Sacramento Mayor Steinberg meets with community group; questioned on response to homelessness
A group of neighbors concerned about Sacramento homelessness issues and safety met at McKinley Park on Saturday and invited Mayor Darrell Steinberg to hear them out. Members of the group called Midtown-East Sacramento Advocates said they were tired of feeling unsafe in their own neighborhood and questioned why many people living on the streets aren’t getting the housing that the city and mayor have promised. “I just picked up a needle on the path here as I was walking here,” Dolores Sanchez said while at the gathering. “Good thing that it wasn’t a child or a dog that picked that up.”She said that she appreciated Steinberg coming out to speak with the neighbors but that there haven’t been enough results. Steinberg said he heard everyone’s concerns but that the city couldn’t solve the crisis alone. “I believe people should have a right to shelter to housing to treatment, and I also believe that people have a legal obligation to accept it,” he said. He said that the city is doing “more than ever before and yet we are not a health and human services agency. We are not a mental health agency.” “I have followed through on everything,” he said. “We are up to 1,100 beds now from a low of less than 100 when I started.” He also cited a new department of community response and said he was going to “push and press all levers,” including asking the state for more resources. In November, voters in the city will be able to vote on Measure O. If it passes the measure would allow the city to clear homeless encampments if emergency shelter space is available for the unhoused people who would be moved. The measure would only work if the city and county enter a legally binding partnership that would ensure the county provides mental health, substance abuse and other resources. At the gathering, Steinberg also addressed his future, saying as he has before that after nearly 30 years of public office he likely won’t seek a third term for mayor after December 2024. He said there are many ways for him to continue to serve the community.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A group of neighbors concerned about Sacramento homelessness issues and safety met at McKinley Park on Saturday and invited Mayor Darrell Steinberg to hear them out.
Members of the group called Midtown-East Sacramento Advocates said they were tired of feeling unsafe in their own neighborhood and questioned why many people living on the streets aren’t getting the housing that the city and mayor have promised.
“I just picked up a needle on the path here as I was walking here,” Dolores Sanchez said while at the gathering. “Good thing that it wasn’t a child or a dog that picked that up.”
She said that she appreciated Steinberg coming out to speak with the neighbors but that there haven’t been enough results.
Steinberg said he heard everyone’s concerns but that the city couldn’t solve the crisis alone.
“I believe people should have a right to shelter to housing to treatment, and I also believe that people have a legal obligation to accept it,” he said.
He said that the city is doing “more than ever before and yet we are not a health and human services agency. We are not a mental health agency.”
“I have followed through on everything,” he said. “We are up to 1,100 beds now from a low of less than 100 when I started.”
He also cited a new department of community response and said he was going to “push and press all levers,” including asking the state for more resources.
In November, voters in the city will be able to vote on Measure O. If it passes the measure would allow the city to clear homeless encampments if emergency shelter space is available for the unhoused people who would be moved.
The measure would only work if the city and county enter a legally binding partnership that would ensure the county provides mental health, substance abuse and other resources.
At the gathering, Steinberg also addressed his future, saying as he has before that after nearly 30 years of public office he likely won’t seek a third term for mayor after December 2024. He said there are many ways for him to continue to serve the community.