Vote!

My state is one of those which had voting today. I actually voted by drop box yesterday. The main race in my state, aside from president, was for senator to replace Diane Feinstein, and there was also a proposition.

The proposition, Proposition One, is kind of confusing. It's from Gavin Newsom and he said it will "get the homeless off the streets and into treatment".

It purports to be about helping the mental health system and helping the homeless, but in actuality, if I understand it correctly, it conflates homelessness with mental illness and drug abuse, and actually has a fearure that allows for forcing homeless people into mental health facilities against their will.

I think what homeless people need most is, you know, homes, whether that be an aartment or a tiny house or whatever. Homelessness is a problem of being poor, not so much a problem of mental illness and drug abuse, although being poor and unhoused would certainly exaserbate those problems. It costa a lot to live in California ... if my sister and I had not inherited the home where I now live, I would never have had enough money to buy a home.

Here's a bit of an article about Proposition One in The Guardian ...

California wants to force people into mental health care. Advocates say it will backfire

[...] California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who proposed the measure as a crucial part of his plans to solve the state’s dire homelessness crisis, has said it would “prioritise getting people off the streets, out of tents and into treatment”. Opponents, including disability rights activists, mental health advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union, countered that it would take money away from community-based preventative mental health programs to finance locked-door psychiatric institutions and involuntary treatment.

“It’s good politics, as Newsom positions himself to run for president in 2028,” said Samuel Jain, a senior policy attorney for Disability Rights California, an advocacy group. “It’s not good policy.” ...

Needless to say, I voted against it, but it may well pass.