The sobering thing to realize about our electeds is that they have no intention of doing anything about encampments, despite the fact that (a) a majority of citizens want encampments removed and (b) it is now entirely legal to compel campers to dispel, thanks to the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision.
Normal cities and counties, by which I mean those ruled by law and the will of the people, would act now to clean up every illegal encampment within their borders. But too many of our more liberal areas are not normal. They are instead test laboratories for woke politicians to see how far they can push the boundaries of normalcy and force residents to accept widespread encampments as the new normal.
It’s clear that Oakland will clear camps only perfunctorily, with great reluctance, and will do nothing to ensure that a cleared area is not immediately repopulated by tenters. And Oakland is not alone. San Mateo County, almost as liberal as Oakland, recently passed a new ordinance “making it a crime for homeless individuals to refuse available shelter beds,” but the county’s chief executive just said he has no intention of enforcing that ordinance. “Some people just need a nudge…to get them off the street permanently,” he said. Breaking news, Mr. Executive: it will take more than “a nudge” to force homeless people to obey our laws. It will take arresting and prosecuting them.
What is it about these electeds that they’re so blasé about public safety and order? What gives them the right to make these high-minded decisions that are so out of step with what the voters want? Do they somehow think they’re more in touch with the will of God? The fact is, just because someone is elected doesn’t make them wiser or smarter than anyone else. In too many cases, politicians interpret their elected-ness as proof that they know better than We, the People, and they can therefore impose their standards on the rest of us. And that is true—but only up to a point. Beyond that point, voters have certain constitutional tools they can use to defend themselves against rogue politicians, including the Recall, which is exactly the tool we’re using against Sheng Thao.
Encampments may not be the most pressing issue right now to Oaklanders, who are watching presidential developments as well as the never-ending wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Oaklanders also are struggling with inflation, which has become such a crushing burden on the American people. With such massive issues confronting us, a dirty tent blocking a sidewalk may seem like small potatoes. A collection of dirty tents befouling a grassy slope in Lakeside Park may seem tolerable. But once upon a time, these things would not have been allowed by responsible governments. The fact that encampments have in fact become “the new normal” is testimony to the effectiveness of radical pro-homeless politicians like Nikki Bas, Carroll Fife and Sheng Thao, who anticipated that if you force someone to live with something unacceptable for long enough, eventually they come to accept it. That was always their goal. They always knew, and they know today, that there will never, ever be enough shelter to provide to all homeless people, nor will all homeless people accept what limited shelter there is. They know, in some corner of their minds, that the only way to end encampments is to roust. But this, they will never do. Not the current crop of so-called “leaders.” Which is why we’ll replace these irresponsible jokes, and have a city that’s worth living in.
Steve Heimoff