Politics
Homeless people in the Governor’s Manson? From “STOOPID” to “Hell, yes,” readers responded
A number of weeks in the past, I wrote a column suggesting that homeless households transfer into the empty governor’s mansion in Sacramento.
I puzzled what others would consider the concept, so I hooked up a survey to the story, and oh, readers, you weren’t shy in your opinions. Loads of you thought it was a horrible concept, nevertheless it was those who didn’t who shocked me probably the most.
Two responses stood out.
The grandson of former California Gov. Goodwin “Goodie” Knight, Jonathan Weedman, was unequivocally in favor of repurposing a home that has “particular that means” for his household.
“Hell, sure,” stated Weedman. “Flip the mansion right into a facility that may assist.”
Weedman’s mother and father, Carolyn Knight and Charles Weedman, had been married within the mansion in the summertime of 1955, slicing by way of a six-tiered cake and strolling down a white runner laid throughout the mansion’s ornate carpets. They divorced about 12 years later.
Carolyn was stunning, loving, caring and progressive. However she was additionally a “very fragile soul” who suffered from untreated psychological sickness, Weedman stated. She died by suicide when Weedman was 10 years outdated and he or she was 36, just a few years after the divorce, the defining occasion of his life and one which set him on a path of working for nonprofits in a bid to assist others.
Goodie Knight, who was governor from late 1953 to 1959, found his daughter’s physique in her storage a day after she died, and Weedman stated his grandfather by no means recovered. Two months later, Knight died of a stroke.
Carolyn Knight kisses her father, former California Gov. Goodwin Knight, at her 1955 wedding ceremony on the governor’s mansion in Sacramento.
(Jonathan Weedman)
Weedman stated for a very long time, his household didn’t discuss his mother’s loss of life brazenly, they however in the end determined talking out might assist others with psychological sickness and serves for example that mind illness occurs to folks from all backgrounds.
“If it provides anybody pause, a second of reflection — that somebody of their world could also be struggling — it’s completely value it,” he stated.
Weedman sees the locations the place psychological sickness intersects with homelessness and believes our responses to the twin crises must be artistic. He is aware of his mother would agree.
“If it’s empty, and unused, and uninhabited, what higher option to honor my grandfather, grandmother and oldsters’ reminiscences than to take this stunning outdated residence and switch it into a spot that may assist probably the most susceptible in our society?” he wrote.
In fact, there have been many individuals who introduced a unique outlook.
“You need to be out of your rattling thoughts to suppose housing homeless within the governor’s mansion is a good suggestion!” wrote Jackson Brown of Sign Hill (not the singer, who spells his final title with an “e”). “This isn’t the Soviet Union the place folks piled into communal housing. RIP widespread sense.”
Michael Peterson of Palm Springs recommended that concepts like mine are what earns California its repute for craziness.
“Nothing says ‘your state has failed’ higher than letting the governor’s mansion descend into homeless squalor,” Peterson stated, including, “I’m not a NIMBY.”
Patty Nash of Riverside puzzled about my mind after studying the column.
“For those who can’t determine the considerations it’s since you are STOOOPID,” she wrote. “Most of those persons are there due to their long run decisions.”
Many voiced considerations like Nash’s concerning the suitability of at present homeless folks dwelling in a grand home — believing that almost all of these on the streets mentally in poor health or hooked on medicine or alcohol, and might’t be trusted to correctly look after such a house.
“Druggie bums would destroy it,” predicted Robert Value of Atascadero.
In truth, about 40,000 out of California’s 160,000 unsheltered persons are mentally in poor health, with about 10% of these having extreme psychological sickness. However these with extreme psychological sickness, or the addictions that always accompany it, are sometimes probably the most seen and troubling. Some who wrote in have lived expertise in the case of coping with that 10%, and raised relatable considerations.
Sara from Lakewood (who requested that her final title not be used) stated that she lived subsequent door to an deserted constructing that homeless folks took over. “They left big piles of trash within the yard and triggered a rat infestation,” she stated. “They acquired into horrific and violent fights in the course of the night time.” All of it got here crashing down, actually, when the constructing caught on fireplace, threatening close by constructions.
