The state has spent billions of dollars on homelessness in recent years. So why is the crisis getting worse instead of better?

That’s what a bipartisan group of California legislators is trying to get to the bottom of by calling for a first-of-its kind, large-scale audit of the state’s homelessness spending.

The state has stepped up its involvement and investment in the crisis under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership, allocating $20.6 billion toward housing and homelessness since 2018-19, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. But despite the influx of cash, during that time, the number of unhoused people in the state has increased by nearly a third — to more than 170,000 as of last year.

That discrepancy between what’s being spent in Sacramento and what voters see — tent cities in their neighborhoods — has many legislators clamoring for an accounting. They have instructed the state auditor to embark on a sweeping project that will analyze multiple state homelessness programs — as well as focus on homelessness spending in two cities — in an attempt to improve California’s response.

“What we’re doing is not working,” said Assemblymember Josh Hoover, a Republican from Folsom who co-authored the audit request with Democratic Sen. Dave Cortese of Santa Clara County. “And I think it’s important to get to the bottom of that and figure out where are we investing that is not getting a return on investment. And we need to stop spending money on the programs that are not working.”

The $743,400 audit, approved unanimously in the state’s legislative audit committee last month, will take about 5,000 hours of staff time and is likely to be complete by October, State Auditor Grant Parks said during the hearing. It will scrutinize the cost-effectiveness of as many as five state homelessness programs. The auditor has yet to reveal which ones, but Project Homekey — one of Newsom’s signature efforts to create homeless housing — likely will be one. And the audit will analyze spending in two California cities — San Jose and one other yet to be determined.

The analysis will focus on questions such as: How many people received services between 2020 and 2023? How much funding have San Jose and the other city received, and how has it been spent? How much of that money went toward administrative costs instead of services?

Newsom’s office wouldn’t weigh in on the pending audit, except to issue a statement: “This process is still in its early stages, and we will continue to closely monitor any future developments.”

Myles White, assistant secretary of legislation for the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, defended the state’s track record during the legislative hearing. “A lot of the progress we’ve made provides a really solid foundation for us to continue in the days ahead,” he said.

San Jose officials said they have used state funds effectively and efficiently, and have been transparent in their work. Local officials rallied at the state Capitol last week, demanding that the state give them an ongoing $3 billion a year to address homelessness.

Cortese began pushing for the audit after touring a massive homeless encampment on vacant land near San Jose’s airport. One of the largest in California, the camp was home to more than 400 people during the pandemic. What he saw shocked and appalled him: “Rodents running around your feet. Massive piles of trash. Tons of broken RVs and abandoned cars. Cars turned upside down with people living inside.”

When Cortese brought up the idea of a state audit, he says local officials told him while they had spent local money, they hadn’t used state funding to improve conditions or offer services at that encampment.

“Which to me just really begged the question: ‘What’s going on?’” Cortese said.

That camp has since been cleared; the Federal Aviation Administration had threatened to withhold airport funds from the city because the camp extended into flight paths. But the city couldn’t move everyone into housing or shelter, and some people have moved to another lot just across the street.

Past attempts at accountability

Cortese’s audit isn’t the first time California’s homelessness response has come under scrutiny. Earlier this year, the Interagency Council on Homelessness found the state spent nearly $10 billion on homelessness between 2018 and 2021 and served more than 571,000 people. But despite that effort, most of those people still didn’t get a roof over their heads.

And in 2021, a state audit of five local governments found that they did not always comply with federal regulations or follow best practices when responding to homelessness.

The new audit will be an “entirely different animal,” Cortese said, as it will go deeper into the state’s spending. Legislators hope it also will make specific recommendations as to how ineffective programs could be improved or even cut — something the Interagency Council’s report didn’t do.

San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart speaks during a press conference on a request for $3 billion a year more for local homelessness programs at the state Capitol in Sacramento on April 12, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

The heightened scrutiny comes as Newsom has both ramped up spending and rolled out a series of new homelessness programs since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Those include Project Roomkey, which temporarily put elderly and medically compromised unhoused people up in hotels; Homekey, which gives cities and counties money to turn some of those hotels (and other buildings) into longer-term homeless housing; and the Encampment Resolution Grant program, which gives cities and counties money to clear homeless encampments and move occupants into housing and shelters.

It’s no surprise that Republicans would continue their critique of the liberal governor’s spending. But the recent involvement of Cortese and other Democrats signals the politics have shifted.

