Berkeley Wants to Fund a Tent City for the Homeless

Ashley Wong reports: "The city of Berkeley passed an innovative new proposal to build more transitional housing for homeless residents this week — and officials say they plan to put a measure on the 2018 ballot to help pay for it."

The decision culminated a process by which the city considered four options for its "Pathways Project," also detailed in another article by Wong from June 2017. In the end, the council decided on the low cost option: "to fund 100 new beds at city-operated temporary and transitional-housing shelter, to the tune of approximately $2.5 million a year."

In another twist to the plan, the housing "will be constructed in the form of a “tent village,” using bungalow-style tent-cabins, along with port-a-potties, mobile showers, trailers for office and storage space, and security fencing around the perimeter." Mike Zint, a member of the First They Came For The Homeless organization is quoted saying what many are probably thinking in the article, calling the idea "like a concentration camp."