Looking back - to change course
The storm started with the most positive intentions in 2006. Limiting the over-the-counter drug sales of pseudoephedrine. An easily accessible drug that was used to make methamphetamine. In the years that followed the unforeseen consequence was the speed and volume at which an alternative meth — P2P meth was brought to United State marketplace. P2P meth is manufactured with easily attainable, highly toxic chemicals in a variety of formulations. It has a low barrier to entry for both the manufacturer and the consumer. It is more addictive and more quickly damages the brain and leads to psychosis. And 1/10th the cost.
In 2016 there was an edict for the Housing First strategy approach to homelessness. It referenced studies and success stories relevant at the time, prior to 2016. Housing First straddled a legal fence and allowed use of illegal drugs on-site and sobriety was not a requirement for housing. Current studies on the success of a Housing First strategy suggest other than success.
At the same time in 2016 meth P2P was ravaging the countryside. But the concern over use of illicit drugs was focused on opioids because of death rates and P2P took a backseat. Not many looked at the brain destruction caused by meth P2P because it was not as obvious as the death tolls of opioids.
In 2018 Martin v Boise was decided and brought ninth district States to a standstill in terms of how to address people living on the streets, in the parks, and along the creek beds. The court stated that homelessness was not a crime; fair enough. And that each person deserved shelter without the threat of arrest while sleeping in a park. And they determined that people should be allowed to sleep in the park unless a bed was available. This meant that many behaviors were then permitted under the guise of not criminalizing homelessness but yet those same behaviors were illegal if someone was not homeless. And we began to enforce laws differently between those housed and unhoused.
The final straw in the storm was a propensity for nonprofits and therapists to refrain from discussing homelessness as it relates to drug use and mental illness because they did not want to place any blame on the person who was unhoused and stigmatize the whole community. Those who were unhoused, addicted, and or mentally ill suffered for a decade on the street because of this lack of acknowledgment.
The storm brewed and was kept hidden by the cloak of Housing First and nonprofit good intentions.
The forces of P2P meth, Housing First mandates, Martin v Boise, and the utter inaction of politicians have now brought downtown San Jose to its knees.
Housing First continues to threaten the future as it takes up every square inch of property, leaving nothing for the shelter needed to house thousands of street-living-unhoused. The inflexibility of the Housing First mantra allows for no other solutions and implies, if not states outright, that housing will fix mental illness. Indeed it suggests that the lack of housing causes mental illness. Without independent longitudinal studies neither of those conclusions can be drawn. There is enough evidence to say, that living out of a car can cause PTSD. But there are no studies that indicate the lack of housing causes psychosis and addiction.
The most critical question we face in downtown D3 is where to place over 1,000 people with serious mental health and addiction issues who are currently residing in our parks living on the sidewalks and camping on the creek. And until we have a shelter bed for each person - we cannot fully enforce our laws — as stated in Martin v Boise.
A new storm is on the front. San Francisco county has been approved for the pilot program for CARE Court. The folks there with mental illness and addiction will have mandated in-house treatment. When the word gets out that this is the new approach, San Jose will have an influx of folks living on the streets because we don’t have CARE Court. San Jose will attract more people who are unhoused, who are drawn to a lifestyle without rules and regulations because here in San Jose we don’t and can’t enforce them without bed availability.
We are enabling and sponsoring and enticing people to San Jose to live in unsanitary, unsafe, unhealthy conditions on the street. Since downtown San Jose already has the largest number of unhoused in the city, that number will only increase — exponentially.
The Housing First strategy has blinders on and is unable to recognize or adapt to the dramatically changing landscape of Martin v Boise. Nor did the housing first strategy correctly anticipate the impact of P2P meth on the unhoused living in the street. And Housing First has lots of supporters lining up to cash in on this strategically flawed policy.
Our politicians blindly followed the Housing First strategy. And they too, did not look up and notice that everything had changed based on Martin v Boise and dramatically higher uses of P2P meth.
Anticipating the consequences might have been asking too much. But our politicians should have immediately noticed the changes and taken steps to prevent the current state of affairs in downtown D3.
It’s hard to explain to those who don’t live in downtown what it’s like to be here day in and day out. Even those folks in South San Jose can’t understand. And certainly the folks in Los Gatos or Saratoga could think of it like a movie but wouldn’t be able to consider it a reality. And explaining it to somebody outside of California is nearly impossible.
In downtown D3 we have plastic and rubber fires on a daily basis. Our children are suffering IQ damage as a result of the toxic air they breathe. Laws seem to be optional for almost everyone. Multiple thefts of $950 each, occur daily at Walgreens and the break-in through the roof despite the privately paid off-duty police officer on-site. Neighbors have stopped complaining about mail theft and porch theft and instead send pictures to each other of the intruders they have in their backyard or sleeping on their front porch. Catalytic converters can easily be found on craigslist but it might not be the one that was stolen from your car. Families don’t have picnic in our parks anymore. And if residents of downtown want to go shopping, get groceries, or entertain their friends, they get in their car — and drive out of downtown D3. Boarded up Downtown core is to be avoided as the mere passing near business threshold-entryways reek of urine and other bodily excretions. Businesses complain of cars parked forever while trash and refuse piles up around the vehicles and prohibits entry into parking lots. And Santa Clara Street itself has become a Russian roulette game of chicken as drivers swerve to miss people dancing unaware of danger, many without pants.
Right now we have two court cases setting more precedent, with more consequences if San Jose does not prepare. An unhoused man sued the City for not repairing his vehicle to help him move during an abatement. The court said if the City had said they would help then they should and now San Jose will pay to fix the RV so that it can be moved. In another case, Oakland attempted to abate a 25 block encampment that had caused such a major fire as to shut down a freeway. The judge stated that it was the responsibility of the property owner to find housing for folks currently on the property before it could be cleaned.
Thus, we have set the precedent to pay to repair vehicles which have not had regular maintenance and are not allowed to be moved during an abatement clean-up. And we have set the precedent that if there is vacant land or building occupied by someone who is unhoused — the owner must pay to get those living onsite to find new housing before they can reclaim their property and clean it to sanitary and fire-proof conditions. Look out San Jose, are you paying attention to these future consequences?
Looking back, what can we say about what has brought us here? We can say that the politicians did absolutely nothing. We can say that the policies that they implemented were inflexible and ill designed. And we can say that the people who have been left on the streets in San Jose deserve much better.
Looking forward, what can we say? We can say that many in D3 have a plan to move. We can say that most of San Jose is comfortably unaware of the plight in downtown. And we can say that we are all looking for leaders to change our trajectory.