Sara stated she believes we want extra shelters, however she doesn’t need that type of exercise close to her children, and truthfully, who does?
“The L.A. Occasions assaults folks for not wanting shelters of their neighborhoods, however refuses to acknowledge the the explanation why,” she wrote.
Truthful sufficient. Acknowledged.
Nobody deserves to reside in unsafe situations, and I completely agree that these in homeless housing have to be good neighbors — and that these working housing services want to verify their tenants perceive what that appears like.
However regardless of issues with the concept, actual and imagined, nearly all of the 200-plus individuals who responded didn’t oppose the notion. A number of even went all in with me, seeing it as an emblematic remark concerning the discrimination and stigma homeless folks face, a pushback on the sense that “the homeless” are a monolithic bloc too far gone to reside amongst civilized society. (A couple of respondent advocated for transport homeless folks to empty areas, from the Southwest desert to Lancaster.)
“It’s a cool symbolic gesture which might assist a few households. Why not?” stated Kevin Jensen of Bakersfield.
“It might make a strong assertion about our state’s dedication to addressing this disaster, in addition to being sensible,” stated Larelle Hendon of Santa Ana. “The basis explanation for NIMBYism is that we don’t see homeless folks as ‘one in all us.’ We don’t see that we’re all linked; that struggling by anybody is an issue for us all.”
Others linked with the concept of extra small-scale housing for homeless folks, bringing them into communities in single-family homes or different restricted settings that may give each the dignity of a house whereas calming neighborhood fears that always accompany bigger services.
“[T]he downside is the considered an enormous, industrialized shelter,” stated Andrea Bersaglieri from La Miranda. “Nobody needs that of their neighborhood! If there have been one home on every block or in every neighborhood it will be a sport changer. We actually would all be on this collectively.”
Jason Gonzalez, who lives within the Hollywood Hills, agreed with Bersaglieri.
“Everybody homeless has a unique scenario,” he wrote. “The possibility to fill a particular place with a particular household or particular person shouldn’t be wasted because of a pompous perspective concerning the [mansion].”
The Outdated Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park is seen in Sacramento.
(Wealthy Pedroncelli/AP)
That brings me to the second response that struck me, and actually made my level higher than I ever might.
It got here from a 17-year-old named Joanna, who lives in Downey. She wrote that she grew up dwelling in “different folks’s properties as a result of my mom didn’t make a secure earnings for a cushty dwelling.” She thinks permitting households like hers — individuals who simply want a little bit assist, and a little bit safety — to reside within the governor’s mansion is a “nice” concept.
“My youthful self could be very pleased if my household was supplied to reside within the governor’s mansion as a result of my mom wouldn’t have to fret about discovering a short lived residence only for her children to really feel secure,” Joanna wrote.
I hope Joanna’s phrases kick you within the intestine. They hit me that means. She grew up so insecure about her housing, with all of the harm and hardship that brings, and but she thinks of the way it makes her mother really feel as an alternative of specializing in her personal expertise.
I’ve been overlaying homelessness for lots of years, and I’ve met as many individuals like Joanna as I’ve folks with extreme psychological sickness. For each particular person you see incoherent on the street, know that there’s a mother and her children parked someplace in a beat-up automobile, hoping nobody sees them, fearing they are going to be break up up if they’re discovered, determined to make it to the subsequent paycheck to hire a rundown room for just a few nights.
Or a dad, too ashamed to hunt assist as a result of he can’t determine make sufficient cash on his personal. Or a teenager, aged out of foster care with nowhere to go and nobody to assist, perhaps working from a home the place they weren’t accepted, or confronted hurt.
The one fixed I’ve realized is that there are 1,000,000 the explanation why persons are homeless, and none of them are easy. However most of them, someplace alongside the road, are about an individual who wanted assist, wanted somebody to see how their lives had been falling aside. Like Joanna’s mother and Carolyn Knight.
