The Real Reason Why Cities Don’t Do More to Address Homelessness

In 2016, I started working in local government in San Rafael, a medium-sized city located in Marin County, CA (the suburban community immediately north of the Golden Gate Bridge).

A few years into that position, local housing advocates began demanding that the City and County create a permanent homeless shelter.

Over the previous 10 winters, the local faith-based community had organized a program called the Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (REST). Congregations took turns providing overnight shelter to 80 men and women during the coldest and wettest months of the year.

Thousands of local residents had volunteered with the program. It was beloved and, in many ways, had become an institution.

After a decade, however, the organizers felt that local government agencies needed to step up and create a permanent, year-round shelter that wasn’t dependent on volunteers.

In a county with nearly 800 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness at that time, it seemed like a reasonable ask.

As the proposal began gaining momentum, San Rafael’s Mayor asked me to lunch. He wanted to discuss the City’s position, and that’s when the strangest thing happened. Over the course of our meal, the Mayor started advocating in support of locating the countywide shelter in San Rafael. I — the City’s Director of Homeless Planning and Outreach — began arguing against it.