Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom called out the City of Turlock for its refusal to donate one dollar to secure state funding that would enable the We Care homeless shelter to continue providing nightly beds for 49 homeless men. In a 3-2 vote, the Turlock City Council refused to help We Care continue its mission because the shelter couldn’t provide 24/7 bathroom access for its residents, who are limited to night occupancy due to lack of staff and services during the day.
Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak joined Councilmembers Rebecka Monez and Erika Phillips in a vote to reject the $267,100 state grant because Turlock has “to start changing the way we do homelessness.” Newsom called the grant refusal “an absolute moral failure.”
Newsom added that, “The state has done its part. Local leaders need to step up.”
Governor Newsom is both right and wrong. He’s right that local leaders need to step up and egregiously wrong about the state having done its part.
According to a statewide audit released in 2024, the State of California spent $24 billion on homeless programs over a five year period and did “such a poor job of tracking outcomes that it’s impossible to tell if they’ve been successful.”
Actually, it’s easy to tell from continually growing homeless numbers throughout the state that California’s homeless programs have failed miserably. The outcomes are clear for anyone willing to look at our freeway margins, parks, riverbanks, sidewalks and parking lots.
For several months prior to taking office in 2022, Modesto City Councilman Nick Bavaro did a systematic study of homelessness throughout the city. A few miles north of Turlock, Modesto shares many of Turlock’s problems with homelessness. Both cities are in Stanislaus County.
During his research, Bavaro met with the various county agencies and committees dedicated to housing and homeless issues. He also talked to law enforcement officers and outreach workers. He chatted with dozens of homeless people and he enlisted local volunteer and homeless savant Frank Ploof to be his special consultant on homelessness.
After months of study, reflection and expert opinion, Bavaro came to a fundamental realization:
“Homeless people don’t have anywhere to go,” he said in response to Newsom’s “blame the cities” tactic. “The state has spent $24 billion and we have more people on the streets than ever.”
Shortly after he took office, Bavaro rode along with one of Modesto’s outreach teams. When they came upon a small group of homeless campers in a local park, the team ordered the campers to move because they were violating a city ordinance prohibiting camping in public parks.
“I went by the next day and those same people were across the street with their belongings piled up on the sidewalk,” said Bavaro later. “What’s the point of moving homeless people from one place to another when they have nowhere to go?”
After he realized that the lack of space to lay down is the fundamental issue in managing homelessness, Bavaro became an advocate of sanctioned camping.
“Modesto has an excellent Camp to Streets program,” he said, “now we need Streets to Camp. We have to get homeless people off our streets.”
When he read about Gavin Newsom’s attack on cities for their failures to manage homelessness, Bavaro was incensed.
“If Newsom wants to get people off the streets, he needs to provide them somewhere to go,” said Bavaro. “The shelters are full. Many of the people on the streets are mentally ill. Gavin Newsom needs to reopen our mental hospitals and open up state land for permitted camping and shelter. He needs to cut all the red tape in the way of providing transitional housing and shelter and provide funding for management and services.”
And while Gavin Newsom has indeed failed to provide the leadership needed to manage California’s homeless population, he’s not alone in futility. The 2021-22 Report of the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury included a review of the county’s attempts to manage homelessness. The Grand Jury concluded that, “…accountability is lacking. Given the significant dollars spent to address homelessness, this lack of accountability is problematic and can undermine the public’s confidence in our public agencies.”
“Lack of accountability” is indeed, “problematic” not only in Stanislaus County but throughout the state, but that alone isn’t why so many people lack confidence in state and local government. Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak and her fellow Councilmembers may think they’ve earned political capital by denying funds to We Care, but all they’ve done is make things worse.
Denying the We Care program funds needed to provide homeless men a place to sleep isn’t just cruel, it’s self-defeating. Without that supplemental funding, We Care may have to close down as early as next month.
If that closure happens, it will mean 49 men won’t have bathroom services not only during the day, but during the night as well. Way to go Turlock. Like Gavin Newsom, all you’ve done is compound the problem.
Meanwhile, Turlock, Modesto, and other Stanislaus County cities and towns will continue chasing people from place to place, following squandered dollars with more squandered dollars because they refuse to face the simple reality Nick Bavaro realized years ago:
Homeless people have nowhere to go. Meanwhile, they still need food, shelter, and a place to take a dump.
Nick has been a true champion for homeless solutions. People/ gov’t should listen to him.
Moral failure? Bublak?
She never had morals to fail.
Mental Illness is not a civil right – It may be true that “It’s not a crime to be crazy” – but, how bout’ we just give folks a hand? Little confidence we will move the dial on this tragic blight unless we implement a policy that includes medication and treatment that is not “optional” for those suffering from mental illness.
