Immediately following his 2003 election as mayor of San Francisco, Democratic candidate Gavin Newsom was interviewed by the San Francisco-based news agency SFGate. He laid forth his “ten-year plan” to put an end to homelessness and promised to make it the “number one priority” of his new administration.
The San Francisco Chronicle published an in-depth report detailing Newsom’s attempts to achieve that aim throughout his two years as mayor. While he was in office, the media site reported, the metro area’s homeless population stayed about the same.
In 2010, Newsom ran a victorious campaign for Lieutenant Governor of California, leaving office full of confidence. On the other hand, his goal of ending homelessness in San Francisco, which he pledged to do twenty years ago, remains unfulfilled.
20 Years of Failure
San Francisco has 7,754 homeless people, making it the ninth most homeless city in the nation, according to US News & World Report, despite Newsom’s attempts to put an end to homelessness in the Bay Area. At 9.5 individuals per 1,000, the per capita rate is slightly lower than it was in 2020.
It should come as no surprise that all ten of the cities on the list had Democratic mayors. Among the six cities in California that made the cut, we find the following: Los Angeles (65,111 people, or 16.9 per 1,000), San Jose (10,028 people, or 10.2 per 1,000), Oakland (9,747 people, or 22.5 per 1,000), Sacramento (9,278, or 17.7 per 1,000), and San Diego (8,427 people, or 6.1 per 1,000).
Some other top ten cities included New York, Seattle, Denver, and Phoenix. The number of people without homes varied from 6,884 in Denver to 61,840 in New York City.
Newsom’s Failed Efforts Extend Beyond San Francisco
Beyond San Francisco, Newsom’s Attempts Fail
Tragically, Newsom failed miserably in his bid to end homelessness throughout the state of California, and his failure to do so in San Francisco was merely the beginning. He became the chief executive officer of the state on January 7, 2019. The Californians will have to wait until January 4, 2027, to see him go.
During his time as governor, Newsom has often pledged to put an end to homelessness and has even proposed several poorly thought-out policies to accomplish effect. According to the latest research from US News and World Report, though, he has been completely unsuccessful in finding a solution to the problem.
Also in 2020, the City Mayors Society released a report that revealed nine times as many homeless individuals in California than in Republican-led Florida. As for the percentage of Americans without shelter, the organization found that 53 percent were from Newsom’s home state.
In late 2022, Newsom threatened to withhold $1 billion in state subsidies from California’s local and county governments due to their “unacceptable” plans to decrease homelessness by 2% by the end of 2023. Meanwhile, it appears that the homeless population in California will continue to decline in 2024.
