The Housed and the Homeless and the Commons: Part 2

While we and the homeless are going to have to learn how to share the “commons” (common areas) leadership will have to come from City and County government, both of which are facing serious staffing and financial strains created by people living on our streets. The city and county of Santa Barbara do a lot in addressing this problem, including shelter, food, medical care, showers, clothes laundry, and RV parking. Our municipalities seek federal grants for homeless services (the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, provides financial assistance grants to cities through the California Department of Housing and Community) and work closely with nonprofits providing services. Notwithstanding, it is the legal arena that will ultimately determine the fate of State Street.

The courts, which have ensured the rights of homeless people to solicit for money, have added the right to sleep on the street if the municipality does not provide sheltered beds. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that in the absence of adequate sleeping facilities it is “cruel and unusual punishment,” violating Eighth Amendment rights, to cite or prohibit homeless persons from sleeping in public. Santa Barbara is responding to this mandate by building a village of 40 “tiny homes” (houses of about 128 square feet with bed, bath, and kitchen) for the city’s most vulnerable homeless. Regardless of legal mandates and the fact that the alternative is to turn our public streets into bedrooms, this is obviously the right thing to do.

Homeless behavior at odds with the traditional norms for the commons will, despite sheltered sleeping quarters, continue to exist. Balancing it with acceptable public behavior is in the hands of city laws and law enforcement infrastructure. City ordinances need to be reviewed for compliance with legal rights, and we need to support and expand the way Santa Barbara goes about policing homeless behavior.