SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — “This is, as was stated, a historic day. And that means little if we can’t deliver now on the promise.”
Governor Gavin Newsom taking a victory lap Thursday.
RELATED: Prop 1: Voters approve $6 billion ballot measure addressing homelessness in California, AP projects
Newsom was in Los Angeles celebrating the passage of Proposition 1 – a voter approved measure which he heavily campaigned for.
Prop. 1 will create strict guidelines on every county in the state to spend money on housing, drug treatment and mental health services.
Funding will come from an infusion of new bond money.
The goal of Prop 1 is to stabilize and address the state’s homelessness crisis.
San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman also supported the measure, which he says will help the city immensely.
MORE: SF supervisors grill health dept. on 400 mental health treatment beds promised in 2021
He tells ABC7 News after its passing, he and other city leaders spent the Thursday morning in meetings discussing how soon San Francisco will be ready to implement the new law.
“To figure out how to leverage these Prop. 1 dollars. What our need is at different levels of care,” Mandelman said.
Changes won’t happen overnight though.
Jim Wunderman of the Bay Area Council says it could take years for voters to see positive, substantial change.
“Businesses to come back in, stores to reopen, economies to grow, jobs to be created. You know all of those things that go into making successful communities,” he said.
MORE: Will Prop. 1 help solve CA homelessness? Experts weigh in on $6B bond for mental health facilities
Not everyone is on board with the new measure. That includes James Burch of the Anti Police-Terror Project.
“It’s an attempt to warehouse these people. Warehouse people who are living on the streets right now by pressuring them into a diagnosis and then forcing them into treatment,” Burch said.
Burch says, for one thing, he worries the new law will disproportionately impact people of color.
He also tells us the proposition’s passing is a major blow to advocates of voluntary mental health treatment.
“All of the data, all of the experts are very clear that those treatments are the best outcomes.”
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