Thank you Mr. Davis. We always deeply appreciate expert opinion. We need a more robust health care system in general and especially with regard to mental illness.
When Reagan was our Gov he severely reduced services in mental health. This is 45 years in the making, and the quick fix of money going to homeless middlemen isn’t working, except middlemen are getting paid to keep this status quo.
I feel sad for any homeless person and hope they can get the needed help to be housed.
I agree that California as a state along with its counties and cities has done a poor job to get the homeless homes.
Since we as a nation are flirting with dictatorship, maybe a state Department for homeless and homes needs to be created with powers to side step CEQUA laws and just tell locals this is what it will be and provide homes for the homeless in the locals backyards
Made note and and failed robot tme limit. Those doing the planning are following THEIR ideas of rightness. Observe and ask the homeless what they want! They camp and we shove them out. They want to camp and we say NO! Make safe camping places that are monitored to prevent violence and chaos to others. That’s the start. Logic says the problem is growing and money and your ideas are failing to even improve it. You’re smartness is masking your stupidity. THINK LIKE THE HOMELESS
As the Director of the WeCare shelter (who has worked with the homeless for 31 years) has estimated that 80% of the men who come to the shelter have serious addiction and/or mental health issues. These are the ones who are willing to come to the shelter. When encampments are cleared usually 95+% refuse to go to a shelter or receive services. Reach your own conclusion. The conclusion that I and many others reach is that for many, not all, but many, they want to be left alone to live their drug addicted lives which in many cases that taxpayer subsidizes. Is this compassionate? Does this help society? Is allowing them to do whatever they want compassionate? Reach you own conclusions
A close examination of these key foundational beliefs of our American society will shed some light on why we have and serve the homeless/poor folks the way we do…
1. **Liberty and Freedom** – Perhaps the most fundamental American value, encompassing personal freedoms, civil liberties, and the belief that individuals should be free from excessive government control.
2. **Democracy and Self-Governance** – The belief that government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed, with citizens having the right to participate in their governance through voting and representation.
3. **Constitutional Government** – Commitment to a system of government with separated powers, checks and balances, and adherence to the Constitution as the supreme law.
4. **Rule of Law** – The principle that laws apply equally to all citizens, including government officials, and that no one is above the law.
5. **Individual Rights** – The recognition of inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as articulated in the Declaration of Independence and protected by the Bill of Rights.
6. **Equality of Opportunity** – The ideal that all people should have an equal chance to succeed based on their abilities and efforts, rather than circumstances of birth.
7. **Free Enterprise and Capitalism** – The economic system emphasizing private ownership, market competition, and limited government intervention in the economy.
8. **Religious Freedom and Pluralism** – The right to practice any religion or none, and the separation of church and state.
9. **E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One)** – The concept of unity amid diversity, with people from different backgrounds forming a single nation.
10. **Innovation and Progress** – A forward-looking optimism and belief in technological, social, and economic advancement.
11. **Meritocracy** – The belief that advancement should be based on ability and achievement rather than social class or connections.
12. **Volunteerism and Community** – The tradition of civic engagement, community service, and addressing social needs through voluntary associations rather than solely through government.
Which ones do you see as contentious, both historically and new?
22 years WeCare has been in Turlock and the homeless situation only has gotten worse. Continuing to give them money without transparency or accountability is insane. The actions of the Turlock City Council hopefully will force WeCare and other non-profits to reign in their entitled attitude and come to the table for a real solution to reducing homelessness in our city instead of just enriching their non-profit. Beyond that the article raises good points. But the reality is that organizations do not want to solve this problem, or many others, because then they would no longer have a reason to exist or to be funded. Thus, the Homeless Industrial Complex.
Thank you Ron. Scroll above to read my ‘reply’ to Eric.
I be curious to hear what Mr. Bridegroom thinks the underlying causes of addiction are. Why are many homeless addicts? What should society do help both prevent as well as serve folks who are homeless? What the various levels of government responsibility are and what he/others as individuals can do to help?
If you’re not going to provide shelter or income-based housing for *every* individual willing (*not* conserved) to access services that include mental health (as needed… *not* conserved) and substance abuse treatment (as needed… *not* conserved)… so forth… Stop making/enforcing nuisance laws. The problem isn’t just lack of accountability – it is lack of shelter and income-based housing.
Those who get (or deny) the funding to run these programs should be held as accountable as the ones they claim to help. Lots of addicts live in houses, and jack up the rent & hold wages low to pay for their luxuries, unchecked… while preaching accountability to those made more needy by their actions.