WHEREAS, in the State of California, homelessness among the citizens and residents of our state continues to rise, and the cost of housing and affordable shelter continues to dwindle, in almost all areas of our state, and
WHEREAS, in many cities in every county in the State, homeless men, women and children continue to be left without affordable places to stay, and are resorting to sleeping in automobiles, recreation vehicles and other forms of transportation, and
WHEREAS, many cities and municipalities are making such habitual economic hardship a crime, using as a first tactic to the problem, towing, fining and prosecuting those who have nowhere else to go, resulting in criminal and civil offenses which perpetuate homelessness since it does not provide any remedies other than removing the person and/or their vehicle, or removing the person from public streets, and starting the cycle all over again.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Riverside County Democratic Party, demands California Democratic elected officials at the state and local level support the “right to rest” by their actions in the legislature and by denouncing municipalities and cities, from using civil fines and confiscation of vehicles as a first and only remedy to removing the homeless from the public streets of California, and we affirm our commitment to stand with the homeless who do not have the economic means to support themselves, and as a result have to live in their vehicles, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Riverside County Democratic Party, encourages homeless rights advocates, elected leaders and local law enforcement to work together to find remedies for this continuing crisis by considering new and innovative solutions such as allocating places that are zoned for the homeless to park and rest, by discontinuing the practice of first and only using the removal of the vehicle and/or person therein, when otherwise not in violation local private property laws, and we ask the a copy of this resolution be sent to Governor Newsom, the ProTempore and the Speaker of the Assembly.
Author: Francisco A. Ramos, AD 42 Executive Board Representative
Passed Unanimously 4/8/19
