San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and other local officials in California back the sentence-enhancing Proposition 36 opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders
Mayor Todd Gloria gave a tour of San Diego’s Safe Sleeping site to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in San Diego, CA. When stores experience an increase in retail thefts, or residents encounter open drug use or transactions of illegal substances, they often hear about it, loudly. It can seem up close and personal for mayors.
Newsom and state leaders such as Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas have a different view of Proposition 36, contending the measure could result in unwanted consequences such as a return to mass incarceration and associated costs, and exacerbate racial and economic disparities in the criminal justice system.
There’s an ongoing debate about whether that dollar threshold led to the flash-mob theft assaults on stores seen in viral videos that helped drive the push for Proposition 36. Newsom, among others, note that California has a relatively low bar for felony theft compared with other states. Texas has a minimum felony theft threshold of $2,500, for example.in January.
Newsom called Proposition 36 “drug policy reform that brings us back decades.” Gloria described the measure as “sensitive” in its approach and not a return to the failed policies and detrimental impacts of past hardline drug laws. “My great fear is that by decriminalizing low-level crime, we have allowed people’s conditions to deepen and worsen,” Mahan told Politico. “And we are seeing a growing number of chronically homeless individuals whose behavioral health issues are getting more severe.”
The bills were negotiated with the California Retailers Association and the California Grocers Association, and contain those trade groups’ top priorities,
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