LANCASTER – The Lancaster City Council will consider a recommendation today to direct staff to align the city’s standard procedures and policies regarding homeless encampments with an executive order issued last month by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom’s July 25 executive order directed all state agencies and departments to implement plans to clear homeless encampments on state lands and relocate homeless individuals. The order calls on local governments to take actions consistent with the order.
“This crisis requires a humane removal of encampments from public spaces, giving priority to those encampments that pose the greatest threat to the lives, health and safety of those in and around them,” the order said.
The order requires that policies include an assessment prior to eviction to determine whether an encampment poses an imminent threat to life, health, safety or infrastructure. It also requires advance notice of eviction as appropriate under the circumstances. Unless there are exigent circumstances, the executive order requires that an eviction notice be posted at least 48 hours before the eviction begins.
The order also requires that personal property picked up at the pickup location that does not pose a health or safety hazard must be collected, marked and stored for at least 60 days.
Newsom also said any local government that does not comply with the directive risks losing state funding for essential services.
“As we review our existing regulations and procedures, we are currently meeting the expectations of Governor Newsom’s executive order,” Public Safety Director Rodrick Armalin wrote in a staff report.
The City Council meets today at 1:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 44933 Fern Ave.