“All people deserves a house, however not everyone seems to be lucky sufficient to reside underneath a roof,” Joanna wrote, once more with the empathy. “I strongly consider that the governor’s mansion is of extra use to homeless folks than to the governor himself.”
Me too, Joanna. Could your future be secure, with a roof at all times over your head.
Politics
Less than half of DOGE-terminated contracts can be publicly tracked, only about a quarter of grants: watchdog
With Elon Musk’s departure from the agency, there’s debate roiling over how effective the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE), has been in its mission.
In a report released just two days prior to Musk stepping down, financial watchdog Open The Books published a report finding it is likely impossible for the average American taxpayer to track the savings associated with the contracts and grants that were terminated by the DOGE team.
According to Open The Books’ analysis, which mined all the data published on DOGE’s official website, the average American taxpayer would likely only be able to confirm 42% of contracts and 27% of grants through an independent review of public federal spending databases.
“This doesn’t mean these targets aren’t real, it simply means it’s very hard for taxpayers who want to see additional savings to find proof and evidence of savings,” Open The Books points out in its analysis, shared in a report the group released Tuesday.
‘BUREAUCRATIC AND WASTEFUL’: DOGE SNIFFS OUT EYE-POPPING SPENDING ON BIDEN DEI EFFORTS IN KEY AGENCY
Elon Musk (LEFT) has been a controversial figure in the Trump administration, with many of his critics arguing he has wielded too much power in the Trump administration. (Getty)
“Because taxpayers don’t have access to real-time transparency and a real-time look at the Treasury Payment System, it’s still too difficult for even a highly motivated Joe Taxpayer to confirm the savings claims DOGE is making,” the analysis, released ahead of Elon Musk stepping down from running the agency, continued. “It’s also far too easy for critics to sew [sic] doubt and confusion.”
DOGE says on its website that the group’s work up to this point has provided the American taxpayer with $175 billion in “estimated” savings from the elimination of contracts, grants and leases, as well as through renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion and other mechanisms.
However, DOGE’s estimated savings have been contested by watchdog groups and budget experts. Such critics have posited that the inclusion of already canceled contracts, double-counting or misrepresentation of contract values, and the unaccounted cost burden that could be imposed on the government when it has to re-hire folks down the line, or revamp its productivity, due to DOGE cuts, have led to inflated savings estimates.
Nate Malkus, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, has accused DOGE of “overestimating contracts by a factor of two,” according to CBS News.
ELON MUSK ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL, SAYS IT UNDERMINES WHAT DOGE IS DOING
But White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital that DOGE has produced “historic savings” for the American people.
“DOGE is working at record speed to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, producing historic savings for the American people,” Fields said. “The DOGE Wall of Receipts provides the latest and most accurate information following a thorough assessment, which takes time. Updates to the DOGE savings page will continue to be made promptly, and departments and agencies will keep highlighting the massive savings DOGE is achieving.”
“DOGE’s job is to identify, not enact, savings targets. It’s up to Congress to do the heavy lifting,” Open The Books said in their analysis about DOGE savings. (Fox News Digital)
“DOGE and Elon Musk have done the country an incredible service by identifying savings targets,” added Open The Books CEO John Hart. “Having worked on the last major deficit commission with the late Senator Tom Coburn, we would have been elated to have had Musk in our corner. Now it’s up to Congress to not only turn DOGE’s recommendations into durable savings but to go beyond DOGE’s scope and truly tackle our long-term debt and deficit crisis.”
Open The Books highlighted two “common sense” standards to help establish an “intellectually honest” approach to understanding the true impact of government cuts, such as those being recommended by DOGE.
The first is the “durable standard,” which asks whether a proposed cut can be easily reversed.
OBAMA-NOMINATED JUDGE ALLOWS LAWSUIT TARGETING MUSK’S ROLE WITH DOGE TO PROCEED, DROPS CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP
“Describing something as ‘durable’ does not mean it is permanent or irreversible; it simply means it is hard to reverse,” the Open The Books’ analysis stated. “The most durable budget cut in our constitutional system would be passed by Congress, signed into law by the president and be clearly constitutional, or unassailable in a court challenge. Budget cuts become less durable when they lack any of these three elements.”
