Dear Citizen, I am a politician running for office. I know we politicians are supposed to have plans for homelessness. But the truth is, I have no plan, and even if I did, there isn’t any money to pay for it. Never has been, never will be. And none of my fellow politicians has a plan. All we can do is nibble away at the edge of the problem and tell you we’re working on it. We’ll pretend to have a plan, and you, gullible Citizen, will pretend to believe us.
But here’s the truth: Homeless people aren’t going away. Neither are their tents and encampments. In fact, the problem will get worse. It’s pointless to argue about the “root causes” of homelessness. People are still arguing about what caused the Civil War, or what caused the Universe, for that matter. These things never get settled. Progressives will continue to yammer that we need to throw a lot more money at “under-served communities.” But we’ve seen how that goes. No matter how much cash we invest, things never get better; those communities continue to be plagued by crime and violence and desperation and poverty and dysfunctionality. So forget about “root causes.” For all I know, the “root cause” of all our problems is Original Sin.
In the meanwhile, what are we to do with encampments? There’s only one option on the table, and that is to manage them. We can’t get rid of them. We can’t throw them out of town. But what we can do is set strict limits on where people can set up a tent and enforce those limits with the full force of the law.
This is what the Encampment Management Policy attempted to do, back in 2020, but we all know what happened: the City Council chickened out. After passing their ordinance unanimously, they decided, behind closed doors, not to implement it. They never told us why; they didn’t dare. They hid behind excuses, like Martin v. Boise, or lack of money, or whatever; they waved shiny objects and hoped we wouldn’t notice. They did everything they could to avoid enforcing the EMP, and they still are. So we’re stuck with two things we don’t like or need: an inept, corrupt City Council, and the degradation of Oakland by encampments and garbage.
And this is what politicians will never tell you: There’s not a damned thing we can do about it. Because, if we told you that, you, the public, would get pissed. You might even try to fire us. But we don’t want to be gotten rid of. We politicians like our jobs; it’s the best gig most of us have ever had, or could have, with our limited skills. The money’s not great, but the perks are. We don’t intend to relinquish our salaries and power. So we’ll continue to lie, to offer “plans” that aren’t plans at all but cartoon word balloons. Meanwhile, the unions line up to give us cash, because if we do nothing else, we’ll at least make sure only union workers get city contracts. That doesn’t help you, it doesn’t help homeless people, but it sure does help union members (of which there are fewer all the time).
So there you have it. Homelessness is here to stay. Deal with it. It’s Big Business: the Homeless-Political Complex in which pols like me rake in cash and wield power like tinhorn despots, while encampments proliferate and the City of Oakland suffers.
There, I just told you the truth. Now go out and re-elect me!
Steve Heimoff
P.S. Mayoral candidate Seneca Scott is having a fundraiser next Thursday, Aug. 25. Please attend if you can. If you can’t, consider making a donation. Thanks.