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"slug": "renter-tenant-protections-without-lease-california-contract-renting-law",
"title": "Renting Your Home Without a Lease? In California, You Still Have Tenant Protections",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046933/renta-sin-contrato-tiene-derechos-california\">\u003cem>Leer en español\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, almost 17 million people \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040028/paying-rent-in-california-it-could-now-help-your-credit-score\">rent their homes\u003c/a>. And while many sign a contract at the start of their lease, others rent without a written agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to calculate exactly how many people rent without a contract, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2022/housing-leases-in-the-u-s-rental-market/home.htm\">according to federal data\u003c/a>, California is the state with the highest proportion of leases that are month-to-month, something usually seen when there’s no written lease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many tenants, renting without a contract provides a certain flexibility that works well when living with family or friends, and it’s also an option \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2021/07/159-Ayano-Tenants-Without-Rights.pdf\">used by folks who have migrated to the United States\u003c/a> and are adapting to a new life. But this arrangement can also lead to issues between the tenant and landlord, said Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation for the San Francisco tenants’ rights group, Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have a written agreement that has been signed, you know exactly what the rules are in terms of how much the rent is, when it’s due, who’s going to pay the utilities. … All that’s very clear,” she said. “If it’s verbal, it’s not as clear what the agreement is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The power of a verbal contract\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Tenants in these “informal” agreements can \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2021/07/159-Ayano-Tenants-Without-Rights.pdf\">experience abuse or neglect\u003c/a> from their landlords, who may think that, because there is no written contract, housing laws do not apply. But tenants without a written lease have the same rights as those with one, Prochovnick said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12038224 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/2022-9-28-KQED-News_Tenant-Organizing_006_qed-1020x681.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a contract — it’s just not in writing,” she said. “The contract is a verbal contract, and you could prove it because the tenant’s been paying rent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to state law, leases established verbally are legally binding agreements — as long as the lease \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=1624.\">is one year or less\u003c/a>. If, for example, you are renting a room in your cousin’s home month-to-month and coordinated the lease through a phone call, that is an agreement recognized by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED spoke to legal experts to understand what protections tenants have when there’s no written lease agreement, along with the responsibilities of landlords. For some tenants, it may be difficult to speak openly with their landlord, especially if they’re renting from a family member or someone who is threatening to evict them. Keep reading for advice on how to handle these important conversations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Skip ahead to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#A\">How much can my landlord increase my rent?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#B\">What are my privacy rights when I rent a room in someone’s house?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#C\">What can I do if my home needs repairs?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#D\">When can my landlord actually evict me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#E\">I am undocumented and my landlord is threatening me based on my immigration status.\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Protecting your lease\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The most dangerous thing a tenant without a written lease can do is pay their rent in cash, said Leah Simon-Weisberg, executive director of California Center for Movement Legal Services. “It’s really difficult to prove that you paid,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if — for whatever reason — you do pay rent in cash, make sure to ask your landlord for a receipt, which could be an email or text message that includes confirmation you paid rent, how much you paid and for what (if the lease comes with a parking spot, for example). Having receipts will also protect you in the future, as you will have some form of documentation that proves your lease exists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re paying with a check or a money order, make sure to add your address, Simon-Weisberg said. “So when they’re cashed, it’s proof that the landlord acknowledges that you live there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s other things you can do to document your lease, including getting \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027050/apply-for-real-id-deadline-may-7-can-i-fly-without\">a driver’s license or state ID\u003c/a> with your address or saving bills from utilities. If you have kids, make sure they are enrolled in school with your current address, as you can then ask the school in the future for official documentation that includes that information.”Or you can even mail yourself a letter,” Simon-Weisberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"A\">\u003c/a>How much can my rent go up when I don’t have a written lease?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“One of the protections tenants have, whether the lease is verbal or written, is rent control,” Prochovnick said.[aside postID=news_12021928 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46311_031_KQED_SanFrancisco_COVIDShutdown_12062020-qut-1020x680.jpg']If you are paying $1,000 per month for a room, your landlord cannot raise the rent to $2,000 from one month to the next — as that would exceed the limits allowed by the state’s rent cap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That rent cap \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1947.12.&lawCode=CIV\">blocks landlords from raising the rent by more than 10%\u003c/a> over a 12-month period — unless you live in a newer property that was built within the past 15 years. \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/landlord-tenant-issues#:~:text=Eviction%20Process%20guide.-,Who%20These%20Protections%20Apply%20To,Section%208%20Housing%20Choice%20Vouchers.\">Other exceptions\u003c/a> include certain single-family homes, most mobile homes and duplexes where the landlord lives in one of the units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some counties — including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo in the Bay Area — have \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/Know-Your-Rights-Tenants-English.pdf\">additional rent control rules\u003c/a>, which may further limit how much landlords can raise the rent each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rent control also applies if you are leasing month-to-month. Any rent increase has to be done through a formal written notice \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/Know-Your-Rights-Tenants-English.pdf\">at least 30 days in advance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"B\">\u003c/a>Living in someone else’s home? You have the right to privacy\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One situation that EDC’s Prochovnick has seen before is when tenants rent a room at a family member’s home and arguments come up when the tenant’s privacy is not respected. “Even if your landlord is your cousin or your parent, they cannot enter your bedroom without a proper reason and proper notice,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those reasons could be that you have invited your landlord to enter your room, or there’s an emergency. Otherwise, your landlord \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1954.&lawCode=CIV\">can only come in\u003c/a> to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Make necessary or agreed-upon repairs.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Inspect the room’s condition at the start or end of your lease.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Show the space to a potential tenant.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If any of these conditions apply, your landlord still needs to let you know — in writing — at least 24 hours in advance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their reason can’t just be because they want to see what’s going on and look in your drawers,” Prochovnick said. And one way to avoid misunderstandings could be for the tenant and landlord to clearly establish which spaces the tenant is renting, she suggested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are they renting the whole apartment? Are they just renting one bedroom?” she said. “What is their space that they’re getting in exchange for their rent?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"C\">\u003c/a>My home needs repairs. Who’s responsible?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Your landlord must follow \u003ca href=\"https://nchh.org/resource-library/HH_Codes_CA_9-9-07.pdf\">the state’s health and safety code\u003c/a>, which requires that a home have a working bathroom, functional plumbing, heating equipment that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11970546/rental-home-getting-cold-this-winter-what-you-can-legally-ask-of-your-landlord\">can keep the indoor temperature at a minimum of 70 degrees\u003c/a> and be free of insects and rodents, among other rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether the lease is written or not, the landlord has the responsibility of maintaining the property,” Simon-Weisberg said. “That’s just state law; it has nothing to do with the contract.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11970546\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1457400106-1020x680.jpg\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are a subtenant and the master tenant is leasing from someone else, it’s the owner of the property who is liable.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"D\">\u003c/a>Eviction: What changes when there’s no written lease?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Although California has some of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/09/california-eviction-law/\">strongest protections against evictions\u003c/a> in the country, some landlords still push out their tenants through threats, disinformation or even changing the locks on the door. These “shadow evictions” were e\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890298/the-unofficial-evictions-affecting-latino-immigrants\">specially seen during the COVID-19 pandemic\u003c/a> as landlords sought to get around the state’s eviction moratorium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Landlords can’t just put your things out on the street and change the locks,” Prochovnick said. “They have to go through a proper court procedure to evict the tenant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/Tenant-Protection-Act-Landlords-and-Property-Managers-English.pdf\">Tenant Protection Act\u003c/a> requires a landlord to have a “just cause” in order to evict a tenant, which can include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The tenant has not paid their rent.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The tenant has violated the terms of the lease.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord no longer wants to rent out the space.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord wants to use the home for themselves or a family member.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord plans to demolish the home or substantially remodel it, which could include removing lead paint, mold or asbestos.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord has received a government order for the home to be vacated.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>A landlord then has to \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-landlord/notice-deliver\">give you a written notice\u003c/a>, either in person or through the mail, explaining why they are evicting you, along with a deadline for when you need to move out. How much time you get \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-tenant/notice-types\">depends on the circumstances of the eviction\u003c/a>. “Even if the lease is verbal, the notice to terminate has to be in writing,” Prochovnick said.[aside postID=news_12008424 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/018_SanJose_AntiEvictionProtest_01272021_qed-1020x680.jpg']You have the ability to challenge the eviction order in court: After receiving the eviction notice from your landlord, you have 10 days to file a response with your county’s court. With this form, you can explain the circumstances of your lease and any issues that have come up with your landlord in the past, and a judge will then \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-tenant/trial\">hold an eviction trial\u003c/a> to decide whether you have to leave your home. \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-tenant/respond\">\u003cstrong>Learn more about how to respond to an eviction notice.\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you do decide to go to court, legal experts recommend having receipts and documentation ready to prove that you have been paying rent to live in your home and for how long.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"E\">\u003c/a>I am undocumented. Is my immigration status a problem when renting?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2017, California lawmakers approved\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB291\"> AB 291\u003c/a>, which makes it illegal for a landlord to threaten undocumented tenants with reporting them to immigration authorities. Immigration advocates \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanpabloca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/17573/AB-291-Immigration-Tenant-Protection-Fact-Sheet\">have pointed out for years\u003c/a> that undocumented immigrants are especially vulnerable to neglect and abuse from their landlords, who may threaten them with contacting law enforcement if they speak up about needed repairs or an unlawful eviction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Regardless of whether you’re documented or not, there’s no difference: We all have the same housing rights,” Simon-Weisberg said. “If a landlord is discriminating against you based on your immigration status, that’s illegal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A court could fine a landlord up to $2,000 for violating this law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>How can I effectively talk to my landlord about this stuff — particularly if they’re family?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, it could feel strange or even uncomfortable bringing up all this legal talk, especially if your landlord is a friend or family member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s important to find a balance between seeing this person as someone you know and someone you have a business relationship with, Simon-Weisberg said. “Whether you’re related to the person or not, one person owns it, and one person’s renting,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One issue she’s seen over the years is tenants disagreeing with their landlord over what’s actually included in the lease. She recommends sending your landlord an email or a text message after an important conversation that summarizes what the two of you agreed on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t take it for granted that you are renting from somebody you know,” she said. “If you are working for a friend, you still want to do all the things that you normally would do because it doesn’t protect you that they’re a friend, necessarily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you have the right to ask your landlord to stay out of your bedroom or provide necessary repairs, “it’s understandable that tenants feel nervous,” Prochovnick said. “There’s a power dynamic between landlords and tenants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all need shelter, and we don’t want to put that at risk by pushing back,” she said, but “our legal rights are only as strong as we’re willing to argue for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These conversations don’t have to be \u003cem>arguments \u003c/em>either, she said, pointing out that many community groups in California offer mediation services between landlords and tenants. “That might be something for people in these situations to try instead of ending up in court fighting each other, especially if they’re family members, and they want to preserve what was once a good relationship,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The moment you pay rent to your landlord, that establishes a lease agreement that the state of California recognizes. Here are the rights that these tenants have.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046933/renta-sin-contrato-tiene-derechos-california\">\u003cem>Leer en español\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, almost 17 million people \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040028/paying-rent-in-california-it-could-now-help-your-credit-score\">rent their homes\u003c/a>. And while many sign a contract at the start of their lease, others rent without a written agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to calculate exactly how many people rent without a contract, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2022/housing-leases-in-the-u-s-rental-market/home.htm\">according to federal data\u003c/a>, California is the state with the highest proportion of leases that are month-to-month, something usually seen when there’s no written lease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many tenants, renting without a contract provides a certain flexibility that works well when living with family or friends, and it’s also an option \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2021/07/159-Ayano-Tenants-Without-Rights.pdf\">used by folks who have migrated to the United States\u003c/a> and are adapting to a new life. But this arrangement can also lead to issues between the tenant and landlord, said Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation for the San Francisco tenants’ rights group, Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have a written agreement that has been signed, you know exactly what the rules are in terms of how much the rent is, when it’s due, who’s going to pay the utilities. … All that’s very clear,” she said. “If it’s verbal, it’s not as clear what the agreement is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The power of a verbal contract\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Tenants in these “informal” agreements can \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2021/07/159-Ayano-Tenants-Without-Rights.pdf\">experience abuse or neglect\u003c/a> from their landlords, who may think that, because there is no written contract, housing laws do not apply. But tenants without a written lease have the same rights as those with one, Prochovnick said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a contract — it’s just not in writing,” she said. “The contract is a verbal contract, and you could prove it because the tenant’s been paying rent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to state law, leases established verbally are legally binding agreements — as long as the lease \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=1624.\">is one year or less\u003c/a>. If, for example, you are renting a room in your cousin’s home month-to-month and coordinated the lease through a phone call, that is an agreement recognized by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED spoke to legal experts to understand what protections tenants have when there’s no written lease agreement, along with the responsibilities of landlords. For some tenants, it may be difficult to speak openly with their landlord, especially if they’re renting from a family member or someone who is threatening to evict them. Keep reading for advice on how to handle these important conversations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Skip ahead to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#A\">How much can my landlord increase my rent?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#B\">What are my privacy rights when I rent a room in someone’s house?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#C\">What can I do if my home needs repairs?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#D\">When can my landlord actually evict me?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#E\">I am undocumented and my landlord is threatening me based on my immigration status.\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Protecting your lease\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The most dangerous thing a tenant without a written lease can do is pay their rent in cash, said Leah Simon-Weisberg, executive director of California Center for Movement Legal Services. “It’s really difficult to prove that you paid,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if — for whatever reason — you do pay rent in cash, make sure to ask your landlord for a receipt, which could be an email or text message that includes confirmation you paid rent, how much you paid and for what (if the lease comes with a parking spot, for example). Having receipts will also protect you in the future, as you will have some form of documentation that proves your lease exists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re paying with a check or a money order, make sure to add your address, Simon-Weisberg said. “So when they’re cashed, it’s proof that the landlord acknowledges that you live there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s other things you can do to document your lease, including getting \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027050/apply-for-real-id-deadline-may-7-can-i-fly-without\">a driver’s license or state ID\u003c/a> with your address or saving bills from utilities. If you have kids, make sure they are enrolled in school with your current address, as you can then ask the school in the future for official documentation that includes that information.”Or you can even mail yourself a letter,” Simon-Weisberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"A\">\u003c/a>How much can my rent go up when I don’t have a written lease?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“One of the protections tenants have, whether the lease is verbal or written, is rent control,” Prochovnick said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If you are paying $1,000 per month for a room, your landlord cannot raise the rent to $2,000 from one month to the next — as that would exceed the limits allowed by the state’s rent cap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That rent cap \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1947.12.&lawCode=CIV\">blocks landlords from raising the rent by more than 10%\u003c/a> over a 12-month period — unless you live in a newer property that was built within the past 15 years. \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/landlord-tenant-issues#:~:text=Eviction%20Process%20guide.-,Who%20These%20Protections%20Apply%20To,Section%208%20Housing%20Choice%20Vouchers.\">Other exceptions\u003c/a> include certain single-family homes, most mobile homes and duplexes where the landlord lives in one of the units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some counties — including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo in the Bay Area — have \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/Know-Your-Rights-Tenants-English.pdf\">additional rent control rules\u003c/a>, which may further limit how much landlords can raise the rent each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rent control also applies if you are leasing month-to-month. Any rent increase has to be done through a formal written notice \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/Know-Your-Rights-Tenants-English.pdf\">at least 30 days in advance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"B\">\u003c/a>Living in someone else’s home? You have the right to privacy\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One situation that EDC’s Prochovnick has seen before is when tenants rent a room at a family member’s home and arguments come up when the tenant’s privacy is not respected. “Even if your landlord is your cousin or your parent, they cannot enter your bedroom without a proper reason and proper notice,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those reasons could be that you have invited your landlord to enter your room, or there’s an emergency. Otherwise, your landlord \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1954.&lawCode=CIV\">can only come in\u003c/a> to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Make necessary or agreed-upon repairs.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Inspect the room’s condition at the start or end of your lease.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Show the space to a potential tenant.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If any of these conditions apply, your landlord still needs to let you know — in writing — at least 24 hours in advance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their reason can’t just be because they want to see what’s going on and look in your drawers,” Prochovnick said. And one way to avoid misunderstandings could be for the tenant and landlord to clearly establish which spaces the tenant is renting, she suggested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are they renting the whole apartment? Are they just renting one bedroom?” she said. “What is their space that they’re getting in exchange for their rent?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"C\">\u003c/a>My home needs repairs. Who’s responsible?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Your landlord must follow \u003ca href=\"https://nchh.org/resource-library/HH_Codes_CA_9-9-07.pdf\">the state’s health and safety code\u003c/a>, which requires that a home have a working bathroom, functional plumbing, heating equipment that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11970546/rental-home-getting-cold-this-winter-what-you-can-legally-ask-of-your-landlord\">can keep the indoor temperature at a minimum of 70 degrees\u003c/a> and be free of insects and rodents, among other rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether the lease is written or not, the landlord has the responsibility of maintaining the property,” Simon-Weisberg said. “That’s just state law; it has nothing to do with the contract.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are a subtenant and the master tenant is leasing from someone else, it’s the owner of the property who is liable.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"D\">\u003c/a>Eviction: What changes when there’s no written lease?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Although California has some of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/09/california-eviction-law/\">strongest protections against evictions\u003c/a> in the country, some landlords still push out their tenants through threats, disinformation or even changing the locks on the door. These “shadow evictions” were e\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890298/the-unofficial-evictions-affecting-latino-immigrants\">specially seen during the COVID-19 pandemic\u003c/a> as landlords sought to get around the state’s eviction moratorium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Landlords can’t just put your things out on the street and change the locks,” Prochovnick said. “They have to go through a proper court procedure to evict the tenant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/Tenant-Protection-Act-Landlords-and-Property-Managers-English.pdf\">Tenant Protection Act\u003c/a> requires a landlord to have a “just cause” in order to evict a tenant, which can include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The tenant has not paid their rent.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The tenant has violated the terms of the lease.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord no longer wants to rent out the space.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord wants to use the home for themselves or a family member.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord plans to demolish the home or substantially remodel it, which could include removing lead paint, mold or asbestos.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The landlord has received a government order for the home to be vacated.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>A landlord then has to \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-landlord/notice-deliver\">give you a written notice\u003c/a>, either in person or through the mail, explaining why they are evicting you, along with a deadline for when you need to move out. How much time you get \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-tenant/notice-types\">depends on the circumstances of the eviction\u003c/a>. “Even if the lease is verbal, the notice to terminate has to be in writing,” Prochovnick said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>You have the ability to challenge the eviction order in court: After receiving the eviction notice from your landlord, you have 10 days to file a response with your county’s court. With this form, you can explain the circumstances of your lease and any issues that have come up with your landlord in the past, and a judge will then \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-tenant/trial\">hold an eviction trial\u003c/a> to decide whether you have to leave your home. \u003ca href=\"https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/eviction-tenant/respond\">\u003cstrong>Learn more about how to respond to an eviction notice.\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you do decide to go to court, legal experts recommend having receipts and documentation ready to prove that you have been paying rent to live in your home and for how long.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"E\">\u003c/a>I am undocumented. Is my immigration status a problem when renting?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2017, California lawmakers approved\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB291\"> AB 291\u003c/a>, which makes it illegal for a landlord to threaten undocumented tenants with reporting them to immigration authorities. Immigration advocates \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanpabloca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/17573/AB-291-Immigration-Tenant-Protection-Fact-Sheet\">have pointed out for years\u003c/a> that undocumented immigrants are especially vulnerable to neglect and abuse from their landlords, who may threaten them with contacting law enforcement if they speak up about needed repairs or an unlawful eviction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Regardless of whether you’re documented or not, there’s no difference: We all have the same housing rights,” Simon-Weisberg said. “If a landlord is discriminating against you based on your immigration status, that’s illegal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A court could fine a landlord up to $2,000 for violating this law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>How can I effectively talk to my landlord about this stuff — particularly if they’re family?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes, it could feel strange or even uncomfortable bringing up all this legal talk, especially if your landlord is a friend or family member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s important to find a balance between seeing this person as someone you know and someone you have a business relationship with, Simon-Weisberg said. “Whether you’re related to the person or not, one person owns it, and one person’s renting,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One issue she’s seen over the years is tenants disagreeing with their landlord over what’s actually included in the lease. She recommends sending your landlord an email or a text message after an important conversation that summarizes what the two of you agreed on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t take it for granted that you are renting from somebody you know,” she said. “If you are working for a friend, you still want to do all the things that you normally would do because it doesn’t protect you that they’re a friend, necessarily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you have the right to ask your landlord to stay out of your bedroom or provide necessary repairs, “it’s understandable that tenants feel nervous,” Prochovnick said. “There’s a power dynamic between landlords and tenants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all need shelter, and we don’t want to put that at risk by pushing back,” she said, but “our legal rights are only as strong as we’re willing to argue for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These conversations don’t have to be \u003cem>arguments \u003c/em>either, she said, pointing out that many community groups in California offer mediation services between landlords and tenants. “That might be something for people in these situations to try instead of ending up in court fighting each other, especially if they’re family members, and they want to preserve what was once a good relationship,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Proponents of a growing movement in the construction industry are asking: Why tear down old buildings with wrecking balls when those materials can be mined for reusable materials?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The practice, called deconstruction, creates a circular economy of reuse for building materials. It keeps waste out of landfills and shrinks the carbon footprint of buildings and infrastructure. It’s the kind of idea that sounds like an obvious win-win. But as the built environment rapidly changes over from one generation to the next, communities may not yet have the infrastructure — the sorting facilities and reuse stores — to keep up with new demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deconstruction and reuse industries have taken flight in the past five to 10 years in cities like Portland, Ore., and Boulder, Colo., where much of the original aging housing stock is now being replaced to suit the tastes of a much wealthier 21st-century population. As old homes come down to make way for new ones, specialist contractors like Anna Perks are moving in to handle the materials left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our team is systematically unbuilding the structure,” said Perks, co-owner of Perks Deconstruction, a contracting company that disassembles buildings for parts. She was hired to make a snug three-bedroom, two-bath home near the top of a green, hilly street in Boulder disappear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044254\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044254\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Perks Deconstruction co-owner Anna Perks walks past the remaining slab of an old farmhouse at a project in Aurora. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her crew worked quickly. After the first day on-site, the roof of the house disappeared. The siding, too. A crew wielding hammers and crowbars pried pieces of wood sheathing off the studs and carefully sorted materials. Others clawed nails out of two-by-sixes in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got a pretty good pile of lumber,” she said. “That’s all ceiling joists and floor joists. There’s a lot of good reusable lumber in there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The workers were trained to work precisely and with patience to keep the lumber as intact as possible as they removed it from the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Typically, what happens is a bulldozer will come in, smash it all — it’ll all get trashed,” Perks said. “But deconstruction, we try to salvage and recycle as much as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A truck is piled with planks salvaged by Perks Deconstruction from an old farmhouse in Aurora. The wood will be transported to the company’s warehouse, where it will be sorted and priced for sale. