SACRAMENTO, Calif — Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced Thursday he will propose authorizing the city manager to put up "hundreds of new safe camping spaces" and he hopes the council will green light it on Aug. 1.
It comes after Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho told ABC10 his office is investigating whether the city broke laws regarding homeless encampments.
"We've documented 86 incidents around the courthouse and the DHS office," Ho said Tuesday. "What we do need is to have compliance with the laws and the rules."
But Steinberg wrote in a recent blog post the city is enforcing its sidewalk, critical infrastructure and private property encampment ordinance also known as Measure O.
About 52% of voters in Nov. 2022 voted to pass the measure, which was meant to authorize the removal of "unlawful" encampments.
The Department of Community Response acted on more than 13,000 calls in 2023, including 2,300 for reports of blocked sidewalks, according to Steinberg.
"Moving encampments wholesale is a different story," he said. "Moving people with no place for them to go just shuffles them from one part of the city to another."
A recent ABC10 report revealed the city is no longer required to fund additional enforcement services under Measure O until at least June 30, 2024.
"Nevertheless, submitted Notice and Demand forms will automatically generate a case number and be routed to the Department of Community Response, who will then work closely with the appropriate City enforcement departments to address pursuant to the City protocol systems," according to the city's website.
Steinberg also said critics are wrong in their assessment of City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood's interpretation of the Martin v. Boise U.S. Court of Appeals ruling.
The 2018 ruling held cities can't enforce anti-camping ordinances if they don't have enough shelter beds available for the residents affected by the ordinances.
"The City Attorney's interpretation is correct; the case clearly links moving people off public property to the greater availability of additional safe camping, shelter and housing," said Steinberg.
Sacramento city councilmembers will discuss the potential hundreds of new safe camping spaces at its Aug. 1 council meeting.