For example, Assemblymember Luz Rivas, a Democrat from the San Fernando Valley, is pushing her own accountability bill. Assembly Bill 799 would force the state to set specific goals for reducing homelessness, while also allowing funding to be reallocated away from local agencies that fail to meet their goals.

“We get asked by our constituents,” she said. “They ask ‘Where is this funding going to? Is it really being used effectively?’”

Even Newsom himself has advocated for more accountability. He recently began requiring that cities and counties submit “homeless action plans” before receiving state funding, and he briefly held $1 billion hostage after determining the plans they drafted weren’t ambitious enough.

During last month’s hearing, several legislators advocated for the auditor to choose cities in their own districts. Some made pitches for Los Angeles and Sacramento, while others pushed for smaller cities.

Gail Osmer, a San Jose advocate who led Cortese on the encampment tour that inspired the audit, spoke alongside the senator at the hearing. In an interview, she said she hopes the audit’s findings will be a wake-up call for her city.

Osmer has been critical of how the city cleared the airport encampment. Camp residents were promised services, such as free repairs for their cars and RVs, that many people never received, she said.

“People are not held accountable,” Osmer said. “Where’s the money going?”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

You read that right. I didn’t mistype New Hampshire’s state motto, adopted in 1945 and which probably had its origins in French Revolutionaries’ Vivre Libre ou Mourir. Fact is, our yearning for personal independence and autonomy is probably responsible for a shocking factoid: post-Covid life expectancy, which had decreased in most countries in 2020, bounced back everywhere except in the US. According to the CDC, while U.S. life expectancy at birth dropped nearly three years from 2019 to 2021 (78.8 to 76.1), comparable countries barely registered Covid between the same years (82.6 to 82.4). Here’s a summary of the CDC’s findings, and how it came up with them.

Even without Covid, we’re still doing terribly: We’re far outspending other large, wealthy countries in healthcare, yet we have the lowest life expectancy—also by far. Outspending by how much? “In 2021, the U.S. spent 17.8 percent of gross domestic product on health care, nearly twice as much as the average OECD country,” according to the Commonwealth Fund.

Got that? We spend double what comparable countries spend on healthcare, and live six years less than they do. Not just rich OECD countries, either. “They” in this case includes citizens of Cuba, Lebanon and Czechia (previously Czech Republic), none of which are usually considered part of the “first world.”

What’s going on?

Ten years ago, a panel of experts convened by the National Academy of Sciences published a report titled “Shorter Lives, Poorer Health,” which accurately predicted our current situation. According to the report, “A big part of the difference between life and death in the U.S. and peer countries is people dying or being killed before age 50.” It specifically points to “factors like teen pregnancy, drug overdoses, HIV, fatal car crashes, injuries, and violence.” Interviewed more recently by NPR, one panel member, Eileen Crimmins, professor of gerontology at USC, has a harsh word for lovers of assault weapons (see last week’s guest column on the Nashville shooting): “Two years difference in life expectancy probably comes from the fact that firearms are so available in the United States.” In addition, “There’s the opioid epidemic, which is clearly ours – that was our drug companies and other countries didn’t have that because those drugs were more controlled.”

One unexpected finding of the NAS panel is that our worse health and shorter lifespan isn’t just confined to poor and minority cohorts, but extends through all sections of society, including the one-percent. Money isn’t always the answer. In fact, economics is a critical part of the equation: Extra health care costs the country “as much as $100 billion annually.”

What’s the answer? A willingness to learn from other countries, instead of going it alone — that is, a dose of humility! — would sure help. And specifically, according to Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University (in an interview on NPR) “…universal, better coordinated health care, strong health and safety protections, broad access to education, and more investments to help kids get off to a healthy start. These policies are paying off for [other countries], and could for Americans, too.”

What makes Steve Madrone tick? On today’s episode of Humboldt Tea-Time, John Kennedy O’Connor doses the Fifth District Supervisor with powerful, ego-dissolving tannins delivered by his trusty bags of PG Tips … all in an effort to find out the answer to exactly that question!

What lured a young Boy Scout to Humboldt, back in the halycon days of the Humboldt longhairs round about 1973? What drew him into environmental causes, and then to politics? What would he say are his biggest achievements to date? How can we all get better at working with one another, even if we disagree?

Today’s official tea time snack is Curried Egg Tea Sandwiches. Go whip some up and put the kettle on, and when you’re all ready press the big PLAY button on the video above for a conversation with Supervisor Steve Madrone.