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The carbon emissions embodied in buildings\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The idea is to limit the climate impact of our built environment, which accounts for \u003ca href=\"https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/2022-global-status-report-buildings-and-construction\">nearly 40%\u003c/a> of global greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ca href=\"https://carbonleadershipforum.org/the-embodied-carbon-benchmark-report/\">About half\u003c/a> of that comes from the \u003ca href=\"https://rmi.org/embodied-carbon-101/\">embodied carbon\u003c/a> of construction materials, according to Michelle Lambert, the policy and engagement manager at the nonprofit Carbon Leadership Forum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Embodied carbon is the greenhouse gas emissions that are generated by the manufacturing, the transportation, the installation, all the way through to the disposal of construction materials that are used in buildings or in roads and other infrastructure projects,” Lambert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a long time, experts have focused on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/energy-business/policy-and-regulation/embodied-carbon-vs-operational-carbon-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter/\">climate impact\u003c/a> of building operations — the energy used to heat, cool and electrify spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But in the last five, 10 years, we’ve really started to understand that the materials and the processes that have created those materials are a really significant piece of the whole carbon footprint of buildings as well,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044256\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scout Wise, a Perks Deconstruction warehouse coordinator, walks through the company’s warehouse. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The big promise of deconstruction is in creating a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrel.gov/buildings/circular-economy\">circular economy\u003c/a> for building materials: harvesting lumber, say, from an old house, rather than a forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Making use of the materials that we have already manufactured is one of the most impactful ways that we can reduce embodied carbon,” Lambert said. “Eliminating all of those emissions that would’ve been required to create new materials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The challenges of deconstruction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chris Fellows, president of Colorado-based development company Resolute Strategies, hired Perks Deconstruction to dismantle a few crumbling farm buildings on a former homestead he’s now building out as a mixed-use residential neighborhood in Aurora. In his brief for the project, he included reusing as many of the original materials as possible on-site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bricks from the farmhouse and siding from the barn have been set aside in containers. They’ll be incorporated into a new community center for the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a place where there’s cool history and culture in the pioneers and the settlers that came out and did \u003ca href=\"https://www.drylandag.org/\">dryland farming\u003c/a>,” Fellows said. “We’re trying to honor that part of that culture and history of Colorado.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellows said he and his partners also liked deconstruction as a way to cut the carbon footprint of the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to be good stewards of the land in terms of the climate and the environment,” he said. “So, to the extent that we could reuse and recycle any materials, we wanted to do that, so we don’t have to consume as much new material, nor do we have to take as much stuff to a landfill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just because the interest is there doesn’t mean the execution is easy. A successful deconstruction program requires local infrastructure for processing and distributing salvaged materials, not to mention local end markets — people who want to buy and use those materials. Boulder, for instance, has a robust \u003ca href=\"https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cdrecyclingresourcesflyer.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deconstruction ecosystem\u003c/a> that includes expert contractors and recycling facilities for concrete, masonry and lumber, not to mention several building-materials reuse stores and donation centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044257\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044257\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At a project site in Boulder, a Perks Deconstruction crew pulls a metal gutter from a piece of roofing taken off a house. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But a lot of places don’t have those resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to have a place to take all this material,” Perks said. “It gets really hard for contractors when there’s nowhere to take the material.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The extra cost of deconstruction can also make it a hard sell. Homeowners and developers may be motivated by environmental reasons, but the economic incentives aren’t there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellows estimates that deconstruction increased project costs 35% to 40% and added at least a year to the schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because we had to stage things carefully and do them in a certain sequence,” he said. “And we had to find the right people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, Fellows said he’s glad they went for it and even thinks he’ll see an eventual return on the investment when eco-conscious homebuyers learn about the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ll have to check back in three to five years. We’ll see if we think that’s happening,” he said. “But I think it was still the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On the books\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.allforreuse.org/resources/policy-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">handful\u003c/a> of local governments, from \u003ca href=\"https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Zero-Waste/Zero-Waste-Requirements-Guidelines/Deconstruction-Ordinance\">Palo Alto, Calif.\u003c/a>, to \u003ca href=\"https://www.leegov.com/solidwaste/recycling/constructiondebris\">Fort Myers, Fla.\u003c/a>, and counting, now either require some percentage of demolition waste be salvaged, reused or recycled, or incentivize those practices. Portland, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.portland.gov/bps/garbage-recycling/decon/about-decon\">an ordinance\u003c/a> has been on the books since 2016, was among the earliest deconstruction pioneers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Boulder, more than 140 million pounds of materials have been kept out of landfills since a \u003ca href=\"https://bouldercolorado.gov/services/sustainable-deconstruction-requirements\">deconstruction ordinance\u003c/a> was adopted in 2020, according to the city of Boulder’s circular economy policy adviser, Emily Freeman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044258\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old wiring and pipe fittings are piled in the corner of a basement at a home in Boulder, where Perks Deconstruction is taking down the home and salvaging as much of its material as possible. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All residential and commercial buildings are required to be deconstructed,” Freeman said. “The ordinance requirements are that 75% or more of those building materials are diverted from landfill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the city has overshot that goal. Over the last five years, Freeman said, more than 83% of the construction waste generated in Boulder has been kept out of landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the movement matures, Perks said, the next frontier in deconstruction would be to \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-06/documents/design_for_disassembly_in_the_built_environment.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">plan for disassembly\u003c/a> before a building ever got built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can you either incorporate reclaimed materials into the new design, or when you’re designing, can you think about what’s this going to be like to take it down?” she said. “And when it gets taken down, can it be reused?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perks says the future of climate-conscious construction will be knowing exactly how you’ll take a building apart before you even put it together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Proponents of a growing movement in the construction industry are asking: Why tear down old buildings with wrecking balls when those materials can be mined for reusable materials?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The practice, called deconstruction, creates a circular economy of reuse for building materials. It keeps waste out of landfills and shrinks the carbon footprint of buildings and infrastructure. It’s the kind of idea that sounds like an obvious win-win. But as the built environment rapidly changes over from one generation to the next, communities may not yet have the infrastructure — the sorting facilities and reuse stores — to keep up with new demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deconstruction and reuse industries have taken flight in the past five to 10 years in cities like Portland, Ore., and Boulder, Colo., where much of the original aging housing stock is now being replaced to suit the tastes of a much wealthier 21st-century population. As old homes come down to make way for new ones, specialist contractors like Anna Perks are moving in to handle the materials left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our team is systematically unbuilding the structure,” said Perks, co-owner of Perks Deconstruction, a contracting company that disassembles buildings for parts. She was hired to make a snug three-bedroom, two-bath home near the top of a green, hilly street in Boulder disappear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044254\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044254\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Perks Deconstruction co-owner Anna Perks walks past the remaining slab of an old farmhouse at a project in Aurora. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her crew worked quickly. After the first day on-site, the roof of the house disappeared. The siding, too. A crew wielding hammers and crowbars pried pieces of wood sheathing off the studs and carefully sorted materials. Others clawed nails out of two-by-sixes in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got a pretty good pile of lumber,” she said. “That’s all ceiling joists and floor joists. There’s a lot of good reusable lumber in there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The workers were trained to work precisely and with patience to keep the lumber as intact as possible as they removed it from the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Typically, what happens is a bulldozer will come in, smash it all — it’ll all get trashed,” Perks said. “But deconstruction, we try to salvage and recycle as much as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A truck is piled with planks salvaged by Perks Deconstruction from an old farmhouse in Aurora. The wood will be transported to the company’s warehouse, where it will be sorted and priced for sale. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The carbon emissions embodied in buildings\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The idea is to limit the climate impact of our built environment, which accounts for \u003ca href=\"https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/2022-global-status-report-buildings-and-construction\">nearly 40%\u003c/a> of global greenhouse gas emissions. \u003ca href=\"https://carbonleadershipforum.org/the-embodied-carbon-benchmark-report/\">About half\u003c/a> of that comes from the \u003ca href=\"https://rmi.org/embodied-carbon-101/\">embodied carbon\u003c/a> of construction materials, according to Michelle Lambert, the policy and engagement manager at the nonprofit Carbon Leadership Forum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Embodied carbon is the greenhouse gas emissions that are generated by the manufacturing, the transportation, the installation, all the way through to the disposal of construction materials that are used in buildings or in roads and other infrastructure projects,” Lambert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a long time, experts have focused on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/energy-business/policy-and-regulation/embodied-carbon-vs-operational-carbon-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter/\">climate impact\u003c/a> of building operations — the energy used to heat, cool and electrify spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But in the last five, 10 years, we’ve really started to understand that the materials and the processes that have created those materials are a really significant piece of the whole carbon footprint of buildings as well,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044256\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-3-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scout Wise, a Perks Deconstruction warehouse coordinator, walks through the company’s warehouse. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The big promise of deconstruction is in creating a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrel.gov/buildings/circular-economy\">circular economy\u003c/a> for building materials: harvesting lumber, say, from an old house, rather than a forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Making use of the materials that we have already manufactured is one of the most impactful ways that we can reduce embodied carbon,” Lambert said. “Eliminating all of those emissions that would’ve been required to create new materials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The challenges of deconstruction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chris Fellows, president of Colorado-based development company Resolute Strategies, hired Perks Deconstruction to dismantle a few crumbling farm buildings on a former homestead he’s now building out as a mixed-use residential neighborhood in Aurora. In his brief for the project, he included reusing as many of the original materials as possible on-site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bricks from the farmhouse and siding from the barn have been set aside in containers. They’ll be incorporated into a new community center for the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a place where there’s cool history and culture in the pioneers and the settlers that came out and did \u003ca href=\"https://www.drylandag.org/\">dryland farming\u003c/a>,” Fellows said. “We’re trying to honor that part of that culture and history of Colorado.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellows said he and his partners also liked deconstruction as a way to cut the carbon footprint of the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to be good stewards of the land in terms of the climate and the environment,” he said. “So, to the extent that we could reuse and recycle any materials, we wanted to do that, so we don’t have to consume as much new material, nor do we have to take as much stuff to a landfill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just because the interest is there doesn’t mean the execution is easy. A successful deconstruction program requires local infrastructure for processing and distributing salvaged materials, not to mention local end markets — people who want to buy and use those materials. Boulder, for instance, has a robust \u003ca href=\"https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cdrecyclingresourcesflyer.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deconstruction ecosystem\u003c/a> that includes expert contractors and recycling facilities for concrete, masonry and lumber, not to mention several building-materials reuse stores and donation centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044257\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044257\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-4-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At a project site in Boulder, a Perks Deconstruction crew pulls a metal gutter from a piece of roofing taken off a house. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But a lot of places don’t have those resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to have a place to take all this material,” Perks said. “It gets really hard for contractors when there’s nowhere to take the material.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The extra cost of deconstruction can also make it a hard sell. Homeowners and developers may be motivated by environmental reasons, but the economic incentives aren’t there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellows estimates that deconstruction increased project costs 35% to 40% and added at least a year to the schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because we had to stage things carefully and do them in a certain sequence,” he said. “And we had to find the right people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, Fellows said he’s glad they went for it and even thinks he’ll see an eventual return on the investment when eco-conscious homebuyers learn about the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ll have to check back in three to five years. We’ll see if we think that’s happening,” he said. “But I think it was still the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On the books\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.allforreuse.org/resources/policy-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">handful\u003c/a> of local governments, from \u003ca href=\"https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Zero-Waste/Zero-Waste-Requirements-Guidelines/Deconstruction-Ordinance\">Palo Alto, Calif.\u003c/a>, to \u003ca href=\"https://www.leegov.com/solidwaste/recycling/constructiondebris\">Fort Myers, Fla.\u003c/a>, and counting, now either require some percentage of demolition waste be salvaged, reused or recycled, or incentivize those practices. Portland, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.portland.gov/bps/garbage-recycling/decon/about-decon\">an ordinance\u003c/a> has been on the books since 2016, was among the earliest deconstruction pioneers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Boulder, more than 140 million pounds of materials have been kept out of landfills since a \u003ca href=\"https://bouldercolorado.gov/services/sustainable-deconstruction-requirements\">deconstruction ordinance\u003c/a> was adopted in 2020, according to the city of Boulder’s circular economy policy adviser, Emily Freeman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044258\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-5-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old wiring and pipe fittings are piled in the corner of a basement at a home in Boulder, where Perks Deconstruction is taking down the home and salvaging as much of its material as possible. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All residential and commercial buildings are required to be deconstructed,” Freeman said. “The ordinance requirements are that 75% or more of those building materials are diverted from landfill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the city has overshot that goal. Over the last five years, Freeman said, more than 83% of the construction waste generated in Boulder has been kept out of landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the movement matures, Perks said, the next frontier in deconstruction would be to \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-06/documents/design_for_disassembly_in_the_built_environment.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">plan for disassembly\u003c/a> before a building ever got built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can you either incorporate reclaimed materials into the new design, or when you’re designing, can you think about what’s this going to be like to take it down?” she said. “And when it gets taken down, can it be reused?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perks says the future of climate-conscious construction will be knowing exactly how you’ll take a building apart before you even put it together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "rv-encampments-are-notoriously-hard-to-close-this-city-found-something-that-works",
"title": "Berkeley’s Strategy for RV Encampments Could Be a Model for California",
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"headTitle": "Berkeley’s Strategy for RV Encampments Could Be a Model for California | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>In January, three generations of the Hall family were living in a pair of RVs, tucked into an industrial corner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/berkeley\">Berkeley\u003c/a>. Fannie Hall shared her blue and white 29-footer with her adult daughter and granddaughter, plus a pack of yapping Chihuahuas — Hall’s beloved Tutti, her daughter’s Blu, and nine puppies. Across the street, Hall’s son lived in a second camper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m letting him stay in the cottage — I call it the cottage,” Hall, 64, said with a laugh, motioning toward a red and white RV she likened to a vacation home. “We all got homeless about the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was roughly six years ago, after the house they rented in San Pablo was red-tagged for code violations. They were forced to move out with a week’s notice, Hall said, and eventually all ended up on Berkeley’s Second Street — a stretch of wrecked asphalt at the city’s western edge lined with barbed wire-ringed recycling and construction businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around the corner, another family shared their own set of RVs. Patrick, 58, and his wife had moved into the area around the same time as the Halls, after Patrick’s wife had a heart attack, lost her job as an administrative assistant and the couple got evicted from their San Pablo home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t been able to afford anywhere around here,” said Patrick, who asked to be identified only by his first name because he doesn’t want his employers to know his living situation. “So this is kind of where we just landed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041257\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041257\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stretch of Harrison Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, is home to an unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both families were working — Hall as a home health aide three days a week and Patrick as a security guard — and they tried to keep their areas tidy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the time Elvia Guzman, 42, and her husband moved there in 2024, the area had become a well-established encampment with dozens of people living in motorhomes, broken down buses, cars and tents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Second Street was a place where there was a lot of RVs and a little community there,” she said, explaining authorities had broken up a similar site where the couple was living in Richmond. “They weren’t really bothering us over here, so it felt more comfortable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the area grew increasingly chaotic. Hall watched in frustration as garbage piles swelled to mini mountains and fires broke out. The mess eventually became her problem, attracting pests — “I’ve had my camper chewed on and killed multiple rats up in my camper,” she said — and the authorities.[aside postID=news_12043568 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/240130-HomelessCount-46-BL_qed.jpg']In 2023, police were called to the area around 250 times, and there were 20 reported fires, according to \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-09-10%20Item%2037%20Encampment%20Policy%20Resolution.pdf\">city documents\u003c/a>. Neighbors complained to the city council that there were “human feces just about anywhere you dare to look,” “a stabbing,” and fights resulting in “retaliatory arson.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city provided porta potties, dumpsters, mobile showers and laundry facilities, and cleared nearly 40 tons of debris over the years. Still, by early 2024, officials deemed the area an imminent health hazard, citing used hypodermic needles, rotting food, a rat infestation and waste-contaminated storm drains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014227/progressive-berkeley-new-tough-stance-homeless-encampments\">even famously liberal Berkeley had had enough\u003c/a> and city leaders directed staff to focus on cleaning up the area. They started laying plans to close the encampment for good and, ideally, house its inhabitants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peter Radu, who oversees Berkeley’s Homeless Response Team, knew they would need to try something different. Past outreach efforts offering shelter to the residents had largely failed. A staff report noted engagement wasn’t successful because many of the RV dwellers did not consider themselves homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall explained it this way: With an apartment out of reach, her RV offered a degree of privacy, security and independence, not to mention a valuable asset that could be traded for cash. Accepting temporary shelter risked all that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They can’t guarantee you housing once you get in there,” she said, expressing concern that she might be forced to move out of the shelter before a permanent home opened up. Her family could land back on the streets and worse off if they gave up their campers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, Radu and his colleagues decided to test a new strategy: cash for RVs. If the participants agreed to move indoors, they would get $175 per linear foot of RV, or about $6,000 for a 35-foot vehicle. They’d receive 15% of the payout when they moved into a motel shelter and the rest after they tried out the shelter and their RV was towed. If residents decided not to stick with the program during the trial period, they’d still pocket the initial payment and keep their vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The approach was modeled after a pilot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/new-initiatives-approved-binford-road-encampment?language=es\">Marin County that was \u003c/a>itself inspired by a cash incentive meant to get \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sausalito-homeless-encampment-17531723.php\">boat dwellers out of Richardson Bay\u003c/a>. It had a lot of promise, said UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative Director Margot Kushel, who has \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/resources/long-road-home-housing-and-service-needs-people-who-inhabit-oversized-vehicles\">studied the needs of people living in large vehicles. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city designed this to really gain people’s trust and to make sure that people were not left worse off than they were when they started,” she said. \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/resources/long-road-home-housing-and-service-needs-people-who-inhabit-oversized-vehicles\">She called Berkeley’s program \u003c/a>“quite innovative” and said it could prove valuable in the future as the state contends with RV homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041249\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041249\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teahana Roman, program manager, speaks with a resident at Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. The site, operated by Dorothy Day House, provides transitional housing and supportive services for unhoused individuals in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As cities work to clean up homeless encampments under increasing pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom and housed residents, RV communities present a distinct — and notoriously difficult — challenge, especially with \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2022.2117990?src=#abstract\">more\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://usich.gov/sites/default/files/document/How_Communities_Are_Responding_to_Vehicular_Homelessness.pdf\">and more\u003c/a> Californians taking up residence in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over half of Alameda County’s unsheltered homeless population \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.acgov.org/data_point_in_time.page?\">now lives in some kind of car or RV\u003c/a>, but strategies for managing and resolving this unique form of homelessness are lagging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, attempts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11999643/unhoused-san-francisco-rv-families-forced-to-move-yet-again-with-nowhere-to-go\">clear RV encampments\u003c/a> have led to widespread public outcry, and after moving to ban overnight RV parking, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017544/sf-supes-reverse-citys-controversial-rv-parking-ban\">city reversed course\u003c/a> under pressure from advocates. Now, Mayor Daniel Lurie is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043568/san-francisco-mayor-proposes-to-ban-rvs-from-long-term-street-parking\">again proposing to ban the vehicles\u003c/a>, this time with a similar offer to Berkeley’s, as part of a broader plan to get motorhomes off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kushel’s \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/resources/long-road-home-housing-and-service-needs-people-who-inhabit-oversized-vehicles\">research\u003c/a> found that people living in RVs are reluctant to give them up for anything short of permanent housing — a dilemma when there’s little to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley officials designed their strategy with that in mind, but residents still had reservations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An empty stretch of Second Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, was once home to a large unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It sounds good,” Patrick said, “but that’s what makes me a little leery — maybe it just sounds too good to be true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall was wary, too. What she didn’t know about the motel program gave her pause. “[You] don’t know if it’s going to be safe,” she said. “You’re going in with strangers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so did what she knew. “You can’t have anybody visiting you,” Hall said, “You can’t cook in the room.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Guzman, though RV living never felt truly safe, the possibility of ending up on the streets in a tent, even less protected from the elements, was even more terrifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get the program to work, city staff and nonprofit outreach workers spent roughly three months coaxing residents, explaining their offer, listening to concerns and making accommodations to the shelter policies where possible. A one-dog-per-person rule stretched to allow four dogs in one room; friends were allowed to bunk together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041252\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Resident Letty Guzman looks out of the window in her room at Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. The site, operated by Dorothy Day House, provides transitional housing and supportive services for unhoused individuals in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All of that really matters,” Radu said. But ultimately, it was the city’s cash offer that overcame many of the residents’ reservations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guzman and her husband ended up accepting roughly $3,000 for their vehicle, which they promptly put into savings. That gives them some reassurance, she said, in case they get kicked out or the program ends. “We don’t have another RV to go to or a Plan B, so we gotta have something put aside for that, just in case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick and his wife also took the city up on its offer. For them, it solved a logistical problem: What to do with their motorhomes if they moved into a shelter? They have two cars and two RVs and stand to get about $4,900 for just one of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The buy-back program kind of makes everything sort of doable because it gives me a little money in my pocket, and I don’t have to worry about my stuff getting towed because it’s not my stuff anymore,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Halls, on the other hand, opted out because, as Fannie Hall said, “I’d rather stay where I’m safe and I’m familiar with.” But they were among the exceptions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041247\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An empty stretch of Second Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, was once home to a large unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A total of 36 people and 26 dogs moved from the encampment into a city-leased motel in central Berkeley beginning in January. Of the 32 vehicles workers encountered on Second Street during the closure process, just three remain on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By that metric, it was a resounding success and something that we’re looking to expand upon hopefully in other encampments,” Radu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kushel and her team are now evaluating the program’s success at Berkeley’s request — a highly unusual step. The city built the research plan into its application for $5.4 million in state \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-and-funding/programs-active/encampment-resolution-funding-program\">Encampment Resolution Funding\u003c/a> last year.[aside postID=news_11999643 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/SFZooRVs-1020x683.jpg'] While California has put \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5007\">$1 billion toward the grants\u003c/a> since 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11982237/california-audit-questions-state-homelessness-spending-san-jose\">there’s little quality research on what works\u003c/a> when it comes to successfully closing encampments. Radu and Kushel want to change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that we are leaning into this crisis with both a sense of urgency and also a sense of moving beyond rhetoric to actually explore what does work, what doesn’t work and to try to get as many win-wins as we possibly can,” Kushel said. “The story is just beginning, but I think we’ve already learned a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the research, Kushel will be looking closely at the holdouts, like Hall and her family, to understand why they refused to accept the city’s offer. The answer might influence how they design future programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Halls left Second Street in late April with help from the city of Berkeley to get their RVs running. Rats had gnawed through some wiring, Hall said, and the motorhomes needed new batteries, which the city sprang for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re now adjusting to life behind a Target on the Oakland-Emeryville border. “We’re all kind of watching out for each other like we did over on Second Street,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall is applying for housing and still works three days a week as a home health aide, she said. “I’m just trying to keep the faith and then hopefully something gives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041251\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Resident Letty Guzman holds a cat pillow in her room at Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>About a mile away, Guzman sat inside the Capri Motel, a two-story terracotta-roofed building on a busy street in Berkeley. It was a weekday in May, and a group of formerly homeless residents were playing cornhole in the courtyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guzman said she’s working with program staff to replace her ID, birth certificate and other documents that were stolen when she lived in the RV so she can apply for apartments. Like most of the residents there, it’ll take her several months, even a year or more, to get into a permanent home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re just hoping to end up with our housing like we’ve been wanting for so many years now and be stable,” she said. “I just want a boring, normal, regular life, that’s all. I’ll be happy with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Second Street, there’s little trace of the encampment she and the Halls left behind. The heaps of garbage and barking dogs are gone. Dozens of new street signs line the road, threatening would-be lodgers with arrest. There’s not an RV in sight, just crumbling pavement, weeds and graffiti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "As Gov. Gavin Newsom ups pressure to clean encampments across California, Berkeley is finding success with a novel approach to helping move people off the streets. ",
