Steve PastisVisalia Times-Delta
Less than four weeks after the Supreme Court made its decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order calling on state agencies to take down homeless encampments across the state.
The executive order has had little effect in Tulare County, although the Supreme Court’s decision will likely result in a new ordinance in Visalia, city officials said.
Two conflicting legal decisions
On Sept. 14, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in Martin v. City of Boise, that the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause of the Eighth Amendment prevents cities from enforcing criminal restrictions on public camping, unless the person has “access to adequate temporary shelter.”
The ruling meant that cities could not criminalize homelessness and, as a result, law enforcement had fewer options in dealing with homelessness encampments.
“If there were not enough low barrier shelter beds for homeless individuals to voluntarily go to within that particular jurisdiction, then you couldn’t criminalize them sleeping in parks, for example,” explained Tulare City Attorney Mario Zamora at the July 16 Tulare City Council meeting. “Essentially, the reasoning was there was nowhere else for them to go and so that resulted in cruel and unusual punishment under the United States Constitution.”
However, in its City of Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling on June 28, 2024, which essentially overruled the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision, the Supreme Court decided that the enforcement of generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
The Supreme Court decided that Grants Pass’ public camping ordinances do not criminalize status. Instead the ordinances prohibit actions undertaken by anyone.
No changes in the city of Tulare
The existing camping ordinance in Tulare, which prevents camping in particular parks in the city, “is certainly legal at this point,” said Zamora at the city council meeting, adding that the city does not need to take any action as a result of the ruling.
Tulare Vice Mayor Patrick Isherwood talked about “the sensitivity around targeting,” advising caution to ensure that any ordinance or action isn’t targeting a certain class or group of people.
“If our rule as a community is no camping, it’s communitywide,” he said. “The same rule applies to everybody. So if I was drunk or if I stumbled in a park and I slept, that’s still a violation of camping, just as it would apply if you’re homeless. Our ordinance isn’t only a violation if you’re homeless.”
Councilmember Stephen Harrell said that Tulare’s model is being looked at by other communities, which indicates that Tulare is on the right path, and the city should continue in that direction.
The city council decided to take no action.
Visalia considers ordinance
At its Aug. 5 meeting, Visalia City Council debated an ordinance that would amend the city’s municipal code to eliminate the overnight camping and property storage exceptions for parks and trails. If passed, when the parks in Visalia close at the end of each day, they would be closed to everyone.
The proposal was met with mixed reviews.
“This ordinance change will give us a new tool, but it is very limited in scope in that it gives us a new tool simply to address the issue of camping in the parks overnight and on the trails,” Visalia Police Chief Jason Salazar said. “It doesn’t change anything with regard to how we’ve been able, and what we have done, to enforce encampments that have come up either on private or public property, and in other locations in the city, or what we’ve been able to do to enforce the existing rules during daytime in the parks.
“Unlike many communities, we have already prevented the existence of large long-term encampments through our existing efforts, through the tools that we already have available to us,” he added. “So will this make a significant impact on issues associated with homelessness in Visalia? I don’t believe that that is the case.”
During the council discussion that followed public comments against the ordinance, Councilmember Emmanuel Hernandez Soto spoke against the proposal, saying, “We’re not fixing anything here.
“I would propose that we open something like the warming center (which is now only open on cold nights) and make it year-round,” he said, adding that the warming center could be used “until we find a permanent location.”
Councilmember Steve Nelsen had a different perspective, urging others to focus on what he described as the root causes of homelessness: alcohol and drug addictions, mental issues, and “bad luck.”
“In reality, the family dynamic is broken,” he said. “It used to be family took care of family. No more. They kick them out of the house. They let someone else take care of it, in this case the state.
“This is no more than a symbolic gesture to say we’re going to follow the Boise decision,” Nelsen said, before asking rhetorically, “Is anything going to change?”
The remaining councilmembers shared their experiences working with the homeless and about their involvement in programs to help the homeless find shelter and treatment.
The first reading of the ordinance passed 4-1, with the final decision to be made at the next meeting.
No impact on the county
“We didn't have on our books a lot of ordinances,” said Tulare County Supervisor Dennis Townsend about homelessness, adding that the county was “pretty much just going by state law as far as removing someone” from a homeless encampment.
“If you removed someone from a homeless encampment, you had to be able to take them someplace else, so our whole focus has been coming up with all of these different facilities,” he said.
Townsend mentioned facilities such as The Neighborhood Village, the Salt + Light organization’s master-planned supportive community for those experiencing chronic homelessness in the county, that is scheduled to open on Sept. 26.
“As a county, we purchased a few facilities to house homeless folks so that when we needed to relocate somebody, they would have a place to go,” Townsend said, adding that as a result, “for the county in general, it almost fell a little bit flat because we're already ready to deal with it with what our future plans are, so there wasn't a whole lot of adjustment.”
The county is currently transforming the former Casa Grande Senior Care Homes in Visalia into an as-yet-unnamed project that will offer temporary housing to homeless individuals with specific health issues. The facility is expected to house 96 individuals.
“We already have temporary supportive housing and permanent supportive housing across the county, but this adds to it,” he said.
Tulare County Sheriff's Department has also taken a "proactive approach," according to the sheriff's media supervisor Ashley Schwarm.
Schwarm explained that addressing homelessness requires a multifaceted approach, including economic policies that increase affordable housing, improved access to healthcare and social services, and community support systems that provide a safety net for those in crisis.
“Long before Gov. Newsom’s order regarding homeless encampments, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office incorporated a number of strategies to help our homeless population within the county,” she said. “We created a long-term approach with multiple resources with our homeless team that allows us to work with those facing homelessness and provide them the resources they need to get help.
“We’ve basically already been implementing the governor’s orders on our own,” she said.
