Gavin Newsom is the First Governor to Make Homelessness a Way of Life

Remember when California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has presided over the exponential growth of hundreds of thousands of homeless drug addicts living on California streets, magically cleaned up San Francisco ahead of the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, together with San Francisco Mayor London Breed? The streets were suddenly shiny clean, devoid of the usual tents and encampments, piles of trash and filth, human excrement, and drug addled zombies. The sidewalks and the many businesses which have been rotting under the burden of the filth from homeless tent camps allowed by city officials, received a world-class cleaning.

And then once the APEC Summit was over, the homeless drug addicts and their tent camps moved back in.

Why not clean streets up first for the taxpaying residents and taxpaying business owners, and empower them to keep the homeless drug addicts at bay? If it can be done for a few days, it can be done permanently.

But, Gavin Newsom showed no interest in the people and businesses of San Francisco.

Now Gov. Newsom is patting himself on the back for “helping shelter 25 people and eight pets in a newly opened state-funded “Homekey shelter” in Long Beach.

Ya! Wow! Newsom’s “Housing First” Grift continues.

Long Beach’s homeless population rose by 6.5% in 2024, with 3,595 people identified as experiencing homelessness during the City’s 2025 Point in Time (PIT) Count on Jan. 23, the Signal Tribune reported. That’s one year old at this point. But hey – Newsom “helped shelter 25 people.” That doesn’t say they are actually off the streets, because the “Homekey” “housing first” program has been a failure – a very expensive failure.

Remember, Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent $37 billion on homelessness since 2019, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.

“Established in August, the SAFE Task Force works with local partners to address encampments on state rights of way in California’s 10 largest cities,” the governor says. And then he steals the sentiment from those of us who have been critical of his lack of conviction in dealing with the homeless, who clearly need wrap-around services addressing mental illness, drug addiction and the root causes of their homelessness:

“There’s nothing humane about letting people languish outdoors without shelter or support,” Governor Gavin Newsom said. “We’ve been leaning in with unprecedented state help — real resources for our cities and counties — to turn this national homelessness crisis around and to get people the care they need. We’re standing with our local partners like Long Beach to move people out of encampments and into a safe, stable place.”

Here is Gov. Newsom “leaning in.”

This picture basically sums up Gavin Newsom and his administration pic.twitter.com/hQdu50sSpN

— Denise Aguilar (@InformedMama209) November 14, 2024

Here is what Newsom says “About the Governor’s SAFE Task Force:”

California’s SAFE Task Force brings together expertise and programs from across state agencies to target encampments. The SAFE Task Force not only clears encampments but also brings together emergency management, social services, health care, drug treatment, and public safety. SAFE focuses on removing encampments on state property in California’s most populous cities. SAFE has now cleared encampment in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Fresno, and San Diego–with more to come.

In San Francisco, business owners have had to spend thousands of dollars on steel planters on the sidewalks in front of their businesses to keep the homeless and growing tent encampments away, the Globe reported in 2023. It mostly works. These same business owners pay taxes to the city with the expectation that the city will maintain the common streets and sidewalks.

And now they are being rewarded by mayors who won’t clean the cities and eradicate the homeless for the citizens, but will do it for visiting dignitaries.

We asked at the time, why not clean streets up first for the taxpaying residents and business owners?

Gavin Newsom patting himself on the back for helping shelter 25 people and eight pets in a newly opened state-funded Homekey shelter is nothing short of a campaign ploy for the 2028 Presidential Election.

Look at this unbridled bravado:

“Governor Newsom is the first Governor to make addressing homelessness – a decades in the making issue – a top priority,” his press release says.

What a whopper. Gavin Newsom is the first Governor to make homelessness a way of life! Newsom has allowed homeless drug addicts live on the streets since 2019, where they in fact “languish outdoors without shelter or support.”

“Since taking office in 2019, Governor Newsom has created unprecedented policy and structural changes in state government to help California better address its housing and homelessness crises, including additional and unprecedented support for local governments, stronger accountability and enforcement, transformational changes to mental health services and state government, and groundbreaking reforms to create more housing, faster than ever before.”

That statement is what is known as textbook gaslighting. But don’t worry – it’s not you. “Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse that makes someone question their sanity, memories, or reality.”

Gavin is attempting to clean up his real record, which is lengthy and dismal, and in the meantime, make Californians question their own memories and reality.

Gavin Newsom’s only talent is gaslighting; he’s been a failure as a politician responsible for a city and the state, which Michael Shellenberger confirmed in May:

Local governments, not Gov. Gavin Newsom, increased homelessness in California to its all-time high, he says. Nonsense. As SF mayor, he enabled addiction, crime & homelessness. As governor, he spent $37B to increase it by 24%, and raise violent crime to 31% over national average

Local governments, not Gov. Gavin Newsom, increased homelessness in California to its all-time high, he says. Nonsense. As SF mayor, he enabled addiction, crime & homelessness. As governor, he spent $37B to increase it by 24%, and raise violent crime to 31% over national average pic.twitter.com/3k91ehSbtW

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) May 13, 2025