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"title": "Berkeley’s Strategy for RV Encampments Could Be a Model for California | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In January, three generations of the Hall family were living in a pair of RVs, tucked into an industrial corner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/berkeley\">Berkeley\u003c/a>. Fannie Hall shared her blue and white 29-footer with her adult daughter and granddaughter, plus a pack of yapping Chihuahuas — Hall’s beloved Tutti, her daughter’s Blu, and nine puppies. Across the street, Hall’s son lived in a second camper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m letting him stay in the cottage — I call it the cottage,” Hall, 64, said with a laugh, motioning toward a red and white RV she likened to a vacation home. “We all got homeless about the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was roughly six years ago, after the house they rented in San Pablo was red-tagged for code violations. They were forced to move out with a week’s notice, Hall said, and eventually all ended up on Berkeley’s Second Street — a stretch of wrecked asphalt at the city’s western edge lined with barbed wire-ringed recycling and construction businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around the corner, another family shared their own set of RVs. Patrick, 58, and his wife had moved into the area around the same time as the Halls, after Patrick’s wife had a heart attack, lost her job as an administrative assistant and the couple got evicted from their San Pablo home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t been able to afford anywhere around here,” said Patrick, who asked to be identified only by his first name because he doesn’t want his employers to know his living situation. “So this is kind of where we just landed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041257\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041257\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-43-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stretch of Harrison Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, is home to an unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both families were working — Hall as a home health aide three days a week and Patrick as a security guard — and they tried to keep their areas tidy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the time Elvia Guzman, 42, and her husband moved there in 2024, the area had become a well-established encampment with dozens of people living in motorhomes, broken down buses, cars and tents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Second Street was a place where there was a lot of RVs and a little community there,” she said, explaining authorities had broken up a similar site where the couple was living in Richmond. “They weren’t really bothering us over here, so it felt more comfortable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, the area grew increasingly chaotic. Hall watched in frustration as garbage piles swelled to mini mountains and fires broke out. The mess eventually became her problem, attracting pests — “I’ve had my camper chewed on and killed multiple rats up in my camper,” she said — and the authorities.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In 2023, police were called to the area around 250 times, and there were 20 reported fires, according to \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-09-10%20Item%2037%20Encampment%20Policy%20Resolution.pdf\">city documents\u003c/a>. Neighbors complained to the city council that there were “human feces just about anywhere you dare to look,” “a stabbing,” and fights resulting in “retaliatory arson.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city provided porta potties, dumpsters, mobile showers and laundry facilities, and cleared nearly 40 tons of debris over the years. Still, by early 2024, officials deemed the area an imminent health hazard, citing used hypodermic needles, rotting food, a rat infestation and waste-contaminated storm drains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014227/progressive-berkeley-new-tough-stance-homeless-encampments\">even famously liberal Berkeley had had enough\u003c/a> and city leaders directed staff to focus on cleaning up the area. They started laying plans to close the encampment for good and, ideally, house its inhabitants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peter Radu, who oversees Berkeley’s Homeless Response Team, knew they would need to try something different. Past outreach efforts offering shelter to the residents had largely failed. A staff report noted engagement wasn’t successful because many of the RV dwellers did not consider themselves homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall explained it this way: With an apartment out of reach, her RV offered a degree of privacy, security and independence, not to mention a valuable asset that could be traded for cash. Accepting temporary shelter risked all that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-17-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They can’t guarantee you housing once you get in there,” she said, expressing concern that she might be forced to move out of the shelter before a permanent home opened up. Her family could land back on the streets and worse off if they gave up their campers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, Radu and his colleagues decided to test a new strategy: cash for RVs. If the participants agreed to move indoors, they would get $175 per linear foot of RV, or about $6,000 for a 35-foot vehicle. They’d receive 15% of the payout when they moved into a motel shelter and the rest after they tried out the shelter and their RV was towed. If residents decided not to stick with the program during the trial period, they’d still pocket the initial payment and keep their vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The approach was modeled after a pilot in \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/new-initiatives-approved-binford-road-encampment?language=es\">Marin County that was \u003c/a>itself inspired by a cash incentive meant to get \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sausalito-homeless-encampment-17531723.php\">boat dwellers out of Richardson Bay\u003c/a>. It had a lot of promise, said UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative Director Margot Kushel, who has \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/resources/long-road-home-housing-and-service-needs-people-who-inhabit-oversized-vehicles\">studied the needs of people living in large vehicles. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city designed this to really gain people’s trust and to make sure that people were not left worse off than they were when they started,” she said. \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/resources/long-road-home-housing-and-service-needs-people-who-inhabit-oversized-vehicles\">She called Berkeley’s program \u003c/a>“quite innovative” and said it could prove valuable in the future as the state contends with RV homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041249\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041249\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teahana Roman, program manager, speaks with a resident at Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. The site, operated by Dorothy Day House, provides transitional housing and supportive services for unhoused individuals in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As cities work to clean up homeless encampments under increasing pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom and housed residents, RV communities present a distinct — and notoriously difficult — challenge, especially with \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2022.2117990?src=#abstract\">more\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://usich.gov/sites/default/files/document/How_Communities_Are_Responding_to_Vehicular_Homelessness.pdf\">and more\u003c/a> Californians taking up residence in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over half of Alameda County’s unsheltered homeless population \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.acgov.org/data_point_in_time.page?\">now lives in some kind of car or RV\u003c/a>, but strategies for managing and resolving this unique form of homelessness are lagging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, attempts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11999643/unhoused-san-francisco-rv-families-forced-to-move-yet-again-with-nowhere-to-go\">clear RV encampments\u003c/a> have led to widespread public outcry, and after moving to ban overnight RV parking, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017544/sf-supes-reverse-citys-controversial-rv-parking-ban\">city reversed course\u003c/a> under pressure from advocates. Now, Mayor Daniel Lurie is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043568/san-francisco-mayor-proposes-to-ban-rvs-from-long-term-street-parking\">again proposing to ban the vehicles\u003c/a>, this time with a similar offer to Berkeley’s, as part of a broader plan to get motorhomes off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kushel’s \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/resources/long-road-home-housing-and-service-needs-people-who-inhabit-oversized-vehicles\">research\u003c/a> found that people living in RVs are reluctant to give them up for anything short of permanent housing — a dilemma when there’s little to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley officials designed their strategy with that in mind, but residents still had reservations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-05-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An empty stretch of Second Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, was once home to a large unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It sounds good,” Patrick said, “but that’s what makes me a little leery — maybe it just sounds too good to be true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall was wary, too. What she didn’t know about the motel program gave her pause. “[You] don’t know if it’s going to be safe,” she said. “You’re going in with strangers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so did what she knew. “You can’t have anybody visiting you,” Hall said, “You can’t cook in the room.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Guzman, though RV living never felt truly safe, the possibility of ending up on the streets in a tent, even less protected from the elements, was even more terrifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get the program to work, city staff and nonprofit outreach workers spent roughly three months coaxing residents, explaining their offer, listening to concerns and making accommodations to the shelter policies where possible. A one-dog-per-person rule stretched to allow four dogs in one room; friends were allowed to bunk together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041252\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-20-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Resident Letty Guzman looks out of the window in her room at Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. The site, operated by Dorothy Day House, provides transitional housing and supportive services for unhoused individuals in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All of that really matters,” Radu said. But ultimately, it was the city’s cash offer that overcame many of the residents’ reservations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guzman and her husband ended up accepting roughly $3,000 for their vehicle, which they promptly put into savings. That gives them some reassurance, she said, in case they get kicked out or the program ends. “We don’t have another RV to go to or a Plan B, so we gotta have something put aside for that, just in case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick and his wife also took the city up on its offer. For them, it solved a logistical problem: What to do with their motorhomes if they moved into a shelter? They have two cars and two RVs and stand to get about $4,900 for just one of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The buy-back program kind of makes everything sort of doable because it gives me a little money in my pocket, and I don’t have to worry about my stuff getting towed because it’s not my stuff anymore,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Halls, on the other hand, opted out because, as Fannie Hall said, “I’d rather stay where I’m safe and I’m familiar with.” But they were among the exceptions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041247\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-03-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An empty stretch of Second Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, was once home to a large unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A total of 36 people and 26 dogs moved from the encampment into a city-leased motel in central Berkeley beginning in January. Of the 32 vehicles workers encountered on Second Street during the closure process, just three remain on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By that metric, it was a resounding success and something that we’re looking to expand upon hopefully in other encampments,” Radu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kushel and her team are now evaluating the program’s success at Berkeley’s request — a highly unusual step. The city built the research plan into its application for $5.4 million in state \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-and-funding/programs-active/encampment-resolution-funding-program\">Encampment Resolution Funding\u003c/a> last year.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> While California has put \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5007\">$1 billion toward the grants\u003c/a> since 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11982237/california-audit-questions-state-homelessness-spending-san-jose\">there’s little quality research on what works\u003c/a> when it comes to successfully closing encampments. Radu and Kushel want to change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that we are leaning into this crisis with both a sense of urgency and also a sense of moving beyond rhetoric to actually explore what does work, what doesn’t work and to try to get as many win-wins as we possibly can,” Kushel said. “The story is just beginning, but I think we’ve already learned a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the research, Kushel will be looking closely at the holdouts, like Hall and her family, to understand why they refused to accept the city’s offer. The answer might influence how they design future programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Halls left Second Street in late April with help from the city of Berkeley to get their RVs running. Rats had gnawed through some wiring, Hall said, and the motorhomes needed new batteries, which the city sprang for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re now adjusting to life behind a Target on the Oakland-Emeryville border. “We’re all kind of watching out for each other like we did over on Second Street,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall is applying for housing and still works three days a week as a home health aide, she said. “I’m just trying to keep the faith and then hopefully something gives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041251\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250520-BERKELEYRVBUYBACK-19-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Resident Letty Guzman holds a cat pillow in her room at Horizon Community Village at the Capri Motel on University Avenue in Berkeley on May 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>About a mile away, Guzman sat inside the Capri Motel, a two-story terracotta-roofed building on a busy street in Berkeley. It was a weekday in May, and a group of formerly homeless residents were playing cornhole in the courtyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guzman said she’s working with program staff to replace her ID, birth certificate and other documents that were stolen when she lived in the RV so she can apply for apartments. Like most of the residents there, it’ll take her several months, even a year or more, to get into a permanent home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re just hoping to end up with our housing like we’ve been wanting for so many years now and be stable,” she said. “I just want a boring, normal, regular life, that’s all. I’ll be happy with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Second Street, there’s little trace of the encampment she and the Halls left behind. The heaps of garbage and barking dogs are gone. Dozens of new street signs line the road, threatening would-be lodgers with arrest. There’s not an RV in sight, just crumbling pavement, weeds and graffiti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "san-jose-council-approves-mahans-shelter-enforcement-plan",
"title": "San José Council Approves Mahan’s Shelter Enforcement Plan",
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"headTitle": "San José Council Approves Mahan’s Shelter Enforcement Plan | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The San José City Council \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042370/in-san-jose-a-controversial-choice-for-unhoused-shelter-or-arrest\">approved a controversial plan\u003c/a> to potentially arrest unhoused people who refuse multiple offers of shelter — part of a series of votes on Tuesday that delivered a sweeping victory for San José Mayor Matt Mahan and his agenda for reducing homelessness in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With city finances on a stable course, Mahan used the budget process to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042688/mahan-unveils-final-san-jose-budget-plan\">advance ambitious policy priorities\u003c/a>, particularly a more aggressive, shelter-focused approach. That included the shelter-or-arrest plan and an effort to prioritize city homeless funding for temporary housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This will help us end the era of encampments,” Mahan told KQED. “It’s not a silver bullet, but it’s a step in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The votes came as the council balanced a $1.7 billion general fund budget without large workforce cuts, and made a historic investment in legal defense in preparation for increased federal immigration enforcement. Mahan didn’t win support for his entire agenda, as his push to tie a portion of council and mayoral pay to the city’s performance on a variety of metrics was rejected by the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As cities across California are weighing more aggressive action on homelessness after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983492/how-a-pivotal-case-on-homelessness-could-redefine-policies-in-california-and-the-nation\">U.S. Supreme Court decision\u003c/a> gave local officials more powers to sweep encampments, Mahan pitched his Responsibility to Shelter plan as a more humane alternative to simply clearing camps without offering shelter.[aside postID=news_12042370 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-06-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure, which passed the council on a 9–2 vote, would add an expectation of accepting shelter to the city’s Code of Conduct for Encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s humane or compassionate to allow people to live or die on our streets when they are unable or unwilling to accept the help the city is able to offer,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s police chief said violations of the code, which include camping near a shelter site, would guide police to prioritize specific encampments for outreach, and eventually arrests, such as for trespassing or illegal dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure will also create new police and housing units for outreach and enforcement. Mahan said he hoped to use arrests to compel unsheltered residents into court-ordered treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responsibility to Shelter faced widespread skepticism from Santa Clara County officials — including members of the board of supervisors, the district attorney and the county sheriff — who argued the measure will push unhoused people into the criminal justice system without adding more housing for them while they receive treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987727\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987727\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José City Councilmember Peter Ortiz speaks during a rally outside the Regional Medical Center in East San José on May 24. Ortiz opposed the shelter enforcement plan, joined by Councilmember Pamela Campos. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who joined Councilmember Pamela Campos in opposition to the shelter enforcement plan, said the measure unfairly assumes that everyone who refuses shelter is suffering from addiction or mental health challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone who simply declines shelter could be susceptible to being arrested, when many reasons for denying [shelter] are relevant and should be taken into consideration,” Ortiz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The enforcement plan is likely to be carried out primarily in areas around interim housing sites, where the city has established no-encampment zones. Mahan argued that compelling unhoused people to accept shelter will help improve conditions on the streets around new shelters, which he views as key for maintaining political support for the interim housing program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To pay for that program’s ongoing costs, the council voted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">permanently\u003c/a> earmark the lion’s share of tax revenue raised through \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">Measure E\u003c/a>, a tax on property sales, for temporary housing and shelter. The new Measure E spending plan sets aside 90% for shelter costs ($47 million in 2025–26) and 10% ($5.2 million) for homeless prevention programs such as rental assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campos pushed to increase the prevention funding to 15%, but a majority of the council rejected that idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you are put in this predicament of having to do a lot with less, prevention just makes sense,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clusters of tents belonging to unhoused residents line the banks of Coyote Creek near Tully Road in San José on Jan. 4, 2023. \u003ccite>(Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By covering interim housing costs with the Measure E fund, rather than the general fund, the council erased a $35.6 million budget shortfall — and avoided the need for the large staffing cuts needed to balance municipal budgets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041773/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-plans-to-cut-1400-jobs-in-city-budget-proposal\">San Francisco\u003c/a> and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It preserves our staffing, which is really, really important,” Councilmember Pam Foley said. “Because they’re the ones who provide the services that we need to do the work in the city that our residents depend upon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the added fiscal breathing room, the council approved a memo from Ortiz to spend at least $1 million on immigration services, including on-call lawyers and programs to educate undocumented residents about their rights.[aside postID=news_12043568 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/240130-HomelessCount-46-BL_qed.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing our families being unfortunately hunted down by the federal government,” Ortiz said. “This is more than a budget line, it’s recognition of the vital role our undocumented neighbors play in the vibrancy and resiliency of the city of San José.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council also set aside $27 million in reserves to reduce an anticipated shortfall in the 2026–27 fiscal year from $52.9 million to $25.9 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan found little support for his idea to withhold 5% of mayor and council pay, dispersing the money only if the city achieved council-approved goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan argued the proposal would drive greater council focus to achieve benchmarks such as lower crime and homelessness rates. But many council members said the goals could be easily manipulated to achieve success — or alternatively push council members to pursue goals not supported by their district’s constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our job performance is judged by the ballot box,” Councilmember Bien Doan said. He said the plan “hands decision-making power to whoever controls the metric, not the people we serve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Council approved the city budget and delivered a sweeping victory for San José Mayor Matt Mahan and his agenda for reducing homelessness in the city.",
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"title": "San José Council Approves Mahan’s Shelter Enforcement Plan | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The San José City Council \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042370/in-san-jose-a-controversial-choice-for-unhoused-shelter-or-arrest\">approved a controversial plan\u003c/a> to potentially arrest unhoused people who refuse multiple offers of shelter — part of a series of votes on Tuesday that delivered a sweeping victory for San José Mayor Matt Mahan and his agenda for reducing homelessness in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With city finances on a stable course, Mahan used the budget process to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042688/mahan-unveils-final-san-jose-budget-plan\">advance ambitious policy priorities\u003c/a>, particularly a more aggressive, shelter-focused approach. That included the shelter-or-arrest plan and an effort to prioritize city homeless funding for temporary housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This will help us end the era of encampments,” Mahan told KQED. “It’s not a silver bullet, but it’s a step in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The votes came as the council balanced a $1.7 billion general fund budget without large workforce cuts, and made a historic investment in legal defense in preparation for increased federal immigration enforcement. Mahan didn’t win support for his entire agenda, as his push to tie a portion of council and mayoral pay to the city’s performance on a variety of metrics was rejected by the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As cities across California are weighing more aggressive action on homelessness after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983492/how-a-pivotal-case-on-homelessness-could-redefine-policies-in-california-and-the-nation\">U.S. Supreme Court decision\u003c/a> gave local officials more powers to sweep encampments, Mahan pitched his Responsibility to Shelter plan as a more humane alternative to simply clearing camps without offering shelter.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure, which passed the council on a 9–2 vote, would add an expectation of accepting shelter to the city’s Code of Conduct for Encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s humane or compassionate to allow people to live or die on our streets when they are unable or unwilling to accept the help the city is able to offer,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s police chief said violations of the code, which include camping near a shelter site, would guide police to prioritize specific encampments for outreach, and eventually arrests, such as for trespassing or illegal dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure will also create new police and housing units for outreach and enforcement. Mahan said he hoped to use arrests to compel unsheltered residents into court-ordered treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responsibility to Shelter faced widespread skepticism from Santa Clara County officials — including members of the board of supervisors, the district attorney and the county sheriff — who argued the measure will push unhoused people into the criminal justice system without adding more housing for them while they receive treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987727\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987727\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240524-REGIONALMEDICAL-JG-5_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José City Councilmember Peter Ortiz speaks during a rally outside the Regional Medical Center in East San José on May 24. Ortiz opposed the shelter enforcement plan, joined by Councilmember Pamela Campos. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who joined Councilmember Pamela Campos in opposition to the shelter enforcement plan, said the measure unfairly assumes that everyone who refuses shelter is suffering from addiction or mental health challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone who simply declines shelter could be susceptible to being arrested, when many reasons for denying [shelter] are relevant and should be taken into consideration,” Ortiz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The enforcement plan is likely to be carried out primarily in areas around interim housing sites, where the city has established no-encampment zones. Mahan argued that compelling unhoused people to accept shelter will help improve conditions on the streets around new shelters, which he views as key for maintaining political support for the interim housing program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To pay for that program’s ongoing costs, the council voted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">permanently\u003c/a> earmark the lion’s share of tax revenue raised through \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">Measure E\u003c/a>, a tax on property sales, for temporary housing and shelter. The new Measure E spending plan sets aside 90% for shelter costs ($47 million in 2025–26) and 10% ($5.2 million) for homeless prevention programs such as rental assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campos pushed to increase the prevention funding to 15%, but a majority of the council rejected that idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you are put in this predicament of having to do a lot with less, prevention just makes sense,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clusters of tents belonging to unhoused residents line the banks of Coyote Creek near Tully Road in San José on Jan. 4, 2023. \u003ccite>(Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By covering interim housing costs with the Measure E fund, rather than the general fund, the council erased a $35.6 million budget shortfall — and avoided the need for the large staffing cuts needed to balance municipal budgets in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041773/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-plans-to-cut-1400-jobs-in-city-budget-proposal\">San Francisco\u003c/a> and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It preserves our staffing, which is really, really important,” Councilmember Pam Foley said. “Because they’re the ones who provide the services that we need to do the work in the city that our residents depend upon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the added fiscal breathing room, the council approved a memo from Ortiz to spend at least $1 million on immigration services, including on-call lawyers and programs to educate undocumented residents about their rights.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing our families being unfortunately hunted down by the federal government,” Ortiz said. “This is more than a budget line, it’s recognition of the vital role our undocumented neighbors play in the vibrancy and resiliency of the city of San José.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council also set aside $27 million in reserves to reduce an anticipated shortfall in the 2026–27 fiscal year from $52.9 million to $25.9 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan found little support for his idea to withhold 5% of mayor and council pay, dispersing the money only if the city achieved council-approved goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan argued the proposal would drive greater council focus to achieve benchmarks such as lower crime and homelessness rates. But many council members said the goals could be easily manipulated to achieve success — or alternatively push council members to pursue goals not supported by their district’s constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our job performance is judged by the ballot box,” Councilmember Bien Doan said. He said the plan “hands decision-making power to whoever controls the metric, not the people we serve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-francisco-mayor-proposes-to-ban-rvs-from-long-term-street-parking",
"title": "San Francisco Mayor Proposes to Ban RVs from Long-Term Street Parking",
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"headTitle": "San Francisco Mayor Proposes to Ban RVs from Long-Term Street Parking | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Facing mounting pressure from residents, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie introduced a plan on Tuesday to ban large vehicles and RVs from parking for longer than two hours on city streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal, which is part of his March “Breaking the Cycle” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-unveils-breaking-the-cycle-vision-for-tackling-san-franciscos-homelessness-and-behavioral-health-crisis\">initiative\u003c/a>, would subject unauthorized oversized vehicles to citations and towing if not moved within the new time limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No child should grow up in San Francisco forced to live in a car,” Lurie said at a press conference on Tuesday. “And no parent should have to raise their children in those conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the program, Lurie is proposing to devote nearly $13 million to enforcement, outreach and housing subsidies, with city workers offering residents living in large vehicles the chance to receive stable housing. Lurie also intends to offer RV dwellers a “vehicle buyback” incentive — essentially a cash offer to encourage residents to relinquish their large vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move comes just six months after former Mayor London Breed’s own plan for banning RV street parking was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017544/sf-supes-reverse-citys-controversial-rv-parking-ban\">reversed\u003c/a> by the Board of Supervisors, due to mounting criticism from homeless advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11974365\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11974365\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a line of RVs in a car mirror\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team members look for vehicles and RVs serving as shelters, but many have to make judgment calls as they count. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Breed’s plan would have allowed officials with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to tow vehicles if RV dwellers rejected the city’s offers of shelter or services. However, the End Poverty Tows Coalition successfully \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13531123&GUID=EE66C5B2-A7B2-4941-B9E6-1F0B62A1DC95\">appealed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of that coalition are blasting Lurie’s current plan, while others say it has some merit, but lacks clarity about who specifically should be prioritized for rehousing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eleana Binder, the director of public policy at the GLIDE Center for Social Justice and a member of the coalition, said the most troubling part of the plan is the city’s estimate that it could provide funding to rehouse only 115 families, or roughly a quarter of the 437 households estimated to live in large vehicles citywide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The difference between 115 and 437 is concerning,” Binder said. “Those who are not immediately connected with housing subsidies will have some protection from the two-hour parking restrictions, but we’ll still be at risk of ticketing and towing for other violations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12017544 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/231017-LakeMercedRVs-020-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s proposal includes some exceptions for residents actively awaiting their placement into housing; they’ll be eligible for a temporary permit that allows them to remain parked until they can relocate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Binder said she believes this plan could make it harder for people who are already in the queue for housing to get the resources they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those folks might experience further bottlenecking in the system if the few resources that are available are dedicated only to families who are living in RVs,” Binder said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Binder said the coalition isn’t staunchly opposed to what Lurie has proposed so far. Still, she would like to see changes to the vehicle buyback program, which she said “needs to be actually adequate and a true recognition of the value of the vehicle\u003cem>.\u003c/em>” The city did not immediately respond to a question about how much money would be offered for each vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Illa, a human rights organizer with the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, however, called Lurie’s plan “draconian” and described the buyback program as “coercive in nature.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[It’s] being framed as a benevolent act, but with the threat of towing and impounding and scrapping of their vehicle if they refuse the ‘services’ they’re being offered,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Lurie said his proposal has the support of five county supervisors, the majority needed for the board to approve his plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board will likely take its first vote on the proposal in September, according to Emily Cohen, a spokesperson for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. The plan would also have to be approved as part of the city’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given those two steps, we anticipate that implementation will begin to roll out in the fall,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Under the new proposal, RVs will only be able to park for two hours before becoming subject to citations and towing; his office estimates over 400 households live in large vehicles throughout the city.",
