FRESNO COUNTY – At a recent press conference where he announced his plans to introduce a countywide no camping ordinance at the next Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Steve Brandau answered the question that many people have been asking since Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a recent executive order on homeless encampments.
Newsom’s order effectively allows the government to take down encampments and remove individuals from camping on or otherwise occupying public property.
During Brandau’s conference on July 25, a member of the audience asked the supervisor the following question: Will the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office (FSO) evict individuals and make them abandon their encampments even if there is no other place to house them?
“Yes,” Brandau replied.
He added, “Many of you are missing the point. The government does not have to provide a bed to everyone who needs it.”
Brandau was joined at the podium by Sheriff John Zanoni; Nick Rocca, the incoming chair of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce; Amina Flores-Becker, deputy county administrative officer; and Very Olivares, chief operating officer of the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation.
NOT CRIMINALIZING HOMELESSNESS
Brandau kicked off the conference by saying that in 2017, when he was on the Fresno City Council, he proposed a no camping ordinance that had the support of then chief of police Jerry Dyer. Brandau said he fully expected the city to implement the ordinance.
“But then came the Boise, Idaho ruling,” he said.
In 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on a case in Boise, Idaho that the government cannot force a homeless individual to vacate their dwelling if there is no other available accommodation.
“So, I put the ordinance on the shelf,” Brandau said.
The Supreme Court gave life to Brandau’s dormant ordinance when it ruled on June 24, 2024 in a case from Grants Pass, Oregon that the government did not have to provide alternative shelter to individuals who have been told they must vacate their encampments. Gov. Newsom issued an executive order instructing authorities under his purview to begin dismantling homeless encampments. The Fresno City Council passed an ordinance that states, “No person may sit, lie, sleep or camp on a public place at any time.”
Regarding the no camping ordinance he will introduce at the next Board of Supervisors meeting, Brandau emphatically stated it was not intended to criminalize homelessness.
“It criminalizes an activity (camping),” he said.
Zanoni followed Brandau at the podium. He thanked Brandau for bringing forward the ordinance. He described it as another tool in the county’s toolbox to combat a growing problem. He said his department would issue citations and/or arrest individuals only as a last resort.
“This is about compassion,” he said. He added that when his deputies are asked to respond to a call involving a homeless encampment, they press, at times beg, the individuals involved to avail themselves of the numerous county resources that are available – Brandau mentioned the county has roughly $10 million in services to help the homeless.
Zanoni said the situation has reached a tipping point.
“People are tired of stepping over bodies as they go to work or to the bus stop,” he said. “Parents are afraid of sending their children to school because they have to step over bodies.”
And while he acknowledged that homelessness is a quality of life issue, it is also a nuisance and it must end. He said some homeless individuals are resolute that they will not move or dismantle their encampments. To these individuals, Zanoni had the following message:
“If you’re not going to conform to our laws, there will be consequences.”
During his time at the podium, Rocca said small businesses are being hit hard because of homelessness. But he added that the business community wants to help.
“We want to show compassion,” he said.
The mood grew testy during the question and answer session. After Brandau called on a member of the audience who asked about the shortage of mental health beds in the county, she and Brandau engaged in an animated discussion which concluded with Brandau telling the woman to “zip it.”
Another member of the audience said, in the past, he personally witnessed sheriff deputies dismantling homeless encampments. Far from exercising the compassion Zanoni alluded to during his time at the podium, the deputies showed little regard for the welfare of the individuals and had even less concern for their belongings.
“And what about their Fourth Amendment rights?” the audience member asked. However, the question received no response.