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Despite the wildly wet year, the Bureau of Reclamation has threatened to reduce flows in the Klamath River below the mandatory minimum for salmon. Such an action will dry up critical habitat for salmon at a time when salmon populations are critically low. Now, the Yurok Tribe and fishermen are in court together to challenge the low flows.

Amy Cordalis, legal counsel for the Yurok Tribe and a tribal member, and Glenn Spain, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association join the show to discuss their new litigation and other issues imperiling salmon runs in the Klamath River.

REQUIRED READING:

• ”Yurok Tribe and Fishermen’s Associations Sue Feds Over Water Flow Reductions on the Klamath,” March 27, 2023.

Swimwear is not what comes to mind when you think of Humboldt fashion. We’re typically limited to rain gear, hiking gear and cozy clothing, and it’s hard to picture someone wearing swimwear out on our beaches. It’s hard to imagine that there is a market for swimwear here.

But Lorena Alvez, 33, owns and operates On the Lo Swimwear here in Humboldt County.

Alvez founded the company in 2018 with a vision to create swimwear that is fashionable, inclusive and sustainable. Originally from Brazil, Alvez took the cheeky design of Brazilian swimwear and is making it accessible to as many bodies as possible.

“I try to tell ladies that it shouldn’t matter what a tag says,” Alvez says. “What matters is that it fits your body.”

Offering pieces in sizes ranging from XS to 2XL, she aims to change her size guide to be on a numbered system. This way, any implications that come with the typical sizing system are removed. Currently, Alvez markets her work on Instagram and sells it directly through her website.

“I struggled with body issues throughout my life, and my business not only has a creative aspect to it but it helps me empower myself and other people,” Alvez said.

Every anniversary for her business, Alvez invites local women to model her swimwear. Last year, nearly 30 women took part in this photo shoot.

“I see these ladies in all shapes and sizes celebrating each other and it’s powerful,” Alvez says. “I want inclusivity to also mean community.”

Alvez and her family immigrated to Boston when she was 7 years old. Being the oldest of three siblings, Alvez spent most of her upbringing in Boston and went to University of Massachusetts-Amherst for her undergraduate years. In that time she studied abroad in Argentina and Spain while earning her degrees in psychology and Spanish. Fatefully, she made a friend while abroad who was a student at Cal Poly Humboldt, formerly Humboldt State University.

After graduating, Alvez had to hustle just to pay her student loans. She held five jobs including bartending, nannying and being a personal assistant.

Eventually Alvez was convinced to take a week-long vacation by her friend to visit California. She landed in San Francisco for Pride 2013 and they drove their way up to the Redwood Curtain. After the week was done, Alvez called her mom to tell her she was not going back to the East Coast.

She fell in love with Humboldt, but still had to work day to day to pay her student loans. Throughout the next five years, working without any creativity began to wear on Alvez. Then, in 2017, she took a trip to Brazil to visit family. Her uncle had an idea to go to a seamstress to get custom speedos made, and asked if she wanted to tag along. It was here that Alvez designed her first bottoms and got the idea to start selling her designs back home in the United States.

She brought stock of her design back with her and sold them all on SnapChat and local markets quickly enough that she wanted to make more. In some cases, she would take her inventory to prospective buyers’ homes so they could try on the swimwear before buying it.

“I had customers asking me to design tops, so that’s when I said, ‘OK, I’m starting a business,’” Alvez says.

In the summer of 2018, Alvez took part in the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Summer Entrepreneurship Program and it helped solidify her transition into a legit business. By 2019, Alvez began to make body suits and launched her website and online store. Then in 2020, she launched Unisex swimwear, speedos and boardshorts.

Alvez’ designs became popular so quickly that they were featured in the New York Fashion Week 2021. Alvez documented the entire thing here.

Though every piece is handmade, Alvez inventory grew large enough that she began to offer wholesale purchases. She also offers local customers the opportunity to visit her home studio to try on swimwear before they buy it.

Alvez hopes to partner with local businesses to sell her swimwear in-store, but she has not locked down a deal. This is part of the reason she started a website so quickly, especially for a business as small as hers.

“I had considered closing my business a few times but I love it so much,” Alvez says. “I always had side hustles to keep it alive.”

Unrelated to the swimwear, Alvez wants to focus on community engagement with things like the “Goddess Hike” she is advertising on Instagram for April 15. She also hopes to participate in giveaways with other brands and local businesses.

