PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off this Monday for Indigenous Peoples Day but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. PARK PANIC: Sacramento mayoral candidate Flojaune “Flo” Cofer early this year floated an idea: Underutilized city parks could be turned into places for homeless people to safely stay and “attend to their basic needs,” such as doing laundry, taking showers and using the restroom. “I’m going to emphasize ‘underutilized’ because we have parks that are not being used,” Cofer said during a February neighborhood forum. Her opponent and his supporters are now turning those words against her, posting photos of beloved city locales they claim could become homeless camps if she is elected. The issue has blown up in the race between Cofer — a progressive newcomer to politics who became a public figure through activism after the 2018 police shooting of Stephon Clark — and her more seasoned competitor, Democratic Assemblymember Kevin McCarty. The city under its out-going mayor, Darrell Steinberg, has struggled for years with a homeless population last estimated at 6,600 people. Sacramento does not have enough shelter beds to house its thousands of homeless residents, with a waiting list that was more than 2,500 people long as of late May, according to the Sacramento Bee. The idea of city-sanctioned campgrounds is not unprecedented in Sacramento, or even other cities like San Diego. But local leaders who’ve pushed for them have paid a political price. Progressive Sacramento Councilmember Katie Valenzuela lost her reelection bid to Phil Pluckebaum, a moderate, after championing sanctioned camps in or near city parks. Pluckebaum, like McCarty, said he didn’t want to see safe grounds located there. Now, McCarty appears to be using the same playbook as he pokes Cofer over her proposal at every opportunity — in what she says is a cynical move that is misleading voters. “I’m wondering if you could clarify which city parks you think are appropriate,” McCarty asked her during a September forum. “And, conversely, I think we should take a look at how this affects our neighborhoods.” Cofer told Playbook that McCarty is “lying to people, saying I want to use all of our city parks to be able to become sites.” “I want to use available parcels,” she said. “As one of the options that could even be considered, I proposed using any vacant parcels that we have. And that then became a lie that has been perpetuated, that I want to use parks — our most popular parks in Sacramento — for this, which I've never said, which I've been very clear on from the beginning.” Cofer demurred on naming specific safe ground sites, saying she wants Sacramentans to be involved in selecting them. “I'm talking about the parcels that you see that have brown grass and are just wide open, that have nothing on them,” Cofer said. McCarty has said during forums and debates he favors sites that are more accessible on “underutilized city, county and state land.” He has suggested placing one at Cal Expo, an event space miles from downtown that hosts the California State Fair. Cal Expo board members have previously rejected housing homeless people there. The parks issue was far less prominent during the primary campaign, when Cofer and McCarty were competing in an incredibly close race against two other Democrats — both moderates. If McCarty is able to consolidate the other candidates' votes in the general election, he will have a major advantage. The math seems to suggest McCarty, an “establishment” candidate, has the likely path to victory over an “activist” candidate like Cofer, said Paul Mitchell, a California election data consultant. “I think that overarching dynamic about the race ensures that an establishment candidate is going to win,” Mitchell said. “It creates kind of a ceiling for the activist candidate.” Many Californians who consider themselves progressive are actually in favor of more punitive measures, like encampment sweeps. “It's true in a lot of cities that homelessness is a huge issue,” Mitchell said. “And even progressive voters are not as left as a lot of people might think.” IT’S THURSDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@politico.com.
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