The second is called a “duty standard,” which illuminates the power behind certain cuts based on who is trying to impose them.
“In our constitutional system, the founders gave the job of budget savings to three branches but primarily to Congress,” Open The Books points out. “DOGE’s job is to identify, not enact, savings targets. It’s up to Congress to do the heavy lifting. And We the People have a responsibility to be informed and hold our elected officials accountable.”
WHITE HOUSE SENDING $9.4B DOGE CUTS PACKAGE TO CONGRESS NEXT WEEK
White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on Mar. 9, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Open The Books ultimately concluded that due to various limitations associated with publicly available data on government spending and revenue, in particular a lack of real-time access to the government’s Treasury Payment System, it is still too difficult for even the most motivated average American citizen to either confirm, or deny, the savings claimed by DOGE.
Elon Musk officially stepped down from his role as DOGE chief Thursday evening, as his position of “special government employee” in the Trump administration was limited by law to a few months. Amid the transition, Musk criticized Republicans’ spending bill that was passed ahead of Memorial Day in the House, indicating he was “disappointed” it would increase the federal deficit.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS News in an interview that will air in full on June 1.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday sharply limited the reach of environmental impact statements in a victory for developers.
The justices said these claims of the potential impact on the environment have been used too often to delay or block new projects.
“A 1970 legislative acorn has grown over the years into a judicial oak that has hindered infrastructure development under the guise of just a little more process. A course correction of sorts is appropriate,” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, speaking for the court.
He said procedural law has given judges and environmentalists too much authority to hinder or prevent development, he said.
“Fewer projects make it to the finish line. Indeed, fewer projects make it to the starting line. Those that survive often end up costing much more than is anticipated or necessary,” he said. “And that in turn means fewer and more expensive railroads, airports, wind turbines, transmission lines, dams, housing developments, highways, bridges, subways, stadiums, arenas, data centers, and the like. And that also means fewer jobs, as new projects become difficult to finance and build in a timely fashion.”
The decision could loom large in California and the West because the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has taken a broad view of environmental protection and the scope of impact statements.
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1970s was the first of a series of landmark environmental laws. It required federal agencies to prepare a report assessing the likely impact of projects that will be funded or approved by the government.
“The goal of the law is to inform agency decision-making, not to paralyze it,” Kavanaugh said.
In a unanimous decision, the high court ruled for the developers of a proposed 88-mile railroad in northeastern Utah, a spur line which could carry crude oil that would be refined along the Gulf Coast.
The project needed the approval of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board which produced 3,600 pages of analysis on the potential impact.
In blocking the proposal, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals cited its potential to spur more drilling for oil in Utah and more pollution along the Gulf Coast. The judges said these “upstream” and “downstream” impacts of the railroad must be considered before the new rail line is approved.
Seven counties that favored the development appealed to the Supreme Court and argued that the potential environment impact should be limited to the building of the railroad itself.
Kavanaugh and the court agreed. “The board did not need to evaluate potential environmental impacts of the separate upstream and downstream projects,” he said.
The court’s three liberals — Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — concurred in the decision but did not sign on to Kavanaugh’s opinion.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, a Colorado native who is friends with some of the leading developers, did not participate in the decision.
Elon Musk is beginning the process of stepping down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted on X on Wednesday night that his time as a special government employee is coming to an end and thanked President Donald Trump for the opportunity to cut down on wasteful spending.
“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” Musk wrote in his post. The White House confirmed to FOX that Musk’s post is accurate and offboarding will begin Wednesday night.
Musk has been the public face of DOGE since Trump signed an executive order establishing the office on Jan. 20. DOGE has since ripped through federal government agencies in a quest to identify and end government overspending, corruption and fraud.
