Do you remember “Bizarro World,” the fictional planet first published by DC Comics in the 1960s?
Also know as Hrtae (“Earth” spelled backward), the society was ruled by the Bizarro Code, where essentially, people did the opposite of what would be done on Earth.
In California, we have our own version of “Bizarro World” unfolding right in front of us, where Gov. Gavin Newsom — the same Democrat who once championed housing-first policies, defended encampment protections, and vetoed bills seeking accountability in homelessness spending — is now singing from the Republican hymnal.
Today, Newsom and leading Democrats are calling for what Republicans were pilloried for demanding just a few years ago: the removal of homeless encampments from public spaces, increased enforcement even when shelter isn’t guaranteed, and tying housing dollars to behavioral health compliance.
The governor’s newest push to urge cities to ban encampments — and his endorsement of a model ordinance limiting camping on public land — sounds almost verbatim like the Republican talking points he once condemned as cruel and ineffective.
It is almost like the move of someone who wants to run for president faster than he can run away from his party’s policy failures …
A few years ago, Republicans in Sacramento and across California cities proposed practical measures regarding homelessness: clear encampments near schools and parks, enforce no-camping ordinances, and create treatment-first programs for the most vulnerable.
Democrats, including Newsom, argued such approaches were inhumane and legally questionable, especially in light of Martin v. Boise, the 9th Circuit ruling that prohibited criminalizing homelessness in the absence of adequate shelter.
Newsom’s response leaned heavily on humanitarian language: housing with dignity, voluntary participation, wraparound services. He emphasized the need for compassion over confrontation and spent billions launching Project Roomkey, Homekey, and other housing initiatives.
Any suggestion of forced relocation or encampment sweeps was met with moral outrage from his base and civil rights advocates.
Fast forward to 2025, and the tune has changed — dramatically.
Newsom’s new executive order instructs state agencies to “aggressively” clear encampments from state-owned land. His administration is offering financial incentives for cities that pass ordinances limiting public camping to just three consecutive days.
The departments of Transportation, Parks and Recreation, and Fish and Wildlife are now told to follow Caltrans-style protocols for removals — something that Republicans were demanding when they accused the state of allowing public property to deteriorate under unregulated encampments.
Even more ironically, Newsom’s latest crackdown arrives just months after a scathing state audit revealed the government has little idea how nearly $24 billion in homelessness spending has been used.
The very oversight that Republicans pushed for in past legislative sessions — and that Newsom vetoed — has become the catalyst for this policy pivot. Somehow, the lack of transparency has created not an admission of past error, but a full-speed acceleration into a Republican-style policy framework, rebranded with Democratic flair.
So what changed?
For one, the problem got worse. Encampments have proliferated across sidewalks, freeway underpasses, and public parks. Public frustration is boiling over, with voters who once embraced compassion now feeling betrayed by the state’s inability to deliver visible results. They’re not just worried about humanitarian failures; they’re worried about public safety, cleanliness, and basic livability that has gone missing.
Secondly, the courts changed the legal landscape. With the U.S. Supreme Court now appearing more favorable to restrictions on public camping, the legal pretext that once shielded encampments has thinned. That shift provided political cover for Democrats to take a more enforcement-focused stance without violating progressive sensibilities — or so they hope.
But perhaps the biggest reason is political survival. Newsom is staring down a legacy problem. His administration’s marquee issue — tackling homelessness — is a failure.
For a governor with national ambitions, the optics of tent cities shadowing billion-dollar budgets are unsustainable. So, he’s borrowing from the Republican playbook — just five years late and billions of dollars short.
The irony is lost on no one.
Republican Assembly members and council members who once got labeled as heartless for proposing many of these measures are watching their Democratic counterparts now implement them — with fanfare. The same Democrats who blocked encampment bans are now funding them. The same officials who called enforcement a human rights violation are now clearing encampments with California Highway Patrol escorts.
In this Bizarro California, right is left, up is down, and political expediency trumps ideology. The policies haven’t changed — only the party pushing them has.
Perhaps the tragedy is not that Democrats have stolen Republican ideas on solving one of California’s biggest societal issues, but that it took them so long to do so!
Jason Gibbs is a member of the Santa Clarita City Council. “Right Here, Right Now” appears Saturdays and rotates among local Republicans.
