Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated a statewide drop in homelessness throughout his State of the State handle on the Capitol on Thursday — however locals on the battered streets of Los Angeles and Santa Monica weren’t applauding.
Fuming enterprise homeowners, exhausted residents and native leaders blasted the Democratic governor’s boats of a 9% decline as disconnected from the realities of rampant tent and automobile encampments — because the out-in-the-open drug is a part of the routine.
“I really feel like I’m held hostage,” mentioned enterprise proprietor Rene Ruston, founding father of Shelter Transport Animal Rescue in Sherman Oaks. “It has gotten exponentially worse, not higher.”
Ruston — whose nonprofit resale store donates 100% of its proceeds to high-kill shelters and animal transport — mentioned she not listens after years of guarantees from state leaders and billions spent to fight the disaster.
“The rationale I don’t hearken to what the governor has to say is I’m too busy attempting to fight this insanity,” Ruston mentioned.
Ruston mentioned on one current morning earlier than the store was open, a homeless man hurled a brick by way of the entrance window, scooped up armfuls of donated clothes and high-tailed it out of there.
Smash-and-grab robberies have turn into commonplace, she mentioned.
Different residents questioned the state’s knowledge and the way it was calculated.
“9 % from when?” requested Julie Mulligan, a retired household lawyer in Santa Monica. “What share is it really up from the day he turned governor, and the way a lot have we spent? The insurance policies have been a catastrophe — virtually and fiscally.
Property proprietor John Alle, who owns buildings throughout from LA’s MacArthur Park meth-and-fentanyl floor, mentioned “it’s simple to say the quantity’s down when individuals are dying.”
“If Gavin is claiming homelessness is down 10 %, that doesn’t match what Karen Bass is saying, and it doesn’t account for folks dying from overdoses and assaults,” mentioned Alle, who has handled fallout with the park being a floor zero for the town’s meth-and-fentanyl abuse.
Analysis tied to RAND— a nonprofit, nonpartisan analysis group that gives leaders with knowledge and evaluation to make evidence-based choices — has repeatedly warned that official homeless counts understate the true scale of road homelessness in LA’s hardest-hit neighborhoods.
In its newest evaluation, Rising Inaccuracies in Official Counts Jeopardize LA Homelessness Wins, RAND-backed researchers mentioned the county’s volunteer-led Level-in-Time rely more and more misses “tough sleepers” — folks dwelling with out tents or automobiles who’re essentially the most susceptible and the toughest to rely.
In Hollywood, Venice and Skid Row, LA LEADS knowledge confirmed the official rely fell brief by roughly 1 / 4 in 2024 and by almost a 3rd in 2025.
Even contained in the Capitol, lawmakers struck a restrained tone after Newsom’s victory lap.
California has poured greater than $24 billion into homelessness applications throughout Newsom’s tenure, following years of rising will increase.
In 2024, homelessness hit a report excessive statewide, with almost 124,000 folks unsheltered, in accordance with federal knowledge. Newsom didn’t announce an general statewide whole for 2025, and up to date federal census knowledge has but to be launched.
“I feel the query at all times comes again to us — is it sufficient?” mentioned Monique Limón, a Democratic politician serving because the president professional tempore of the California State Senate.
In Santa Monica, the place the coast continues to attract homeless folks from throughout the area, officers mentioned the numbers fluctuate 12 months to 12 months. What hasn’t modified, they mentioned, is the seen progress of unsheltered homelessness — tents and automobiles — regardless of regional efforts.
“No matter statewide numbers, the lived expertise on the bottom tells a unique story,” mentioned Lana Negrete, who served as Santa Monica mayor final 12 months and stays on the Metropolis Council.
“Native governments are doing all the pieces we will, however state insurance policies that fail to prioritize safeguarding, remedy and accountability — whereas permitting medicine and untreated psychological sickness to dominate public areas — proceed to pressure cities and hurt communities,” Negrete added.
