told Maya that her reasons to run in the 2026 race included the wave of mass detentions, the lack of due process and the disregard for court orders under the Trump administration.

But Ramirez has her work cut out for her: Kim has defeated her opponents by near double digits, and her warchest includes $4 million cash on hand. If voters approved Newsom’s redistricting plans at the Nov. 4 special election, the 40th District would also become an even redder seat. 

Read more here.