MOVE ALONG: A Bay Area city known for its Tesla plant and tech workforce is testing the boundaries of a growing movement to ban homeless encampments. Leaders in Fremont, a suburban community of about 226,000 just north of San Jose, late Tuesday voted to expand its ban on camping in public spaces. But its ordinance goes further, with a warning: Any person “permitting, aiding, abetting or concealing” a violation of the rules could face a misdemeanor. The City Council’s decision came after a meeting that dragged on almost until midnight and drew more than an hour of public comment revealing deep divides over the issue. “It's hard for me to sit here and listen to this city push a $33 million new community center to make sure that Sally and Susan have their baby shower, but not spend enough money to help the homeless in this city,” one speaker told the council. “I, like everybody else, don't like to see the homeless in the street. I don't want to smell the urine either. I don't want to see the garbage. But the solution has to work.” Fremont is the latest California city to crack down on tents and makeshift structures along sidewalks, waterways and parking lots since the Supreme Court last year reversed previous restrictions on such policies, triggering a wave of local debates across the state. Even the famously liberal city of Berkeley has adopted new restrictions after the conservative court’s ruling. But Fremont’s threat against aiding encampments has generated confusion and backlash, including from a state lawmaker whose district includes Fremont. “I am extremely disappointed with the Fremont City Council’s decision,” said Assemblymember Alex Lee, a progressive Democrat. “The policy to criminalize homelessness is inhumane and ineffective … Just a few years ago, Fremont took the bold step to create a housing navigation center and help those experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives. But the city has seemingly gone backwards.” City leaders have downplayed the “aiding and abetting” element of the ordinance, arguing that other communities include similar warnings about aiding illegal activity — generally — in their municipal codes. At the meeting Tuesday, council members tried to assure the public that the provision wasn’t meant to penalize those providing homeless residents with food, water or basic aid, but they stopped short of amending the ordinance to make it more specific, which would have delayed its implementation. Councilmember Teresa Keng said she and others who support the ordinance know it won’t end homelessness. “It's not a solution, as we have pointed out,” Keng said. “But there also needs to be some regulations and rules on [encampments], as the aim for this ordinance is to care for public health as well as fire prevention, especially.” Gov. Gavin Newsom, who supported the Supreme Court’s ruling to give cities more latitude on enforcement, has for years been pushing cities and counties to reduce their homeless populations and increase their shelter capacity. The state is spending billions of dollars to address the problem, and the governor’s party faces growing backlash against the proliferation of camps that have cropped up since the pandemic. Despite pressure from the governor and the public, cities still haven’t added enough shelter space. Fremont has an estimated 600 unsheltered homeless people — and just 111 beds that aren’t seasonal or set aside for domestic violence victims, according to a city fact sheet. Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan said he wants to see the city make shelter — rather than affordable housing — its top priority. Salwan’s comments echo recent statements from San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who told Playbook yesterday he thinks the city could get more bang for its buck if it focused on building shelter space. “For the past decade, we have not been prioritizing shelter,” Salwan said during the council meeting. “We have been told that we should only build affordable housing … we’re told we have these encampments, leave them where they’re at, but wait three years for a $1 million affordable housing unit. What are we doing for those people? Why are we not building shelter for the folks that are out on the streets?” IT’S WEDNESDAY 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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