McOsker said Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program has been effective in clearing homeless encampments and moving the residents inside. He supports reducing costs by doubling people up in rooms and cutting underutilized contracts.
“It’s unsustainable as it is to spend this much, and I think everyone recognizes that,” he said.
McOsker said he supports “no encampment” zones, per Municipal Code 41.18, around places like schools, day care centers, libraries and homeless shelters.
It’s especially important to keep encampments away from shelters, he said, so people can get help without distractions nearby.
“We really need to make that break and give folks an opportunity to put their lives together,” he said.
Rivers equated the no-encampment zones to federal immigration operations in the city, arguing that they enable law enforcement to snatch people off the street without giving them a place to go.
“Just moving homelessness doesn’t all of a sudden solve it,” he said.
Instead, Rivers wants to establish “safe shelter” zones where people can get their needs met instead of being chased out.
Rivers believes that Inside Safe contractors should be audited and that there should be “full transparency” in the amount of money spent to house each person.
“We need to actually have a track record of where these funds are going to,” so it’s clear the money actually is helping to resolve homelessness, he said.