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"title": "San Francisco Mayor Proposes to Ban RVs from Long-Term Street Parking | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Facing mounting pressure from residents, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie introduced a plan on Tuesday to ban large vehicles and RVs from parking for longer than two hours on city streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal, which is part of his March “Breaking the Cycle” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-unveils-breaking-the-cycle-vision-for-tackling-san-franciscos-homelessness-and-behavioral-health-crisis\">initiative\u003c/a>, would subject unauthorized oversized vehicles to citations and towing if not moved within the new time limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No child should grow up in San Francisco forced to live in a car,” Lurie said at a press conference on Tuesday. “And no parent should have to raise their children in those conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the program, Lurie is proposing to devote nearly $13 million to enforcement, outreach and housing subsidies, with city workers offering residents living in large vehicles the chance to receive stable housing. Lurie also intends to offer RV dwellers a “vehicle buyback” incentive — essentially a cash offer to encourage residents to relinquish their large vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move comes just six months after former Mayor London Breed’s own plan for banning RV street parking was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017544/sf-supes-reverse-citys-controversial-rv-parking-ban\">reversed\u003c/a> by the Board of Supervisors, due to mounting criticism from homeless advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11974365\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11974365\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a line of RVs in a car mirror\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240130-HOMELESSCOUNT-12-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team members look for vehicles and RVs serving as shelters, but many have to make judgment calls as they count. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Breed’s plan would have allowed officials with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to tow vehicles if RV dwellers rejected the city’s offers of shelter or services. However, the End Poverty Tows Coalition successfully \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13531123&GUID=EE66C5B2-A7B2-4941-B9E6-1F0B62A1DC95\">appealed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of that coalition are blasting Lurie’s current plan, while others say it has some merit, but lacks clarity about who specifically should be prioritized for rehousing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eleana Binder, the director of public policy at the GLIDE Center for Social Justice and a member of the coalition, said the most troubling part of the plan is the city’s estimate that it could provide funding to rehouse only 115 families, or roughly a quarter of the 437 households estimated to live in large vehicles citywide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The difference between 115 and 437 is concerning,” Binder said. “Those who are not immediately connected with housing subsidies will have some protection from the two-hour parking restrictions, but we’ll still be at risk of ticketing and towing for other violations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s proposal includes some exceptions for residents actively awaiting their placement into housing; they’ll be eligible for a temporary permit that allows them to remain parked until they can relocate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Binder said she believes this plan could make it harder for people who are already in the queue for housing to get the resources they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those folks might experience further bottlenecking in the system if the few resources that are available are dedicated only to families who are living in RVs,” Binder said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Binder said the coalition isn’t staunchly opposed to what Lurie has proposed so far. Still, she would like to see changes to the vehicle buyback program, which she said “needs to be actually adequate and a true recognition of the value of the vehicle\u003cem>.\u003c/em>” The city did not immediately respond to a question about how much money would be offered for each vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Illa, a human rights organizer with the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, however, called Lurie’s plan “draconian” and described the buyback program as “coercive in nature.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[It’s] being framed as a benevolent act, but with the threat of towing and impounding and scrapping of their vehicle if they refuse the ‘services’ they’re being offered,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Lurie said his proposal has the support of five county supervisors, the majority needed for the board to approve his plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board will likely take its first vote on the proposal in September, according to Emily Cohen, a spokesperson for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. The plan would also have to be approved as part of the city’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given those two steps, we anticipate that implementation will begin to roll out in the fall,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "suisun-city-proposes-annexing-most-of-california-forevers-new-city",
"title": "Suisun City Proposes Annexing Most of California Forever’s New City",
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"headTitle": "Suisun City Proposes Annexing Most of California Forever’s New City | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>For months, Suisun City officials have been considering whether to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031818/another-solano-county-city-wants-annex-some-california-forevers-land\">annex a piece of California Forever’s land\u003c/a>, where the company has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972769/not-just-a-crazy-idea-california-forever-releases-ballot-details-for-new-bay-area-city\">proposed building a new city\u003c/a> from farmland. Now, Suisun City staff are back with a plan for nearly the whole pie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3395490/Aattachment_2_-_Reimbursement_Agreement_FINAL_129142440.1_.pdf\">city documents\u003c/a> released Friday, staff are recommending the city annex almost 23,000 acres of company-owned land, largely located where California Forever wants to build its walkable city. The move comes nearly a year after the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996747/california-forever-pulls-bid-to-build-new-city-from-this-years-ballot\">pulled an initiative\u003c/a> seeking voter approval for the project from the November 2024 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s plan looks strikingly similar to what the \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/plan-overview/\">company proposed\u003c/a> last year, when it promised to bring thousands of new homes and jobs to Solano County. But the project faced backlash from county residents and local leaders, who called for more information and were skeptical of the company’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986569/california-forever-says-12-start-ups-will-open-workplaces-in-its-new-city\">myriad \u003c/a>“guarantees,” including for a \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/announcing-the-formation-of-a-community-working-group-to-co-design-a-new-regional-sports-complex-for-solano-county/\">sports complex\u003c/a> and a \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/bringing-the-beach-to-solano-county-with-a-beautiful-beach-like-lagoon-that-uses-25-times-less-water-than-an-average-18-hole-golf-course/\">water park\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last July, California Forever CEO Jan Sramek said he would bring the initiative back to voters in 2026 after completing an environmental impact report and ironing out a development agreement with the county. But now that Suisun City officials want to incorporate California Forever’s massive proposed development into their city, it is unclear whether voters will get a say in what gets built in their county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Suisun City Council \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/gview?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgranicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fsuisuncityca%2F396c813660b47d9c313fe2ba198f1ed20.pdf&embedded=true\">is scheduled to vote\u003c/a> Tuesday on a reimbursement agreement with California Forever that would allow the city to continue exploring the proposal. California Forever declined to comment on that agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043300\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12043300\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign says, ‘Welcome to Suisun City’ on Highway 12 in Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sadie Wilson, director of planning and research at the Greenbelt Alliance and a member of the group Solano Together, said the opportunity for public engagement is an important one for a project of this size and questioned whether the annexation process would usurp voters’ ability to weigh in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we might see what’s going on in the process from an advocacy or public standpoint, there aren’t the same ways to actually have your voice heard,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Suisun City Manager Bret Prebula rejected that idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is this a trick that someone’s trying to do backdoor things? The answer is no,” he said. “Why is this beneficial? Because [California Forever gets] a governance and a culture from cities that is hard to do when you just do master-planned communities without it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prebula said the development could also benefit Suisun City, which has faced a structural budget deficit for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some don’t want any expansion, but that’s unrealistic in our state,” he said. “We’re gonna have this balance that happens between the need for commercial viability, jobs and housing stock expansion that will benefit the state, that will benefit the region, and it’ll benefit the environment, too, because we’re going to be able to keep people closer to their families [and] jobs here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 22,873 acres Suisun City wants to incorporate, about a quarter of the land would be preserved as a buffer zone between the new development and nearby Travis Air Force Base. Two-thirds of the annexed land would be reserved for new neighborhoods, office and commercial buildings and open space, with another 1,410 acres for an industrial park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043303\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2350px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12043303 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2350\" height=\"763\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps.jpg 2350w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-2000x649.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-160x52.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-1536x499.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-2048x665.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2350px) 100vw, 2350px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Suisun City’s annexation plans (right) look very similar to what California Forever proposed (left) for its new city last year. City staff are considering annexing nearly 23,000 acres of company-owned land and setting aside two-thirds of it for new homes, office and commercial space and open space. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Forever, City of Suisun City)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With a \u003ca href=\"https://catc.ca.gov/-/media/ctc-media/documents/ctc-committees/road-charge/2024-11/tab-08-presentation-updated-road-charge-program-update-super-commuters-2024.pdf\">large share of county residents\u003c/a> currently commuting outside the county for work, Suisun City Mayor Alma Hernandez called the prospect of adding jobs and housing a “generational opportunity that will most likely never come again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the proposal before the council is just the first step in a lengthy public process to determine what will be best for both her city and Rio Vista, which neighbors Suisun City and is also exploring annexing some of the company’s land. In April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035971/california-forever-2-solano-cities-team-up-annexation-talks-move-forward\">the two cities agreed to work together\u003c/a> as both consider expanding their respective boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our position at this time is really, this is a starting point,” she said. “We’re very clear about it for ourselves: How do you build a community and expand in the right way? That is our position.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rio Vista Mayor Edwin Okamura said he could not comment on his city’s progress in those discussions or on Suisun City’s plans because he and other officials were in the middle of negotiations themselves.[aside postID=news_12040357 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-17-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']After the Suisun City Council approves the reimbursement agreement, it will enter into an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040357/2-solano-cities-could-annex-some-california-forevers-land-heres-how\">extensive process\u003c/a> which can take years — sometimes a decade — to complete. The city and developer will have to compile multiple reports detailing the financial burdens of annexing the land, what public services and infrastructure are needed to support it, and how the city will manage it. The proposal will have to be compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act and reviewed for possible environmental impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the decision of whether Suisun City should annex that land will lie in the hands of the Solano Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), an independent body of elected and appointed officials from across the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Schafran, a land use expert who has raised questions about California Forever’s project, said the company pursuing its new city through annexation could be “a less bad way” of getting a new development approved than through a ballot initiative. He said new cities should be built through conversation and negotiation with multiple stakeholders, not a yes or no vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where this thing belongs is being negotiated and debated between agencies, public entities, private entities,” Schafran said. “We have a system that is designed to do governance, and now it is in that system, and that’s where it should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether the proposal will get through the system is another matter entirely. As part of the annexation process, Suisun City will have to meet with county officials to hear what they think of the plan and decide how both municipalities will share the tax revenue generated there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043307\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12043307\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>County Administrator Bill Emlen did not immediately respond to KQED’s request for comment, but he has previously said a city annexing large swaths of land in unincorporated Solano County would not align with the county’s current general plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suisun City Councilmember Princess Washington, a staunch critic of the company and its project, said the large scope of the annexation is why she has consistently voted against efforts to explore it. She wants the city to first focus on building within its existing borders before pursuing development outside of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, California Forever \u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/files/sharedassets/suisuncity/v/1/departments/city-manager/cf/2025-06-03-letter-to-suisun-city.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery\">offered to purchase $1.5 million\u003c/a> worth of city-owned land in Suisun City’s downtown area. If the city accepts that offer, it would help close its \u003ca href=\"https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/suisuncityca/43e10f19-2f74-11f0-856f-005056a89546-5360f717-96cd-4307-943a-c7dc7bb46276-1747086358.pdf\">budget shortfall of between $1.3 million and $1.8 million\u003c/a>. The offer, not contingent on the annexation talks, also included a $55,000 grant to support city-sponsored entertainment events that were slated to be cancelled because of the deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington said she welcomed those proposals because they are aligned with what she wants for her city, but remains skeptical about the annexation and whether it will solve the structural deficit.[aside postID=news_12035971 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240502-CaliforniaForever-96-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']“That’s my hesitation as well with the annexation — not just the sheer landmass, but the amount of time and whether or not it’ll pencil out because there are studies that show just because you grow out does not mean that you solve your structural deficits or you solve your fiscal problems,” she said. “We can want to grow, but do we actually need to?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she noted that the city had been in this position when it had the opportunity to annex land that later became home to the Jelly Belly Factory and a Budweiser brewery, before \u003ca href=\"https://www.thereporter.com/2025/04/03/california-forever-to-officially-explore-annexation/\">Fairfield annexed\u003c/a> it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could have had that factory and industry, and we would have been in a better position, at least on paper. So I understand the need to explore,” she said. “I’m curious to see how it happens. I mean, this is going to really be the greatest political exercise in California history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wilson said the same issues her organization had with California Forever’s original plan still remain. Developing on farmland has environmental impacts that cannot be avoided, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The environmental impacts of developing in this area near the delta resources, near the Jepson Prairie, I think those [concerns are] still there,” she said. “Paving over our farmland and unincorporated areas is something we can never get back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prebula does not see it that way. He said whatever is ultimately built on the unincorporated land would have to be balanced between protecting the environment and allowing responsible growth. And that something has to be done about the state’s dire housing shortage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not done well, and it’s largely because I think we have been stuck on these archaic policies and ways of operating,” he said. “We could be a way to show the state: Here’s how you expand to an older city and make it lift up itself and the region at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Suisun City’s recent proposal to annex a portion of California Forever’s land is raising questions from residents as to whether they will have a say in whether the new city gets built. ",
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"title": "Suisun City Proposes Annexing Most of California Forever’s New City | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For months, Suisun City officials have been considering whether to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031818/another-solano-county-city-wants-annex-some-california-forevers-land\">annex a piece of California Forever’s land\u003c/a>, where the company has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972769/not-just-a-crazy-idea-california-forever-releases-ballot-details-for-new-bay-area-city\">proposed building a new city\u003c/a> from farmland. Now, Suisun City staff are back with a plan for nearly the whole pie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3395490/Aattachment_2_-_Reimbursement_Agreement_FINAL_129142440.1_.pdf\">city documents\u003c/a> released Friday, staff are recommending the city annex almost 23,000 acres of company-owned land, largely located where California Forever wants to build its walkable city. The move comes nearly a year after the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996747/california-forever-pulls-bid-to-build-new-city-from-this-years-ballot\">pulled an initiative\u003c/a> seeking voter approval for the project from the November 2024 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s plan looks strikingly similar to what the \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/plan-overview/\">company proposed\u003c/a> last year, when it promised to bring thousands of new homes and jobs to Solano County. But the project faced backlash from county residents and local leaders, who called for more information and were skeptical of the company’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986569/california-forever-says-12-start-ups-will-open-workplaces-in-its-new-city\">myriad \u003c/a>“guarantees,” including for a \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/announcing-the-formation-of-a-community-working-group-to-co-design-a-new-regional-sports-complex-for-solano-county/\">sports complex\u003c/a> and a \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/bringing-the-beach-to-solano-county-with-a-beautiful-beach-like-lagoon-that-uses-25-times-less-water-than-an-average-18-hole-golf-course/\">water park\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last July, California Forever CEO Jan Sramek said he would bring the initiative back to voters in 2026 after completing an environmental impact report and ironing out a development agreement with the county. But now that Suisun City officials want to incorporate California Forever’s massive proposed development into their city, it is unclear whether voters will get a say in what gets built in their county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Suisun City Council \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/gview?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgranicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fsuisuncityca%2F396c813660b47d9c313fe2ba198f1ed20.pdf&embedded=true\">is scheduled to vote\u003c/a> Tuesday on a reimbursement agreement with California Forever that would allow the city to continue exploring the proposal. California Forever declined to comment on that agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043300\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12043300\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-02-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign says, ‘Welcome to Suisun City’ on Highway 12 in Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sadie Wilson, director of planning and research at the Greenbelt Alliance and a member of the group Solano Together, said the opportunity for public engagement is an important one for a project of this size and questioned whether the annexation process would usurp voters’ ability to weigh in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we might see what’s going on in the process from an advocacy or public standpoint, there aren’t the same ways to actually have your voice heard,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Suisun City Manager Bret Prebula rejected that idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is this a trick that someone’s trying to do backdoor things? The answer is no,” he said. “Why is this beneficial? Because [California Forever gets] a governance and a culture from cities that is hard to do when you just do master-planned communities without it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prebula said the development could also benefit Suisun City, which has faced a structural budget deficit for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some don’t want any expansion, but that’s unrealistic in our state,” he said. “We’re gonna have this balance that happens between the need for commercial viability, jobs and housing stock expansion that will benefit the state, that will benefit the region, and it’ll benefit the environment, too, because we’re going to be able to keep people closer to their families [and] jobs here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 22,873 acres Suisun City wants to incorporate, about a quarter of the land would be preserved as a buffer zone between the new development and nearby Travis Air Force Base. Two-thirds of the annexed land would be reserved for new neighborhoods, office and commercial buildings and open space, with another 1,410 acres for an industrial park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043303\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2350px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12043303 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2350\" height=\"763\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps.jpg 2350w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-2000x649.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-160x52.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-1536x499.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CAForeverMaps-2048x665.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2350px) 100vw, 2350px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Suisun City’s annexation plans (right) look very similar to what California Forever proposed (left) for its new city last year. City staff are considering annexing nearly 23,000 acres of company-owned land and setting aside two-thirds of it for new homes, office and commercial space and open space. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Forever, City of Suisun City)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With a \u003ca href=\"https://catc.ca.gov/-/media/ctc-media/documents/ctc-committees/road-charge/2024-11/tab-08-presentation-updated-road-charge-program-update-super-commuters-2024.pdf\">large share of county residents\u003c/a> currently commuting outside the county for work, Suisun City Mayor Alma Hernandez called the prospect of adding jobs and housing a “generational opportunity that will most likely never come again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the proposal before the council is just the first step in a lengthy public process to determine what will be best for both her city and Rio Vista, which neighbors Suisun City and is also exploring annexing some of the company’s land. In April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035971/california-forever-2-solano-cities-team-up-annexation-talks-move-forward\">the two cities agreed to work together\u003c/a> as both consider expanding their respective boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our position at this time is really, this is a starting point,” she said. “We’re very clear about it for ourselves: How do you build a community and expand in the right way? That is our position.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rio Vista Mayor Edwin Okamura said he could not comment on his city’s progress in those discussions or on Suisun City’s plans because he and other officials were in the middle of negotiations themselves.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After the Suisun City Council approves the reimbursement agreement, it will enter into an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040357/2-solano-cities-could-annex-some-california-forevers-land-heres-how\">extensive process\u003c/a> which can take years — sometimes a decade — to complete. The city and developer will have to compile multiple reports detailing the financial burdens of annexing the land, what public services and infrastructure are needed to support it, and how the city will manage it. The proposal will have to be compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act and reviewed for possible environmental impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the decision of whether Suisun City should annex that land will lie in the hands of the Solano Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), an independent body of elected and appointed officials from across the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Schafran, a land use expert who has raised questions about California Forever’s project, said the company pursuing its new city through annexation could be “a less bad way” of getting a new development approved than through a ballot initiative. He said new cities should be built through conversation and negotiation with multiple stakeholders, not a yes or no vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where this thing belongs is being negotiated and debated between agencies, public entities, private entities,” Schafran said. “We have a system that is designed to do governance, and now it is in that system, and that’s where it should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether the proposal will get through the system is another matter entirely. As part of the annexation process, Suisun City will have to meet with county officials to hear what they think of the plan and decide how both municipalities will share the tax revenue generated there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12043307\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12043307\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-08-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>County Administrator Bill Emlen did not immediately respond to KQED’s request for comment, but he has previously said a city annexing large swaths of land in unincorporated Solano County would not align with the county’s current general plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suisun City Councilmember Princess Washington, a staunch critic of the company and its project, said the large scope of the annexation is why she has consistently voted against efforts to explore it. She wants the city to first focus on building within its existing borders before pursuing development outside of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, California Forever \u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/files/sharedassets/suisuncity/v/1/departments/city-manager/cf/2025-06-03-letter-to-suisun-city.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery\">offered to purchase $1.5 million\u003c/a> worth of city-owned land in Suisun City’s downtown area. If the city accepts that offer, it would help close its \u003ca href=\"https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/suisuncityca/43e10f19-2f74-11f0-856f-005056a89546-5360f717-96cd-4307-943a-c7dc7bb46276-1747086358.pdf\">budget shortfall of between $1.3 million and $1.8 million\u003c/a>. The offer, not contingent on the annexation talks, also included a $55,000 grant to support city-sponsored entertainment events that were slated to be cancelled because of the deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington said she welcomed those proposals because they are aligned with what she wants for her city, but remains skeptical about the annexation and whether it will solve the structural deficit.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“That’s my hesitation as well with the annexation — not just the sheer landmass, but the amount of time and whether or not it’ll pencil out because there are studies that show just because you grow out does not mean that you solve your structural deficits or you solve your fiscal problems,” she said. “We can want to grow, but do we actually need to?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she noted that the city had been in this position when it had the opportunity to annex land that later became home to the Jelly Belly Factory and a Budweiser brewery, before \u003ca href=\"https://www.thereporter.com/2025/04/03/california-forever-to-officially-explore-annexation/\">Fairfield annexed\u003c/a> it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could have had that factory and industry, and we would have been in a better position, at least on paper. So I understand the need to explore,” she said. “I’m curious to see how it happens. I mean, this is going to really be the greatest political exercise in California history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wilson said the same issues her organization had with California Forever’s original plan still remain. Developing on farmland has environmental impacts that cannot be avoided, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The environmental impacts of developing in this area near the delta resources, near the Jepson Prairie, I think those [concerns are] still there,” she said. “Paving over our farmland and unincorporated areas is something we can never get back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prebula does not see it that way. He said whatever is ultimately built on the unincorporated land would have to be balanced between protecting the environment and allowing responsible growth. And that something has to be done about the state’s dire housing shortage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have not done well, and it’s largely because I think we have been stuck on these archaic policies and ways of operating,” he said. “We could be a way to show the state: Here’s how you expand to an older city and make it lift up itself and the region at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Berkeley Police Threaten Homeless Residents With Less-Lethal Weapons at Encampment Cleanup",
