Sacramento City Council expands critical infrastructure list to remove homeless from
SACRAMENTO – When it comes to finding new homeless shelters in Sacramento, who's responsible for that decision?
The city council considered whether the city manager has the authority during a special meeting Tuesday.
Last October, CBS13 reported how the city banned homeless camps within 500 feet of schools.
The critical infrastructure list already includes places like utilities, public transit and government buildings. The city council on Tuesday unanimously passed the addition of the downtown courthouse and district attorney's office.
Recently, Sacramento's top prosecutor announced he launched an investigation to determine whether the city has violated the law in its handling of the homelessness crisis.
According to a released statement by the district attorney's office, it said they are in the process of gathering evidence and will complete our evaluation once that process is complete.
"District Attorney Thien Ho wrote a letter to the City of Sacramento on June 26, 2023, seeking help to address the public safety issues surrounding the downtown courthouse and the District Attorney's Office. Since that time, conditions have only worsened. We are waiting for the city to take appropriate action, and deeming our office and the courthouse critical infrastructure would be a necessary first step. However, the same protection needs to be afforded to the rest of the people who live in the city. In the meantime, the District Attorney's Office has opened an investigation to determine whether the City of Sacramento has violated the law."
Critics say they see the expanded list as a form of selective enforcement.
"I would think the way it's written right now is in clear violation of Martin v. Boise because it's so expansive because it basically says, well everything in the city is critical infrastructure and homeless people can only be in a small section of it," said Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness.
The Martin v. Boise ruling means cities cannot enforce anti-camping ordinances if they do not have enough homeless shelter beds available for their homeless population.
