‘It’s a disgrace’: Gavin Newsom admits California’s homeless situation is out of control as hotels and shopping malls abandon San Francisco and encampments blight San Diego – but then blames Republicans for creating situation
- Newsom claims he hasn’t had time as governor to ‘make up for the fact that in 2005 we had a historic number of homeless under a Republican administration.’
- It comes as cities such as San Francisco are sieged by rising crime, sprawling homeless encampments and fleeing businesses
Democratic governor Gavin Newsom has admitted that California’s homelessness crisis is ‘a disgrace’ – but tried to blame Republicans for creating the situation.
The Golden State is facing an opioid-fueled vagrancy epidemic, with cities such as San Francisco and San Diego besieged with encampments and businesses shutting up shop.
Newsom was grilled on the subject by Fox News host Sean Hannity after the latest blow to San Francisco’s downtown as Westfield stopped making mortgage payments on its massive mall due to crime and tanking sales.
The firm halted payments on a $558million loan and is handing it back to their lender which will appoint a receiver.
Newsom told Hannity, ‘this state has not made progress in the last two decades as it relates to homelessness because housing costs are too high, our regulatory thickets are too problematic, localism has been too impactful – meaning people locally are pushing back against new housing starts and construction.’
Newsom said he takes responsibility for California’s spiraling homelessness crisis
However, he added that he had only been in office for four years and that was not sufficient time to ‘make up for the fact that in 2005 we had a historic number of homeless under a Republican administration.’
The governor said ‘I I own this. I take responsibility for this’ when confronted with California’s shocking homelessness figures.
Hannity noted that California currently reports over 170,000 homeless individuals across the state to which Newsom responded: ‘I just got 68,000 people off the streets last year, and by the way that’s been PolitiFact’d. 68,000.
‘I have a $15.3 billion homeless plan. When I got here, it was half a billion dollars. The state of California was not involved in the homeless issue. We got involved.
Adding: ‘We’re holding cities and counties accountable. I’m suing cities that are not producing housing. We actually have a 15-year high in new housing starts in the state of California. We’re actually seeing programs produce real results, but I want accountability.’
San Francisco saw a staggering 41 percent surge in the number of drug-related deaths in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same time last year, as fentanyl ravaged the city’s homeless population.
The Californian coastal hub saw 200 people die due to overdoses between January and March, compared to 142 deaths in 2022, according to data from the city’s medical examiner.
Hotels and other businesses are fleeing its rundown streets with revenue close to 23 percent lower per available room than it was in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported.
California currently reports over 170,000 homeless individuals
Newsom said he hasn’t had time as governor to ‘make up for the fact that in 2005 we had a historic number of homeless under a Republican administration.’
Westfield shopping center has stopped making mortgage payments on its massive mall due to crime and tanking sales
Westfield stopped making payments on a $558million loan and is handing it back to their lender which will appoint a receiver
Newsom said he has a homeless plan worth $15.3 billion, compared to the half a billion dollars allocated when he arrived in 2019
Newsom acknowledged that businesses were leaving and the state’s cities were plagued with safety issues but insisted: ‘I love this state. I don’t like what’s happening with encampments, I don’t like what’s happening to streets and sidewalks.
‘I don’t like the bashing of my old city San Francisco. Whole Foods did shut down one business, but that was a bad location to begin with. They’re opening a new one’ referring to the closure of the upmarket supermarket in San Francisco just a year after it opened.
Whole Foods opened a new ‘flagship’ location at Trinity Place in the city’s Tenderloin district in March 2022, hoping to revitalize footfall after two years of draconian COVID restrictions severely impacted businesses in the area.
But a Whole Foods spokesperson declared the store closed down in April due to safety concerns for its staff.
‘We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being,’ the spokesperson said in a statement. ‘If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location.’
