Sacramento Mayor proposes homeless crisis ‘master plan’
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SACRAMENTO, CA (KOVR) — Mayor Darrell Steinberg says he has a master plan to tackle homelessness in Sacramento in 2021.
He says the key will be taking away the power of NIMBY or “not in my back yard” activists who he says have slowed down the search for places to put homeless shelters.
Business owner Daniel Flores knows Sacramento’s homeless problem too well.
“It can happen to anybody,” Flores said. “It can happen to anybody.”
Flores owns Taqueria Jalisco at the corner of D Street and 12th Street, which was founded by his beloved mother Rosario Flores in the 1970s. His own father struggled with homelessness and died on the streets.
“And it’s just, there is no control,” Flores said. “You know, it just happens.”
Flores is now working to protect his Sacramento restaurant’s success, as he sees the homeless crisis grow out of control.
“What is really gonna help them?” Flores said.
Marcos Funes lives downtown with a young family and has woken up to people using his front yard hose to bathe.
“It’s upsetting that it seems so normal,” Funes said.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg is now proposing a plan to identify locations all around the city for shelters, tiny home villages, and sanctioned tent cities. Steinberg wants the entire network of homeless solutions voted on altogether, not each individually. It’s a move he says will root out NIMBY opposition.
“Our businesses are suffering, our neighborhoods are suffering, and our conscience suffers,” Steinberg said. “And once the council approves it, no more arguing about where we should be serving our homeless residents.”
“I want to see something be done,” Funes said. “I don’t want to read how they’re going to do something, I want to see something get done.”
An all-or-nothing vote on homeless shelters as Sacramento seeks some type of homeless crisis control.
“It’s a mess,” Flores said.
Mayor Steinberg is calling on a council vote on siting these shelters in the first several months of 2021.
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