ELON MUSK SAYS HE ‘FULLY ENDORSES’ TRUMP AFTER GUNFIRE AT PENNSYLVANIA RALLY
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has officially stepped down from his role helping lead DOGE, which had long been the plan as a special government employee. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
He was officially hired as a “special government employee,” which is a role Congress created in 1962 that allows the executive or legislative branch to hire temporary employees for specific short-term initiatives.
Special government employees are permitted to work for the federal government for “no more than 130 days in a 365-day period,” according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk’s 130-day timeframe, beginning on Inauguration Day, was set to run dry on May 30.
DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group itself will be dissolved on July 4, 2026, according to Trump’s executive order.
Musk and Trump have both previously previewed that Musk’s role was temporary and would end in the spring.
“You, technically, are a special government employee and you’re supposed to be 130 days,” Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Musk during an exclusive interview with Musk and DOGE team members in April. “Are you going to continue past that or do you think that’s what you’re going to do?”
MUSK NOT LEAVING YET, WRAPPING UP WORK ON SCHEDULE ONCE ‘INCREDIBLE WORK AT DOGE IS COMPLETE’: WHITE HOUSE
Elon Musk was hired as a special government employee, which only permits 130 days of employment, when he was chosen to lead DOGE. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that timeframe,” Musk responded.
Trump hinted at Musk’s departure in comments to reporters on March 31 when he was asked if he wants Musk to remain in a government role for longer than the predetermined 130 days.
“I think he’s amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run,” Trump said in March. “And so at some point he’s going to be going back.”
“I’d keep him as long as I can keep him,” Trump said. “He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart. And he’s done a good job,” the president added. “DOGE is, we’ve found numbers that nobody can even believe.”
More recently, Musk said during a Tesla earnings call on April 22 that he will take a step back from his work as DOGE’s leader.
DOGE CHAIN OF COMMAND REVEALED IN COURT FILING, SHOWING MUSK IS NOT THE BOSS
“I think starting probably in next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said during Tesla’s earnings conference call. “I’ll have to continue doing it for, I think, the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance. So I think I’ll continue to spend, you know, a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful.”
Elon Musk jumps on state as he joins former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
“But starting next month,” he added, “I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done.”
Amid Musk’s work with DOGE, Democrats and activists have staged protests against the tech billionaire and his companies, including working to tank Tesla stocks.
Musk has been the public face of DOGE for months, but is not an employee of the United States DOGE Service and does not report to the acting DOGE chief, according to a court filing in March that shed additional light on the internal workings of the office.
WHO IS DOGE’S NEWLY IDENTIFIED ADMINISTRATOR AMY GLEASON? ‘WORLD-CLASS TALENT’
“Elon Musk does not work at USDS. I do not report to him, and he does not report to me. To my knowledge, he is a Senior Advisor to the White House,” Amy Gleason, the acting administrator of DOGE, wrote in a declaration included in a court filing.
President Trump has spoken highly of Elon Musk’s work with DOGE since he was chosen to lead the new agency on Jan. 20. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Gleason previously worked for the United States Digital Service, which was founded in 2014 by former President Barack Obama as a technology office within the Executive Office of the President. Trump signed an executive order in January that renamed the office to the United States DOGE Service, establishing DOGE.
Though Musk has been the public face of DOGE, he “has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself” and is working as a senior advisor to the president, a White House official said in a separate court filing back in February.
SENATE REPUBLICAN DOGE LEADER JONI ERNST FACES FIRST DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER IN 2026 RACE
Musk emerged as an ardent supporter of Trump at the height of the election cycle over the summer, officially endorsing Trump after the first assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
President Trump survived an assassination attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania in July. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk posted to X shortly after the attempt, accompanied by footage of Trump raising a fist and shouting “Fight, fight, fight!” after he was left bloodied by the assassination attempt.
Musk hosted Trump on X for an expansive interview while on the campaign trail
Across Musk’s tenure as a special government employee, Trump has praised the tech billionaire for his efforts to streamline the government and cut it of overspending, including during his first address to a joint session of Congress since his second inauguration.
“Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe. They just don’t want to admit that,” Trump said in March during his address, quipping that Democrats were even grateful for Musk’s work at DOGE.
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