Looking ahead, Alvez established an LLC in Mexico with the intention to expand farther than Humboldt County. She also is determined to find a sustainable fabric to make her products better quality and to have more longevity than typical swimwear.

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Got an interesting story about living the Humboldt Hustle? Email eddie@lostcoastoutpost.com. He’d love to hear it!

During the year 1935, there were several events, some of which will be remembered around the world, this nation, and this county. The world was saddened by the deaths of Will Rogers and Wiley Post when they crashed in a plane in the frozen Arctic. Locally, this county was shocked by the drowning of Dr. Gilbert A. Howatt, a well-known dentist and civic leader of Eureka, and John Martin of Trinidad who lost his life while trying to save Dr. Howatt.

Then, there was the lumber and timber workers’ strike to unionize the local lumber mills, sparking riots and the shooting deaths of several workers at the entrance to Holmes Eureka Mill. There were other events, such as the National Boy Scout Jamboree which was to be held in Washington, D.C, when it was called off by President Franklin D. Roosevelt because of an infantile paralysis epidemic in that city. But the Boy Scouts substituted a train trip across the United States and 39 boys and their leaders from this area participated.

The amateur Walkathon Contest had invaded Eureka. The contests were being held all across the United States. The event was advertised in the local newspapers and on radio, inviting local young people to participate. All they had to do was to walk around until the last one remained standing.

Walkathon contestants Joe Rudd and Anne Yost were married at the event.

The Eureka City Council and Eureka Mayor Frank Sweasey were very reluctant to grant a license for this event because some of the walkathons were encountering trouble elsewhere in the country. The council finally agreed upon a fee of $750 per month and a permit was granted. Originally this event was to be held in the old Occidental Pavilion at Second and A streets, but it was decided to hold it at the Broadway Arena at 120 W. Fifth St. The doors opened June 21, 1935, with twenty couples participating. The contest was sponsored by the local post of the V.F.W. It started off with a large crowd of spectators filling all the bleachers.

The arena also was used for boxing matches. Max Baer and Primo Camera appeared there, as well as Fieldbrook boxer. Tiny (Milton) Abbott, Buddy Baer, Archie Forson and Ival Wilson. The CCC all-amateur fights were held in the arena. The building also was used for dances and was called the “Cinderella Hall.” Many big bands played there and this writer attended a number of these events.

There were wood bleachers on all sides with a space in the center where the boxing ring was set up. This was taken out for the walkathon and a small stage provided for the band and announcer. One unique advertising stunt for the walkathon was a very large brown shepherd dog walking around town with an oilcloth sandwich board on his back advertising the “Walkathon.”

The dog attracted a lot of attention as it went about town each day. The dog belonged to Jack Mero, owner and operator of the Brown Dog Beer Parlor.

Once the walkathon started and got into full swing there were many special events each night to draw the spectators. These included fast sprints of ten minutes duration, in which the winning couple would win a prize of a few dollars. Each participant would be given a date which was celebrated as their birthday with a party. This would be advertised through publicity on local radio broadcasts from the arena.

On some nights various contestants would sing or dance or perform some act to help draw a crowd. During August there was a troupe of all-girl clowns called the “Morgan Family Clowns.” They were appearing at the Ferndale Fair and they were hired to put on a show for a few nights at the walkathon.

During the contest, if a contestant became too tired to continue or became sick, his or her partner would walk alone until some other contestant would be left alone and then they would join up to form a couple. These contestants were fed three times a day and three times a night with good food, some of which was donated by local restaurants. There was a nurse present at all times and she took care of minor aches and sore feet, rubbing affected areas with oil of wintergreen. There was a ten minute rest every hour when contestants could change clothes, take a shower or rest.

Dr. Stephen Fleming came whenever needed to check on participants and Dr. Sam Burre would come to help with medical problems. Every now and then one of the girls would pretend to faint and pass out and be carried off the floor. Later, she would appear and put on quite a show.

The day nurse’s name was Katherine Siegle. Her husband, Al Siegle, helped to run the show and was one of the organizers of the event.

A marriage was held one day for Ann Yost and Joe Rudd. It was a large ceremony, well advertised on radio, and a large crowd attended. A photographer took postcard-size pictures of the couples, and the photos were sold to spectators wanting a picture of a favorite couple. Every dollar counted in those days of the great depression.

As the walkathon went on, the contestants continued to drop out, one by one, through the last few days and the last night, Saturday, August 31, 1935. With only a few left, a very fast sprint was staged as long as someone was still standing. Finally, there was only one couple left, and they won the prize money of $1,000.