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"content": "\u003cp>Witnesses say \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/berkeley-police\">Berkeley police\u003c/a> threatened residents with less lethal weapons during a cleanup on Wednesday of an encampment that has been the source of conflict for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The encampment at Harrison and Eighth streets, which is home to roughly 40 people, is the subject of multiple lawsuits. Business owners \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004348/berkeley-moves-to-expand-homeless-encampment-sweeps-in-more-aggressive-approach\">sued last year\u003c/a> to force the city to clean it up, while camp residents have multiple suits pending against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKfUK7aSel5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MXJqY213amMxcXY2Zg%3D%3D\">Video of the sweep\u003c/a> posted by the publication \u003ca href=\"https://thestreetspirit.org/\">Street Spirit\u003c/a> shows an officer pointing a less lethal rifle at a tent and saying, “Get out now. You’re going to be shot with less lethal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yesica Prado, who took the video and has been living at the encampment for seven years, said the incident happened shortly after officers showed up around 6 a.m. She said police officers were dropping smoke-emitting devices into the areas where people were sleeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One man was “really, really scared and worked up, and he was just trying to stay inside,” Prado said. “And I think that’s when a bunch of cops just started swarming around his tent and telling him that he needed to get out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042928\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stretch of Harrison Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, home to an unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prado, who is also a representative with the Berkeley Homeless Union, said the officers threw one of the smoke devices into the man’s living area, and he threw it back at them. At that point, an officer pointed a non-lethal weapon at him, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the first sweep that I’ve seen them come with such force,” Prado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another video, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKglqBmOwwe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=cnQzbWM4b29zb3Ns\">posted by Berkeley Copwatch\u003c/a>, shows the same man pushed to the ground and pinned by officers after crossing a police line, seemingly inadvertently, during an altercation later that morning. “I did nothing wrong, you backed me into here,” the man said, while the police pleaded with him to cooperate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More and more cops came. We counted 10 on top of him at one point,” said Andrea Prichett of Copwatch, who shot the video. “He was saying he couldn’t breathe.”[aside postID=news_12041026 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg']A spokesperson for the police department confirmed one person was arrested during the sweep, but directed all questions about use of force to the city, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Mayor Adena Ishii said, though the details are still emerging, “the video circulating on social media is upsetting, particularly during such a traumatic moment for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that she is “committed to ensuring that our city approaches clearings of encampments with as much care and empathy as possible while ensuring everyone’s safety and well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city had moved to close the encampment earlier this year, citing health hazards and public nuisance, including rodents, loose syringes, rotting food and human waste, but the Berkeley Homeless Union and residents sued and won a temporary restraining order. That order expired on May 23, after an attorney for the union missed a filing deadline for a preliminary injunction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, several hours after the city started dismantling the camp, Senior District Judge Edward Chen ordered the city to stop, citing due process concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11970748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11970748\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460.jpg\" alt=\"tents along a street\" width=\"1024\" height=\"698\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tents on Eighth Street at a homeless encampment near Harrison Street in Berkeley in June 2023. \u003ccite>(Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, whose district includes Harrison Street, expressed support for the city’s action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Berkeley Homeless Union is exploiting the legal system to keep the dangerous, unsafe encampment on Harrison Street open, which is a known magnet for criminal activity and open illicit drug use,” she wrote in an email to KQED. ”I applaud our city staff who conducted vital, difficult work on Wednesday to close the Harrison encampment after we were legally cleared to do so and had issued notice for closure in January before litigation delayed the closure process. The city will now follow the restraining order issued by Judge Chen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brigitte Nicoletti, an attorney with the East Bay Community Law Center who represents some camp residents, said residents had been caught off guard. The city did not provide advance notice of the sweep and gave people less than 30 minutes to retrieve their belongings before heavy machinery moved in to crush and remove what remained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They wouldn’t even let me cross the lines to talk to clients,” Nicoletti added, referring to a large area cordoned off by the police. “It’s very, very concerning and a real escalation in tactics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042929\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stretch of Harrison Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, home to an unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t take all that,” said Shareef Muwwakkil, who’d been living in a tent in the area for a couple of years. “Most people out here are malnutritioned; they don’t even have the energy to put up significant resistance. It’s just overkill. It’s showboating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates at the scene were handing out new tents and sleeping bags to residents who’d lost theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just knocks the wind out of me,” Muwwakkil said of losing books, audio equipment, clothes and other belongings. “This is not OK for me to go through anymore. It’s wearing me out.”[aside postID=news_12042370 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-06-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']At an emergency hearing on Wednesday, Chen asked lawyers for the city why they hadn’t provided notice ahead of the sweep. “What was the problem with giving reasonable notice?” he said. “Was it to avoid any possible intervention by this court?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city has consistently stated it intends to proceed with this abatement,” Deputy City Attorney Laura Iris Mattes said. “We’ve given them five months’ worth of notice … folks have the opportunity to leave at any time …They have had since the city posted this notice in January to move.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chen didn’t buy that. “Anybody would have expected there would be some notice … It just seems like, as a matter of fairness and due process, there’d be notice,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In asking the judge to halt the sweep, Anthony Prince, the attorney representing the Berkeley Homeless Union, acknowledged the harm was already done. “The toothpaste is out of the tube,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I can do is halt this now,” Chen said. “I’m not in a position to put the toothpaste back in the tube.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chen ordered the city to pause abatement until further notice. The next hearing in the case is set for June 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Witnesses say \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/berkeley-police\">Berkeley police\u003c/a> threatened residents with less lethal weapons during a cleanup on Wednesday of an encampment that has been the source of conflict for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The encampment at Harrison and Eighth streets, which is home to roughly 40 people, is the subject of multiple lawsuits. Business owners \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004348/berkeley-moves-to-expand-homeless-encampment-sweeps-in-more-aggressive-approach\">sued last year\u003c/a> to force the city to clean it up, while camp residents have multiple suits pending against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKfUK7aSel5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MXJqY213amMxcXY2Zg%3D%3D\">Video of the sweep\u003c/a> posted by the publication \u003ca href=\"https://thestreetspirit.org/\">Street Spirit\u003c/a> shows an officer pointing a less lethal rifle at a tent and saying, “Get out now. You’re going to be shot with less lethal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yesica Prado, who took the video and has been living at the encampment for seven years, said the incident happened shortly after officers showed up around 6 a.m. She said police officers were dropping smoke-emitting devices into the areas where people were sleeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One man was “really, really scared and worked up, and he was just trying to stay inside,” Prado said. “And I think that’s when a bunch of cops just started swarming around his tent and telling him that he needed to get out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042928\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-43-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stretch of Harrison Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, home to an unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prado, who is also a representative with the Berkeley Homeless Union, said the officers threw one of the smoke devices into the man’s living area, and he threw it back at them. At that point, an officer pointed a non-lethal weapon at him, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the first sweep that I’ve seen them come with such force,” Prado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another video, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKglqBmOwwe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=cnQzbWM4b29zb3Ns\">posted by Berkeley Copwatch\u003c/a>, shows the same man pushed to the ground and pinned by officers after crossing a police line, seemingly inadvertently, during an altercation later that morning. “I did nothing wrong, you backed me into here,” the man said, while the police pleaded with him to cooperate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More and more cops came. We counted 10 on top of him at one point,” said Andrea Prichett of Copwatch, who shot the video. “He was saying he couldn’t breathe.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A spokesperson for the police department confirmed one person was arrested during the sweep, but directed all questions about use of force to the city, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Mayor Adena Ishii said, though the details are still emerging, “the video circulating on social media is upsetting, particularly during such a traumatic moment for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that she is “committed to ensuring that our city approaches clearings of encampments with as much care and empathy as possible while ensuring everyone’s safety and well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city had moved to close the encampment earlier this year, citing health hazards and public nuisance, including rodents, loose syringes, rotting food and human waste, but the Berkeley Homeless Union and residents sued and won a temporary restraining order. That order expired on May 23, after an attorney for the union missed a filing deadline for a preliminary injunction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, several hours after the city started dismantling the camp, Senior District Judge Edward Chen ordered the city to stop, citing due process concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11970748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11970748\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460.jpg\" alt=\"tents along a street\" width=\"1024\" height=\"698\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/GettyImages-1502059460-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tents on Eighth Street at a homeless encampment near Harrison Street in Berkeley in June 2023. \u003ccite>(Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, whose district includes Harrison Street, expressed support for the city’s action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Berkeley Homeless Union is exploiting the legal system to keep the dangerous, unsafe encampment on Harrison Street open, which is a known magnet for criminal activity and open illicit drug use,” she wrote in an email to KQED. ”I applaud our city staff who conducted vital, difficult work on Wednesday to close the Harrison encampment after we were legally cleared to do so and had issued notice for closure in January before litigation delayed the closure process. The city will now follow the restraining order issued by Judge Chen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brigitte Nicoletti, an attorney with the East Bay Community Law Center who represents some camp residents, said residents had been caught off guard. The city did not provide advance notice of the sweep and gave people less than 30 minutes to retrieve their belongings before heavy machinery moved in to crush and remove what remained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They wouldn’t even let me cross the lines to talk to clients,” Nicoletti added, referring to a large area cordoned off by the police. “It’s very, very concerning and a real escalation in tactics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042929\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250520-BerkeleyRVBuyBack-40-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stretch of Harrison Street in northwest Berkeley on May 20, 2025, home to an unhoused population. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t take all that,” said Shareef Muwwakkil, who’d been living in a tent in the area for a couple of years. “Most people out here are malnutritioned; they don’t even have the energy to put up significant resistance. It’s just overkill. It’s showboating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates at the scene were handing out new tents and sleeping bags to residents who’d lost theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just knocks the wind out of me,” Muwwakkil said of losing books, audio equipment, clothes and other belongings. “This is not OK for me to go through anymore. It’s wearing me out.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At an emergency hearing on Wednesday, Chen asked lawyers for the city why they hadn’t provided notice ahead of the sweep. “What was the problem with giving reasonable notice?” he said. “Was it to avoid any possible intervention by this court?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city has consistently stated it intends to proceed with this abatement,” Deputy City Attorney Laura Iris Mattes said. “We’ve given them five months’ worth of notice … folks have the opportunity to leave at any time …They have had since the city posted this notice in January to move.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chen didn’t buy that. “Anybody would have expected there would be some notice … It just seems like, as a matter of fairness and due process, there’d be notice,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In asking the judge to halt the sweep, Anthony Prince, the attorney representing the Berkeley Homeless Union, acknowledged the harm was already done. “The toothpaste is out of the tube,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I can do is halt this now,” Chen said. “I’m not in a position to put the toothpaste back in the tube.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chen ordered the city to pause abatement until further notice. The next hearing in the case is set for June 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "in-san-jose-a-controversial-choice-for-unhoused-shelter-or-arrest",
"title": "In San José, a Controversial Choice for Unhoused: Shelter or Arrest?",
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"headTitle": "In San José, a Controversial Choice for Unhoused: Shelter or Arrest? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a warm May afternoon, Butch Larson and David Garcia leaned intently over a makeshift workbench outside Larson’s tent, one of a dozen lining the Guadalupe River Trail in South \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Above them, cars roared along an overpass on Highway 85, enveloping the encampment in an unceasing din, but providing the pair a break from the midday sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larson tinkered with the underside of a small skateboard. He worked slowly, still recovering mobility in his right arm after suffering a stroke last year. Larson has been unhoused since 2012, living for the last four years in this encampment off Cherry Avenue. Garcia arrived a year or two later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a hundred yards away, a construction crew worked on what San José officials hope will be future homes for Larson and Garcia: a 128-unit tiny home village set to open this fall. People experiencing homelessness in the immediate area will be offered first preference for a private room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Larson and Garcia aren’t interested, at least not right now. Both said the facilities have too many rules and too little space for their tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want those,” Garcia said. “They should give us a hotel room.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042505\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Butch Larson repairs a bicycle near the place he lives along the Guadalupe River in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Larson doesn’t want that either. He lived briefly in a former downtown motel that was converted into a temporary housing unit, and said it felt “like a jail.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t smoke no marijuana or drink alcohol there,” he said. “I couldn’t have my tools, I couldn’t have my electric bike, I couldn’t have my motorbike, I couldn’t have my electric skateboard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Larson, Garcia and others living in encampments near interim housing sites could soon face new pressure to move indoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San José City Council will vote next week on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031813/san-jose-council-gives-initial-approval-mayors-controversial-homelessness-pay-plans\">controversial plan\u003c/a> authored by Mayor Matt Mahan to arrest unhoused people who refuse multiple offers of shelter. The proposal, called Responsibility to Shelter, is aimed at getting unhoused people into temporary housing or a court-ordered behavioral health treatment program.[aside postID=news_12029843 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-10-BL_qed-1-1020x680.jpg']Mahan is leading a call echoed by mayors across California, and recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039730/newsom-pushes-cities-ban-homeless-encampments-across-california\">by Gov. Gavin Newsom:\u003c/a> if shelter space is available, living in often unsafe and unsanitary encampments cannot be an acceptable alternative. If encampments persist after the city has\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\"> spent millions\u003c/a> of taxpayer dollars on temporary housing, Mahan argued, winning support for future shelter in San José will prove impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In addition to our moral responsibility to intervene in cycles of addiction and mental illness and get people indoors into treatment, we have a duty and really a political necessity to bring the whole community along,” Mahan told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of the mayor’s plan argue that such enforcement is premature. City data shows most unhoused people in San José accept shelter when offered. And even if every person living outdoors wanted a bed, the city is still far from being able to offer one: while there are more than 3,000 city and county-run shelter units in San José, an estimated 5,477 people are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026630/san-jose-has-an-idea-to-bring-street-homelessness-to-functional-zero-can-it-work\">living without shelter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County officials, whose collaboration would be required once an arrest is made, are deeply skeptical. Without additional treatment beds, they warn, the plan could push more people through a revolving door between the courthouse, the jailhouse and the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the encampment near Cherry Avenue, Larson and Garcia said the threat of arrest would do little to change their mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been telling everybody out here, I’ll probably be the first person to go to jail over this s–t,” Larson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New police and outreach units\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both supporters and opponents of the plan agree that unhoused people who are arrested won’t be spending nights in jail, at least not initially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan before the council on Tuesday would add an expectation to accept shelter to the city’s encampment code of conduct. That code of conduct also prohibits camping in a “no encampment zone,” which includes the two-block radius around existing temporary housing sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042510\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12042510 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign in front of the Via del Oro interim housing site in San José on May 29, 2025, announces a no-encampment zone. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the code of conduct is not enforceable by arrest, San José Chief of Police Paul Joseph told the city council last month. Instead, violations would be used “to prioritize which campsites are in need of abatement and which can wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means encampments near the city’s interim housing communities, such as the Cherry Avenue site, will be prioritized for enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riley, who declined to share his last name, has lived there for two and a half years. He flashed a bright smile underneath a pair of black Ray-Ban sunglasses, but said frankly, “It’s hard out here.”[aside postID=news_12031813 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240409-SJEncampmentBan-045-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']“I mean, with no air conditioning and your stuff gets stolen,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing, actually, because I like nice clothes, but it gets stolen. It gets stolen a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about the mayor’s enforcement plan, Riley said it didn’t sound too extreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I feel like if you don’t want to be homeless, then you should accept the resources, even if it’s not a mansion,” he added, gesturing at the nearby tiny homes under construction behind a chain-link fence. “If they gave me a chance right now, once they’re done, I would do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the proposal, that offer will come from a new seven-person team of housing and parks workers, who will spend time building relationships with people in encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These offers of housing distinguish Responsibility to Shelter from encampment laws being rolled out in other California cities. After the Supreme Court ruled last year in the Grants Pass decision that jurisdictions\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983492/how-a-pivotal-case-on-homelessness-could-redefine-policies-in-california-and-the-nation\"> could legally clear tents\u003c/a> without offering shelter, cities \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026580/this-bay-area-city-just-passed-the-most-extreme-encampment-ban-in-california\">such as Fremont\u003c/a> and Fresno \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12019944/in-fresno-one-of-californias-toughest-new-camping-bans-comes-into-focus\">have passed \u003c/a>outright bans on camping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the housing team has made several offers of shelter (originally proposed by Mahan as three offers but revised to give discretion to outreach workers), a new “Neighborhood Quality of Life” police unit could be dispatched. That unit, made up of one sergeant and six officers, would make arrests for any misdemeanor violations at the site, such as trespassing or illegal dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12026470 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan speaks at a press conference in San Francisco on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahan sees the arrests as a pathway to services that only the county can provide — a forcing function for judges to order participation in mental health or substance use programs, and to pressure the county to fund more housing for people enrolled in such treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For those individuals who are a subset of the population, but our most vulnerable neighbors and, frankly, the most impactful on the rest of society, success is getting into treatment,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Jamie Chang, associate professor of social welfare at UC Berkeley, said there’s little evidence that arrests will make a positive difference in the life of someone experiencing homelessness. She questions the premise that people who are resisting shelter are necessarily in need of mental health or substance use treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m very concerned about people who are not accepting shelter for various reasons, because they have disabilities, because they have too much stuff,” she said. “I think it’s very clear that people experiencing homelessness have many, and oftentimes very valid reasons for refusing shelter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>County says plan is ‘unnecessary and ineffective’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For people who are arrested under the Responsibility to Shelter plan, the path to treatment is not straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José officials want police to bring arrestees to a county facility where people under the influence of drugs or alcohol or those experiencing a mental health crisis can stay up to 24 hours — but they haven’t reached an agreement with the county to make that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the absence of a deal, San José police will bring the unhoused person they arrest to the county jail, where they will be immediately released with a citation to appear in court, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said, citing a state law that prohibits jailings for most misdemeanors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042508\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042508\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs posted in the Santa Teresa neighborhood of San José on May 29, 2025, announce that video surveillance is in use. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Damon Silver, Santa Clara County’s acting public defender, said it’s unlikely at that point for the person experiencing homelessness — just released from county jail and likely separated from their belongings — to navigate the path to treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re struggling to survive,” Silver said. “And for us to expect that they’re likely going to be able to manage both the transportation, the monitoring of when their court date is and then arrive successfully at court? I think we’re going to anticipate a large failure-to-appear rate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That failure to appear could lead a judge to issue a bench warrant, which raises the chances that the unhoused person would have to spend time in jail until their next court appearance.[aside postID=news_12026437 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']If the person experiencing homelessness does appear for their arraignment, San José’s city attorney will ask that the case be referred to the county behavioral health court. The public defender might push back on the terms of a proposed treatment plan or ask that the judge dismiss the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If placed in a diversion program, the unhoused person could be connected to therapy, treatment or counseling. But judges, lawyers and service providers who work in the county’s diversion system all agreed: without housing, treatment will fail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have enough housing beds for people in this county,” Silver said. “We don’t frankly have enough mental health beds for people in this county, and we don’t have enough substance abuse beds and treatment for people in this county.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public defender’s skepticism has been echoed by top Santa Clara County brass. In a \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Letter-to-CSJ-re-Arrests-of-Unhoused-Individuals-for-Nonviolent-Misdemeanors-5.12.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 12 letter\u003c/a> addressed to San José leaders, Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee, District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Sheriff Robert Jonsen and County Executive James R. Williams called the potential homeless arrests “unnecessary and ineffective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At a time of tremendous budgetary challenges, City policies should not divert limited public safety resources to address what is ultimately a problem caused by the lack of affordable housing in our cities,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mayor: Encampments ‘undermine’ support for housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two days after the letter was sent, newly elected District 10 Councilmember George Casey fired back against county leadership during a hearing on the city budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is members of the city council, Casey argued, not the county government, who field the brunt of complaints from residents about persistent street homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most people don’t know who their county supervisor is or what the county is responsible for, and we’re the ones that catch hell,” Casey said. “So they get to sit back in the cuts and do nothing, and they’ve done nothing. And so the idea that we’re going to let that letter or whatever they are willing to do or not do dictate what we do is ridiculous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042506\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An interim housing site is built near an unhoused community along the Guadalupe River in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Casey is intimately familiar with the politics of homeless housing. Five of the city’s 13 interim housing communities lie along a stretch of Monterey Road that straddles District 10 and District 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the council has approved more temporary housing projects in South San José, they have layered on incentives to ameliorate concerns from residents living near the sites: the no encampment zones within a two-block radius, first preference for beds to people experiencing homelessness in the immediate area and a Community Advisory Committee to solicit feedback from nearby residents after the housing opens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Issa Ajlouny leads the Community Advisory Committee for the recently opened Via del Oro interim housing complex. The site has been open for less than two months, but Ajlouny said he has already fielded complaints from neighbors about lingering encampments, fires and reported thefts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Issa Ajlouny, founder and president of SAFER San José (Safety Advocate For Empowering Residents), sits at his home in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I’m the mediator,” he said. “I’m trying to be the person that says, ‘Hey, neighborhood, we need to be good neighbors to [the unhoused] and try to help them, our tax dollars are going towards it, we might as well do that.’ But in turn, we needed to be treated as good neighbors … and that actually is not happening right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ajlouny wants to see tougher enforcement and larger no-encampment zones — and he supports the Responsibility to Shelter plan, which would be enforced primarily in neighborhoods like his, near interim housing sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The message from the city when Via del Oro was approved was “We’ll throw you a bone,” Ajlouny said. “And the bone hasn’t landed yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José is operating more than 1,200 temporary units with on-site services — including private rooms and prefabricated apartments in tiny home villages, converted motel rooms and parking spaces for RVs. More than 500 additional shelter spaces are expected to open later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942734/emergency-calls-complaints-are-down-near-san-joses-temporary-housing-sites-so-why-are-they-still-so-politically-risky\">KQED analysis\u003c/a> found that neighborhood fears about the city’s first five interim housing sites never came to pass. But Mahan believes that the future of homeless housing in San José is predicated on residents like Ajlouny seeing meaningful improvements in their neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t do that if 10%, 20%, 30% of people are saying, ‘No thanks, I want to stay right here, continuing with my lifestyle in my tent,’” Mahan said. “It completely undermines the rationale for the work and the political support that the community is willing to give to these efforts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We haven’t necessarily solved the problem’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In early March, a parking lot for RV-dwellers opened on Berryessa Road in north San José, with on-site bathrooms and showers, along with case managers and hot meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The opening was preceded by months of messaging, both to people staying in their vehicles nearby and people living in the neighborhood, that RVs would be cleared from the area once the safe parking lot launched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember David Cohen said there were about 20 RVs on nearby streets when the site opened. A month later, about half remained. Now, the streets are clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042509\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">RVs line Vía Del Oro Drive in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People who moved in early went back, and spoke to some of the people they knew on the [streets] and said ‘Actually it’s a pretty nice place,’” Cohen said. “As we build more of these sites and people see how they work, I believe more and more people will be accepting of the service and fewer will be service-resistant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the story didn’t end with the cleared streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now we have another street a couple blocks away that has RVs on it that didn’t before,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen said he’ll wait for any amendments to the Responsibility to Shelter plan on Tuesday before making a final decision on his vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He agrees with the mayor that the city can’t wait until there is a bed available for every unhoused person in San José before clearing tents or lived-in vehicles — that there’s value in showing neighborhoods that new shelter sites will come with clean streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But we have to understand that when we don’t have enough beds for everybody, we haven’t necessarily solved the problem,” he said. “We’ve just moved the problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Mayor Matt Mahan says the threat of arrest after multiple offers of shelter could help clear encampments and open paths to treatment. But Santa Clara County officials are skeptical. ",
