1 min read
Sources:
press and public records, Kevin's account, his own videos
["default","default","rose"]
Short answer
End street homelessness in 60 days: declare an emergency, deploy the National Guard, open 80 emergency facilities in vacant malls and warehouses, and make sleeping on the street illegal once shelter exists. Experts were harsh; UCLA’s Gary Blasi called it the poorest substitute for a policy he had seen in 38 years. Kevin’s response then was that he did not claim to have all the answers. His view now is that later court rulings upholding camping bans and the spread of emergency-powers actions vindicate the approach. 123
Goal: 60 days (end street homelessness)
Means: National Guard (plus 80 emergency facilities)
Expert verdict: "Poorest substitute" (UCLA professor Gary Blasi, August 2021)
The plan
Declare street homelessness an emergency, deploy the National Guard, stand up 80 emergency facilities in vacant malls and warehouses, and make sleeping on the street illegal once beds exist, with a goal of ending street homelessness in 60 days. California had roughly 160,000 homeless residents at the time, as the AP noted. 1
The criticism
The Orange County Register asked experts. UCLA law professor Gary Blasi: unless Mr. Paffrath has magical powers, this is the poorest substitute for a policy on homelessness I have seen in 38 years of research. Kevin’s reply, per the same article: he did not claim to have all the answers, and his team was open to ideas. 2
Kevin now
Kevin’s account
Since then, courts in some jurisdictions have upheld public-camping bans, and emergency-powers actions by governments have become far more common. 3
The 2024 Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson did allow cities to enforce camping bans; whether that vindicates a 60-day pledge is a judgment for the reader.
In his own videos
May 28, 2021: Confronting Homelessness & Police as Governor, the plan on the street. 4
Emergency shelters, the Guard, and a camping ban, in 60 days. Experts called it magical thinking; Kevin says the courts came around to camping bans. 123
Simply put
✅ The plan
➡️ Treat homelessness like a disaster. Bring in the Guard. Open shelters in empty malls. Then ban sleeping on the street.
✅ The pushback
➡️ A leading homelessness researcher said it was not a real policy.
✅ Kevin now
➡️ Says courts later allowed camping bans and governments use emergency powers more, so he was early.
Sources
Newswire, campaign announcement (homelessness plank), Open
Orange County Register, Brooke Staggs, August 6, 2021 (Gary Blasi and Bob Solomon quotes; Kevin's response), Open
Kevin's account, What I still believe from the platform: “courts in some jurisdictions have upheld public-camping bans, and emergency-powers actions by governments have become far more common” Read the excerpt
Kevin on YouTube, "Confronting Homelessness & Police as Governor" (2021-05-28), at 0:00: “Confronting Homelessness & Police as Governor” Watch from 0:00
