Will Gavin Newsom take the fall for California’s homelessness crisis?

Estefania Ochoa thinks the tree-lined block that runs along the edge of Rengstorff Park is an ideal spot for the RV she lives in with her two sons. An abundance of shade keeps the vehicle cool during the summer, while the availability of public restrooms in the park means the waste tank doesn’t fill as quickly.

The city wants Ochoa and hundreds of other RV dwellers to move on. Following complaints that the vehicles posed a safety hazard, Mountain View voters approved an ordinance last November banning oversize vehicles from parking on most streets in town.

Like communities across California, Mountain View is at an inflection point on the homelessness crisis. As the unhoused population surged in recent years, the problem has become impossible to ignore and harder to solve, even in suburbs that once seemed untouched by it.

Supporters of the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom now sense an opportunity to capitalize on frustration over widespread encampments across the state and oust the first-term Democrat in a Sept. 14 special election. With homelessness regularly cited in public polls as one of the biggest problems facing the state, recall organizers believe the issue could drive down support for Newsom in core Democratic areas that propelled him to a record victory in 2018, such as the Bay Area and Los Angeles, where the crisis is most evident.

“People are just looking at everything and going, ‘Nothing’s changed. It’s gotten worse,’” said Anne Hyde Dunsmore, campaign manager for Rescue California, one of the groups behind the recall. Read more >>>