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"title": "In San José, a Controversial Choice for Unhoused: Shelter or Arrest? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a warm May afternoon, Butch Larson and David Garcia leaned intently over a makeshift workbench outside Larson’s tent, one of a dozen lining the Guadalupe River Trail in South \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Above them, cars roared along an overpass on Highway 85, enveloping the encampment in an unceasing din, but providing the pair a break from the midday sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larson tinkered with the underside of a small skateboard. He worked slowly, still recovering mobility in his right arm after suffering a stroke last year. Larson has been unhoused since 2012, living for the last four years in this encampment off Cherry Avenue. Garcia arrived a year or two later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a hundred yards away, a construction crew worked on what San José officials hope will be future homes for Larson and Garcia: a 128-unit tiny home village set to open this fall. People experiencing homelessness in the immediate area will be offered first preference for a private room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Larson and Garcia aren’t interested, at least not right now. Both said the facilities have too many rules and too little space for their tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want those,” Garcia said. “They should give us a hotel room.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042505\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Butch Larson repairs a bicycle near the place he lives along the Guadalupe River in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Larson doesn’t want that either. He lived briefly in a former downtown motel that was converted into a temporary housing unit, and said it felt “like a jail.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t smoke no marijuana or drink alcohol there,” he said. “I couldn’t have my tools, I couldn’t have my electric bike, I couldn’t have my motorbike, I couldn’t have my electric skateboard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Larson, Garcia and others living in encampments near interim housing sites could soon face new pressure to move indoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San José City Council will vote next week on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031813/san-jose-council-gives-initial-approval-mayors-controversial-homelessness-pay-plans\">controversial plan\u003c/a> authored by Mayor Matt Mahan to arrest unhoused people who refuse multiple offers of shelter. The proposal, called Responsibility to Shelter, is aimed at getting unhoused people into temporary housing or a court-ordered behavioral health treatment program.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Mahan is leading a call echoed by mayors across California, and recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039730/newsom-pushes-cities-ban-homeless-encampments-across-california\">by Gov. Gavin Newsom:\u003c/a> if shelter space is available, living in often unsafe and unsanitary encampments cannot be an acceptable alternative. If encampments persist after the city has\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\"> spent millions\u003c/a> of taxpayer dollars on temporary housing, Mahan argued, winning support for future shelter in San José will prove impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In addition to our moral responsibility to intervene in cycles of addiction and mental illness and get people indoors into treatment, we have a duty and really a political necessity to bring the whole community along,” Mahan told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of the mayor’s plan argue that such enforcement is premature. City data shows most unhoused people in San José accept shelter when offered. And even if every person living outdoors wanted a bed, the city is still far from being able to offer one: while there are more than 3,000 city and county-run shelter units in San José, an estimated 5,477 people are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026630/san-jose-has-an-idea-to-bring-street-homelessness-to-functional-zero-can-it-work\">living without shelter\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County officials, whose collaboration would be required once an arrest is made, are deeply skeptical. Without additional treatment beds, they warn, the plan could push more people through a revolving door between the courthouse, the jailhouse and the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the encampment near Cherry Avenue, Larson and Garcia said the threat of arrest would do little to change their mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been telling everybody out here, I’ll probably be the first person to go to jail over this s–t,” Larson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New police and outreach units\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both supporters and opponents of the plan agree that unhoused people who are arrested won’t be spending nights in jail, at least not initially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan before the council on Tuesday would add an expectation to accept shelter to the city’s encampment code of conduct. That code of conduct also prohibits camping in a “no encampment zone,” which includes the two-block radius around existing temporary housing sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042510\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12042510 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-26-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign in front of the Via del Oro interim housing site in San José on May 29, 2025, announces a no-encampment zone. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the code of conduct is not enforceable by arrest, San José Chief of Police Paul Joseph told the city council last month. Instead, violations would be used “to prioritize which campsites are in need of abatement and which can wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means encampments near the city’s interim housing communities, such as the Cherry Avenue site, will be prioritized for enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riley, who declined to share his last name, has lived there for two and a half years. He flashed a bright smile underneath a pair of black Ray-Ban sunglasses, but said frankly, “It’s hard out here.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I mean, with no air conditioning and your stuff gets stolen,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing, actually, because I like nice clothes, but it gets stolen. It gets stolen a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about the mayor’s enforcement plan, Riley said it didn’t sound too extreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I feel like if you don’t want to be homeless, then you should accept the resources, even if it’s not a mansion,” he added, gesturing at the nearby tiny homes under construction behind a chain-link fence. “If they gave me a chance right now, once they’re done, I would do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the proposal, that offer will come from a new seven-person team of housing and parks workers, who will spend time building relationships with people in encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These offers of housing distinguish Responsibility to Shelter from encampment laws being rolled out in other California cities. After the Supreme Court ruled last year in the Grants Pass decision that jurisdictions\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983492/how-a-pivotal-case-on-homelessness-could-redefine-policies-in-california-and-the-nation\"> could legally clear tents\u003c/a> without offering shelter, cities \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026580/this-bay-area-city-just-passed-the-most-extreme-encampment-ban-in-california\">such as Fremont\u003c/a> and Fresno \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12019944/in-fresno-one-of-californias-toughest-new-camping-bans-comes-into-focus\">have passed \u003c/a>outright bans on camping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the housing team has made several offers of shelter (originally proposed by Mahan as three offers but revised to give discretion to outreach workers), a new “Neighborhood Quality of Life” police unit could be dispatched. That unit, made up of one sergeant and six officers, would make arrests for any misdemeanor violations at the site, such as trespassing or illegal dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12026470 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-16-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan speaks at a press conference in San Francisco on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahan sees the arrests as a pathway to services that only the county can provide — a forcing function for judges to order participation in mental health or substance use programs, and to pressure the county to fund more housing for people enrolled in such treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For those individuals who are a subset of the population, but our most vulnerable neighbors and, frankly, the most impactful on the rest of society, success is getting into treatment,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Jamie Chang, associate professor of social welfare at UC Berkeley, said there’s little evidence that arrests will make a positive difference in the life of someone experiencing homelessness. She questions the premise that people who are resisting shelter are necessarily in need of mental health or substance use treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m very concerned about people who are not accepting shelter for various reasons, because they have disabilities, because they have too much stuff,” she said. “I think it’s very clear that people experiencing homelessness have many, and oftentimes very valid reasons for refusing shelter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>County says plan is ‘unnecessary and ineffective’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For people who are arrested under the Responsibility to Shelter plan, the path to treatment is not straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José officials want police to bring arrestees to a county facility where people under the influence of drugs or alcohol or those experiencing a mental health crisis can stay up to 24 hours — but they haven’t reached an agreement with the county to make that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the absence of a deal, San José police will bring the unhoused person they arrest to the county jail, where they will be immediately released with a citation to appear in court, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said, citing a state law that prohibits jailings for most misdemeanors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042508\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042508\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-20-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs posted in the Santa Teresa neighborhood of San José on May 29, 2025, announce that video surveillance is in use. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Damon Silver, Santa Clara County’s acting public defender, said it’s unlikely at that point for the person experiencing homelessness — just released from county jail and likely separated from their belongings — to navigate the path to treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re struggling to survive,” Silver said. “And for us to expect that they’re likely going to be able to manage both the transportation, the monitoring of when their court date is and then arrive successfully at court? I think we’re going to anticipate a large failure-to-appear rate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That failure to appear could lead a judge to issue a bench warrant, which raises the chances that the unhoused person would have to spend time in jail until their next court appearance.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If the person experiencing homelessness does appear for their arraignment, San José’s city attorney will ask that the case be referred to the county behavioral health court. The public defender might push back on the terms of a proposed treatment plan or ask that the judge dismiss the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If placed in a diversion program, the unhoused person could be connected to therapy, treatment or counseling. But judges, lawyers and service providers who work in the county’s diversion system all agreed: without housing, treatment will fail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have enough housing beds for people in this county,” Silver said. “We don’t frankly have enough mental health beds for people in this county, and we don’t have enough substance abuse beds and treatment for people in this county.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public defender’s skepticism has been echoed by top Santa Clara County brass. In a \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Letter-to-CSJ-re-Arrests-of-Unhoused-Individuals-for-Nonviolent-Misdemeanors-5.12.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 12 letter\u003c/a> addressed to San José leaders, Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee, District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Sheriff Robert Jonsen and County Executive James R. Williams called the potential homeless arrests “unnecessary and ineffective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At a time of tremendous budgetary challenges, City policies should not divert limited public safety resources to address what is ultimately a problem caused by the lack of affordable housing in our cities,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mayor: Encampments ‘undermine’ support for housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two days after the letter was sent, newly elected District 10 Councilmember George Casey fired back against county leadership during a hearing on the city budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is members of the city council, Casey argued, not the county government, who field the brunt of complaints from residents about persistent street homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most people don’t know who their county supervisor is or what the county is responsible for, and we’re the ones that catch hell,” Casey said. “So they get to sit back in the cuts and do nothing, and they’ve done nothing. And so the idea that we’re going to let that letter or whatever they are willing to do or not do dictate what we do is ridiculous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042506\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-14-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An interim housing site is built near an unhoused community along the Guadalupe River in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Casey is intimately familiar with the politics of homeless housing. Five of the city’s 13 interim housing communities lie along a stretch of Monterey Road that straddles District 10 and District 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the council has approved more temporary housing projects in South San José, they have layered on incentives to ameliorate concerns from residents living near the sites: the no encampment zones within a two-block radius, first preference for beds to people experiencing homelessness in the immediate area and a Community Advisory Committee to solicit feedback from nearby residents after the housing opens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Issa Ajlouny leads the Community Advisory Committee for the recently opened Via del Oro interim housing complex. The site has been open for less than two months, but Ajlouny said he has already fielded complaints from neighbors about lingering encampments, fires and reported thefts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Issa Ajlouny, founder and president of SAFER San José (Safety Advocate For Empowering Residents), sits at his home in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I’m the mediator,” he said. “I’m trying to be the person that says, ‘Hey, neighborhood, we need to be good neighbors to [the unhoused] and try to help them, our tax dollars are going towards it, we might as well do that.’ But in turn, we needed to be treated as good neighbors … and that actually is not happening right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ajlouny wants to see tougher enforcement and larger no-encampment zones — and he supports the Responsibility to Shelter plan, which would be enforced primarily in neighborhoods like his, near interim housing sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The message from the city when Via del Oro was approved was “We’ll throw you a bone,” Ajlouny said. “And the bone hasn’t landed yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José is operating more than 1,200 temporary units with on-site services — including private rooms and prefabricated apartments in tiny home villages, converted motel rooms and parking spaces for RVs. More than 500 additional shelter spaces are expected to open later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942734/emergency-calls-complaints-are-down-near-san-joses-temporary-housing-sites-so-why-are-they-still-so-politically-risky\">KQED analysis\u003c/a> found that neighborhood fears about the city’s first five interim housing sites never came to pass. But Mahan believes that the future of homeless housing in San José is predicated on residents like Ajlouny seeing meaningful improvements in their neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t do that if 10%, 20%, 30% of people are saying, ‘No thanks, I want to stay right here, continuing with my lifestyle in my tent,’” Mahan said. “It completely undermines the rationale for the work and the political support that the community is willing to give to these efforts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We haven’t necessarily solved the problem’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In early March, a parking lot for RV-dwellers opened on Berryessa Road in north San José, with on-site bathrooms and showers, along with case managers and hot meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The opening was preceded by months of messaging, both to people staying in their vehicles nearby and people living in the neighborhood, that RVs would be cleared from the area once the safe parking lot launched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember David Cohen said there were about 20 RVs on nearby streets when the site opened. A month later, about half remained. Now, the streets are clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042509\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250529-SJARRESTSHELTERVOTE-22-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">RVs line Vía Del Oro Drive in San José on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People who moved in early went back, and spoke to some of the people they knew on the [streets] and said ‘Actually it’s a pretty nice place,’” Cohen said. “As we build more of these sites and people see how they work, I believe more and more people will be accepting of the service and fewer will be service-resistant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the story didn’t end with the cleared streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now we have another street a couple blocks away that has RVs on it that didn’t before,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen said he’ll wait for any amendments to the Responsibility to Shelter plan on Tuesday before making a final decision on his vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He agrees with the mayor that the city can’t wait until there is a bed available for every unhoused person in San José before clearing tents or lived-in vehicles — that there’s value in showing neighborhoods that new shelter sites will come with clean streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But we have to understand that when we don’t have enough beds for everybody, we haven’t necessarily solved the problem,” he said. “We’ve just moved the problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "controversial-housing-near-transit-bill-advances-to-next-stop-in-legislature",
"title": "Controversial Housing-Near-Transit Bill Advances to Next Stop in Legislature",
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"headTitle": "Controversial Housing-Near-Transit Bill Advances to Next Stop in Legislature | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A controversial bill that would allow \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031302/wieners-controversial-bill-to-allow-housing-near-transit-is-back\">more apartments near public transit\u003c/a> stations throughout California narrowly squeaked through the state Senate on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB79\">SB 79\u003c/a>, needed 21 “yes” votes to pass, and it had none to spare, with senators voting 21–13 to advance it to the Assembly. Authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, SB 79 would enable the construction of buildings between four and nine stories tall near certain high-frequency bus stations, train and ferry stops. Wiener said the goals of the bill are twofold: to buoy beleaguered public transit agencies still recovering from \u003ca href=\"https://www.metro.net/about/la-metro-kicks-off-2025-with-continued-ridership-growth/#:~:text=January%20year%2Dover%2Dyear%20ridership,of%20its%20pre%2Dpandemic%20level.\">pandemic-era\u003c/a> ridership dips and to boost housing construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see that we do have [transit] systems in California that don’t have a lot of housing around it, and they have low ridership as a result,” Wiener said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “And so the purpose of this bill is to say, ‘Let’s focus more housing around the highest-quality public transportation, where we have made significant public investments of tax dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Previous attempts to pass similar measures — most recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798945/__trashed-4\">SB 50 in 2020\u003c/a> and its predecessor, SB 857, which was first introduced in 2018 — died in the legislature before making it to the governor’s desk. The latest iteration comes as the state’s Democratic legislature, reeling from the results of the 2024 national election, has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/02/california-affordability-housing-costs-legislation/#:~:text=At%20least%20250%20of%20the,improve%20services%2C%E2%80%9D%20Miller%20said.\">vowed to take on the issue of affordability\u003c/a>, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031302/wieners-controversial-bill-to-allow-housing-near-transit-is-back\">without a clear consensus\u003c/a> on just how to achieve it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Senate floor on Tuesday, those differences were on display, with opponents of the bill claiming it lacks clear affordability requirements and supporters pointing to the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/new-housing-fails-to-make-up-for-decades-of-undersupply/\">housing shortage\u003c/a> as the primary driver of \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">rising home costs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042698\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042698\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1240\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-1536x992.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Under SB 79, transit stops would be separated into “tiers” based on the frequency of the service and location. Heavy rail lines, such as BART and Caltrain, could see taller apartments, and lower-frequency commuter lines, such as SMART Rail and ferry stops, would see less intensive development. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Darren Tu/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sen. Lola Smallwood Cuevas, D-Los Angeles, agreed with the bill’s basic premise to prioritize new housing around transit, but worried that without stronger anti-displacement measures, it would allow new development to push out lower-income residents, who are also most likely to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/05/la-gentrification-public-transit/\">ride public transportation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I don’t see enough opportunity in this bill to stop the massive displacement,” she said before ultimately abstaining from a vote. “There is no mention of community benefits. There’s no mention in terms of — how do we ensure that our most vulnerable communities, that are at the most risk of being displaced, how do we ensure that they have an opportunity to fully participate?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill requires developers to abide by local inclusionary housing mandates and allows them to take advantage of existing \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB423\">permit streamlining\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=65915&lawCode=GOV\">density bonus\u003c/a> laws, which would trigger built-in affordability requirements, Wiener noted. If developers opt out, they would have to go through the same public process they undergo now. But he added, the bill’s premise — to allow apartments in areas where they wouldn’t otherwise be permitted — also makes affordable housing easier to build.[aside postID=news_12031302 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/010_KQED_AlamedaAffordableHousing_01122023-1020x680.jpg']“Low-density housing means no affordable housing because you’re not going to have affordable housing unless you have a certain level of multi-unit density,” he said, noting that the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, which had earlier been opposed to the bill, was now in \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB79\">support\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill also faced bipartisan opposition from senators who said it would override cities’ ability to plan for housing in their communities by allowing transit agencies to have more control over what gets built near stations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bill also allows transit agencies to become de facto land developers,” Sen. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, said. “And the need to make land use decisions based on agency fiscal needs will taint the need to act in the best interest of the public and the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SB-79-Wiener-Fact-Sheet-5.14.25.pdf\">the proposed legislation\u003c/a>, apartment buildings would be the tallest directly adjacent to a transit stop, stepping down with a quarter-mile and again within a half-mile. The transit systems would be further separated into “tiers” based on the type of system, frequency of service and where the transit agencies are located.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heavy rail and high-frequency commuter trains — such as BART, Caltrain and LA Metro’s B and D lines — would have the most intensive housing development near stations and ferry stops or commuter rail, such as the SMART Rail, having the least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042675\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Transit stops located in counties with fewer than 15 rail stations would be subject to the least intensive development standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, who ultimately voted in support of the measure, said he was concerned that cities are already required to demonstrate to the state how they plan to accommodate new housing in their communities through a process called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/planning-and-community-development/regional-housing-needs-allocation\">Regional Housing Needs Allocation\u003c/a>, and this bill undermines it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many cities only recently completed those [plans], where we told them, ‘Hey, you pick where you zone,’” he said. “And then, here, we’re coming along and saying, ‘Hey, and by the way, we’re gonna choose for you in these areas.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent amendment to the bill allows jurisdictions to present their own proposals to the state’s housing department to increase density around transit stops. That could mean allowing more housing near one station within a city and less around another, or building taller apartments on one side of a station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very important to me to give cities additional flexibility to say, ‘We understand what you’re trying to do. We want to do it in a somewhat different way,’” Wiener said, adding that flexibility is already written into the bill. “I know we can make it even better, and I’m committed to doing that work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The bill, SB 79, by state Sen. Scott Wiener, would allow buildings between four and seven stories tall around certain bus, ferry and train stations across California. ",
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"title": "Controversial Housing-Near-Transit Bill Advances to Next Stop in Legislature | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A controversial bill that would allow \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031302/wieners-controversial-bill-to-allow-housing-near-transit-is-back\">more apartments near public transit\u003c/a> stations throughout California narrowly squeaked through the state Senate on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB79\">SB 79\u003c/a>, needed 21 “yes” votes to pass, and it had none to spare, with senators voting 21–13 to advance it to the Assembly. Authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, SB 79 would enable the construction of buildings between four and nine stories tall near certain high-frequency bus stations, train and ferry stops. Wiener said the goals of the bill are twofold: to buoy beleaguered public transit agencies still recovering from \u003ca href=\"https://www.metro.net/about/la-metro-kicks-off-2025-with-continued-ridership-growth/#:~:text=January%20year%2Dover%2Dyear%20ridership,of%20its%20pre%2Dpandemic%20level.\">pandemic-era\u003c/a> ridership dips and to boost housing construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see that we do have [transit] systems in California that don’t have a lot of housing around it, and they have low ridership as a result,” Wiener said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “And so the purpose of this bill is to say, ‘Let’s focus more housing around the highest-quality public transportation, where we have made significant public investments of tax dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Previous attempts to pass similar measures — most recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798945/__trashed-4\">SB 50 in 2020\u003c/a> and its predecessor, SB 857, which was first introduced in 2018 — died in the legislature before making it to the governor’s desk. The latest iteration comes as the state’s Democratic legislature, reeling from the results of the 2024 national election, has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/02/california-affordability-housing-costs-legislation/#:~:text=At%20least%20250%20of%20the,improve%20services%2C%E2%80%9D%20Miller%20said.\">vowed to take on the issue of affordability\u003c/a>, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031302/wieners-controversial-bill-to-allow-housing-near-transit-is-back\">without a clear consensus\u003c/a> on just how to achieve it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Senate floor on Tuesday, those differences were on display, with opponents of the bill claiming it lacks clear affordability requirements and supporters pointing to the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/new-housing-fails-to-make-up-for-decades-of-undersupply/\">housing shortage\u003c/a> as the primary driver of \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">rising home costs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042698\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042698\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1240\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/Housing_5-1536x992.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Under SB 79, transit stops would be separated into “tiers” based on the frequency of the service and location. Heavy rail lines, such as BART and Caltrain, could see taller apartments, and lower-frequency commuter lines, such as SMART Rail and ferry stops, would see less intensive development. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Darren Tu/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sen. Lola Smallwood Cuevas, D-Los Angeles, agreed with the bill’s basic premise to prioritize new housing around transit, but worried that without stronger anti-displacement measures, it would allow new development to push out lower-income residents, who are also most likely to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/05/la-gentrification-public-transit/\">ride public transportation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I don’t see enough opportunity in this bill to stop the massive displacement,” she said before ultimately abstaining from a vote. “There is no mention of community benefits. There’s no mention in terms of — how do we ensure that our most vulnerable communities, that are at the most risk of being displaced, how do we ensure that they have an opportunity to fully participate?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill requires developers to abide by local inclusionary housing mandates and allows them to take advantage of existing \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB423\">permit streamlining\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=65915&lawCode=GOV\">density bonus\u003c/a> laws, which would trigger built-in affordability requirements, Wiener noted. If developers opt out, they would have to go through the same public process they undergo now. But he added, the bill’s premise — to allow apartments in areas where they wouldn’t otherwise be permitted — also makes affordable housing easier to build.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Low-density housing means no affordable housing because you’re not going to have affordable housing unless you have a certain level of multi-unit density,” he said, noting that the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, which had earlier been opposed to the bill, was now in \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB79\">support\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill also faced bipartisan opposition from senators who said it would override cities’ ability to plan for housing in their communities by allowing transit agencies to have more control over what gets built near stations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bill also allows transit agencies to become de facto land developers,” Sen. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, said. “And the need to make land use decisions based on agency fiscal needs will taint the need to act in the best interest of the public and the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SB-79-Wiener-Fact-Sheet-5.14.25.pdf\">the proposed legislation\u003c/a>, apartment buildings would be the tallest directly adjacent to a transit stop, stepping down with a quarter-mile and again within a half-mile. The transit systems would be further separated into “tiers” based on the type of system, frequency of service and where the transit agencies are located.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heavy rail and high-frequency commuter trains — such as BART, Caltrain and LA Metro’s B and D lines — would have the most intensive housing development near stations and ferry stops or commuter rail, such as the SMART Rail, having the least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042675\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Transit stops located in counties with fewer than 15 rail stations would be subject to the least intensive development standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, who ultimately voted in support of the measure, said he was concerned that cities are already required to demonstrate to the state how they plan to accommodate new housing in their communities through a process called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/planning-and-community-development/regional-housing-needs-allocation\">Regional Housing Needs Allocation\u003c/a>, and this bill undermines it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many cities only recently completed those [plans], where we told them, ‘Hey, you pick where you zone,’” he said. “And then, here, we’re coming along and saying, ‘Hey, and by the way, we’re gonna choose for you in these areas.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent amendment to the bill allows jurisdictions to present their own proposals to the state’s housing department to increase density around transit stops. That could mean allowing more housing near one station within a city and less around another, or building taller apartments on one side of a station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very important to me to give cities additional flexibility to say, ‘We understand what you’re trying to do. We want to do it in a somewhat different way,’” Wiener said, adding that flexibility is already written into the bill. “I know we can make it even better, and I’m committed to doing that work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "berkeley-residents-homeless-advocates-battle-over-fate-of-ohlone-park-encampment",
"title": "Berkeley Residents, Homeless Advocates Battle Over Fate of Ohlone Park Encampment",
