A bill aiming to take the city of San Diego’s ‘Unsafe Camping Ordinance’ statewide was voted down on Tuesday by the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Senate Bill 1011 was spearheaded by Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones from San Diego and co-authored by senator Catherine Blakespear from Encinitas.
“This bill is designed to be a compassionate approach to clearing encampments and providing a way up for people to get onto their feet and into permanent housing,” said Senator Jones.
The proposed bill would ban encampments within 500 feet of schools, transit stops and communal open spaces across California. And prohibit camping on sidewalks if shelter beds are available.
“The goal is to make a positive impact both on our public safety here in California and on the folks that are caught up living in these homeless encampments,” added Jones.
The bill was ultimately voted down after homeless advocates voiced concerns.
“Not everybody is on drugs, not everybody is mentally ill,” said local homeless advocate Rachel Hayes. “Some people just…stuff happens in your life and you find yourself homeless.”
Hayes spent a decade of her life living on the streets and spoke with ABC 10News last year when she transitioned into permanent housing.
“I’m doing good…I’m doing better,” she said.
Hayes says she’s against any kind of camping ban for this reason: “All it did was make people migrate to further areas and harder for their caseworkers to find them. It causes more trauma.”
Instead, she says California needs more affordable housing.
“We don’t have a homeless crisis…we have a housing crisis,” she said.
Senator Jones says after Tuesday’s vote, they plan to take into account the feedback they received and draft new legislation for next year.
