The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last June that state and local governments can close homeless encampments.
Governor Gavin Newsom and many California mayors have endorsed the move, noting that state and local governments now have the authority to clear the encampments. It is not compassionate, healthy, or progressive to allow these encampments to persist. California Highway Patrol officers, county sheriffs, and city police can move these people away from the highway underpasses, roadsides, and canal embankments where we see them every day. But where do these people go?
In 2019, Newsom ordered an inventory of all properties in the state, requiring the identification of suitable sites for short-term housing, to be offered by local governments and charities. The order did not, however, lead to an increase in the stock of available shelters, because local government officials, sensitive to the natural concerns of their constituents, generally do not want new homeless shelters in their jurisdictions. As unsatisfactory as the tolerance for living on the streets is, city councils have preferred it to building shelters that would anger residents living nearby.
Newsom was right to order an inventory of surplus state property five years ago, but he has not (yet) chosen to include National Guard armories in that compendium. There are 54 California National Guard armories across the state, located in every major metropolitan area. Their primary use, of course, is for the California National Guard to assemble, during weekend exercises, summer training, and when responding to natural disasters and other emergencies. Military equipment is stored in most of these armories. Any use as a homeless shelter should not compromise access to that equipment or the armory buildings themselves, or their state of repair.
Despite all of these factors, many California National Guard armories have been used successfully for decades as homeless shelters during the winter months, with modifications made to not interfere with the armories’ primary purposes. In November, California will resume using the armories as homeless shelters as the winter months officially begin. It makes no sense to end that use when the weather warms up next spring. The armories’ primary uses can then be adapted as much as they are during the winter months; and the need for homeless shelters will not have disappeared simply because the weather is warmer.
The California National Guard armories are state property. As such, their use takes precedence over county and city zoning ordinances. This is a huge advantage in overcoming local resistance. Governor Newsom can tolerate the political heat of using armories to shelter the homeless much more than a city council member can, because Newsom’s district is not located in the armory district.
Gun shops are far from ideal solutions for the homeless. But unlike a vacant Caltrans lot or other “surplus properties” identified in Newsom’s inventory, their winter use over the past few decades shows they can be part of the solution. They are sheltered from the elements. They include bathrooms and showers. They have kitchens that can be used by local charities. They can serve as storage for the homeless’ belongings. They are already located in population centers, and their residents are more easily accessible by services than on the street.
When I was a state senator, I authored a bill to require the use of our state’s National Guard armories for homeless people, year-round. The bill passed both houses of the Legislature, but was rejected by Governor Pete Wilson. Newsom does not need a new law to allow him to take this necessary action. He can order it directly as commander in chief of the National Guard without anyone’s authorization.
Tom Campbell is a professor of law and professor of economics at Chapman University.
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