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"headTitle": "Berkeley Residents, Homeless Advocates Battle Over Fate of Ohlone Park Encampment | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Clutching his morning coffee, Jeremy Wren walked across the grassy field at Ohlone Park toward the tent he’s been living in for the last two months, his large Siberian husky, Jeremiah, in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were supposed to be out yesterday, but they came and told us that they had to wait for the court to be done,” said Wren, one of about 40 residents at the encampment located on a stretch of greenway near downtown Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The site on Hearst Avenue, which emerged some six months ago as a protest over the city’s new encampment policy, has become the latest flashpoint in the progressive city’s perennial struggle to manage its intractable homelessness crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid a concerted campaign by neighbors to remove the encampment, which some have called a \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2025/05/22/community/guest-essay-ohlone-park-encampment-public-health-public-safety-emergency/\">public health and safety disaster\u003c/a>, the city pledged to begin the process of sweeping the site this week. But that plan was postponed at the 11th hour, after the Berkeley Homeless Union, a group representing encampment residents, sued the city on Tuesday. A federal judge who had previously denied the group’s effort to block the sweep agreed to another hearing, set for June 6, over its latest request for a restraining order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for at least another week, the tents will remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Wren, 53, who has gotten used to the site and the sense of community that has developed around it, this latest reprieve offers at least a temporary source of relief. He came to Berkeley from the Central Valley about five months ago, first staying for months at an encampment at Civic Center Park, and then moving here, along with most other residents from that encampment, \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/11/civic-center-park-camp-cleared\">after the city fenced off the site\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042052\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The homeless encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But he said he’s sympathetic to the concerns of people who live in houses near the park that don’t want to see a homeless encampment outside their windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got a few of the bad apples. But everything’s pretty much OK,” Wren said. “We try to police ourselves and keep things cordial for the neighbors, because they have issues with people going on their front lawns and taking their lights and stuff like that,” he added. “We try to nip that in a bud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12004348 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/026_Berkeley_PeoplesPark_02192021_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many people who live near the encampment, which borders a dog park and is just a stone’s throw from several playgrounds, see things quite differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group called Save Ohlone Park has demanded that Berkeley immediately remove the encampment. It recently submitted a petition with hundreds of signatures and threatened to pursue its own legal challenge against the city if it doesn’t take action soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been coming to this park almost every day, multiple times a day, for about a year now, and it was a beautiful community. I felt welcomed and included,” said Nicholas Alexander, an active member of that group, who lives a few blocks from the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the encampment ballooned in size a few months ago, following the closure of the Civic Center site, it dramatically changed the dynamic of the park and the surrounding neighborhood, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are people I haven’t seen for months now,” said Alexander, as he stood in the neighboring dog park, watching his German shepherd frolic with a cluster of smaller mutts. “They refuse to come here because of the drama, because of fights, because of open drug use, because of public defecation and urination, because they’re finding needles in the public playgrounds, in the children’s sandboxes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042050\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042050\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dishawnte Willis looks at lottery scratchers by his tent at the homeless encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a formerly unhoused resident who spent years living and working in various encampments throughout the city, including the longstanding \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/peoples-park\">controversial site at People’s Park\u003c/a>, Alexander said he is intimately familiar with the pain and uncertainty of not having a place to call one’s own. But he said encampments like this, which exist for months without any concrete rules or organization, and largely consist of people from outside the community, can quickly turn toxic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m part of a generation of homeless street kids in Berkeley,” said Alexander, 38, who exited homelessness more than a year ago after receiving one of the 32 Section 8 vouchers that were offered as part of a lottery involving about 5,000 applicants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know the eventual outcome of this kind of space. It’s unmanageable,” he said. “You get so many people that there’s no mitigating the harms, and it just becomes an overflow of negativity until you have to clear it. And we have been at that overflow for weeks now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander was among the more than 100 residents who last week packed into North Berkeley Senior Center, across the street from the encampment, for \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2025/05/28/community/berkeley-ohlone-park-homeless-camp-closure-planned/\">a heated community meeting\u003c/a> about the site. During one particularly emotional moment, a man who lives near the park recounted holding his infant child as someone wearing a Spiderman mask appeared outside his house and began smoking meth. Police later apprehended the person, confiscating multiple knives, the man said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is just one of the many stories, and why I feel so strongly about this,” Alexander said. “Because it has changed the entire fabric of this community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, whose district includes the part of the park where the encampment is located, convened the meeting after fielding a fusillade of complaints in recent months from her constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042051\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A public notice of an encampment closure is posted on Dishawnte Willis’ tent at the homeless encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I have always said, and I want to continue to reiterate, that I believe that our parks need to be safe and welcoming recreational spaces for all, from seniors to toddlers,” she told KQED. “And the protest encampment that was established at Ohlone Park has always been in violation of park rules that ban overnight camping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That protest effort, Kesarwani said, is led by a group called Where Do We Go Berkeley, which began directing unhoused people to this and other encampments after the city approved its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004348/berkeley-moves-to-expand-homeless-encampment-sweeps-in-more-aggressive-approach\">updated encampment policy\u003c/a> last year. The policy, which Kesarwani authored, was passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983492/how-a-pivotal-case-on-homelessness-could-redefine-policies-in-california-and-the-nation\">landmark Grant’s Pass ruling\u003c/a>, giving cities the authority to sweep encampments and arrest people living in them, regardless of whether any shelter options are available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kesarwani said her policy simply clarifies that Berkeley can and should remove encampments that pose acute public health or safety hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought it was important to be clear that we will offer shelter whenever practicable, but in specific instances, when an encampment poses a life, safety or health risk, then we will close that encampment in an effort to protect the life of the individual who is sheltering there, as well as neighboring employees and residents,” she said, citing the longstanding encampment in West Berkeley along Harrison Street that the city has tried to close down for years amid an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004348/berkeley-moves-to-expand-homeless-encampment-sweeps-in-more-aggressive-approach\">ongoing court battle\u003c/a> with the same group now representing Ohlone Park residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042049\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042049\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You have makeshift wooden structures with propane tanks inside. You have used syringes. You have open feces and urine. You have rotting food. You have rodents and rodent-harboring conditions,” Kesarwani said. “You have police and fire that are called to that encampment about every three days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, she added, every time the city has closed an encampment, it always offers shelter beds or hotel rooms and an array of social services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want the public to know that whenever the city closes an encampment, we do so with the utmost care,” she said. “We offer shelter. We offer motel rooms. We also store people’s belongings so that they can retrieve items that are important to them at a later time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren has experienced the city’s outreach firsthand and appreciates the effort. He said he recently spent 28 days in a motel on the city’s dime, and frequently gets his meals and showers at Dorothy Day House, a nearby shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think Berkeley’s trying, I really do,” he said. “It’s hard to deal with this, you know? So I understand [the mayor’s] situation, but I thank her for what she has done for me, because there’s a lot of resources around here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite all that, Wren said he still prefers living outside and intends to move to another encampment in the city if this one gets closed down. The shelters he’s stayed in, while helpful, have still kind of felt like “jail,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just don’t like the confinement, you know? I’d rather be living in the open,” he said, motioning to his tent in a shady area against a fence, next to a cardboard red Snoopy dog house with a garbage bag stuffed inside it. “I don’t wanna say I’m used to being homeless, but I kind of am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The site near downtown Berkeley has become the latest flashpoint in this progressive city’s perennial struggle to manage its intractable homelessness crisis. ",
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"title": "Berkeley Residents, Homeless Advocates Battle Over Fate of Ohlone Park Encampment | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Clutching his morning coffee, Jeremy Wren walked across the grassy field at Ohlone Park toward the tent he’s been living in for the last two months, his large Siberian husky, Jeremiah, in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were supposed to be out yesterday, but they came and told us that they had to wait for the court to be done,” said Wren, one of about 40 residents at the encampment located on a stretch of greenway near downtown Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The site on Hearst Avenue, which emerged some six months ago as a protest over the city’s new encampment policy, has become the latest flashpoint in the progressive city’s perennial struggle to manage its intractable homelessness crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid a concerted campaign by neighbors to remove the encampment, which some have called a \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2025/05/22/community/guest-essay-ohlone-park-encampment-public-health-public-safety-emergency/\">public health and safety disaster\u003c/a>, the city pledged to begin the process of sweeping the site this week. But that plan was postponed at the 11th hour, after the Berkeley Homeless Union, a group representing encampment residents, sued the city on Tuesday. A federal judge who had previously denied the group’s effort to block the sweep agreed to another hearing, set for June 6, over its latest request for a restraining order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for at least another week, the tents will remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Wren, 53, who has gotten used to the site and the sense of community that has developed around it, this latest reprieve offers at least a temporary source of relief. He came to Berkeley from the Central Valley about five months ago, first staying for months at an encampment at Civic Center Park, and then moving here, along with most other residents from that encampment, \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/11/civic-center-park-camp-cleared\">after the city fenced off the site\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042052\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The homeless encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But he said he’s sympathetic to the concerns of people who live in houses near the park that don’t want to see a homeless encampment outside their windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got a few of the bad apples. But everything’s pretty much OK,” Wren said. “We try to police ourselves and keep things cordial for the neighbors, because they have issues with people going on their front lawns and taking their lights and stuff like that,” he added. “We try to nip that in a bud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many people who live near the encampment, which borders a dog park and is just a stone’s throw from several playgrounds, see things quite differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group called Save Ohlone Park has demanded that Berkeley immediately remove the encampment. It recently submitted a petition with hundreds of signatures and threatened to pursue its own legal challenge against the city if it doesn’t take action soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been coming to this park almost every day, multiple times a day, for about a year now, and it was a beautiful community. I felt welcomed and included,” said Nicholas Alexander, an active member of that group, who lives a few blocks from the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the encampment ballooned in size a few months ago, following the closure of the Civic Center site, it dramatically changed the dynamic of the park and the surrounding neighborhood, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are people I haven’t seen for months now,” said Alexander, as he stood in the neighboring dog park, watching his German shepherd frolic with a cluster of smaller mutts. “They refuse to come here because of the drama, because of fights, because of open drug use, because of public defecation and urination, because they’re finding needles in the public playgrounds, in the children’s sandboxes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042050\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042050\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-9-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dishawnte Willis looks at lottery scratchers by his tent at the homeless encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a formerly unhoused resident who spent years living and working in various encampments throughout the city, including the longstanding \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/peoples-park\">controversial site at People’s Park\u003c/a>, Alexander said he is intimately familiar with the pain and uncertainty of not having a place to call one’s own. But he said encampments like this, which exist for months without any concrete rules or organization, and largely consist of people from outside the community, can quickly turn toxic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m part of a generation of homeless street kids in Berkeley,” said Alexander, 38, who exited homelessness more than a year ago after receiving one of the 32 Section 8 vouchers that were offered as part of a lottery involving about 5,000 applicants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know the eventual outcome of this kind of space. It’s unmanageable,” he said. “You get so many people that there’s no mitigating the harms, and it just becomes an overflow of negativity until you have to clear it. And we have been at that overflow for weeks now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander was among the more than 100 residents who last week packed into North Berkeley Senior Center, across the street from the encampment, for \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2025/05/28/community/berkeley-ohlone-park-homeless-camp-closure-planned/\">a heated community meeting\u003c/a> about the site. During one particularly emotional moment, a man who lives near the park recounted holding his infant child as someone wearing a Spiderman mask appeared outside his house and began smoking meth. Police later apprehended the person, confiscating multiple knives, the man said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is just one of the many stories, and why I feel so strongly about this,” Alexander said. “Because it has changed the entire fabric of this community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, whose district includes the part of the park where the encampment is located, convened the meeting after fielding a fusillade of complaints in recent months from her constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042051\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A public notice of an encampment closure is posted on Dishawnte Willis’ tent at the homeless encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I have always said, and I want to continue to reiterate, that I believe that our parks need to be safe and welcoming recreational spaces for all, from seniors to toddlers,” she told KQED. “And the protest encampment that was established at Ohlone Park has always been in violation of park rules that ban overnight camping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That protest effort, Kesarwani said, is led by a group called Where Do We Go Berkeley, which began directing unhoused people to this and other encampments after the city approved its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004348/berkeley-moves-to-expand-homeless-encampment-sweeps-in-more-aggressive-approach\">updated encampment policy\u003c/a> last year. The policy, which Kesarwani authored, was passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11983492/how-a-pivotal-case-on-homelessness-could-redefine-policies-in-california-and-the-nation\">landmark Grant’s Pass ruling\u003c/a>, giving cities the authority to sweep encampments and arrest people living in them, regardless of whether any shelter options are available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kesarwani said her policy simply clarifies that Berkeley can and should remove encampments that pose acute public health or safety hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought it was important to be clear that we will offer shelter whenever practicable, but in specific instances, when an encampment poses a life, safety or health risk, then we will close that encampment in an effort to protect the life of the individual who is sheltering there, as well as neighboring employees and residents,” she said, citing the longstanding encampment in West Berkeley along Harrison Street that the city has tried to close down for years amid an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004348/berkeley-moves-to-expand-homeless-encampment-sweeps-in-more-aggressive-approach\">ongoing court battle\u003c/a> with the same group now representing Ohlone Park residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042049\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042049\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250529_OHLONEPARKENCAMPMENT_GC-6-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You have makeshift wooden structures with propane tanks inside. You have used syringes. You have open feces and urine. You have rotting food. You have rodents and rodent-harboring conditions,” Kesarwani said. “You have police and fire that are called to that encampment about every three days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, she added, every time the city has closed an encampment, it always offers shelter beds or hotel rooms and an array of social services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want the public to know that whenever the city closes an encampment, we do so with the utmost care,” she said. “We offer shelter. We offer motel rooms. We also store people’s belongings so that they can retrieve items that are important to them at a later time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren has experienced the city’s outreach firsthand and appreciates the effort. He said he recently spent 28 days in a motel on the city’s dime, and frequently gets his meals and showers at Dorothy Day House, a nearby shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think Berkeley’s trying, I really do,” he said. “It’s hard to deal with this, you know? So I understand [the mayor’s] situation, but I thank her for what she has done for me, because there’s a lot of resources around here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite all that, Wren said he still prefers living outside and intends to move to another encampment in the city if this one gets closed down. The shelters he’s stayed in, while helpful, have still kind of felt like “jail,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just don’t like the confinement, you know? I’d rather be living in the open,” he said, motioning to his tent in a shady area against a fence, next to a cardboard red Snoopy dog house with a garbage bag stuffed inside it. “I don’t wanna say I’m used to being homeless, but I kind of am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "new-trump-administration-rules-could-cut-off-crucial-federal-homelessness-funding",
"title": "New Trump Administration Rules Could Cut Off Crucial Federal Homelessness Funding",
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"headTitle": "New Trump Administration Rules Could Cut Off Crucial Federal Homelessness Funding | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Since taking office in January, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">President Donald Trump\u003c/a> and his administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024387/california-22-other-states-sue-to-block-trumps-federal-funding-freeze\">have repeatedly\u003c/a> moved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037376/sf-santa-clara-counties-ask-us-court-halt-trumps-sanctuary-city-funding-freeze\">to cut off funding\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13975661/national-endowment-for-the-arts-grants-canceled-nonprofits\">cities and counties\u003c/a> that have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027607/sfs-long-history-as-sanctuary-city-faces-renewed-challenges-under-trump\">policies counter\u003c/a> to the president’s agenda — leaving people like R.J. Sloan caught in the middle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twenty years ago, Sloan didn’t think he would need government help to keep his life on track. He was living the American Dream: working for a giant pharmaceutical company and owning two homes. Then a health issue triggered a bout of depression that led to more serious mental health challenges — and eventually, a psychotic break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started running away from helicopters, trying to read my thoughts, I was certain they were the CIA,” he recalled. “I left my apartment, lost everything, including my two dogs. … And I started running around San Francisco, living in Golden Gate Park, eating out of trash cans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After several years living on the streets, Sloan, now age 60, connected with Episcopal Community Services, a nonprofit that operates 23 permanent supportive housing sites around the Bay Area, serving more than 2,300 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He secured an apartment at Bishop Swing Community House, a 134-unit supportive housing development in San Francisco’s South of Market District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially, just surviving was a struggle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first five years here, I wore the same clothes every single day. I never changed my clothes. I rarely showered or brushed my teeth. I was in such a bottomed-out phase of life,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040771\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040771\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">R. J. Sloan, who requested that his face not be shown, stands in the patio of the Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But over time — and with a lot of help — Sloan said he’s been able to rebuild his life. He credits the resources available at Bishop Swing Community House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These kinds of supportive housing developments don’t just provide a safe place to live: they offer mental health services, medical care, and, crucially for Sloan, case managers who encouraged him to move forward — when he was ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The supportive part of supportive housing is crucial,” he said. ”You’re encouraged to make your appointments and you’re encouraged to keep up with the goals that you set. Every six months, we set new goals. You know, what are you capable of now, R.J.? Of course, you couldn’t do this 10 years ago, but you know what, I have a feeling you could do this now.”[aside postID=news_12039730 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/080924-ENCAMPMENT-SWEEP-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Eventually, Sloan started working part-time as a front desk clerk at a nearby homeless shelter — work that now helps pay for his apartment. However, the bulk of his rent is covered by the federal government through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/\">Continuum of Care\u003c/a> — a key source of funding for local governments and nonprofits trying to tackle homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program helps cover housing costs and support services for thousands of homeless individuals like Sloan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County receives around $34 million a year. San Francisco gets about $50 million annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, that funding is now at risk as the Trump administration moves to impose new conditions on the federal money. It’s part of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026179/san-francisco-leads-lawsuit-against-trumps-threats-to-punish-sanctuary-cities\">broader pattern of the Trump administration seeking to withhold money\u003c/a> to pressure democratically led cities and counties to change policies the administration doesn’t like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, when HUD sent out grant applications, local officials balked. Under the new rules, local governments must certify that they do not have diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, don’t promote “gender ideology,” and don’t have sanctuary immigration policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039999\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039999\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A studio unit in the Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco and Santa Clara joined six other counties in suing the Trump administration over these new conditions. Earlier this month, they won a temporary restraining order halting the new grant conditions. Today, the counties return to court where the same judge will consider a permanent injunction as the case moves forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen this kind of dynamic with the Trump administration again and again, where they’re placing unlawful and unconstitutional conditions on federal funding,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said. “They’re essentially weaponizing federal funding to force locals to take action that they cannot force local governments to take.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HUD did not respond to a request for comment, but in March, HUD Secretary Scott Turner \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SecretaryTurner/status/1900257331184570703\">defended the change on the social media site X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HUD’s Continuum of Care Program was meant to provide funds to end homelessness, unfortunately, it was used as a tool by the left to push a woke agenda at the expense of people in need,” Turner wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LoPresti, however, insists that the new conditions are illegal, partly because they exceed what Congress outlined when authorizing the program. He also notes that many of the requirements are so vague that they’re impossible to comply with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039998\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039998\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The ongoing focus around diversity, equity, and inclusion is a great example of that,” he said, noting that there’s no clear definition of what qualifies as DEI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit also highlights that while the new grants prohibit recipients from recognizing transgender people, “HUD’s own regulations mandate ‘equal access’ to CoC ‘programs, shelters, other buildings and facilities, benefits, services, and accommodations is provided to an individual in accordance with the individual’s gender identity.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LoPresti said the stakes are incredibly high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our ability to really make progress in combating homelessness and making sure that those families have not only shelter, but the services that they need, really hinges in large part on our ability to access these federal funds,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness in the expensive Bay Area is a problem that leaders have struggled to address for decades. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986620/san-francisco-homelessness-up-7-despite-decline-in-street-camping#:~:text=The%20overall%20number%20of%20people,the%20Point%20in%20Time%20Count.\">More than 8,000 people are unhoused in San Francisco\u003c/a>, a number that’s ticked up slightly in recent years. Santa Clara County \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11977258/despite-progress-santa-clara-county-sees-sharp-rise-in-first-time-homelessness\">has also struggled to curb homelessness\u003c/a> and saw a sizable increase in the number of unhoused people in its last count in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beth Stokes, executive director of Episcopal Community Services, warned that cutting off funding to developments like Bishop Swing Community House would be incredibly shortsighted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040747\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040747\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beth Stokes, Executive Director at Episcopal Community Services, at the Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center run in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Would you rather have people on the street, suffering, their health completely deteriorating, with no quality of life?” she asked, “Versus being here — this is stable. This is peaceful. People get well here. And it’s actually a better bargain for the taxpayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stokes said if the new grant conditions go through, she is hopeful that her organization will be able to find other funding sources to help cover Sloan and other residents’ rent. However, she acknowledged that they might have to delay other projects aimed at getting even more homeless people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sloan, the Bishop Swing Community House resident, said he cannot imagine a world without the supportive housing he’s relied on for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without it, he said, “I would have entered homelessness, exited and entered and exited, and entered homelessness many, many times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t imagine not living here, to be honest with you. I’m scared to death of that third psychotic break. I don’t know what caused the first two. So I think I’d like to age in place right here,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Trump administration wants blue cities and counties to renounce DEI and immigration policies or lose crucial homelessness funding. Formerly unhoused people like R.J. Sloan are the ones who would suffer.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since taking office in January, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">President Donald Trump\u003c/a> and his administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024387/california-22-other-states-sue-to-block-trumps-federal-funding-freeze\">have repeatedly\u003c/a> moved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037376/sf-santa-clara-counties-ask-us-court-halt-trumps-sanctuary-city-funding-freeze\">to cut off funding\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13975661/national-endowment-for-the-arts-grants-canceled-nonprofits\">cities and counties\u003c/a> that have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027607/sfs-long-history-as-sanctuary-city-faces-renewed-challenges-under-trump\">policies counter\u003c/a> to the president’s agenda — leaving people like R.J. Sloan caught in the middle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twenty years ago, Sloan didn’t think he would need government help to keep his life on track. He was living the American Dream: working for a giant pharmaceutical company and owning two homes. Then a health issue triggered a bout of depression that led to more serious mental health challenges — and eventually, a psychotic break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started running away from helicopters, trying to read my thoughts, I was certain they were the CIA,” he recalled. “I left my apartment, lost everything, including my two dogs. … And I started running around San Francisco, living in Golden Gate Park, eating out of trash cans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After several years living on the streets, Sloan, now age 60, connected with Episcopal Community Services, a nonprofit that operates 23 permanent supportive housing sites around the Bay Area, serving more than 2,300 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He secured an apartment at Bishop Swing Community House, a 134-unit supportive housing development in San Francisco’s South of Market District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially, just surviving was a struggle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first five years here, I wore the same clothes every single day. I never changed my clothes. I rarely showered or brushed my teeth. I was in such a bottomed-out phase of life,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040771\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040771\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-11-KQED-1-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">R. J. Sloan, who requested that his face not be shown, stands in the patio of the Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But over time — and with a lot of help — Sloan said he’s been able to rebuild his life. He credits the resources available at Bishop Swing Community House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These kinds of supportive housing developments don’t just provide a safe place to live: they offer mental health services, medical care, and, crucially for Sloan, case managers who encouraged him to move forward — when he was ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The supportive part of supportive housing is crucial,” he said. ”You’re encouraged to make your appointments and you’re encouraged to keep up with the goals that you set. Every six months, we set new goals. You know, what are you capable of now, R.J.? Of course, you couldn’t do this 10 years ago, but you know what, I have a feeling you could do this now.