ID 24-1032 Bill - (for Introduction) - Amending Sections 10-1703(a), 10-1707, 10-2101, 10-2204, 10-2205 of the Fresno Municipal Code, Relating to the Prohibition of Encampments in Public Places
I was born and raised in fresno. My mom and cousins are home owners there and my mom rents our house out for affordable prices because this market is insane. We support families and live in the house we own in the Bay Area. I go to fresno 10 days a month to take care of my grandma with dimensia as I am one of the POAs. She almost lost her housing due to forgetting to pay rent until we stepped in. Growing up my dad was often homeless and couch surfing. Low wages trapped him in a cycle of poverty and fines for essentially debt jail. When he had custody of me some weekends we would have to stay in motels. It never allowed him to get back on his feet or get his immigration papers together. We were estranged because he continued to stay in a cycle of violence and perpetuating harm as his life was always destabilized. He was eventually deported.
This ordinance is fiscally irresponsible to push without more public input and unethical for its total disregard for a true commitment to public safety. Instead of showing up for people like me and others you are telling us you don’t care.
This change will only increase the burden on taxpayers without affecting any positive change for the unhoused or the community at large. The Supreme Court may have ruled that this more aggressive enforcement is legal, but it will not build up our community. Putting steeper penalties on existing just means more money spent incarcerating them than it would cost us to simply house them. When small areas in our city are allowed to block new homes, they foist this issue onto all of us and the only way we are going to fix the issue of people being unhoused is to house them. Please, do not approve this measure and focus on the root of the problem, housing availability.
I cannot fathom how this ordinance could be helpful for our communities. Or maybe it’s just a cheaper way to deal with issues that our systems create? Please have some humanity and do not let this pass. There are other more humane ways to keep our community safe and clean.
This ordinance is a Band-Aid for treatment of symptom. A key element of solving the homeless encampment issue is addressing drug addiction. One possible way to help the City and County of Fresno (and surrounding Fresno County communities) finance drug treatment and construction of additional shelter space for drug-addicted homeless residents is by filing suit against leading opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceutical, which manufactures both oxycodone and tablet-form fentanyl, as other cities and counties have done in other areas. It is my understanding that either a City Attorney or District Attorney can initiate this type of action (obviously City Attorney would need to confirm). A major bottleneck to Fresno County taking the lead on this type of suit is that per her FPPC Form 700, Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp has in the past owned over $1 million of investments in Teva Pharmaceutical, making her "conflicted out" of filing such action. I would like to propose City of Fresno investigate this conflict of interest as a possible basis for a complaint against Smittcamp to Fresno County Grand Jury to investigate and possibly initiate removal of Smittcamp from office so that someone else who is not conflicted out can step up as District Attorney and file this much needed lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceutical, that way the drug manufacturer, not Fresno taxpayers, will finance drug treatment for the homeless.
This ordinance should absolutely not be passed. It does nothing to keep our communities safe. Punishing the unhoused during a massive is cruel and city officials should know better than to go through with this. Absolutely disgusting! Shame on any city official working to sign off on this!
This should not be a thing that exists ever. We should protect our community members not actively spend money arresting them and making it harder for them. Fining a homeless person makes zero sense. Obviously they won't be able to pay it. Our tax dollars should not pay for this. The police should not be paid to tear up people's tents. At this point it probably costs more money to do this than to do something about the housing crisis. Do something about the landlords. Do something to to help our community not make their lives worse. This ordinance is disgraceful.
Absolutely farcical. I am opposed to this nonsense. I noted that during the news conference Councilmember Bredefeld made threats towards the needle exchange program. I suggest he do some research into state law and the legality of needle exchange programs statewide. Fresno’s exchange is a legal operation that can not be touched by him or the rest of the Board of Supervisors.
I was born and raised in fresno. My mom and cousins are home owners there and my mom rents our house out for affordable prices because this market is insane. We support families and live in the house we own in the Bay Area. I go to fresno 10 days a month to take care of my grandma with dimensia as I am one of the POAs. She almost lost her housing due to forgetting to pay rent until we stepped in. Growing up my dad was often homeless and couch surfing. Low wages trapped him in a cycle of poverty and fines for essentially debt jail. When he had custody of me some weekends we would have to stay in motels. It never allowed him to get back on his feet or get his immigration papers together. We were estranged because he continued to stay in a cycle of violence and perpetuating harm as his life was always destabilized. He was eventually deported.
This ordinance is fiscally irresponsible to push without more public input and unethical for its total disregard for a true commitment to public safety. Instead of showing up for people like me and others you are telling us you don’t care.
I do not want my tax dollars going to this. Instead put in place rent control and cold/heat centers
This change will only increase the burden on taxpayers without affecting any positive change for the unhoused or the community at large. The Supreme Court may have ruled that this more aggressive enforcement is legal, but it will not build up our community. Putting steeper penalties on existing just means more money spent incarcerating them than it would cost us to simply house them. When small areas in our city are allowed to block new homes, they foist this issue onto all of us and the only way we are going to fix the issue of people being unhoused is to house them. Please, do not approve this measure and focus on the root of the problem, housing availability.
I cannot fathom how this ordinance could be helpful for our communities. Or maybe it’s just a cheaper way to deal with issues that our systems create? Please have some humanity and do not let this pass. There are other more humane ways to keep our community safe and clean.
This ordinance is a Band-Aid for treatment of symptom. A key element of solving the homeless encampment issue is addressing drug addiction. One possible way to help the City and County of Fresno (and surrounding Fresno County communities) finance drug treatment and construction of additional shelter space for drug-addicted homeless residents is by filing suit against leading opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceutical, which manufactures both oxycodone and tablet-form fentanyl, as other cities and counties have done in other areas. It is my understanding that either a City Attorney or District Attorney can initiate this type of action (obviously City Attorney would need to confirm). A major bottleneck to Fresno County taking the lead on this type of suit is that per her FPPC Form 700, Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp has in the past owned over $1 million of investments in Teva Pharmaceutical, making her "conflicted out" of filing such action. I would like to propose City of Fresno investigate this conflict of interest as a possible basis for a complaint against Smittcamp to Fresno County Grand Jury to investigate and possibly initiate removal of Smittcamp from office so that someone else who is not conflicted out can step up as District Attorney and file this much needed lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceutical, that way the drug manufacturer, not Fresno taxpayers, will finance drug treatment for the homeless.
This ordinance should absolutely not be passed. It does nothing to keep our communities safe. Punishing the unhoused during a massive is cruel and city officials should know better than to go through with this. Absolutely disgusting! Shame on any city official working to sign off on this!
This should not be a thing that exists ever. We should protect our community members not actively spend money arresting them and making it harder for them. Fining a homeless person makes zero sense. Obviously they won't be able to pay it. Our tax dollars should not pay for this. The police should not be paid to tear up people's tents. At this point it probably costs more money to do this than to do something about the housing crisis. Do something about the landlords. Do something to to help our community not make their lives worse. This ordinance is disgraceful.
Absolutely farcical. I am opposed to this nonsense. I noted that during the news conference Councilmember Bredefeld made threats towards the needle exchange program. I suggest he do some research into state law and the legality of needle exchange programs statewide. Fresno’s exchange is a legal operation that can not be touched by him or the rest of the Board of Supervisors.