One (1) aspect of the downfall of California isn’t actually Gavin Newsom’s doing, unbelievably enough. Cities on the west coast allow permanent homeless encampments because the leftwing circus called the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided to make up their own laws and imposed the rule that homeless people must be permitted to camp wherever they like, until and unless governments create housing for all of them.
The Supreme Court is finally getting around to reviewing this lawless ruling.
However, California is still going to California: Santa Monica okays $1M per unit homeless housing project after audit found state wasted billions on crisis.
A new state audit shows that the effectiveness of California’s homeless programs, on which the state spent $24 billion over five years was not consistently tracked.
Santa Monica city officials last week approved a multimillion-dollar apartment unit for the homeless just days after the release of an audit which found California could not account for the $24 billion it spent on the state’s burgeoning homeless crisis.
The 122-unit building for the homeless will include a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments, along with ground floor retail and residential and commercial parking spaces.
A design concept available on the city’s website shows that the multi-apartment unit will cost more than $123 million, for a cost of just over $1 million each for the 122 apartments. A second design concept would have cost even more, north of $200 million for 196 units.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: California hasn’t been tracking homeless programs’ effectiveness, audit finds
“Moving forward in bringing affordable and permanent supportive housing to city-owned land is a key step in our strategy to fulfill our Housing Element requirements,” Mayor Phil Brock said. “I look forward to the next steps and ultimately seeing families move into these new homes and thrive.”
The measure was approved days after the release of an audit which indicated the state had spent around $24 billion between 2018 and 2023 to tackle homelessness – but did not consistently track whether the huge outlay of public money did anything to actually improve the problem.
Fox Butterfield could not be reached for comment.