Sacramento Mayor Camps With Homeless

categories: Local Policy, Recession, Tent Cities

Published August 25, 2009 @ 06:34PM PT

Here's something you don't see everyday: a Mayor sleeping outside, among the homeless, in the local tent city.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson recently spent the night outdoors with his city's homeless.... sort of. His stay was abbreviated, he only stayed about half the night. Still - it was a bold move of solidarity with his community's homeless that will likely not be easily forgotten. He told KTXL, "When you think about it, there are a lot of us that don't want to face the reality that not everyone in Sacramento has a place to lay their head, whether it be a shelter or permanent housing. And as a mayor, I think this is a fight worth having."

I can imagine that a night spent outdoors, even a half night, has opened his eyes to the urgency of the homelessness situation in his city.

To that end, I think Mayor Johnson has set an important example here. I don't believe sleeping outside is necessary to understand the root causes of homelessness or implement effective solutions to end it. And I don't advocate having every single politician in America spend the night on the streets. But I do think it's a unique way to gain a new perspective on the issue of homelessness and demonstrate solidarity with those who must experience it.

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Comments (8)

Wow... huge kudos... I'd like to know more.

Posted by I C on 08/25/2009 @ 09:19PM PT
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This is a step in the right direction. Last I heard a few months ago, he was dismantling a tent city, and many of us on here were outraged. What's the latest on that and what has changed his attitude? Anyone know?

Posted by Romy Carver on 08/26/2009 @ 01:14AM PT
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Well done to the Mayor, very impressive.

Could Fox news be more distant and clueless? The journo on the ground did a good job but the guy in the studio, what a tool.

Posted by Dominic Mapstone on 08/26/2009 @ 08:37AM PT
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Well it's Fox news, after all...

Posted by Romy Carver on 08/26/2009 @ 09:24AM PT
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How about another Sacramento tent city story by a different news source?

In this one, we find Mayor Johnson detracting from a local attorney/property owner that's allowing 30 people to pitch tents on a lot he owns and dwell there... because the Mayor says it "distracts" for some other idea that he's not doing yet.

Fortunately, the lot owner invokes Senate Bill 2 requiring "emergency housing" locations and has stated his intention to go to court to defend what he's actually doing for those people, if need be.

Now THAT's more like it!!!!

Posted by SlumJack Homeless on 08/26/2009 @ 08:35PM PT
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Call me jaded and cynical, but he's not the first mayor to do so. He was beat by six years by Tom Bates, Berkeley, CA's major (then and now). The difference(s)? Well...

• Mayor Bates lasted the full night.

• Mayor Bates didn't have a tent.

In fact, Berkeley doesn't have a tent city. Moreover, Berkeley was recently rated #10 Meanest City to Homeless in the country.

But, sure, makes for great photo ops, sound bites, PR shine, etc.

Half a night is, in reality, nothing at all like what it's really like to be homeless. Why, you'd miss out on all the key fun of having to awaken real early, in the cold, with no bathroom only to have to pack up all you can carry and trudge off for what you need next. Etc.

Even a week probably wouldn't even begin to experience the deep, relentless stress and fatigue and frayed alertness, etc. Nor a month, for that matter. One of the major elements of "the homeless experience" is the gaping void of the future, not knowing how one is going to get out of the jam or even IF one ever is. That's just about indescribable, but colors... everything.

Or having lost so many of one's prized belongings and even necessities to have to scrape and salvage and hustle daily needs.

Mere "camping out" a night isn't at all near enough, to get any appreciable feel for the reality.

And, apparently, a mayor doing so doesn't necessarily signify any particular benefit to homeless people, in act and fact.

Posted by SlumJack Homeless on 08/26/2009 @ 06:46PM PT
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That was a solidarity and a brave move & we should all embrace his efforts.

Posted by Nourah Yonous on 08/27/2009 @ 02:14PM PT
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this is the capital for goodness sake. this river city has had bedrolls and tents pitched under bridges for ever so the only place for the new homeless to go.

there is no room for photo ops here.  a plan for dealing with the numbers getting transitional housing together. the base makes a great campus and housing for csumb students.  there are plenty of local options to rehab into transitional housing.

this is our future: children must have a home base to attend school and to recover form the physical and emotional loss and adults must have safety to find peace to begin again.

Sacramento should step up to lead for this state. maybe even set precident with a highly successful prevent and deal with homelessness model. i volunteer to be on the planning committee.

Posted by Jennifer Perugini on 09/10/2009 @ 05:28PM PT
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Author

Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.