Month: January 2024

San Mateo County Passes Ordinance Regulating Homeless Encampments Potential risks abound as the County seeks to encourage unhoused residents to take advantage of available services

Evelyn Stivers

Last Tuesday, January 23, San Mateo County’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the “Hopeful Horizons” ordinance, which creates a process by which the County can clear homeless encampments whenever shelter beds are available. 

Speakers from the ACLU Northern California Chapter, San Mateo County’s Public Defenders program, and other civil rights organizations raised concerns about potential ambiguities in the ordinance that could harm unsheltered residents. In response to public comment, the Supervisors made several important amendments, including semi-annual auditing, while ignoring others. HLC and our partners will closely monitor implementation of this ordinance to ensure it has its intended impact. 

The ordinance would:

  • Allow the County to clear homeless encampments on unincorporated land whenever a shelter bed is available, after Homeless Outreach Teams have already contacted residents. 
  • Creates a process for outreach and warnings by which the County may clear encampments. 
  • Empower the County to issue criminal penalties, potentially a misdemeanor, to residents who ignore clearance orders and do not take advantage of available shelter.
  • Enable residents who receive criminal penalties to expunge their records by seeking mental health support. 
  • Require the County to label and store personal belongings in excess of what can fit in available shelter, at no cost to residents. 
  • Mandate audits of the program at six and twelve months after implementation to ensure efficacy and reevaluate as needed. 

County Supervisors Ray Mueller and Noelia Corzo suggested important amendments to make the ordinance more effective. Both emphasized the necessity to guarantee qualified professionals provide outreach and mental health assessments before enforcement clears encampments. They also mandated bi-annual audits, which will help the Supervisors monitor implementation of this ordinance.

The Housing Leadership Council and other partners remain concerned that vague language in this ordinance could lead to abuses. As written, the ordinance leaves several ambiguities as to how the County will ensure public accountability, properly verify and store an individual’s belongings, and track outcomes. However, we support the Supervisors’ intent look forward to working with the Board and our partners to promote Housing First strategies to addressing the housing crisis.