SACRAMENTO, Calif. — People living in the city of Sacramento can now report unlawful homeless encampments on public property – and the city is required to respond within 20 days.
It’s part of Measure O - also known as the Emergency Shelter and Enforcement Act of 2022. Voters approved it in the fall and it went into effect in December.
One section of Measure O says that 180 days after going into effect – which was this Wednesday - the city must have an avenue for residents to file reports of unlawful camping on public property and that the city is required to respond to that report within 20 days.
Camping on public property is unlawful in Sacramento, but lots of people are still seeing it throughout the city.
If you take a drive through places like the W-X corridor - even just blocks from where ABC10 is located near the western end of Broadway - you’ll see encampments lined up along the several portions of sidewalk.
Nathan Cusick knows this well. He has lived near the 99 and 50 interchange for about three years and has seen more than just the unlawful encampments that sit across the street from his home.
“I can't even begin to describe it in a polite manner,” Cusick said. “From drugs being sold to fires on the side of the freeway, prostitution, all kinds of stuff. You wouldn't imagine."
He said he has called the city and police over the years with unsatisfying results.
"There was a car parked in front of my house there in the two-hour zone for over a year during the pandemic, and I would call every, about, two weeks, and the city would say that there's nothing that can be done. These are my neighbors now,” he said.
ABC10 told him about the brand new way Sacramento residents like him can report unlawful encampments on public property and that the city is required - per Measure O - to respond within 20 days.
"Any type of plan would be great,” he said. “Nothing's going to change until you make a change."
Measure O allows the city to move people from camping on public property if the city has enough emergency shelter spaces available — which the city says, by its count, it does.
It was required by late March to have 605 emergency shelter spaces identified and authorized.
Currently, city spokesperson Tim Swanson told ABC10, there are 705 spaces. 350 of those do not yet exist, however. They are part of the project at Cal Expo, announced in March by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Darrell Steinberg. The remaining 355 beds, however, are operational.
Measure O has been in effect for 180 days now, but the city has connected just about 65 people with shelter, Swanson said.
ABC10 asked Assistant City Manager Mario Lara why there aren’t more visible results yet from this measure – and why encampments are still visible on city streets.
"The number of folks who are currently experiencing homelessness within the city of Sacramento is a very significant number, and we're working very hard with the county - through our partnership agreement - to expand the number of shelter beds that are available,” Lara said. “There is a long lead time, in terms of getting those shelter beds built out. We are continuously doing outreach and trying to establish relationships with the homeless population so that we can get them involved into services, but until we have additional capacity in our shelters, the population of folks living unsheltered remains pretty significant.”
The last count, conducted in early 2022, found that within Sacramento City limits, more than 5,000 people were experiencing homelessness.
Under Measure O, Lara said, the city and county have been conducting more outreach and providing services. There are 10 positions for behavioral health specialists on the city-county outreach teams, eight of which have been filled.
“And we will have 15 more navigators – again, funded through the county and managed care partners with the county, as a result of Measure O and the partnership agreement – that will be conducting outreach throughout the city,” Lara said.
Part of a requirement of Measure O was that the city and county form an agreement to jointly approach homelessness solutions.
"The city is meeting the requirements of Measure O," Lara said. "We remain committed to helping people who are experiencing homelessness while protecting the health and safety of our residents."
ABC10 also spoke with unhoused folks along the W-X corridor Wednesday afternoon. One woman said she understands why residents don't want unlawful encampments near their homes, but she said the city needs more secure places for folks like her to go — preferably with portable showers and bathrooms, she said.
The new 'Notice and Demand' report form for unlawful camping can be found and submitted HERE.