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Eventually, Sloan started working part-time as a front desk clerk at a nearby homeless shelter — work that now helps pay for his apartment. However, the bulk of his rent is covered by the federal government through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/\">Continuum of Care\u003c/a> — a key source of funding for local governments and nonprofits trying to tackle homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program helps cover housing costs and support services for thousands of homeless individuals like Sloan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County receives around $34 million a year. San Francisco gets about $50 million annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, that funding is now at risk as the Trump administration moves to impose new conditions on the federal money. It’s part of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026179/san-francisco-leads-lawsuit-against-trumps-threats-to-punish-sanctuary-cities\">broader pattern of the Trump administration seeking to withhold money\u003c/a> to pressure democratically led cities and counties to change policies the administration doesn’t like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, when HUD sent out grant applications, local officials balked. Under the new rules, local governments must certify that they do not have diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, don’t promote “gender ideology,” and don’t have sanctuary immigration policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039999\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039999\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-02-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A studio unit in the Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco and Santa Clara joined six other counties in suing the Trump administration over these new conditions. Earlier this month, they won a temporary restraining order halting the new grant conditions. Today, the counties return to court where the same judge will consider a permanent injunction as the case moves forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen this kind of dynamic with the Trump administration again and again, where they’re placing unlawful and unconstitutional conditions on federal funding,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said. “They’re essentially weaponizing federal funding to force locals to take action that they cannot force local governments to take.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HUD did not respond to a request for comment, but in March, HUD Secretary Scott Turner \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SecretaryTurner/status/1900257331184570703\">defended the change on the social media site X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HUD’s Continuum of Care Program was meant to provide funds to end homelessness, unfortunately, it was used as a tool by the left to push a woke agenda at the expense of people in need,” Turner wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LoPresti, however, insists that the new conditions are illegal, partly because they exceed what Congress outlined when authorizing the program. He also notes that many of the requirements are so vague that they’re impossible to comply with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039998\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039998\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-01-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The ongoing focus around diversity, equity, and inclusion is a great example of that,” he said, noting that there’s no clear definition of what qualifies as DEI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit also highlights that while the new grants prohibit recipients from recognizing transgender people, “HUD’s own regulations mandate ‘equal access’ to CoC ‘programs, shelters, other buildings and facilities, benefits, services, and accommodations is provided to an individual in accordance with the individual’s gender identity.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LoPresti said the stakes are incredibly high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our ability to really make progress in combating homelessness and making sure that those families have not only shelter, but the services that they need, really hinges in large part on our ability to access these federal funds,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness in the expensive Bay Area is a problem that leaders have struggled to address for decades. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986620/san-francisco-homelessness-up-7-despite-decline-in-street-camping#:~:text=The%20overall%20number%20of%20people,the%20Point%20in%20Time%20Count.\">More than 8,000 people are unhoused in San Francisco\u003c/a>, a number that’s ticked up slightly in recent years. Santa Clara County \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11977258/despite-progress-santa-clara-county-sees-sharp-rise-in-first-time-homelessness\">has also struggled to curb homelessness\u003c/a> and saw a sizable increase in the number of unhoused people in its last count in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beth Stokes, executive director of Episcopal Community Services, warned that cutting off funding to developments like Bishop Swing Community House would be incredibly shortsighted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040747\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040747\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-HUD-FUNDS-MD-08-KQED-1-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beth Stokes, Executive Director at Episcopal Community Services, at the Bishop Swing Community House supportive housing center run in San Francisco on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Would you rather have people on the street, suffering, their health completely deteriorating, with no quality of life?” she asked, “Versus being here — this is stable. This is peaceful. People get well here. And it’s actually a better bargain for the taxpayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stokes said if the new grant conditions go through, she is hopeful that her organization will be able to find other funding sources to help cover Sloan and other residents’ rent. However, she acknowledged that they might have to delay other projects aimed at getting even more homeless people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sloan, the Bishop Swing Community House resident, said he cannot imagine a world without the supportive housing he’s relied on for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without it, he said, “I would have entered homelessness, exited and entered and exited, and entered homelessness many, many times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t imagine not living here, to be honest with you. I’m scared to death of that third psychotic break. I don’t know what caused the first two. So I think I’d like to age in place right here,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "2-solano-cities-could-annex-some-california-forevers-land-heres-how",
"title": "2 Solano Cities Could Annex Some of California Forever’s Land. Here’s How",
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"headTitle": "2 Solano Cities Could Annex Some of California Forever’s Land. Here’s How | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035971/california-forever-2-solano-cities-team-up-annexation-talks-move-forward\">Two of Solano County’s smallest cities\u003c/a> are exploring whether to get bigger — by taking over portions of California Forever’s property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company is behind a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972769/not-just-a-crazy-idea-california-forever-releases-ballot-details-for-new-bay-area-city\">proposed ballot initiative\u003c/a> that, if approved, would allow it to eventually build an \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/the-bold-city-project-of-the-tech-elite/\">Oakland-sized city\u003c/a> from scratch over what is currently farmland. Earlier this year, elected officials in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031818/another-solano-county-city-wants-annex-some-california-forevers-land\">Suisun City\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029950/rio-vista-explores-annexing-some-california-forevers-land\">Rio Vista\u003c/a>, two of California Forever’s closest neighbors, directed staff in their respective cities to explore annexing some of the company’s 60,000 acres of unincorporated land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since news of the potential annexations broke, county residents have raised questions about the process, how it could impact their cities and the county, and whether voters will be able to weigh in on the proposed ballot initiative, expected to go before voters in November 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We break it all down: why the cities are considering annexation, what that process could look like and how it might impact the company’s proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why would Suisun City and Rio Vista want to annex California Forever’s land?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At just 4 and 6.6 square miles, respectively, Suisun City and Rio Vista are the smallest cities in the county, geographically speaking. And staff from both cities have said they want to explore annexation to broaden their cities’ tax bases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The town of Collinsville in Solano County on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, in Rio Vista, staff have also said they want to maintain the city’s character as a “\u003ca href=\"https://riovista-ca.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=1&event_id=2363&meta_id=59354\">quaint river town\u003c/a>.” They hope, by controlling some of California Forever’s land, they can influence what eventually gets built there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City managers from both Suisun City and Rio Vista have not said how much land either city might annex. They’re both in the process of drafting reimbursement agreements with California Forever that would allow them to explore annexation on the company’s dime.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s in it for California Forever?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The company said it isn’t sure yet. Representatives have repeatedly told KQED they are interested in working with both cities as they explore annexation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is still early innings and there are important procedural steps to work through, but we’re looking forward to getting a reimbursement agreement signed with the cities and getting into discussions of what could be possible,” California Forever CEO Jan Sramek told KQED in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from the company’s specific motivations, there are myriad reasons a landowner might want to incorporate into a city, said Jim Burling, vice president of legal affairs with the Pacific Legal Foundation and a property rights expert. He said annexation talks usually start after a developer or landowner approaches a city with a plan to build something in an unincorporated area. In this case, the situation was reversed, with Suisun City and Rio Vista initiating the discussions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The landowner may not have access to various city services: water, sewer, utilities, police departments — that kind of thing — and the landowner might want to become part of the city in order to get those kinds of services,” he said. “The city might want to get the development, especially if it’s a commercial development, because the city can acquire the tax revenues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all landowners want to be annexed. When Suisun City reached out to other nearby property holders, some said \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3265707/Attachment_2_-_Response_Letters.pdf\">they weren’t interested\u003c/a> because they already have their own trash, water and septic services and didn’t want their property taxes to increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who gets to decide?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California, the ultimate decision of whether land can be incorporated into a city lies in the hands of the Local Agency Formation Commissions. LAFCOs are independent government agencies made up of elected and appointed officials from cities, the county and the general public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agencies were created in 2000 under the \u003ca href=\"https://alcl.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2024-11/4416-ckh-guide-2023-final.pdf\">Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act\u003c/a> to manage city growth and make sure they could provide services to areas under their jurisdictions. According to urbanist and land use expert Alex Schafran, that’s because during the 1940s and ’50s, California experienced a huge boom in population following a \u003ca href=\"https://www.contracostalafco.org/documents/handbook/ii%20Why%20LAFCO%20final%205-07.pdf\">surge in land speculation and development\u003c/a>. Cities across the state grew aggressively and ate up farmland in the process.[aside postID=news_12035971 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240502-CaliforniaForever-96-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']That was the case in Solano County, as well, with cities growing rapidly from the 1970s through the early 2000s, County Administrator Bill Emlen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Schafran said some cities, such as Richmond, grew and annexed land that was geographically disconnected from other parts of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “checkerboard” nature of city growth made it difficult to provide municipal services and infrastructure to all the areas the city controlled. As a result, some counties were left with their own checkerboard of less valuable unincorporated land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“LAFCO was created to rein in this crazy annexation wave and, in particular, to put some guardrails around it so that you weren’t leaving the county with islands of less valuable land that it was on the hook to somehow maintain and provide services to,” Schafran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from Suisun and Rio Vista in Solano County, Emlen sees a new wave of cities, including Dixon and Vacaville, that are also interested in further expanding their boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How does annexation work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The short answer is that a city will put together an application to present to LAFCO, and then the commission votes to approve or deny the annexation. But the process of just getting to the application phase is incredibly lengthy and involves dozens of hearings, negotiations and reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first report is a \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/solanocountylafcoca/2024/10/MSR-Guidelines.pdf\">municipal services review\u003c/a>, which outlines the infrastructure and public services that would be needed in the incorporated area and how the city has managed those services within its current boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040859\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040859\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then comes the “\u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/solanocountylafcoca/uploads/2023/05/Standards-and-Procedures-June-2019.pdf\">Sphere of Influence\u003c/a>” report, which lays out what the annexed land will be used for — whether it will remain farmland, for instance, or be redeveloped into homes, retail or office space. It also establishes a physical boundary for the annexed land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The annexation proposal has to be compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act and reviewed for potential impacts to the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if a developer wants to build something on the annexed land, it might also enter into a development agreement with the city to clarify what the project would include and how it could impact the city. Burling said this agreement can also assure the developer that its project can be built on the annexed land after it becomes part of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once a city completes the necessary reviews to submit an application to LAFCO, the agency reviews it and conducts studies of its own, if necessary, on how the city will service the unincorporated land. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.solanolafco.com/\">commission\u003c/a> then votes on whether the annexation can move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When can the public weigh in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most of the reports included in the annexation process will be presented during public meetings, where residents can voice opinions in support or opposition of incorporating the land into the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there are landowners or registered voters in the unincorporated area who don’t want their land to be annexed, they can file documentation asking for a protest hearing. If enough landowners are opposed, the proposal either dies or goes to an election among residents in the area slated to be annexed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Christina Love, the deputy executive director for Solano LAFCO, who worked in the city of Vacaville for 13 years, said protest hearings are unusual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Speaking from my experience from the city-side of it, the developers have done their homework and either work with the property owners or own the land, so a protest hearing is usually not a big deal,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How soon could this all happen?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On average, it can take two to five years, but in extreme cases, it can take up to a decade to complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How would annexation impact California Forever’s proposal?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>We don’t know yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because Rio Vista and Suisun City have not decided how much land they will each annex, or where the annexed land could be located in relation to California Forever’s proposed new city, it’s still unclear how annexation could affect the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040012\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A barn stands along the road near Birds Landing in Solano County on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The company has also not stated whether it will delay placing its initiative on the 2026 ballot if annexation talks move forward, though both processes could happen simultaneously if the proposed city remains in an unincorporated part of the county. Although California Forever owns some 60,000 acres, its proposed city would sit on only 17,500 acres, with the rest preserved as a buffer zone for the nearby Travis Air Force Base, agricultural land and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emlen has previously indicated that if either city were successful in annexing all of the land for the new city, California Forever would not be required to present its plan to Solano voters because the company would no longer be building in an unincorporated area and would not be subject to the county’s Orderly Growth Ordinance. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.solanocounty.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=6506\">county law\u003c/a> requires voter approval to build on agricultural land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he said it is unlikely that would happen because LAFCO would require the cities to be able to provide services to the new community, and right now, neither city has that capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Do counties have any say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The county enters the group chat pretty early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a city updates its “sphere of influence” plan, the county must sign off and make sure it is consistent with its own general plan. Love said that if the county and city can agree on the sphere of influence, it makes her job a lot easier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If not, LAFCO would have to prepare an analysis, including a list of pros and cons for how annexation would impact the county and the city. The commission would have to consider that for its final vote.[aside postID=news_12031818 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-43-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']While an area of the county is unincorporated, it’s the county’s responsibility to provide services there. It also receives taxes from landowners on properties within its jurisdiction. During the annexation process, the county and city have to agree on how both parties will split the tax revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The county is going to be losing [its] portion of the property tax,” she said. “So, there is an impact.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last July, Solano County officials \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/SolanoCountyReport.pdf\">released a damning report\u003c/a> on California Forever’s proposed new town and predicted it would cost the county more than it would bring in revenue. Emlen said the county has not established a position on the potential annexations because he and other staff have not seen a specific proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burling said it will likely take years to get answers to the many questions surrounding annexation and California Forever’s project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something of the magnitude of California Forever is not going to happen in the blink of an eye,” he said. “I would suspect that you’re going to have an army of lawyers from both sides negotiating this stuff for quite a bit of time. It’s not going to happen overnight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Elected officials in Suisun City and Rio Vista have expressed interest in annexing some of California Forever’s land. We break down how that process would work. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035971/california-forever-2-solano-cities-team-up-annexation-talks-move-forward\">Two of Solano County’s smallest cities\u003c/a> are exploring whether to get bigger — by taking over portions of California Forever’s property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company is behind a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972769/not-just-a-crazy-idea-california-forever-releases-ballot-details-for-new-bay-area-city\">proposed ballot initiative\u003c/a> that, if approved, would allow it to eventually build an \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/the-bold-city-project-of-the-tech-elite/\">Oakland-sized city\u003c/a> from scratch over what is currently farmland. Earlier this year, elected officials in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031818/another-solano-county-city-wants-annex-some-california-forevers-land\">Suisun City\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029950/rio-vista-explores-annexing-some-california-forevers-land\">Rio Vista\u003c/a>, two of California Forever’s closest neighbors, directed staff in their respective cities to explore annexing some of the company’s 60,000 acres of unincorporated land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since news of the potential annexations broke, county residents have raised questions about the process, how it could impact their cities and the county, and whether voters will be able to weigh in on the proposed ballot initiative, expected to go before voters in November 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We break it all down: why the cities are considering annexation, what that process could look like and how it might impact the company’s proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why would Suisun City and Rio Vista want to annex California Forever’s land?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At just 4 and 6.6 square miles, respectively, Suisun City and Rio Vista are the smallest cities in the county, geographically speaking. And staff from both cities have said they want to explore annexation to broaden their cities’ tax bases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-42-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The town of Collinsville in Solano County on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, in Rio Vista, staff have also said they want to maintain the city’s character as a “\u003ca href=\"https://riovista-ca.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=1&event_id=2363&meta_id=59354\">quaint river town\u003c/a>.” They hope, by controlling some of California Forever’s land, they can influence what eventually gets built there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City managers from both Suisun City and Rio Vista have not said how much land either city might annex. They’re both in the process of drafting reimbursement agreements with California Forever that would allow them to explore annexation on the company’s dime.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s in it for California Forever?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The company said it isn’t sure yet. Representatives have repeatedly told KQED they are interested in working with both cities as they explore annexation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is still early innings and there are important procedural steps to work through, but we’re looking forward to getting a reimbursement agreement signed with the cities and getting into discussions of what could be possible,” California Forever CEO Jan Sramek told KQED in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from the company’s specific motivations, there are myriad reasons a landowner might want to incorporate into a city, said Jim Burling, vice president of legal affairs with the Pacific Legal Foundation and a property rights expert. He said annexation talks usually start after a developer or landowner approaches a city with a plan to build something in an unincorporated area. In this case, the situation was reversed, with Suisun City and Rio Vista initiating the discussions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The landowner may not have access to various city services: water, sewer, utilities, police departments — that kind of thing — and the landowner might want to become part of the city in order to get those kinds of services,” he said. “The city might want to get the development, especially if it’s a commercial development, because the city can acquire the tax revenues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all landowners want to be annexed. When Suisun City reached out to other nearby property holders, some said \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3265707/Attachment_2_-_Response_Letters.pdf\">they weren’t interested\u003c/a> because they already have their own trash, water and septic services and didn’t want their property taxes to increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who gets to decide?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California, the ultimate decision of whether land can be incorporated into a city lies in the hands of the Local Agency Formation Commissions. LAFCOs are independent government agencies made up of elected and appointed officials from cities, the county and the general public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agencies were created in 2000 under the \u003ca href=\"https://alcl.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2024-11/4416-ckh-guide-2023-final.pdf\">Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act\u003c/a> to manage city growth and make sure they could provide services to areas under their jurisdictions. According to urbanist and land use expert Alex Schafran, that’s because during the 1940s and ’50s, California experienced a huge boom in population following a \u003ca href=\"https://www.contracostalafco.org/documents/handbook/ii%20Why%20LAFCO%20final%205-07.pdf\">surge in land speculation and development\u003c/a>. Cities across the state grew aggressively and ate up farmland in the process.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That was the case in Solano County, as well, with cities growing rapidly from the 1970s through the early 2000s, County Administrator Bill Emlen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Schafran said some cities, such as Richmond, grew and annexed land that was geographically disconnected from other parts of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “checkerboard” nature of city growth made it difficult to provide municipal services and infrastructure to all the areas the city controlled. As a result, some counties were left with their own checkerboard of less valuable unincorporated land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“LAFCO was created to rein in this crazy annexation wave and, in particular, to put some guardrails around it so that you weren’t leaving the county with islands of less valuable land that it was on the hook to somehow maintain and provide services to,” Schafran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from Suisun and Rio Vista in Solano County, Emlen sees a new wave of cities, including Dixon and Vacaville, that are also interested in further expanding their boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How does annexation work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The short answer is that a city will put together an application to present to LAFCO, and then the commission votes to approve or deny the annexation. But the process of just getting to the application phase is incredibly lengthy and involves dozens of hearings, negotiations and reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first report is a \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/solanocountylafcoca/2024/10/MSR-Guidelines.pdf\">municipal services review\u003c/a>, which outlines the infrastructure and public services that would be needed in the incorporated area and how the city has managed those services within its current boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040859\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040859\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-15-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then comes the “\u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/solanocountylafcoca/uploads/2023/05/Standards-and-Procedures-June-2019.pdf\">Sphere of Influence\u003c/a>” report, which lays out what the annexed land will be used for — whether it will remain farmland, for instance, or be redeveloped into homes, retail or office space. It also establishes a physical boundary for the annexed land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The annexation proposal has to be compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act and reviewed for potential impacts to the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if a developer wants to build something on the annexed land, it might also enter into a development agreement with the city to clarify what the project would include and how it could impact the city. Burling said this agreement can also assure the developer that its project can be built on the annexed land after it becomes part of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once a city completes the necessary reviews to submit an application to LAFCO, the agency reviews it and conducts studies of its own, if necessary, on how the city will service the unincorporated land. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.solanolafco.com/\">commission\u003c/a> then votes on whether the annexation can move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When can the public weigh in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most of the reports included in the annexation process will be presented during public meetings, where residents can voice opinions in support or opposition of incorporating the land into the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there are landowners or registered voters in the unincorporated area who don’t want their land to be annexed, they can file documentation asking for a protest hearing. If enough landowners are opposed, the proposal either dies or goes to an election among residents in the area slated to be annexed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Christina Love, the deputy executive director for Solano LAFCO, who worked in the city of Vacaville for 13 years, said protest hearings are unusual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Speaking from my experience from the city-side of it, the developers have done their homework and either work with the property owners or own the land, so a protest hearing is usually not a big deal,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How soon could this all happen?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On average, it can take two to five years, but in extreme cases, it can take up to a decade to complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How would annexation impact California Forever’s proposal?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>We don’t know yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because Rio Vista and Suisun City have not decided how much land they will each annex, or where the annexed land could be located in relation to California Forever’s proposed new city, it’s still unclear how annexation could affect the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040012\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250513-CALIFORNIAFOREVERANNEXEXPLAINER-39-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A barn stands along the road near Birds Landing in Solano County on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The company has also not stated whether it will delay placing its initiative on the 2026 ballot if annexation talks move forward, though both processes could happen simultaneously if the proposed city remains in an unincorporated part of the county. Although California Forever owns some 60,000 acres, its proposed city would sit on only 17,500 acres, with the rest preserved as a buffer zone for the nearby Travis Air Force Base, agricultural land and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emlen has previously indicated that if either city were successful in annexing all of the land for the new city, California Forever would not be required to present its plan to Solano voters because the company would no longer be building in an unincorporated area and would not be subject to the county’s Orderly Growth Ordinance. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.solanocounty.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=6506\">county law\u003c/a> requires voter approval to build on agricultural land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he said it is unlikely that would happen because LAFCO would require the cities to be able to provide services to the new community, and right now, neither city has that capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Do counties have any say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The county enters the group chat pretty early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a city updates its “sphere of influence” plan, the county must sign off and make sure it is consistent with its own general plan. Love said that if the county and city can agree on the sphere of influence, it makes her job a lot easier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If not, LAFCO would have to prepare an analysis, including a list of pros and cons for how annexation would impact the county and the city. The commission would have to consider that for its final vote.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While an area of the county is unincorporated, it’s the county’s responsibility to provide services there. It also receives taxes from landowners on properties within its jurisdiction. During the annexation process, the county and city have to agree on how both parties will split the tax revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The county is going to be losing [its] portion of the property tax,” she said. “So, there is an impact.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last July, Solano County officials \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/SolanoCountyReport.pdf\">released a damning report\u003c/a> on California Forever’s proposed new town and predicted it would cost the county more than it would bring in revenue. Emlen said the county has not established a position on the potential annexations because he and other staff have not seen a specific proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burling said it will likely take years to get answers to the many questions surrounding annexation and California Forever’s project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something of the magnitude of California Forever is not going to happen in the blink of an eye,” he said. “I would suspect that you’re going to have an army of lawyers from both sides negotiating this stuff for quite a bit of time. It’s not going to happen overnight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"id": "closealltabs",
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"order": 1
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
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"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
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