‘Take back our streets’: California Newsom targets homeless camps
California Governor Newsom has directed cities and counties to remove homeless encampments.
- Chad Bianco, who is running for governor of California, spent the morning touring Los Angeles’ Skid Row and talking to some residents.
- Based on February 2025 data, thousands of people are homeless on Skid Row.
- His solution to a persistent problem is to get involved with law enforcement.
Riverside County Sheriff and gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco said law enforcement is part of the solution to California’s persistent challenges in combating homelessness while spending the morning on Tuesday, Jan. 6, on Skid Row in Los Angeles.
He was joined by Kate Monroe, CEO of VetComm, a company that helps veterans with disability claims, and a self-proclaimed veterans’ advocate.
The two walked around the area of Skid Row, near the Los Angeles Police Department on Sixth Avenue, and spoke to several people nearby about their experiences in the area, which has long been home to unsheltered people. But discussions with the two people Tuesday highlighted the complex nature of tackling homelessness in the state. People do not necessarily choose shelter.
One woman said she preferred staying in a tent instead of a shelter where there was too much “drama” and “fighting”.
Bianco is a Republican who is running for governor of California among a crowded field of candidates. He has been a vocal critic of Gov. Gavin Newsom, even during a walk with Monroe along Skid Row, and has endorsed President Donald Trump in 2024, the USA TODAY Network’s Desert Sun reported.
But at least two polls conducted in October and December of last year showed the Riverside County sheriff leading among identified candidates in the June primary, despite a large share of undecided voters in each case.
“We keep calling it homelessness,” Bianco said. “We have nothing to do with homelessness here. We’ve walked around building house after house, and people are still living in tents. This is not about houses. This is about drug addiction, alcoholism, mental health care, and a complete failure to treat humans with compassion to get them the help they need.”
In an interview with KTLA last September, Bianco said law enforcement knows how to solve the homeless problem. He also attacked California’s governor and legislators, saying Newsom and the state Legislature do not want to solve the homelessness problem because it is a “money grab” and “a money laundering scheme for NGOs and nonprofits.”
Even now, his stance seems to have not changed.
How to fix skid row? That could be fixed within “four years,” he said, explaining one of the approaches he and Monroe share in dealing with homelessness on the USA TODAY Network. it is if The Riverside County Sheriff said he understands Monroe’s background in law enforcement, combined with his military background and desire to help the community.
Bianco talks about law enforcement and ‘base camp’ proposal during a walk on Skid Row
When asked to further explain the role law enforcement plays in addressing homelessness, Bianco said we should stop calling this a homelessness crisis and that there are plenty of places for people to live.
Bianco said people who use drugs, live on the streets and are unable to take care of themselves need to be policed by law enforcement. He said being homeless is not a crime, but stealing, being under the influence of drugs and engaging in prostitution are.
The Riverside County Sheriff also blamed politics for hindering law enforcement efforts.
However, California passed Proposition 36 in 2024, which sets charges and sentencing for theft and drug crimes. The California District Attorneys Association describes the goal as changing laws that would “drastically increase homelessness.” But the nonprofit National Alliance to End Homelessness opposed Prop. 36 in 2024, saying it does nothing to alleviate homelessness and could actually make it worse.
The proposal shared by Mr. Bianco and Mr. Monroe is what the CEO called “base camp.” Present people with the option of going to base camp. She said a base camp is a temporary place where people can receive the services they need, from rehabilitation to job training, and then, once they find work, live in a group home-like setting.
According to the governor’s office, the Newsom administration has “provided more than $27 billion to local communities to address homelessness.”
However, a report released in 2024 by the California State Comptroller concluded that California “needs to do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of homelessness prevention programs,” noting that three out of five homelessness-related state-funded programs examined could not be assessed for cost-effectiveness due to insufficient data.
Last May, Newsom released a model ordinance that communities across the state can use as a starting point to create their own encampment clearance policies, outlining what is prohibited when it comes to encampments and how to enforce them.
Insights from Skid Row
According to the County of Los Angeles, Skid Row spans four square miles of Los Angeles, bordering the Arts District to the east and Little Tokyo to the north. The area has long been plagued by homelessness, and efforts have been underway to address it for years. Skid Row’s history is also intertwined with the late General Jeff’s (“Mayor of Skid Row,” according to the NAACP Los Angeles) advocacy for programs like the Skid Row Arts Alliance.
This is where about 3,400 people became homeless on one night last February, according to the 2025 Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Homeless Count. Just over half were unprotected.
Monroe frequently took the initiative to approach people on the sidewalk and walk around the area asking about their experiences. In one instance, she offered a man cigarettes and cash after he told him about his experience.
Melvin Farmer, 68, said he is a community advocate. He offered to speak with Monroe and Bianco and was joined by three other men to discuss Skid Row and homelessness, one of whom chose not to be affiliated with the USA TODAY Network. They addressed the violence facing the community and the general need for recovery centers, and questioned why Skid Row had not yet been “cleansed.”
Antonio Fuller, 43, said: “I’m not used to this area, but now that I’m here I see what it’s like and it breaks my heart.”
Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. please contact her pbarraza@usatodayco.com.
