Posts Tagged: homelessness

News

Newsom takes another swing at getting mentally ill homeless off the streets

Via Shutterstock

In California, the state that led all others in the failed social experiment of emptying psychiatric hospitals, the pendulum clearly is swinging. Not that Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to return to the days when forgotten souls were locked away in large asylums. But in a proposal to be detailed on Sunday, Newsom will call on legislators to place a $3 billion bond measure before voters in 2024 to pay to house thousands of people with severe mental illness.

Podcast

#CAHOUSING: The State of the Rental Market

Lindsey Holden, Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, Alex Lantsberg, Shanti Singh, Debra Carlton and Assemblymember Alex Lee. Photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly.

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s Conference on Housing, which was held in Sacramento at the California Endowment Conference Center on Thursday, March 9, 2023. This is Panel 3: The State of the Rental Market.

Podcast

#CAHOUSING: A conversation with Asm. Buffy Wicks

Asm. Buffy Wicks, in conversation with Hannah Wiley of the Los Angeles Times, at Capitol Weekly's Conference on Housing. Photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly.

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s Conference on Housing, and presents the Keynote for the event: A conversation between Asm. Buffy Wicks and Hannah Wiley of the Los Angeles Times.

Podcast

A chat with BART’s Homelessness Czar

Daniel Cooperman, BART's Senior Manager of Social Services Partnership (Photo/BART)

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (which everyone calls BART) is a the lifeline of the Bay Area. Connecting the suburbs to urban cities through 131 miles of track, BART serves a wildly diverse customer base. One of the groups most dependent on BART is the region’s homeless population – and that dependence that became even more pronounced during the COVID pandemic. We speak with BART’s first Homeless Czar, Daniel Cooperman.

News

The fall and rise of Roger Niello

Roger Niello in his office. Photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly

When Roger Niello left the California Assembly in 2010, he figured his time in elected office had run its course. After all, the year before he had committed the most unforgivable of sins for a Republican of the day: He was among six of his fellow GOP colleagues who voted for a budget that included tax hikes, drawing the wrath of his party’s most vocal anti-tax contingent.

News

That sound you hear — ka-ching! — is California’s November ballot

The Barona Resort and Casino in Lakeside, located on the Barona Indian Reservation in San Diego County.(Photo: Sherry V Smith, via Shutterstock)

With California’s statewide top-of-ticket races stacking up as weak-challenger romps, attention – and spending – turns to seven ballot measures, which taken together may well add up to the costliest state election ever. Experts say this could be the year that election-related spending tops $1 billion – a figure more in line with a presidential campaign.

Opinion

A matter of life or death: California needs a homelessness strategy

A homeless man asleep on the street in San Francisco. (Photo: Izzy Bouchard, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Nearly 5,000 unhoused Californians died in 2021, many of them drawing their last breaths alone on our streets. California, which boasts the fifth largest economy in the world, cannot continue to let our neighbors die in public; it’s time for something different.

News

A deep dive into Newsom plan to overhaul mental health policy

Californnia Gov. Gavin Newsom, chatting with a homeless man in Fresno, has proposed a sweeping overhaul of California's mental health care system. (Photo: Governor's office)

Newsom’s plan would create an entirely new system of civil court supervision, connecting individuals with intensive treatment and, equally important, housing. By his estimate, it would help 7,000-to-12,000 severely mentally ill people each year, many with chronic physical conditions that are worsened by life on the streets, clearly unable to care for themselves. It would not replace existing programs.

News

Karen Bass brings star power to crowded L.A. mayoral race

Rep. Karen Bass at a Culver City political rally in September. (Photo: Max Elram, via Shutterstock)

Former California Assembly Speaker and current U.S. Rep. Karen Bass wasn’t the first person to get into the L.A. mayoral race, nor the last. But with approximately seven months still to go before the June 7 primary, her candidacy has put a charge into the crowded competition to lead the nation’s second largest city.  

Opinion

Historic budget: CA leads in library modernization. Will Feds follow?

A sign beckons library users with a compelling message. (Photo: Becky Ruppel, via California State Library)

OPINION: This year’s state budget contains an unprecedented investment in California’s public libraries. The $439 million earmarked by Gov. Newsom and the Legislature for renovating and modernizing local libraries will provide decades of ongoing benefits to millions of Californians and the communities in which they live. 

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