There are still some of the contestants around this county, and they tell me that Jack Hammond won the money. Alvin Vaeth says he won a similar event at Bakersfield and claims the victory. On Sunday night, September 1,1935, a Victory Ball was held at the Broadway Arena and all those who had participated were here to help celebrate the finish and fete the winner of the great “Eureka Amateur Walkathon Contest.”

Some of the contestants were: No. 3, Clyde Berg and Joan Devine; No. 14, Ed Fennel and Letha Warren; No. 7, Clyde Randel and Mildred Jackson; No. 4, Henry Parks and Lyda Sullivan; No. 10, Jack Hammond and Lillian Louis.

(Footnote: Humboldt Standard on June 19, 1935, reported that a state law was passed by the 1935 Legislature and signed by Governor Merriam prohibiting such forms of amusement.)

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The story above was originally printed in the September-October 1985 issue of The Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society, and is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

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Hooo-oowl! It’s the sound that the people of Northern California are hearing from their forests again.

The gray wolf is a species that was once native to the entire continent of North America. Its population was decimated from its conflict with human livestock and game management. While we don’t know much about the expiration of wolves in California, we can assume that it runs along the same vein as the California Grizzly. The original wolves of California were persecuted throughout the 17th and 19th centuries, when California had a mass influx of settlers looking to strike it rich during the California Gold Rush. With the influx of people, we needed more food to feed them all. As such the wolves of California were most likely killed to keep numbers of elk and deer high. Alas, because of this killing, for many years we, the State of California, did not have any wolves that called our state home until 2011.

All of our wolves here in California now originate from multiple packs that call eastern Oregon their home. The dispersal of wolves from Oregon started with OR-7, a wolf from the Imnaha pack. It was fitted with a GPS collar in early 2011 and was detected crossing into California in late 2011. OR-7 then traveled around the north-eastern counties of California until he returned to Oregon in April of 2013, where he established his own pack, the Rogue pack. After OR-7 we have had several Oregon collared wolves come to California, some of which stayed and started their own packs. The first pack that got named in California was the Shasta pack in 2015. Two wolves from the Imnaha pack in Oregon dispersed into California and started the Shasta pack. Unfortunately, we have not seen any wolves from the Shasta pack since late 2015, with the last known individual from it being genetically identified in Nevada almost a year after the last known California sighting of his pack.

Lassen Pack cubs gambol in this 2020 video clip.

The second well known pack in California is the Lassen pack. This pack has successfully sired pups from the years 2019 or 2020, to the date of writing. This pack is genetically diverse with the original male wolves being from OR-7 Rogue pack, the original female was also from Oregon. Moreover, a new adult male of unknown origin joined in 2019. He was the sire of the pups born in 2020. As of 2021, the Lassen pack is thought to consist of at least five wolves. We also have two other packs in California: Beckwourth pack of Plumas County, designated in 2021, and the Whaleback pack of east Siskiyou County, also designated in 2021.

The big question is how this may affect us here in Humboldt. The mountains here in Humboldt historically may have housed many populations of wolves. However, with the persecution for threats to humans and game, along with the historical overhunting of elk and deer, we didn’t have the necessary requirements for a suitable wolf habitat. With the reintroduction of elk, which has created a booming elk herd, we may meet the criteria for a habitat of wolves in the eastern parts of the county. We may not see them on the beaches, but with them being habitat generalists, and given the amount of open farmland and large elk populations around the Orick area, we may be able to support a small population of wolves.

Now, what does that mean for the people? Well, there can be some issues with human-wildlife conflict with the wolves, mainly in the areas of livestock. Currently, in the State of California, the gray wolf is designated an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. (Interestingly, this designation was made at a conference here in Fortuna.) But wolves have been known to kill livestock which causes economic harm to farmers. A potential way to deal with this would be through farmer compensation, as the killing of our finite population of California wolves would be a problem for conservation.

If you have any problems or concerns with wildlife, contact the local California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• STUDENT SCIENCE!: A Survey of Roadkill on Highway 101 Between McK and Arcata, With Thoughts on Possible Courses of Action to Lessen Same

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Evan Vieira is a wildlife student at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Are you a high school or college student who has done research on some little-known aspect of Humboldt County’s people, places, flora, fauna? Write up a precis and share your work with the mighty Outpost audience! Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com, and put the words ‘Student Science’ in the subject line. Professors welcome too, I guess.