SACRAMENTO, California — Sacramento city officials responded Thursday to a recent pair of County Grand Jury reports that allege political infighting between city and county officials to be hindering homelessness response efforts.
The two 2023 reports published in May and June were also critical of the city's unused tiny homes, attempts to close the Miller Park sanctioned encampment site and the displacement of Bannon Island encampments.
"The first step to change is getting elected [officials] to speak with each other," Grand Jury foreperson Norval Wellsfry told ABC10 in June. "If they just create an organization and don't sit on the board, they're dodging responsibility."
But in their response Thursday, city officials said they have already started implementing many of the Grand Jury's recommendations.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg wrote that they and county officials agreed to enter into a partnership known as a Joint Powers Authority — which means they will collaborate on homelessness response and protocols.
City officials also agreed with the report's finding that too many boards, committees and other government entities create redundant planning.
Though agreeing with a majority of the findings, city officials said they partially disagreed or fully disagreed with the following Grand Jury report findings:
- Lack of affordable housing is the primary cause of homelessness
- Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF) is powerless to implement needed changes
- The current fragmented system of homeless services fails to serve the homeless, their mental health and substance abuse challenges
- The current Homeless Action Plan published by SSF has not been successful because performance is not monitored
- Mental health and substance abuse issues of the homeless are aggravated by poor government planning
- Outreach teams are poorly supported, understaffed and communicate poorly with law enforcement
City officials also said they've implemented more frequent communications between law enforcement and homeless outreach teams, along with increasing communication between all local agencies.
"The City of Sacramento and County of Sacramento Partnership Agreement, Collaboration Protocol includes an entire section on communication between the City and County," Steinberg said.
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