Harris’ Plans for the Unhoused—or the Lack Thereof

A few months ago, I wrote a column about Donald Trump’s plan to deal with the issue of homelessness, which can be summed up as what was done to Japanese-American families during World War II—switch out Japanese-Americans for homeless people and that is his plan. So what proposals, if any, has his opponent made?

Kamala Harris’s campaign website does not yield specific plans for addressing the unhoused crisis. There are, however, proposals outlined–at least in general detail—to “make rent more affordable and home ownership more attainable,” including making up to $25,000 available to first-time homebuyers and even more (amounts not specified) to first-generation homeowners, which is all very nice if you live in a state or county where 25k will suffice as a down payment on a home. In California, it’s roughly a year’s rent—if you’re lucky.

Most unhoused folks in CA don’t have any savings, or very little, and certainly not enough to supplement the funds supplied by this plan—assuming the applicants are not found to be credit risks. There also remains the issue of what agency will issue and guarantee the funds—we don’t want another Freddie Mac disaster. 

Harris’ website touts her record as California’s Attorney General, acting in defense of homeowners and renters. She successfully sued several landholder banks to the tune of $20 billion on behalf of homeowners facing foreclosure. She was instrumental in creating a first-of-its-kind homeowner bill of rights, with increased protections against predation by realtors and financing institutions. 

Still, Gertrude Stein would say, “There is no there, there.” (That’s what she said about Oakland.) And there isn’t anything in Harris’ housing policy specifically tailored to the unhoused. A position paper and a policy will undoubtedly be drawn up after the election if the Gods favor her. Until then, we will have to wait and see and urge everyone to vote for Harris/Walz, because the alternative—as laid out by candidate Trump—is, like all his plans, almost too terrifying to contemplate.

High-Pitched Sounds at the Transportation Center

During my travels, I often walk by the parking garage that serves the Fullerton Transportation Center and Metrolink station at the corner of Santa Ana and Pomona Avenues. Each time I pass by, I hear a high-pitched whine that persists until I am yards away from the garage. I’ve made no inquiries with local officials. Still, it seems obvious that some kind of electronic device has been set up to generate high-pitched sounds in order to discourage the unhoused from gathering and sleeping there.

It could be argued that using sound in this way is a form of torture for people who lack resources and simply want a safe place to sleep. On the other hand, this tactic can be defeated with earplugs or a pair of noise-canceling headphones, which are relatively inexpensive. It also occurs to yours truly that this sound could have a negative effect on people using the garage or parking or who are simply walking by. In any event, it doesn’t seem to have discouraged the unhoused people in the area, and since OCTA has just set up a new bus stop on the same side of the street as the garage, that increases the number of people subjected to this unpleasantness.

“Pretty girls/pretty boys/Have you ever heard your mommy say/Noise annoys.” —Pete Shelley

Following Up on Governor Newsom’s Actions

On August 6, the Norwalk City Council voted to enact a 45-day ban on building homeless shelters and supportive housing. On September 17, as the temporary legislation was due to expire, the Council voted to extend it for another 10 months. To no one’s surprise, Governor Newsom was quick to condemn the city government for this action: “It is unfathomable that as our state grapples with a homelessness crisis, Norwalk would pass an ordinance banning the building of homeless shelters. It is counter-productive and immoral for any community to throw up their hands and say they’ve done enough while they still have people in need,” Newsom said in a statement. “We can’t leave people in dangerous and unsanitary encampments — the city of Norwalk needs to do its part to provide people with shelter and services.”

Mind you, this is the same Governor Newsom who issued an executive order to state agencies to clear homeless encampments from state land throughout California, so it could be argued that he’s being hypocritical since he created the situation in which Norwalk felt it had to respond in this fashion. And for all his apparent concern about “unsanitary encampments,” he’s not proposing to give any additional funding to cities to build more shelters and housing. It’s like Alphonse Kerr said: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”